Rate the last movie that you saw for the first time.

[McLegend]

John Wayne’s last movie The Shootiest is one of the better last movies by a star you are going to see. Directed by the guy is does Dirty Harry

Also one you might like. There is some decent stuff in it, and I think it’s his only directing credit “One eyed Jacks.” Brando also stars alongside old co star buddy Karl Malden. It’s not - great movie, but I think it’s enjoyable.

[Seanny One Ball]

“The Shootist” is one I always loved and it’s a note-perfect ending to a great career, but “One Eyed Jacks” is one I have not seen and had debated so so will stick it on my list. Is that the one with Brando in loads of disguises? If not I should stick that on the list too.

[Seanny One Ball]

Currently interrupting my Western viewing to watch this new Alan Partridge live show “Stratagem”.
I had no idea it was a thing but it is very good.

[Seanny One Ball]

That was great but I’m watching Josey Wales now and 20 minutes in the violence is relentless.
Classic Clint.

[Seanny One Ball]

Sam Peckinpah is accused of gratuitous violence… it’s like they never even saw a Clint pic before or any Spaghetti western really…

[Blonde Moment]

They just can't make stuff like that anymore. I feel like Unforgiven was the last great western

[slik]

Backrooms - 7/10

Good horror short


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H4dGpz6cnHo" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Seanny One Ball]

They just can't make stuff like that anymore. I feel like Unforgiven was the last great western

Great westerns are being made to this day.

Check out “Never Grow Old”

[weather vane]

A Man Called Otto

7.2/10

[Helmsphere]

Teen Wolf: The Movie: 6.5/10

Entertaining affair if you were a fan of the Teen Drama about Supernatural. All the usual things are here. Derek getting his ass beat, Lydia being weird, Malia being a slut and Linden Ashby being the national treasure that he is.

[XL]

Backrooms - 7/10

Good horror short


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H4dGpz6cnHo" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I’ve been following the Film Theory err theories on this for months.

[ron the dial]

Backrooms - 7/10

Good horror short


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H4dGpz6cnHo" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

i just heard this brought up elsewhere last night so i watched it. this is the runtime skinamarink should have had. i also read the kid who directed it is 17 (16 when this was released), and a24 have signed him on for a feature length of this. hope it's not another skinamarink but seems likely...

[Seanny One Ball]

If they want our nightmares for film plots they can try making my “every girl I kiss turns into a faceless dummy” nightmare into one.
I used to have that when I was a kid, one weird part was not being able to let go of anything I picked up.
I think it was puberty anxiety mixed with self control worries.

I had nightmares about Rutger Hauer terrorising me for years after I saw “The Hitcher” too.

No nightmares nowadays…used to have a recurring nightmare about my teeth all coming out into my hands, they looked like coal. Fake fireplace coal specifically. The glass stuff.

[Seanny One Ball]

Going to watch a horror movie by Clive Barker called “Nightbreed” because I saw a bit and it looked fucking mental.

[ron the dial]

it's so fucking stupidly satisfying

[Seanny One Ball]

Is it good? It looked pretty high value for Clive Barker. I just liked the term “Midian” because I bet that’s where the wrestler nicked it from.

[Fignuts]

And Soon, The Darkness (1970) - 6/10
Decent little who-dunnit thriller

Slaves of Satan - 8/10
I think this is the first Indonesian horror film I've seen and it was really good. Likeable characters, some great scares, and a fun twist towards the end.

Slaves of Satan: Communion - 8.5/10
Didn't quite feel like the story flowed as good as the first one, but it's better in other ways so it all evens out for me.

[Fignuts]

If they want our nightmares for film plots they can try making my “every girl I kiss turns into a faceless dummy” nightmare into one.
I used to have that when I was a kid, one weird part was not being able to let go of anything I picked up.
I think it was puberty anxiety mixed with self control worries.

I had nightmares about Rutger Hauer terrorising me for years after I saw “The Hitcher” too.

No nightmares nowadays…used to have a recurring nightmare about my teeth all coming out into my hands, they looked like coal. Fake fireplace coal specifically. The glass stuff.

My dreams/possible waking hallucinations while I had covid would make great cinema.

[Lock Jaw]

You best write them down then

[Seanny One Ball]

Nobody is buying a Covid dream when they could have a healthy one for the same price.

Get real Fignuts

[Seanny One Ball]

The scariest part would be waking up and seeing a calendar and your own withered legs

[ron the dial]

Is it good? It looked pretty high value for Clive Barker. I just liked the term “Midian” because I bet that’s where the wrestler nicked it from.

i dunno if i'd class it as good, but i certainly had a fun time with it when i watched it a few years back. if you're looking for something "fucking mental," i think it fits the bill.

[Helmsphere]

Ben Foster has an incredible bit-part in 30 Days Of Night and it was that performance which made me think that some day he’d win an Oscar.

He was so great in that.

Also loved his character in the movie Hostage as well.

[Seanny One Ball]

He was always a great character actor, everybody forgets he was in The Punisher playing a weedy goth type… the guy is probably the best working actor with the worst agent in Hollywood.

Look at the shit he churns out between prestige projects…he clearly cannot distinguish quality from crap. Making a slavery film with Will Smith recently is particularly egregious, and I thought his box-to-the-death concentration camp film was rough going…

[slik]

Knock at the Cabin - 7/10

Batista really is the best wrestler turned actor. Movie was fine. Nothing incredible, nothing terrible. Well-paced and enjoyable.

[Lock Jaw]

In honour of Frank Drebin's return (or because I was browsing Crave and saw it was leaving soon)

Pitch Perfect - 8/10

Enjoyed it. Wasn't "ready" to see Max from Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist again, and wooing another braud...... I guess this was like a decade before that it stil.... TOO SOON. Wish that show would come back.....

[Destor]

The 1st pitch was excellent.

[Frank Drebin]

Destor's gonna miss Drebin when he's gone.

[Destor]

Reference aside which one of us is leaving :(

[M-A-G]

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania - 2 and 3/4 stars out of 4

I mean, you're getting what they advertise: Ant-Man, Wasp, and their family in an adventure in the Quantum Realm. What saves it from being an absolute drag, and it does drag at times, is that these actors can do these roles in their sleep and they remain likeable and interesting, even though it feels like some of them are somehow given LESS to do. You could chalk it up to all the things they need to cram in, setting up what's to come in this phase. It starts off with a similar problem that Captain Marvel had in that you're being asked to care about too much, too quickly. Seriously, it wastes almost no time kicking off the ride. How enjoyable the ride is depends on how much you feel from these characters and the visuals coming from these set pieces, because there is a lot to point out as fun and creative, even if the story isn't particularly gripping. Kang is no Thanos, in my opinion, despite his intricacies here, so it'll be interesting to see how much intrigue he draws. I do appreciate it not being the joke-fest the previous two entries were, even though there are a couple of good ones. I don't think it's the kick off Phase 5 needed, but I can think of much worse ways to waste two hours.

Stick around for two post-credits scenes, which do raise some questions and are enough to get me curious about what's in store.

[Destor]

I didn't read your reasoning for fear of spoilers but if MAG goes below 3 stars it might be a turd

[M-A-G]

I always try writing without giving a lot away with these. I don't think I gave away any major plot twists. Most of what's really juicy is in the post-credit scenes.

[Destor]

Im spoiler sensitive. It wasnt a dig at you. Once i read the title im just glancing at the score and thats it. No upside in risking it

[Lock Jaw]

Pitch Perfect 2 - 7/10

Wasn't much in the way of a character arc/story in this one, but I guess I was still entertained.

[Destor]

Pitch 1 is really good. They get worse with each iteration. 2 is shclock but the music is mostly ok with a gag or 2 that lands. 3 is abysmally unfunny and the music is forgettable to ok

[Destor]

Pitch 1 though is a classic 80s teen love story through a pop musical filter

[Destor]

Antman 3 - 6/10


I had a good time. Its very flawed but its still a good time. Dunno how much energy i have for my take but I'll give it a shot:

Comedicly most the jokes dont land or will land the 1st time and fall flat on the call backs. 1 out of 5 bits get a chuckle. Doesnt ruin the film though. They move on the gags at a brisk pace so if the joke doesnt land there's always another one around the corner.

Narratively i like it conceptionally but there are subplots that arent worth getting invested in. They spend their time well enough that the audience knows they dont need to care on these subplots so it can def make the film feel long at parts when the subplots are getting attention because you know its all irrelevant.

The core 6 cast members are all mostly good. Scott Lang, Cassie and the antagonist all come off really well. With Jan, Hope and Hank being solid enough. And they do carry the film.

I found the villain to be the most compelling Marvel villain not named Thanosor Loki by a wide margin. I was really invested in how they were building him up and its mostly good. Not perfect but itll do.

There are some inconsistencies that irk me but theyre mostly the same one that were in antman 2. Contradicting how the powers were established in antman 1 etc.

All in all i would say its fun and fine. Its the most enjoyable marvel film since doctor strange 2

[XL]

Yeah I found myself constantly asking how the powers are working the way they were but then they ignored the rules they established pretty much from the get-go.

[Lock Jaw]

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania - 7/10

Another perfectly enjoyable product of the Disney Marvel Industrial Complex that I will never watch again.

[Destor]

Carlito's Way (1993) - 5/10

Far and away the most uninspired work ive seen from DePalma. There really isnt any piece of this film that isnt unispired save for Sean Penn and a single scene with Vigo Mortensen. The writing, the cinematography, the score, hell the casting. Its all safe. Challenging no one in the production or the audience at any level.

