Last Movie You Saw, Name & Review Movie • Page 178

I don't mind splitting something between two days, but any longer than that is usually a no-go for me. To be fair, I only do that during the work week.

 

it’s definitely not a redemption story and just says and has a lot of racist themes without making any kind of statement other than being racist.

 

Outside of a theater it is really hard to dedicate those two-plus hours anymore. There is always something I feel I have to do and I generally don't multitask unless it is a movie I hate and am just enduring.

 

I don't think I could ever split a movie.

 

I split them. Movies used to have intermissions. Books have chapters and I don't forget what happened or lose the pace

 

I decide what I can split or what I can grade while it's on. It requires a bit of pre-judging based on reputation or what I usually like, but I feel a little better knowing that I've turned a few off being like "Oh this is much more visual than I expected" (some Golden Age movies are all dialogue and plot, really) or if something is better than I was expecting, so I can give it more attention.

 

Insomnia 3.5/5

Entertaining but very predictable. Still thought it was a good time and Al Pacino and Robin Williams were great together.

 

Parallel Mothers (2021) - Lots parallels and mothers. Almodóvar restrains himself to a more classic melodrama structure. You get the fun colors and dialogue without getting too out of hand.

Fallen Leaves (2023) - What a fun miserable film. I was vibing my first encounter with Aki Kaurismäki and will be checking out more.

Pickpocket (1959) - I hadn't watched enough Bresson.

 

Someday I'll watch some Bresson to make Schrader proud.

 

30 Days of Night - 7/10
Hartnettheads rise up. Probably my first time watching this in a decade, and while it's more of a mixed bag than I remember -- Melissa George's American accent is rough, and there's a lot of time unaccounted for in between scenes -- the good definitely outweighs the bad. It's dim and dark, obviously, but the movie just looks so good, clearly pulled from the pages of a comic book. It's a perfect setting for a great premise and Danny Huston absolutely steals the screen as the head vampire. It's also not afraid to get grisly, with one particular shredder/ax-related death single-handedly improving the film. Your mileage may vary with the ending -- the action is shaky, and Hartnett's fate takes pulp to its limits -- but even with its sporadic cliches, 30 Days of Night felt ahead of the curve for 2007 and still feels like a unique and unrelenting take on the genre.

Spaceman - 6/10
Even as a Sandler lover and defender, he feels miscast here, while Dano feels typecast for his hushed delivery as a mostly well-meaning alien being. It's no doubt indulgent and a bit of a CGI sludgefest in the third act, but valid criticisms be damned, this was consistently tense and anxiety-inducing, beautiful and sporadically existentially frightening in equal measure. I feel like it captures the isolation and disorientation of being in space more effectively than a lot of recent science fiction films that come to mind, and perhaps most importantly, despite being weighed down a bit by melodrama, the film resonated with me on an emotional level. That alone makes this well-directed sci-fi drama oddity worth the price of admission, warts and all.

 

cannot wait

 

i watched Dune 2021 last night, definitely more engaging than the original, could never finish that one, the new one could use more shirtless sting though!

will watch part two sooner or later.

 

Pickpocket and A Man Escaped are very good. Mouchette and Diary of a Country Priest are solid, but his style doesn't really suit the material as well to me. I did not enjoy L'Argent at all.

Still got a few to see.

 

Triangle - 8/10
This one's been on my radar for a while, and while I expected the time loop stuff about 20 minutes in, I never anticipated a horror movie from 2008 to nail it as well as this did. The writing feels unpredictable and fresh considering how many iterations of this premise we've seen since, eventually finding middle ground between The Shining and Coherence (a film it likely inspired to some degree). There's also some visual stuff here (one scene in particular) that is truly unsettling. Really kicking myself for not seeing this one sooner, it likely would have been one of my favorites in high school.

Intruder - 8/10
The twist here isn't anything revelatory, but between the supermarket setting and the sheer creativity (and brutality) of the kills, this very obviously Raimi-produced 80s slasher deserves to be talked about way, way more. Just a total blast that gives you everything you're looking for in a movie like this.

 

Triangle is great, I'm really glad a random tiktok spoiled it for me or else I wouldn't have known about it let alone checked it out

 

Lovely, Dark, and Deep - 7/10
Really loved the first half of this, just visually stunning and well-paced and, as Joe Bob would say, no plot to get in the way of the story. The second half of the film takes some great ideas that you can practically imagine written in the script and executes them...haphazardly. Fortunately, this unique Missing 411 horror flick feels mostly effective by the time it reaches its brisk conclusion, even if it leaves some supernatural logic and character motivations a little muddy. 1408 by way of The Blair Witch Project.