Now that said none of it is bad. I cant point to anything and say its done poorly. It isnt egregious or anything. Its just paint by numbers and generic. Maybe even lazy. But not poor.

[Destor]

Leguizamo was ok. He believed himself atleast. Thats not much of a compliment. He was interesting when he was on screen atleast and thats something i cant say for most the film

[Destor]

Sometimes there were nice tits on the screen :y:

[Destor]

Id have been embarrassed to release this film 3 years after Goodfellas.

[M-A-G]

My only significant memory regarding Carlito's Way is on our way back home from No Mercy 2005, we saw Eddie Guerrero in a limo next to us on particular stretch and he had the movie playing.

[Destor]

Heat (1995) - 7/10

I think the thing the makes this work as well as it does is the theming. At a first glance we have a Gentleman Theif story and thats all well and good but the throughline is at its core dealing with a man's devotion to work and the sacrifices that are made for excellence.

Each of the principle cast that get development, more on that point later, all have a female shadow that theyre trying to reconcile with. All hinging on their lack of devotion. The men all at one point or another chose their work over their women, who symbolically represent their personal life vs their work life. This inability to balance the two leads to disaster for all. The one thing i think the narrative needed was 1 character who had found a healthy balance or perhaps sacrificed work for personal so we could have explored what a better alternative could possibly look like...but perhaps that characters absence is a point unto itself.

The opening action sequence stands out as the best shot sequence of the picture and its mostly due to the writting. A man goes to get a refill of coffee. While waiting a semi pulls the the curb. He abandons the coffee and hops into the semi. Cut to paramedics. Cut back the semi. After a short exchange the semi driver asks the former coffee enthusiast to stop talking. Tension between the two clearly hightened. Cut back to the paramedics.the dawn hockey masks. Cut back to the semi. They do the same.

This short sequence is a really good example of how to establish a world and how a story reveals itself. We the audience enter the film knowing nothing. We dont know these people or what the stakes are. Each sequence is initially confusing, deliberately. Every step in this scene is on its face bizarre but we're learning second by second about the characters and their alignments in the world. Good men dont often wear hockey masks on a highway for example.if when they all wear them we know theyre a unit.

The film has a host of flaws though. Two bothered me more than others. First its Al Pacino. He shouldnt be in this film. Now obviously this film exists to specifically pit Pacino against DeNiro. Not the characters but the actors. Thats the draw in 95. But nothing in the script is for Pacino. The character feels black more than anything and its a terrible case misscasting. The character is overly physical for an actor who isnt physically imposing and the dialog feels completely inorganic safe the diner scene with he and DeNiro where Pacino is finally not portraying a spastic black man in white face.

And the performance he gives doesnt justify the casting either. Its 3 hours of melodramatic overacting that would only be toleratable if one or both of us were incredibly stoned. If it were him it would calm him down and it if were me atleast i could laugh.

The other major issue is its a 3 hour pitcure, which is fine, that has about 15 principle characters, which is fine, but only 2-4 get any substantial screen time, which is not fine.

Danny Trajo is a core member of the primary 4 robbers. Hes in about 7 or so scenes, speaks in maybe 3 of them, and gets about 5 words in each.

The getaway driver is another. He gets 3 scenes. Hes fully tied into the theming inside these 3 scenes shown to be freshly out. Trying to stay clean for his woman only to choose the life (i.e. work) over her and fies for his choice. But it is im giving him this full back story contained in very small scenes that makes it all the more odd. In a 3 hour film a total of maybe 5 min is all the time we have for this subplot?

And all the cast suffers from this. Kilmer especially. For a film this long to have such little time is a paradox i cant grasp. I imagine there's an entire reel worth of material that didnt make it.

The theming is incredibly strong though and makes its message very clear. All in all i think its pretty good.

[Lock Jaw]

Pitch Perfect 3 - 6.5/10

Was still vaguely entertained.... the music was not as good as the second, but the story at least had more of a "story".... however, that story does go off the deep end of taking what started as a grounded "realistic" universe and "jumping the shark"....

[drave]

Heat (1995) - 7/10

I think the thing the makes this work as well as it does is the theming. At a first glance we have a Gentleman Theif story and thats all well and good but the throughline is at its core dealing with a man's devotion to work and the sacrifices that are made for excellence.

Each of the principle cast that get development, more on that point later, all have a female shadow that theyre trying to reconcile with. All hinging on their lack of devotion. The men all at one point or another chose their work over their women, who symbolically represent their personal life vs their work life. This inability to balance the two leads to disaster for all. The one thing i think the narrative needed was 1 character who had found a healthy balance or perhaps sacrificed work for personal so we could have explored what a better alternative could possibly look like...but perhaps that characters absence is a point unto itself.

The opening action sequence stands out as the best shot sequence of the picture and its mostly due to the writting. A man goes to get a refill of coffee. While waiting a semi pulls the the curb. He abandons the coffee and hops into the semi. Cut to paramedics. Cut back the semi. After a short exchange the semi driver asks the former coffee enthusiast to stop talking. Tension between the two clearly hightened. Cut back to the paramedics.the dawn hockey masks. Cut back to the semi. They do the same.

This short sequence is a really good example of how to establish a world and how a story reveals itself. We the audience enter the film knowing nothing. We dont know these people or what the stakes are. Each sequence is initially confusing, deliberately. Every step in this scene is on its face bizarre but we're learning second by second about the characters and their alignments in the world. Good men dont often wear hockey masks on a highway for example.if when they all wear them we know theyre a unit.

The film has a host of flaws though. Two bothered me more than others. First its Al Pacino. He shouldnt be in this film. Now obviously this film exists to specifically pit Pacino against DeNiro. Not the characters but the actors. Thats the draw in 95. But nothing in the script is for Pacino. The character feels black more than anything and its a terrible case misscasting. The character is overly physical for an actor who isnt physically imposing and the dialog feels completely inorganic safe the diner scene with he and DeNiro where Pacino is finally not portraying a spastic black man in white face.

And the performance he gives doesnt justify the casting either. Its 3 hours of melodramatic overacting that would only be toleratable if one or both of us were incredibly stoned. If it were him it would calm him down and it if were me atleast i could laugh.

The other major issue is its a 3 hour pitcure, which is fine, that has about 15 principle characters, which is fine, but only 2-4 get any substantial screen time, which is not fine.

Danny Trajo is a core member of the primary 4 robbers. Hes in about 7 or so scenes, speaks in maybe 3 of them, and gets about 5 words in each.

The getaway driver is another. He gets 3 scenes. Hes fully tied into the theming inside these 3 scenes shown to be freshly out. Trying to stay clean for his woman only to choose the life (i.e. work) over her and fies for his choice. But it is im giving him this full back story contained in very small scenes that makes it all the more odd. In a 3 hour film a total of maybe 5 min is all the time we have for this subplot?

And all the cast suffers from this. Kilmer especially. For a film this long to have such little time is a paradox i cant grasp. I imagine there's an entire reel worth of material that didnt make it.

The theming is incredibly strong though and makes its message very clear. All in all i think its pretty good.


But WHERE'S THE FUCKING VAN?!!?

[Seanny One Ball]

There’s a weird totally random bit in HEAT where one of the crew kills a hooker and they imply that he’s a serial killer.
It seems totally out of place.

[Destor]

On the surface its pointless. Totally self contained scene that goes nowhere; however each main characters are paired against a woman. The women are symbolically the same thing. Perhaps with him his killing of them implies a man who's thrown away the notion of balancing the two worlds all together. In that scene she seems to anathema to him. More over he fails to function in either world. He's rejected professionally and he rejects the prostitutes affection...but like in all cases in this film it is the man rejecting the woman/personal life.

I didnt give him much thought but that is really interesting. He rejects her more emphatically and has less outside of the work than anyone else and still fails the hardest of all. He isnt presented with an inability to balance the two. Maybe thats the message there. You do have to try. To be a complete actualization of the self.

Juxtapose that over DeNiro's character who has this great line "Im alone; im not lonely." Which is a total lie. So while this possible serial killer truly rejects finding the balance DeNiro internally has yearned for it but not pursued it. Deprived himself of it.

Dunno. Very interesting

[Seanny One Ball]

The guy that plays the hooker killer isn’t Ted Levine, but Ted Levine is in it as a detective or something.
He should have been the killer.

Goodbye Whoreses

[Destor]

They look so much alike you could tell me he played both rolls and id buy it

[Emperor Smeat]

Star Beast: Alien Grindhoused - 4.5 out of 5

Its a Grindhouse style campy remake of the original Alien film that is mostly the same film but with a bunch of changes here in there that are subtle in some cases and major in others.

[Seanny One Ball]

Does it use the O’Bannon script?

[Seanny One Ball]

Oh what… it’s a fan edit.

[Destor]

Pokemón: Detective Pikachu- 6/10

Look its fun and fine. When its cute its super cute and it does pretty good job at being cute. It respects the world. What it doesnt do is respect its audiences intelligence though.

i take special offense when kids entertainment treats their viewers like theyre dumb. I think its the biggest crime kids entertainment can do. They are as dumb as you allow them to be. Literally the 2nd scene gives the villain away and in a detective story that is criminal. Here's a protip: if youre writting a whodunnit your casting economy cant be 1:∞

[drave]

I'd like to introduce you to:


/r/kidsarefuckingstupid

[Blonde Moment]

Star Beast: Alien Grindhoused - 4.5 out of 5

Its a Grindhouse style campy remake of the original Alien film that is mostly the same film but with a bunch of changes here in there that are subtle in some cases and major in others.

where can you find it?

[Vastardikai]

Cocaine Bear: 9/10. Some excellent use of CGI. The design actually hints at a surprise near the end. Gory at moments, but funny as shit. Ray Liotta's last movie.

[Emperor Smeat]

where can you find it?

I saw the film on Baked (former /wooo) but the person who streamed it said they found it at some random website but didn't mention where.

Seems the person who made the fan edit didn't release it for public download at least based on a quick google search.

[Destor]

Closer (2004) - 8/10

[Lock Jaw]

Creed III - 7.5/10

Lost a point for Mauro Ranallo saying MAMMA MIA, but gained a point for Todd Grisham appearance.

Was "worried" about this movie, especially after watching the first two movies again last week and thinking "I only care about this character in relation to Rocky"

Worries were "a bit" warranted and found I struggled to "get into" Creed as a character on his own.... but the antagonist and story was pretty good and "unusually" fleshed out for a Rocky/Creed movie. So all that "together" got me into it even without Rocky

Cool style in the fights in this movie too... though things get pretty weird in the final fight.

[drave]

there's something about seeing old arena footage in NYC that makes me feel displaced man. It's a feeling I cannot reconcile and unlike any other feeling I've experienced in my life. I can very clearly see images of the city, in that timeline, and yet I've never been.


This bugs me sometimes. Im probably just broken.

[Sepholio]

Something in The Dirt - 2/10. Was promising at first and had an interesting concept ant I'd have probably given it like a 5 or 6 but fuck the ending is turrible. The last 15 mins or so can go eat a bag of dicks. Movie itself is kind of a mix of "found footage" (kinda, I guess), dramatizations, and recounting of events filmed like they are making a documentary. Like I said it was an interesting concept the way they did it, and the story, while cliche for the topic, didn't focus on one of the usual conspiracies/secret societies that most movies like this do. It was it's own thing for sure. But again, the last 15 mins made the whole thing blow. Don't watch this unless you want to be angry and confused all at the same time. Oh, and one of the co-leads is a fucking dick. A crooked smelly cheese encrusted dick.

2067 - 3/10. Meh. There's nothing here that hasn't been done way better elsewhere but it has it's moments. The problem is the lead can get very annoying, but I think it's written that way so he's doing what he's supposed to. It's just....bad sometimes. I dunno. I didn't feel like I wasted my time watching it or anything but it's not something I'll recommend to someone. Probably won't remember it in a week as evidenced by the fact that having watched it...I'm like 98% sure I watched it before and thought it was meh and forgettable then too.

Dark Web: Cicada 3301 - 7.5/10. This was far better than the last 2. It was also not exactly what I was expecting. Was a fair bit comedic, one of the supporting actors was excellent, and the story went in directions I didn't see coming considering I knew what Cicada 3301 was supposed to be going in. Also pulled a few twists that were completely out of nowhere in a good way. Glad they took liberty with it and made it their own. I'll probably watch this again. Was a good time.

[Seanny One Ball]

“The Gentlemen” - 2.5/4

Guy Ritchie with yet another home-soil gangster flick. He knows the routine by now, so do we. I’d say his casting in this was pretty woeful besides McConaughey so it doesn’t quite get the 3/4 a good Guy Ritchie film deserves. I wasn’t enamoured by the Hugh Grant movie gimmick either, it’s like pretension for thick people and it reminds me of that awful film he did with Andre 3000 and Jason Statham. The action and humour were typically well staged though so I can’t grumble too much.

[Seanny One Ball]

Irresistible- 2/4

Political comedies are never very funny so I’m not sure why I watched it. It was told from the wrong side. The film should have followed Chris Cooper not Steve Carell.

[Seanny One Ball]

I’m trying to think how he ever got famous in the first place. We lose the great character actors like Bruno Kirby and get stuck with trash like Sizemore.

He was glorious in Heat though. Everybody in Heat was.



I’m claiming this as a righteous kill.

[Seanny One Ball]

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - 3.5/4

James Stewart playing a perfect role, John Wayne the same. Lee Marvin was always better as a villain and he has Strother Martin and Lee Van Cleef backing him up so the characters are all very typical, but the way the acting flits between drama and comedy is excellent and the pacing of the storyline keeps the performances at a peak.
I had my reservations when I saw how highly it was rated because I almost never agree but this time I have to say it’s one of the best Westerns without having any graphic violence. The plot pacing throws your guesses off too but all in all it is fairly predictable, it may have the best double bluff of all time in it though.
There are several huge lines in it that pervade pop-culture to this day, a couple caught me off guard and I don’t like spoiling those things so if you are yet to see it then take the next chance you get.

[slik]

Scream VI - I give it a severed thumbs up.

Actually glad Sidney is not in this one, got to know the characters from the last film better and the story didn't have to be anchored to Sid. Good opening kill scene and definitely the bloodiest Scream so far. However, not my favorite Ghostie.

[Seanny One Ball]

Bad Day At Black Rock - 3.5/4

I wasn’t looking for a classic but I settled on this because I mistook it for a period Western when it’s actually set straight after WW2. It’s a tightly packed drama with an open mystery so you spend 80 minutes wondering if/when the nefarious townsmen will take out Spencer Tracy. I enjoyed it for the performances and what would have been an all-star cast back in the fifties. There is some very poor violence in it… I think even Spencer Tracy and Ernest Borgnine could put on a better fight than that if push came to shove.
Borgnine was a big bastard back then, he would probably have hurt anybody let alone an old man called Tracy.

Actors had crazy real names back then…

[weather vane]

Creed 3

7.6/10

[Seanny One Ball]

Even if I wanted to watch Creed 3 I couldn’t do it purely on principle.
I hope Michael B Jordan falls off faster than Tommy Morrison.

[Seanny One Ball]

The Scalphunters - 4/4

An unappreciated comedy masterpiece in dark Western sheep’s clothing. It’s actually very well balanced between drama, comedy and Western which should have been harder to do given the storyline but that’s good writing for you. I watched it because it looked like a slightly more intelligent, less questionable Western and it turned out to be an early version of 48 Hours, in fact there is a case to be made for it providing inspiration at least. There are a lot of great lines and the racial element mixes with the fairly overt social commentary to create a self-aware but still boisterous comedy that doesn’t pander. It’s an honest film, even in the practical effects and stunts it’s all good and clean.
Burt Lancaster opposite Ossie Davis as leads, Telly Savalas and Shelley Winters in support. The acting is natural but glossier, so it plays like a really well put together B movie long before Tarantino came around.

I enjoyed it so much I’ll watch it again soon.

[XL]

Luther: The Fallen Sun 7/10

Big fan of Luther the TV series. This is Luther the Hollywood remake but with the same lead, ludicrously over the top and Andy Serkis is a barely believable villain. A decent watch though.

[Seanny One Ball]

Luther was amazing for three seasons, that Ruth Wilson chemistry was crazy.

[Destor]

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) - 6/10


Its shot really well but nihilism is about as interesting as a religious film about finding atheism...maybe that last one could work as a comedy... any way if your films point is nothing matters you should be able to get that across in less than 150 minutes. Not giving a shit is easy. Making people care is the craft. Its REALLY well shot though.

[drave]

^

That's the only thing that kept me watching; how it was shot. Lots of continuous shots.

[Destor]

There were two action sequences that were SUPER good visually

[Destor]

The Shape of Water (2017) - 6/10

I typically love Del Toro by my Spider-sense told me to avoid this. Finally gave it a go. The script has all the problems modern writings have and its that it tells you everything.

Its a fairytale so its not like the story beats are supposed to be catching anyone off guard. It should be predictable. Fairytales arent about the ending. We know there are only two endings. A kiss or a coffin. In a fairytale we march through the acts waiting for the answer to that choice.

No what it tells you is its opinions. Good art is subjective not for the sake of it but because of its versatility. It can mean more that way. It can develop layers that guide us in the future when a new problem exists that the author could have never forseen arises that the work can become a parable for.

This tells you exactly what everything represents. It vomits it at you proudly. We dont interpret this script we endure it. As stated the plot is functionally dead until the final frames and the subtext is stripped out too. It leaves us with nothing.

Fortunately while the writing may fail the cast doesnt. Everyone is great save Octavia Spencer who only has ever given one performance and only ever will give one performance.

But what keeps me overall positive about this film is color. Its through color that Del Tero has perhaps managed to pull this film up a few notches. Id need a rewatch to REALLY analyze it and i dont want to see this again for a very very long time, if ever.

The color green has immeanse subtextual relevance. Obviously The Creature is green. The labratory is green. The uniforms are green. The Cadillac is green. The antagonists candy is green. My working theory is based on what the car salesman says. "Green is the color of the future."

Again this film lazily wears its metaphor like an exoskeleton so viewing the future as progress and green thus as progress most examples become self explanatory. The Cadillac though i think is the key. When the antagonist sees it he says he doesnt like the color. That he hates green. Furthermore the scene in his home he is seen wearing yellow. His wife wearing yellow offset by green. His daughter all green. His son predominantly yellow but green poking through. Yellow being the old and progress lurking underneath. Bursting at the seams.

Taking it further his hand as it rots emits green puss. His body rejects the fingers. He rejects the green. Theres a lot more to disect there but ive written enough about a color.

Except for Red. Its the second predominantly featured color. Notably in blood and the protagonists outfit in the final scene. I have no working theory on what red is. I suspect becauase its just striking against the deep greens and its "romantic." But its worth mentioning. At the very least it *is* pretty.

But its telling that i leave a 2 hour picture and the thing i find most interesting is whats not explicitly stated...