All Jacked Up and Full of Worms - 6/10
"To put it simply, I wanted to talk about a yearning for normalcy and a 'regular life,' but also feeling totally broken and too fucked up to deserve that sort of thing."

I can relate to this (as I'm sure many folks can), and reading this quote before watching All Jacked Up and Full of Worms definitely helped put some of the film's degeneracy in perspective. It's about broken people and the well-intentioned desire to want to be better, even if that path is less than clear. It's hard to say whether Worms is good or bad as it frequently oscillates between the two, but despite how disgusting and occasionally annoyed it made me feel (it's a smarter film than its gross-out demeanor would leave you to believe), it also impressed me and made me laugh more than I anticipated. For better or worse, Worms is unforgettable, but more importantly, it feels impactful. Happiness as a slime movie by way of John Waters.

 

Watched Ghosts of the Abyss. The little CG re-enactment flourishes date it to the early '00s, but Cameron's fascination with the mechanics and technology comes across as does the thrill of discovery.

 

Pokémon Concierge - 9/10. This is a Netflix original, four episode stop-motion series. Unlike the anime, this feels like it’s set in our world, but with Pokemon, and the main character is actually an adult. It’s a cozy slice-of-life show and she goes to an island resort for Pokemon to get a new start after some recent hiccups in her life. Her job description is to “make the Pokémon guests happy”, so each episode is pretty cozy and wholesome. I’m glad it got renewed!

 

Ricky Stanicky - C

 

DeepStar Six - 7.5/10
Admittedly, it's nothing special, but as a Sean S. Cunningham (of Friday the 13th fame) directed, Abyss-adjacent aliensploitation film, it's borderline perfect for my interests. The first half hour or so is dry in the best way, just lulls you into this dull and strangely cozy underwater world full of flashing buttons and panels and technical jargon, just so you can have a giant graboid-esque anthropod attack a shockingly good cast for the next hour. Plus, a possible F13 reference at the end?? Fun, silly, and sporadically tense.

Red Rocket - 9.5/10
My first Baker, and I am obviously going to have to seek out his other work immediately. I love the subsection of America this film focuses on (Baker seems to share some DNA with Korine) and I love that this film respects its audience's intelligence as opposed to beating you over the head with Mikey's obviously flawed (at best) morals and worldview. The entire film is perfectly cast, right down to the rural Texan setting. The film manages to be just as funny as it is shockingly tragic at times. The third act feels...abrupt, but that's not enough of a knock to take away how invested I felt throughout the films entire two-hour runtime. Everything here feels extremely natural and real, even with Rex's occasional cartoonish behavior. He shines here; I genuinely didn't know he had it in him.

 

Baker is great. Big VinSyn fan. Florida Project and Tangerine are even better than Red Rocket, imo

 

Haven’t seen red rocket but tangerine and Florida project are both great.

 

Maestro 3.5/5

This was as enjoyable as I was expecting, I’ve been a Cooper fan for a long time and thought he did great as both director and actor here. Mulligan was fantastic as well.

Heat 4/5

No clue how I’ve never seen this movie before but yeah it’s everything I thought it would be. Extremely fun ride.

 

Microwave Massacre - 7.5/10
Alternate Title: Frosty the Horndog Cannibal

Truly loved this. It's like Cannibal Campout by way of Rodney Dangerfield, or proto-Psychos in Love. The jokes that land are funny, and the jokes that don't are even funnier. There are some visual gags in here that would make Leslie Neilson blush. It's definitely not for everyone, but it's 100% for me.

Dune (1984) - 5.5/10
And I thought Part Two moved too fast!

This is just as messy as I anticipated, equal turns really cool-looking and ugly (mostly the former), engaging and borderline incomprehensible (mostly the latter). I can't imagine being able to follow this without any knowledge of the source material, or at least Villenueve's adaptations. Dialogue suffers, performances vary in quality, and some of the editing will make you feel insane, but you're already into David Lynch, these things will make it even harder to look away. For better or worse, it absolutely feels like his version of a blockbuster. I am eternally grateful he didn't get his hands on Return of the Jedi. I think the last 30 minutes here might be better than the last 30 minutes of Part Two, though.

 

least you finished dune, i turned it off half hour or 40 mins in when i tried watching it years ago, its bad.