...but it isnt all bad. Afterall it has a musical number.

[Seanny One Ball]

Have you ever seen “The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover”?

You’ll enjoy that.

[GD]

Watching the Fablemans movie and it's something else. The performances are incredible.

[Destor]

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022) - 5/10


The embodiment of "fun and fine." The kind of movie that would play on the USA Network and youd come in 20 min into the film and end up leaving on the next hour and a half. If you're bored and find a free option give it a go. Some of the meta comedy is pretty good. 3rd act sucks the fun out a bit.

[Destor]

Watching the Fablemans movie and it's something else. The performances are incredible.i have it on my coffee table. Might be a few weeks before i get around to it but im looking forward to it

[Destor]

Have you ever seen “The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover”?

You’ll enjoy that.i havent but thats a good title

[Destor]

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022) - 5/10


The embodiment of "fun and fine." The kind of movie that would play on the USA Network and youd come in 20 min into the film and end up leaving on the next hour and a half. If you're bored and find a free option give it a go. Some of the meta comedy is pretty good. 3rd act sucks the fun out a bit.oh and Tiffany Haddish is the worst actress ive ever seen

[GD]

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022) - 5/10


The embodiment of "fun and fine." The kind of movie that would play on the USA Network and youd come in 20 min into the film and end up leaving on the next hour and a half. If you're bored and find a free option give it a go. Some of the meta comedy is pretty good. 3rd act sucks the fun out a bit.

I thought it was a good time. The 3rd act was definitely the weakest.

[M-A-G]

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish - 3 and a half stars out of 4.

My biggest fear going into this was that I was going to find it an overrated mess as everyone and their mother around me just couldn't get off of its dong in praising it. And, yeah, it's not perfect nor the industry-changing spectacle I was expecting, but any nitpicks I found are more than made up with a ton of charm and humor and insight to where the movie can claim to wipe its ass with the entirety of the four Shrek films. Seriously, those look like amateur hour compared to what's here. I might be harsher than necessary as I've always found the original Shrek to be a boring, overrated fever dream. Things are done just so much better in this film.

It's surprisingly mature, with its exploration of Puss's character and the dilemma he faces. Sure, it loses some luster as it essentially boils down to yet another fetch quest, complete with multiple parties looking to complicate things for our protagonist, but like I said, it succeeds because of the way it's approached, with clever reimagining of these literary characters, Goldilocks in particular. The animation is so much better, too. I don't know what it is about previous Dreamworks films, but other than this movie and the How to Train Your Dragon series, I've always found the way they animated human characters to be an eye sore. Things look infinitely sharper, better, and interesting here, and the action sequences take a page out of Into the Spider-Verse to make them more fun.

Overall, fun is probably the best single word I could use to describe the whole thing. Getting through the Shrek movies has always been a chore for me, but I laughed more and was invested more here in the first 20 minutes than I can claim for those entire movies. The orphaned dog that Puss befriends alone is probably the greatest character created for the series aside from Puss himself. It's hard to find something to completely hate here.

[Destor]

I thought it was a good time. The 3rd act was definitely the weakest.
I dont think a 5 is inherently bad. Its mediocre. Its not bad. But if you went your life never having seen it you arent missing out.

[GD]

I get that.

I'm trying to watch Cocaine Bear and it seems bad. I'm 15 mins in and I don't want to watch any further.

[Lock Jaw]

Shazam: Fury of the Gods - 8/10

Pretty enjoyable, even if the trailer did give away way too much about it. You can tell that they thought the actor who played Billy was "too big and awkward looking" now because he was barely in the movie. Was always gonna be the problem with live action Captain Marvel.... the kid who plays Billy will always grow and that kinda ruins the "dynamic".

They definitely could have made a better/more fun sequel, especially with some of the elements they introduced in the Rock of Eternity but I enjoyed it. I'd give it a solid 7.5/10 and then add .5 for Mary Marvel's sweater melons in the final act.

[GD]

I saw The Menu last night.

[Seanny One Ball]

“The Ox-Bow Incident” - 4/4

In 75 minutes this film does what takes some films hours. It is a simple but brilliantly told morality tale which takes no tangents and stays focused on the issue. It made me think of Kitty Genovese, Rashomon and Rod Serling. I enjoyed the sincerity of the actors, it has great strength of performance to go with the basic but powerful storyline. It looks Western, it sounds Western but there are no heroes and there is no victory to be found. This is the sort of film that inspired “High Noon” which then kicked off a whole anti-western scene.

Apparently it is Clint Eastwood’s favourite film and after seeing it, that makes perfect sense. It was probably pretty high on Sergio Leone’s list too. John Wayne probably found it queer or communist.

[ClockShot]

Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania - 3/5

Probably one of Marvel's easier films to make. Just shoot a few scenes outdoors then throw the cast in a big sound stage with a big ass CGI budget and do it up.

Could have been better.

[Seanny One Ball]

Watching only Westerns for weeks has rendered me very cynical of anybody and everybody.
“Shane”, “Johnny Guitar”, “Never Grow Old” are the best ones from before my only-Westerns period. Now I appreciate Henry Fonda, Lee Marvin and Burt Lancaster a lot more. The true hero of my experience is Randolph Scott, who in his fifties was a convincing forty year old. He couldn’t half make a B movie.

[Seanny One Ball]

I have fallen wildly in love with Burt Lancaster though.
Possibly the most likeable man on film pre-Clooney.

[Seanny One Ball]

I’ll be doing an “only war” period soon.

There are so many Westerns left to watch.
Literally thousands.

[El Vaquero de Infierno]

It's not a proper western unless Richard Widmark is in it.

[ClockShot]

No, no, no.

It's Randolph Scott.

[Seanny One Ball]

Nobody is better than Alan Ladd in “Shane”.
It is the human version of Old Yeller.

[Seanny One Ball]

Ah crap I always forget the kid died in real life…
Not before making “Hud” though.

[Seanny One Ball]

I’d love to do a watch-along for “Seven Brides For Seven Brothers” with Destor.
It’s a western musical about buying wives.
Tell me I’m wrong.

[Seanny One Ball]

First song has lyrics like “Bless her beautiful hide”

[Seanny One Ball]

Destor if I can get a hold of this film, upload it to YouTube and stream it live then we are watching it together.
It cracks me up. Women are things.

[Seanny One Ball]

If you compare this film with “The Homesman” they tell two very different tales of marriage in the old West.

[Seanny One Ball]

I forgot how funny this was… guy’s name is Frank… short for Frankincense

[Seanny One Ball]

What a quality film. I saw it a couple of times in my twenties but it has been a long time.
Every song is awful but relevant.
The comedy is ridiculously funny, it is a work of genius.

[Seanny One Ball]

One of the brothers goes to town and beats up three guys when another brother offers a group of women some chaw and it offends them.

Come on now

[Seanny One Ball]

Imagine being an actual hillbilly that sees a group of dames and thinks “what do I own that is good enough to impress them” and the answer you come up with is chaw.

That’s just great writing.

[Seanny One Ball]

All of the violence is set to a rousing but jovial tune.
Jolly fighting.

[Seanny One Ball]

The brothers put on a real show to attract wives when they all finally clean up and go into town. They dance like they are acrobats.
4/4 Destor.

Destor watch this movie with me.

[Seanny One Ball]

Any time something happens that might inflame the groin they burst out into song.
This is your Hays Code in action and it is glorious if implemented correctly only to be subverted correctly.

[Seanny One Ball]

One of the bro’s just kiss raped a girl with her eyes closed.
Shit is getting real.

[Seanny One Ball]

The only other western musicals I can think of are Oklahoma! and Calamity Jane.
Seven Brides is way better and totally self aware.

[Seanny One Ball]

John Wayne seducing a widow by telling her what foodstuffs she smells like is high level shit in “Hondo”.

[Destor]

The brothers put on a real show to attract wives when they all finally clean up and go into town. They dance like they are acrobats.
4/4 Destor.

Destor watch this movie with me.you have my attention :lol:

[GD]

Saw "Last Night in Soho" tonight.

[Destor]

Hard Eight (1996) - 7/10

I think nearly any other film tried to have a plot as absent as this and it would produce an unwatchable mess but here i think it really works. The actors and the writing holds you firmly. You want to hear more. You want to see more. You want this despite technically having nothing going on in a larger narrative sense.

The viewer, or at least I, easily get the impression theres something more to know. Whats the angle? That sort of thing. Im a bit too tired to really dig into this but i liked it.

I loved the last shot. Perhaps a PTA trope but his ability to give a massive ammount of information in the closing moments is possibly as good as it gets.

Sydney does clean the blood off. He just covers it up. This moment tells us, atleast perhaps, why he pseudo adopted John C Rileys character. He's stained with the past but perhaps has can cover his soul.

[Destor]

Saw "Last Night in Soho" tonight.what did you think?

Last Night in Soho - 7/10

I always struggle to rate films im mixed on. I'll start with praise cause there's a fair amount to appreciate

Immediately this film is visually striking. It has a clear voice and it grabs you in the first few frames. You're able to feel like youre in good hands and it really lets relax and go on this journey. and the 1st act has some great visual effects and some wildly complex practical effects thats are just super interesting to look at.

Casting is excellent. Thomasin McKenzie id had only seen in JoJo Rabbit but she was outstanding there and she is here too. Anya-Taylor Joy is sex personified and leans into it in a way that allows her to command every scene she has.

I'll try and be vague about the plot here because this does live and die on the plot and the less you know the better. I'll say that it unravels its mystery in a way thats very satisfying.

Unfortunately the plot is incredibly discordant. Tonally its 3 films and they blend pretty poorly where they butt up against one another. That said once the "new" film gets momentum they do manage to get you back but id be lying if i said it didnt take me out of the film multiple times with these hard pivots.

at its core this is a #metoo horror film. But its for the most part feminism done correctly. The film doesnt stop, stare into the camera, and lecture the audience. It does it through a fair ammount of subtext.

The film, in my opinion, bravely acknowledges the culpability in the heroin. It doesnt pretend that she wasnt trading on dreams but it also doesnt excuse the benefactors of the transaction either. Thats a tight rope to walk.

Where i think it fails is does excuse our villain at the end and goes as far as to approve and thats just a bridge too far. However it does get some things right. Not every woman in this picture is a saint. Some are out right monsters. And not every man is a predator. Some have genuine and honest intentions. This messaging is paramount.

You also have some brilliant moments where the protagonist is being haunted by these male spectors. But we the audience see that these are normal people and in some cases men we know to be good. This is important. Its her paranoia that "all men are evil" that blinds her to the truth. Its not all men. Its specific men. There are monsters but it shouldnt damn us all.

Its moments like that that separates this film from what has become bog standard hollywood lecturing. The film addresses the complexity and danger present by going too far in BOTH directions and that makes for a film that feels like its taking the topic seriously.

But as stated in the end theres a value judgement cast that goes too far when the plot is taken on the surface level. The reality could have been a horrible person born from the actions of horrible people and i think that would have rang more true.
Ultimately i think the film is a visual treat and should probably been seen just for the sake of SEEING it. These mirror effects are mostly practical and theyre wild technically and the rest is just icing on the cake.

[GD]

what did you think?



Very well articulated. I agree with your assessment of the overall tone of the film.

I thought it was a visual delight with very few shortcomings.

[Destor]

Visually its outstanding

[Lock Jaw]

Three Thousand Years of Longing - 7.5/10

Really enjoyed it up to a point and then in the last act it falls downhill fast

[Destor]

Requiem for a Dream (200) - 8/10

Ive been a fan of Aronofsky's work since π but never got to this despite hearing the word masterpiece thrown around when it comes up. I think thats why i passed on it. It was oversold. I tend to let things sit when theyre built up too much for their own sake and with this film i just never went back to it after the hype died down.

To be clear masterpiece is definitely over selling it but it is very very good. It contrasts legal addiction vs agorist addiction. It mirrors the highs and lows from multiple perspectives and its very captivating. It appears to me its central effort is to call out the pharmaceutical industry and the medical field that fuels it.

Extremely well acted. A superb score. The cinematography has an identity and i get what its going for but ive never cared for the extreme close ups and hard cuts. It works. You can convey a lot with it and its done well here but i always feel like it removes the audience from the world and reminds us this is a film.

On top of that the films toys with reality vs perception and it has us asking what is diegetic vs non-diegetic frequently and that inadvertently breaks the 4th wall. In scenes where we should worry about the characters this hurts the tension.

All that said the major story beats are phenomenal and the climax is deep and harrowing. The film certainly works and well.

[Destor]

@l jaw


That scene has a brutality to it that is really difficult to describe.

[GD]

Visually its outstanding

Watching Spaced. One of the characters reminds me of Seanny One Ball.

[Destor]

I’d love to do a watch-along for “Seven Brides For Seven Brothers” with Destor.
It’s a western musical about buying wives.
Tell me I’m wrong.just got a copy for .99¢ :y:

[Destor]

Murder on the Orient Express (2017) - 5 or 7/10

Im giving this film two numbers because if you've seen any of the other adaptations or read the novel...or any of the derivatives for that matter then this will offer nothing of interest. It doesnt bring anything new to the piece at all

And for the record: i think thats a good thing. A reasonably faithful adaptation that has a modern highly notable cast is a great thing to offer audiences. Most movie goers dont watch films from 50 years ago or read novels from nearly a century ago.

Its for those viewers i give this a 7. This is the quintessential whodunnit. The one that truly subverts the detective genre in a way when i saw the 1974 film that blew me away. I do think that version is the better version and if youre inclined to go into older film thats the one you should see but if this is your blind viewing you'll probably get a lot of enjoyment from it.

conceptionally the concept of "what if there were no red herrings?" is still the most clever approach to a crime novel ever. Knowing the audience is trying to solve the case alongside our inspector and weilding that against them is forever genius.
tl;dr its a fine adaptation of a story thats timeless but also a story that once heard can never be interesting again.

[GD]

Saw The Black Phone.

[Seanny One Ball]

just got a copy for .99¢ :y:

Seriously?

Damn that’s good pricing.
It’s a fucking hilarious film.

I’m going to try to set up a watch along for films like this.

If we do a chat we could watch it just by you using your movie and me using my stream.

[Seanny One Ball]

I would prefer the #1WWE Classic style though.
Straight streaming. I figure uploading movies to a private YouTube channel works at least for the duration of the stream.

[Destor]

Tpww movie nights would be excellent

[GD]

Trying to watch Cop Shop. My friend says Butler is having a resurgence of sorts.

[GD]

This movie is boring.

[Destor]

The Banshees of Ineshirin (2022) - 8/10


I really loved this. Im far too tired to write anything.

[Destor]

Everything Everywhere all at Once (2022) - 6/10

A mash-up between Jet Li's The One and Kung Pow! Enter the Fist that hinges mostly on if you find arbitrary funny or not. The idea that a single person in this film could win best actor in any single category never mind best picture is completely beyond me.

Best editing though for sure. No question. The kung fu is pretty solid and often funny. The overarching plot of family and acceptance is as deep as a fortune cookie.

I will however give it an extra point for Raccaccoonie

7/10

[Frank Drebin]

Yeah.....I really wanted to love this and I was even on board with it before it "blew up" and turned into an Oscar contender. Been a while since I saw it and while I found it enjoyable enough it didn't meet my expectations of it being anymore profound than - as Destor said - a fortune cookie (v racist comment from Destor. I didn't say it).

Def more on the goofy side (pee your pants as a catalyst) which isn't my thing as I'm more of the hard sci-fi fi (see: Arrival) type of film goer. So, maybe it wasn't for me or a dancing loving racist like Destor but I didn't love it apparently as other did.

[Destor]

Im also a racist dance lover. Its similar but legally distinct

[GD]

Yeah.....I really wanted to love this and I was even on board with it before it "blew up" and turned into an Oscar contender. Been a while since I saw it and while I found it enjoyable enough it didn't meet my expectations of it being anymore profound than - as Destor said - a fortune cookie (v racist comment from Destor. I didn't say it).

Def more on the goofy side (pee your pants as a catalyst) which isn't my thing as I'm more of the hard sci-fi fi (see: Arrival) type of film goer. So, maybe it wasn't for me or a dancing loving racist like Destor but I didn't love it apparently as other did.


I'd give it 4 Booksmarts out of 10.

[OssMan]

Everything everywhere broke my rule of I don't like movies or shows where stuff is happening in other dimensions. It was okay and Raccacoonie was really funny but any time theres interdimensional stuff I lose all interest

[OssMan]

DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS

Really good and funny... just a fun movie to see w friends... Way better than the one i saw in 2000

[GD]

I'm watching "What If" and Zoe Kazan has such beautiful sad eyes. I'll always remember her for playing "Ruby Sparks".

[GD]

I'm enjoying this movie more than I should. Maybe I should become more accepting of my basic-ness.

[Seanny One Ball]

Trying to watch Cop Shop. My friend says Butler is having a resurgence of sorts.


Gerard Butler was always a pish actor but Cop Shop is quality for Toby Huss.

[GD]

That doesn't excuse how boring the rest of the film was. Straight to DVD garbage.

[Seanny One Ball]

Joe Carnahan doesn’t do boring.

[GD]

I haven't enjoyed any of his work since The Grey.

[OssMan]

Cocaine bear was fine

[GD]

Cocaine bear was fine

I did not enjoy that movie at all. I really tried.

[Seanny One Ball]

Cocaine Bear was funny but it would have been a funny heist movie without the bear anyway.
I laughed a fair bit.

[Seanny One Ball]

I haven't enjoyed any of his work since The Grey.

That’s pretty standard irony Darl.

[GD]

What can I say...he's a bore.

[Seanny One Ball]

You fucking are

[GD]

You fucking are

I'm not charging people to bore them, sunshine. Nor do I have any obligation.

[ClockShot]

John Wick: Chapter 4 - 4.75/5

[GD]

Saw "Good Time" tonight. Robert Pattinson was good in it.

[GD]

Watching "Logan Lucky" for the first time. So many recognizable actors.

[Seanny One Ball]

“The Searchers” - 3/4

It is imperfect and downright silly at times, but it is so visually influential both in cinematography and style that I should really be giving it a 4/4 on principle.
People like to say Kurosawa was influential, but I bet he looked up to John Ford in his own way.
This is big cinema at its best in a time when representation wasn’t a consideration, but there are very obvious signs of respect and integrity in Ford’s depictions of the savage and the civilised.

If I had to show somebody a perfect example of the acting style of the time period I would have to show them this. This or “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” are the epitome of the era’s ideals.

[Seanny One Ball]

I would love to see an Audie Murphy biopic made again.
I have a lot of admiration for him as both an actor and a man. His short life is a tragedy.

[Seanny One Ball]

If he was younger Matthew McConaughey is who I’d want. Audie Murphy could only be played by a real talent.
I think you’d need a young man to do it. That Nick Robinson would be a good shout.

[Sepholio]

Saw Mario on the worlds biggest Imax yesterday. It was an excellent experience. Great movie. Could have been a little longer but otherwise I loved it and if you don't love it you're a square. 800/10. (Not really, but I'd give it like an 8)

[slik]

Super Mario Bros was fun

I'd give it 7/10, it's just a really fun movie

[Seanny One Ball]

Watching “The Cowboys” with John Wayne and in it he uses a group of kids to drive his cattle instead of men as none are available.

Anyway a black cook goes with them and when he sees his colleagues are kids he says he’s going to “fix up some sugar tits to take along”.
Then later on a kid called him the n-word.

Crazy shit.

[Seanny One Ball]

Haha one of them asks him if he has a black cock

[Seanny One Ball]

John Wayne cures a lad’s stutter with good old fashioned verbal abuse.
Later on anotherboy is stampeded by a herd.
These kids are growing up fast or not at all.

Bruce Dern playing a bad heel. A kid hitter.

[Lock Jaw]

The Super Mario Bros. Movie - 6.5/10

Was ok, some really neat sequences, visuals, and references, but real shallow on everything else. Not that I was really expecting anything but shallow on everything else.

[Destor]

Seeing a lot of people mad at critics for not liking it.. this confuses me. Last thing i would want is critics championing popcorn

[GD]

Attempting to watch Cape Fear and this might be the weirdest Scorsese film I've seen.

[GD]

Going to watch Vivarium next.

[El Vaquero de Infierno]

You better stay away from Imogen Poots; she's mine!

[GD]

This was absolutely mental. Might watch Repo Man again. Remember it being pretty dope.

[GD]

Watching Sean Baker's "The Florida Project". Red Rocket was a riot.

[GD]

This movie made me bawl.

[GD]

Fucjing Willem Dafoe

[Destor]

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) - 7/10

Ah the American Musical. The only red white and blue art form. This film coming in at the peak of its tenure as the giant of the american film industry just 2 years after Singing in the Rain. I was all in when the films I want song was "bless your beautiful hide." Hilariously brilliant pun the establishes everything you need to know. The goals of the protagonist. Who the protagonist is and just how backward he is. Juxtaposing him against the town.The world the characters will be set in. Everything you need an i want song to do it does and its a toe tapper to boot.

Fundamentally this is two fairy tales kinda mashed together. Its beauty and the beast and the 7 dwarves. Snow white tries to train the drawves to be men essentially.

Not all the songs hit that well, honestly probably only 2 or 3, but where this really nails it is the dance numbers. Choreography is nearly peerless. There's a huge number at the top of the 2nd split in 2 parts. 1st is the dance before a barn raising and the 2nd half is the barn raising itself. In the 1st half the 6 brothers are trying to be men to captivate the civilized women as civilizedmen. and it works. In the 2nd half the civilized men challenge the brothers on the primal level and they've diluted their instincts. The civilized men begin to take advantage of them until they revert to their natural selves but they lose the women in the process.

Now this is incredibly smart stuff. In courting you need to be soft enough attract a female and hard enough to drive away the competing men. If you veer to far in either direction you risk failing the endeavor. And they do this during an outstanding dance number full of gymnastics, tumbling, pratfalls, swing dance and just outright fun.

Another number i really enjoyed was afte the brother return home alone and defeated they have this bit showing their depression where theyre chopping wood in the snow. The song is pretty lovely but what i really appreciated is how they used the work they were doing to be the percussion for the number. It added a really interesting visual layer to the bit and i really enjoyed it.

The films conclusion is pretty outrageous. The men misinterpret a book and conclude kidnapping is the key to getting a wife. So they do. Its all played for laughs and it is pretty funny to be fair. The girls do fall for them ultimately andand when the towns folk come to get back their daughters the girls try to hide from them. They dont want to go home. The brothers try and force them to go home to avoid bloodshed and the girls resist. This creates a scene where everyone is doing the right thing but from the towns folk perspective it looks like the brothers are forcing themselves on the women.

And again its pretty damn funny.

This all resolves with the women declaring their love and the fathers forcing the men to make honest women out of them after its implied theyve spent all winter fucking them (even though they didnt.)

And while it probably shouldnt be its pretty fucking funny.

[Destor]

A completely ridiculous premise that just fucking works.

[Seanny One Ball]

It’s a perfect film for boozing

[Seanny One Ball]

I really enjoyed that review, you obviously understand what makes it such a fun film.
The choreography is bonkers.

[Destor]

The choreography is like a 3 stooges bit through dance. Its excellent

[Seanny One Ball]

The Naked Spur - 2.5/4

It’s a bit like “3:10 To Yuma” if you replace the gravitas with some top shelf buffoonery. James Stewart is the gangliest, most emotional and weirdest cowboy in almost every western he does. This one is actually a good story but with every climax going slightly wrong… lots of daft shit is going on in the Wild West, from gullible elderly gold-diggers to dishonourably discharged confederate cavalrymen. At one point spurs are used like crampons for hands on a sheer rock face. Spurs spin though.
At the end James Stewart just bursts into tears and blubbers like a big fanny. Apparently it is beloved by the French.

I enjoyed it. If it hadn’t been made in the fifties it might have stood a chance at being good for the right reasons because it’s pretty clear that it was trying to be all-out shocking. Robert Ryan smashes Janet Leigh in the head with a gun at one point and James Stewart kicks a guy in the face. Obviously they hit clean air both times and it is visibly ludicrous when the blows are sold as fully as that but that’s how screen violence usually was in Westerns before the sixties turned it up a notch. James Stewart is just a hard guy to buy as a badass.

[El Vaquero de Infierno]

If you want a good Jimmy Stewart film, check out 'Shenandoah;' both a western and a civil war film.

[Destor]

Antichrist (2009) - 7/10

I wont go in depth on this one because by design its meant to be interpreted by the viewer so there isnt any value in my take away becauae its my take away. I do have thoughts though and I'll enjoy muddling through them over the next few days.

What i will say is if youve ever seen a Lars Von Trier film and didnt like it this wont be the one that changes your mind. His films are challenging across every metric he can muster and he doesntmake films for commercial reasons. You're either interested in exploring the space along side him or you arent.

I was watching an Actors on Actors with Collin Farrell and Hugh Grant and Ferrell was saying how he proffered the smaller roles that were less commercial and more about characters and performances and Hugh chimed in that ultimately their jobs were to be "stuck up their own asses" but to entertain. Ferrell sheepishly agreed.

I couldn't disagree more. Not everything is about entertainment. As if that is some holy virtue. And Von Trier certainly doesnt give a shit about it. Hell he'll actively engage in boredom if it draws you to the emotional peaks he's aiming for.

That said this film is very intense and once the horror film is in full motion during the late 2nd and 3rd acts there's plenty to stimulate the viewer.

It isnt for everyone. Hell it isnt for most.

I did take a point off for the cinematography though. The camera constantly reminded you of its existence. Making deliberate motions that the characters would react to. As if its a 3rd party to the events. While i do think there is deliberate intention to it it does reduce immersion and that is something this film has as a strength until those moments.

[GD]

Watching Minari today. Seems promising.

[GD]

This movie is too sweet.

[Seanny One Ball]

If you want a good Jimmy Stewart film, check out 'Shenandoah;' both a western and a civil war film.

It’s already on the list. I basically only have the epics, the 2-3 hour blockbusters and a handful of Jimmy Stewart, Richard Widmark, Gregory Peck and Burt Lancaster films left.
I’m saving “Paint Your Wagon” for a drunk day.

[Seanny One Ball]

Richard Widmark might take a week or two because I have purposefully left him out until now. I just felt like Randolph Scott was clearly the main man so he got most of my attention early on.

[El Vaquero de Infierno]

Widmark is the man. Randolph Scott can go suck a lemon.

In regards to Gregory Peck, I hope 'The Big Country' is on your list. It also has Jean Simmons and the mighty Charlton Heston in it. Good stuff.

[Seanny One Ball]

Charlton Heston is the least talented big star to ever make a Western. I’ve got Major Dundee on the list because it’s Sam Peckinpah. Gregory Peck was once my favourite actor from the golden age but I am not keeping my hopes up for his Western output. He has the persona of a carpet bagger, and as we all know the good guys in Western movies are almost guaranteed to be former Confederates.

[Lock Jaw]

John Wick: Chapter 3 - 7.5/10

I remember not being so impressed by the first one, and then really enjoying the second one and being excited to see where it went from there..... but then I never watched the third until now.

Rewatched 1 and 2 as well (not today). Think I enjoyed the first one more the second time around, maybe I just "knew what to expect" this time, dunno. Still really enjoyed the second.

Third was good, but I think I still like the second one more. Felt myself getting "tired" at some of the action scenes in the third... but then also others being really freaking sweet....

Will try to go to see the 4th one before it is out of the theaters...

[Destor]

Baby Driver - 8/10

As far as the plot i concerned this is a film we've seen before. Its an amalgam of every chase film we've ever seen. Of course its not the plot that makes this film so good.

What makes this stand out, primarily, its the synchronicity between the visual and the auditory. The complexity of these practical cars and all the moving parts being so tightly choreographed against the soundtrack of this film. And the way the world moves in tune with the sounds. Gun fire being on time with the bass. Doors shutting to the beat. A hundred small nuances that move in time.

This marriage of both senses is outrageous because the bulk of this work had to begin on the page and carry through the entire process. Its an astounding achievement in directing and certainly editing as well. Immediately during the credit roll we're given a pretty lengthy oner (its actually two shots masked as one but the cut is well hidden,) and during this shot we're given a clear taste for what this film is aiming for. Complexity and unity across every available spectrum. Its a big goal. One i think the cast and crew were up for the challenge.

The cast is all standout. Ansel Elgort and Lilly James have a magnetic chemistry that instantaneously inspires you to root for them. John Hamm goes from friendly to menacing on a dime and works at both levels. Id say Jamie Fox took a chracter that on the page is excellent and some how got less out of it though. Id have gladly traded him for more John Bernthol.

Im a huge lover of practical car stunts and the lack of cgi is very appreciated. Just metal on metal carnage. Very appreciated. It would have been cheaper to do most of this digitally and there will come a day insurance companies demand it be done digitally so enjoy every frame while you can.

All said this film isnt about the beats of the story but the rhythm of experience. As far as the chase film genre goes this is very high end work.

[Destor]

@lock jaw ive never seen john wick 1. Should i?

[GD]

B-A-B-Y Baby!

[Destor]

I just went through my posts in this thread and if you only count films i was rating for the 1st time and not films that i had previously seen that had come up in conversation in the 16 years this thread has been going ive given 16 films a 10. Seeing a single 10 a year seems high to me. Maybe im not harsh enough.

Was interesting to see some films on first viewing id rate differently now (not just 10s.) And in all fairness the 10s i give to spider-man movies are openly not critical evaluations and are purely running off fanboyism. That would lower my 10s per year .75 which does sound a bit more realistic.

I saw 2 last year though. Rashomon and Ikiru.

[Lock Jaw]

@lock jaw ive never seen john wick 1. Should i?

If you've already seen other ones I'd say there's no need.... it really is just a very very basic movie that just "lays the foundation" for the world...

[Destor]

No ive never seen any. I would never watch an iterative without seeing the original...maybe on a plane or something...

[Lock Jaw]

Then I would still definitely start from the first one, yeah... it's a pretty quick watch and "sets the tone"

[Seanny One Ball]

John Wick is a film for Destor for sure.
Destor once fucked a guy up for life for looking sideways at his dog.

[Seanny One Ball]

ive had...many.

my favorite dumb fight story is i used to live in a suburb. nieghbors on both sides. good back yard space but not much to either side. one day ive got the windows open and the dogs out. she was on a runner. tons of room but completely confined into my property. dogs barking. could be a squirrel. i dont think anything of it.

i hear someone say "you come near me im going to kick the shit out of you." i walk aroun the corner and tell this guy he thinks of kicking of my dog ill shove his own foot up his ass. he tells me "you aint gonna do shit." fair enough i guess.

without a second thought i calmly walked up to him. did a go-behind. dumped him on his head. and stretched him until he very literally cried. including making sure the heel of his boot touched his ass.

all the while the guy, who after i suplexed him was now very much i side her radious, was being bitten by my 11lb asshole of a dog. best dog i ever had.

anyways cop shows up. asks me what happened. i spell it out for him. he tells the guy to stay off of and to not threaten to harm my property. and leaves.


If a guy did this to me I’d assume he had already seen John Wick.

[GD]

If a guy did this to me I’d assume he had already seen John Wick.

Haha...totally. i'd think the same...same pinch :lol:

[Destor]

I skipped wick because of the dog. I can watch basically anything except bad things happening to dogs

[Seanny One Ball]

You don’t see anything happen to the dog

[GD]

You don’t see anything happen to the dog

Yeah! Totally...they don't show anything happen to the dog :wink: :wink: :p

[Seanny One Ball]

You see nothing besides somebody approaching it. You hear a yelp and that’s it.

[Destor]

The implication is enough. :'(

[Destor]

Ive been wanting to A Dog's Purpose for years and cant bring myself to do it

[Destor]

Little Women (2019) - 5/10


Just watch the 1994 film. I did like Florance Pugh though.

[Lock Jaw]

If it helps, the dog is thoroughly avenged. Thoroughly.

[Seanny One Ball]

Add Destor to the list of people who can’t come to my Old Yeller Birthday party

[Fignuts]

Cocaine Bear- 7/10

Would have preferred a little less sub plot, and a little more cocaine bear mauling, but whats there is very satisfying.

[Destor]

Now there's some animal abuse i can get behind

[Fignuts]

I think it did a good job of balancing between characters you're rooting for to survive and those who you want to see get eviscerated.

Unlike the most recent chainsaw massacre, where everyone is awful so you don't even care if anyone dies.

[slik]

The Pope's Exorcist - 7/10

It was fun. Russell Crowe very charismatic.

[Seanny One Ball]

That’s the worst movie title of all time. So unwieldy…

[slik]

I think the guy's 'irl' title was The Vatican's Exorcist, but gotta save that for the sequel.

[GD]

Saw "Black Adam". Wasn't bad.

[Lock Jaw]

Counterpoint: Yes it was. Still makes me "mad" to think about it.

[GD]

Counterpoint: Yes it was. Still makes me "mad" to think about it.

Can you share your viewpoint? I'm not very familiar with Black Adam or the JSA.

[Lock Jaw]

In the comics it's a complex story regarding the nature of heroism and what it means.

Then the movie it's a barely put together plot where The Rock gets to barely act, kill some generic bad guys, and at the end fight a new generic big bad and soulless army.

If they even TRIED to do a half decent adaptation of the JSA storyline "Black Reign" it could have been amazing, and warranted Black Adam actually having his own solo movie. The fact that they didn't even try and just put the JSA in the movie "just because" was infuriating.

[Destor]

This is lockjaws greatest cinematic disappointment and i respect that

[Lock Jaw]

In the comics:

Hawkman and Nabu (the being inside Dr. Fate's Helmet) were both in Ancient Egypt with Black Adam and had a "history" together. But sure, just throw them in the movie and ignore all of that and just barely explain who they are.

In the present day Black Adam joins the JSA for a while trying to prove that he is turning over a new leaf as a good guy. He strikes up a pretty good friendship with Atom-Smasher. Eventually stuff happens and Black Adam decides the JSA isn't tough enough on crime, and he decides to go on his own and he's going to start by taking over his home country of Khandaq and getting rid of the corrupt government.

He convinces Atom-Smasher to go with him, along with a few other young JSA allies. Together they take over Khandaq. Atom-Smasher is morally conflicted about killing, but Adam convinces him via showing him things like women and children in forced labour shops.

The JSA naturally find out and go into Khandaq, wanting to stop Black Adam and also t reclaim Atom-Smasher and their other young allies and try to get them back on the right path and away from Black Adam's influence.

They battle in the streets, and the people of Khandaq take Black Adam's side because he liberated them from the terrible corrupt gov't. The JSA even start to wonder what they are doing here, are they the good guys... but Hawkman tells them Black Adam has to be stopped, he's seen him unleashed in ancient times and knows what Adam wants...

Eventually the fight is only stopped by Atom-Smasher, who has been conflicted the whole time, convincing everyone to stop fighting and making Black Adam promise to just stay in Khandaq and not expand his "campaign of justice" to other countries like he was saying he would.

But in the movie, let's just replace the "legitimate" rulers of Khandaq with a literal gang of criminals who took over because that is less morally troubling than attacking a nation's army and institutions. Then let's jut ignore all the complex moral stuff with Atom-Smasher and just toss him in the movie too. Then instead of really focusing in on the relationships and the whole "nature of heroism"/"what is too much, what is too little, what can we do, what can't we do" quandaries, let's just toss in a generic demon big bad for Adam to fight and clearly just be "the hero".

Maxine Hunkle didn't exist at this point in the comics and was probably also just tossed into the movie because they wanted a female member of the team and couldn't put in Stargirl. It was good to see her, especially since she also didn't exist for like a decade until she was brought back recently.

[GD]

In the comics it's a complex story regarding the nature of heroism and what it means.

Then the movie it's a barely put together plot where The Rock gets to barely act, kill some generic bad guys, and at the end fight a new generic big bad and soulless army.

If they even TRIED to do a half decent adaptation of the JSA storyline "Black Reign" it could have been amazing, and warranted Black Adam actually having his own solo movie. The fact that they didn't even try and just put the JSA in the movie "just because" was infuriating.

That's a reasonable take :y:

[Lock Jaw]

This is lockjaws greatest cinematic disappointment and i respect that

I really love the JSA, so to see them tossed into this movie, not treated with any sort of respect, and probably having it ruin the chances of any sort of future JSA movies/content really "cheeses me off"

[Destor]

The Fablemans (2022) - 9/10

Out of the nominees for best picture of 2022 i can say with relative ease this was it and its a travesty it got completely snubbed. Spielberg has made a career out of making movies. Great movies too. Some say Jaws stands as a perfect movie. Then there's Close Encounters of the Third Kind/ET/Indiana Jones/Jurassic Park/Saving Private Ryan etc etc etc just a string of wonderful movies.

Spielberg has gotten serious a few timesand ventured out of movies and into film. The previously mentioned Private Ryan, a telling of his fathers war. Again in Schindler's List, a telling of his people's war. The Fablemans is his telling of himself. Its without question his most personal picture and he does it by making a really intimate movie that works in the light way that he likes but in a very serious dramatic level and its able to nimbly weave through these lanes at will.

And it mages to capture whats special about film. How it exposes truth. How it delights. How it inspires. How it hurts. How its makes us laugh, love, cry. How art moves us. This is Spielberg at his most authentic. No doubt the efforts of man who is looking back and missing those he's lost along the way.

And most importantly sometimes the horizon goes in the middle even if the academy cant see it.

[Lock Jaw]

I really want to see The Fabelmans...

[GD]

Such a good movie.

[Destor]

I wanted to see it in theater but i missed hy a week

[OssMan]

Mario movie

Fun

Nearly every beat in the movie was faithful to something from one game or another... cept there was this part in the beginning that seemed like more of a joke about gentrification in Brooklyn where they went into this yuppie condo and got attacked by a dog, but it wasnt the dog from duck hunt or anything, was just a random dog.

i liked that they shifted the narrative to be about mario saving luigi rather than saving peach, and the shared moment with him and DK wanting acceptance from their fathers was interesting. It was a very strange decision to portray DK as a young playboy nepo baby type of guy though, and Cranky Kong was uncomfortably jewish.

the use of licensed music was weird, didn't seem to fit... why have Take On Me playing during DK Jungle Parkway... i dunno. Generally the musical beats fit really well with whatever was going on though and it was really cool if you could pick up on the motifs and references. loved when they did the Mario Kart selection... Rainbow Road was a little dark though, kinda disappointing

I really loved the allusions to having to get the hang of the gameplay, and the platforming sections were really smartly done. Overall the movie was like 90% smartly done and 10% some strange choices (the misanthropic Luma, hardly any Yoshi)

lol @ conservatives calling it "anti-woke" because it did well at the box office... again they removed a potentially problematic misogynistic element of the standard mario plot (guy rescuing damsel in distress) and changed it to something more wholesome (guy trying to save his brother) but ok

[OssMan]

I think it did a good job of balancing between characters you're rooting for to survive and those who you want to see get eviscerated.

Unlike the most recent chainsaw massacre, where everyone is awful so you don't even care if anyone dies.
I wanted to see all the different sub plots convene at one point but alas

[Lock Jaw]

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent - 9/10

Was tremendous... glad I didnt wait any longer to see it. Wanted to watch it in theaters but then didn't.... then it came out on streaming service and I wanted to watch it but then didn't..... until now that is. Should have done it a lot sooner. Was great.

[Lock Jaw]

@Ossman, yeah, the usage of licensed music in the Mario movie really "turned me off", especially considering the rich library of video game music they have that they could sample/remix/use....

[Seanny One Ball]

I was raking around in my dvd collection earlier, in one of the piles of unwatched old war films and apparently I already have Shenandoah.
Stuck it on when I found it, so far it’s probably the best James Stewart film I have seen. Winchester ‘73 was pretty good but this is old man Jimmy Stewart chewing cigars and throwing punches at trespassers.

[Seanny One Ball]

I have had “Mr Smith Goes To Washington” staring back at me for the last three/four years too, never even took the plastic wrapper off.

[GD]

Going to watch Mads Mikkelsen starrer Another Round tonight. Looks promising.

[Fignuts]

I have a 250 film horror box set I've been meaning to dig into. It's mostly b-movie schlock.

[Seanny One Ball]

If “Maniac Cop” isn’t in there it’s a lost cause

[OssMan]

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent - 9/10

Was tremendous... glad I didnt wait any longer to see it. Wanted to watch it in theaters but then didn't.... then it came out on streaming service and I wanted to watch it but then didn't..... until now that is. Should have done it a lot sooner. Was great.

Really good 1...

[OssMan]

I have had “Mr Smith Goes To Washington” staring back at me for the last three/four years too, never even took the plastic wrapper off.

We watched this in my 12 grade government class and it was boring ah hell

[Triple A]

RRR (2022) - 9/10 - Sweet as hell...

Wild Tales (2014) - 9/10 - Excellent...

Titane (2021) - 8/10 - cool...

Kung Fu Hustle (2004) - 8/10 - funny...

The Northman (2022) - 8/10 - cool...

Omar (2013) - 8/10 - good

The Handmaiden (2016) - 8/10

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) - 7/10 - 3d/visuals were sweet... story not that great

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) - 7/10

Huda's Salon (2021) - 7/10

Incendies (2010) - 7/10

L.A. Confidential (1997) - 7/10

Raw (2016) - 6/10

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985) - 6/10

Wasp Network (2019) - 6/10

The Great Dictator (1940) - 6/10

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021) - 6/10

Barbarian (2022) - 6/10

Divine Intervention (2002) - 6/10

Downfall (2004) - 6/10

The Lives of Others (2006) - 5/10

[GD]

Going to watch Mads Mikkelsen starrer Another Round tonight. Looks promising.

This one is good.

[GD]

Jesus Christ, what a movie.

[Seanny One Ball]

We watched this in my 12 grade government class and it was boring ah hell

Yeah Frank Capra isn’t my kind of director, “It’s A Wonderful Life” is dreadful. However I have to watch it someday, my mum got me it for Christmas a few years ago along with a bunch of film-related stuff that she was really proud of. Most of it sucked besides the Big Lebowski shirt she got me. That thing is dope AF.

The truly awful aspect is that if I watch Mr. Smith I will feel compelled to endure Billy Jack Goes To Washington because… just because.

[M-A-G]

The Super Mario Bros. Movie - 2 1/2 stars out of 4

The rating is mainly for the gorgeous animation, the cute humor, the references, and a fun cast of characters. Let's not pretend we're getting a deep script or an interesting reflection of some aspect of life told through cinema.

No, what we have here is a love letter to little kids and the people who have been with this franchise since its inception. You can even look at it as an apology for that pile of shit from the '90s. Because of its lack of substance as far as story goes, there are scenes where it's pretty obvious they have to pad this out somehow, but even with that you're rewarded for your attention with some great visuals and in-jokes. I was one of the people who didn't give a shit about who was casted in what roles and at the end of the day, it didn't really matter. Everyone is either fine or flat out stellar, with Jack Black as Bowser falling into the latter category. Nobody is particularly annoying or kills the movie. Overall, when you picture what a Mario movie would entail, this would be it. If you want high cinema, this isn't it. If you go into it with your inner child in control, it's absolutely a fun experience.

[El Vaquero de Infierno]

John Wick: Chapter 4 6/10

I gave it the score above as everyone likes multiple gunshots to the head. However, I found this entry fairly tired.

[slik]

Evil Dead Rise - 7/10

I enjoyed this. Definitely the goriest film I've watched so far in 2023.

[GD]

Saw the 2020 "Black Box" movie last night

[Lock Jaw]

Paddington - 7/10

Paddington 2 - 8/10

Both were pretty good and entertaining....

[GD]

Saw Jaws for the first time. Quite a trip.

[rez]

The Super Mario Bros. Movie - 2 1/2 stars out of 4

The rating is mainly for the gorgeous animation, the cute humor, the references, and a fun cast of characters. Let's not pretend we're getting a deep script or an interesting reflection of some aspect of life told through cinema.

No, what we have here is a love letter to little kids and the people who have been with this franchise since its inception. You can even look at it as an apology for that pile of shit from the '90s. Because of its lack of substance as far as story goes, there are scenes where it's pretty obvious they have to pad this out somehow, but even with that you're rewarded for your attention with some great visuals and in-jokes. I was one of the people who didn't give a shit about who was casted in what roles and at the end of the day, it didn't really matter. Everyone is either fine or flat out stellar, with Jack Black as Bowser falling into the latter category. Nobody is particularly annoying or kills the movie. Overall, when you picture what a Mario movie would entail, this would be it. If you want high cinema, this isn't it. If you go into it with your inner child in control, it's absolutely a fun experience.

:fu: how date you throw shade at the 90s Mario masterpiece

[GD]

Watched Smile. The lead actor was really good at conveying fear. Not as hype.

[El Vaquero de Infierno]

The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan 7.5/10

If you like a bit of action and intrigue in a period setting, you can't go wrong with this first part of a two-film French adaptation of Dumas' classic. It is grittier than previous adaptations that I've seen, and also lacks the humour of the 70s classic with Michael York/Richard Chamberlain/Oliver Reed, though it doesn't suffer for it. I do feel that they could have spent a bit more time with the world building, instead of essentially throwing us straight into the story, but that is my only real gripe.

The camera work during the action scenes remind me of The Revenant.

[Destor]

The Summer of 42 (1971) - 8/10

The film spends the first acts telling an amusing coming of age story about 3 early to mid teenage boys as the discover sex, sexuality, biology and the social interplay between themsevles and women. And on that level it works pretty well.

There's charm in the protagnists quiet longing for the older girl next door. There's good laughs when the boys attempt to navigate this space. A stand out for me being one character running straight out of the film never to be seen again at the prospect of sitting next to a girl in theater.

During these first two acts the film is heading toward a high 6 or a low 7. You're having a good time for sure. But if you how act structure works it doesnt take a genius to smell there's a turn coming. Though tonally its very well hidden.

The strength of this film hinges on its 3rd act. And its a very very strong 3rd act.

At the top of the film the previously mentioned protagonist's previously mentioned girl next door sends her previously unmentioned fiancé away to fight in WW2, this is 1942 after all.

At the top of the 3rd act she receives a letter. He's been killed in action. Our protagonist shows up the night she finds out. What plays out is a tragic scene of a boy losing his virginity to a beautiful woman. I have a thousand thoughts on this. Id write a novel going through it.

Sex up until this point has been portrayed as a game. Like kids playing tag. In this moment a dimension of sex enters the fim thats so complicad the main character has no skills to even comprehend whats occured.

Its a great scene and the film doesnt try to contextualize it with words. It deliberately leaves it unspoken and instead asks us to process it.

It ends up being a pretty daring picture.

[GD]

Saw Juno for the first time since it came out. Right in the feels.

[Destor]

Juno really holds up. The bouncing dicks scene always gets a laugh