Last Movie You Saw, Name & Review Movie • Page 18

just saw X-Men Apocalypse, not as bad as i thought it might be but it wasn't super great either. i feel like the plot and especially the villain were pretty basic and uninspired. I'm surprised this was over 2 hours cause it felt shorter.
overall i'd give it like a C+

 

The Conjuring 2 - 6/10

It's hard for me to think of another movie that deserves its running time less than this one does.

 

Totally Awesome - 10/10

i haven't seen this movie for a few years, holy shit i haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Such an underrated random comedy gem.

 

Big Game (2014) - 7/10

 

I caught Maggie's Plan, which was solid and fun. Very Woody Allen but not as stylized, rapid-fire funny, or absurd, it was more restrained and subtle. I enjoyed it.

Finding Dory was okay. Toy Story aside, Pixar sequels/prequels suffer from a lot of the same symptoms as most comedy sequels. What was fresh and exciting about the original is just by design not the same experience the next time through. Where Monsters, Inc. was a very fun and original story, Monsters University used the concepts of their conceit and melded them with the surface level textures of college themed comedies. Finding Dory has heart, but it's another movie about the same characters traveling around the ocean, it's just not as engaging this time. It's fine, though. It's good. I know it's been said a billion times, but Pixar's strength has been it's cultivating of original, unique stories, and stuff like Cars 2, Monsters University, and Finding Dory don't build on that, which isn't a great sign for Cars 3, the Incredibles 2, and Toy Story 4, though Pixar is so strong in their focused story and characterization that there's always promise for something valuable.

 

Trainwreck was pretty terrible.

 

I liked Trainwreck pretty well. I like Amy Schumer and Judd Apatow though

 

Saw Dheepan. Pretty big fan.

 

Hoping to maybe catch that tomorrow, looking forward to it.

 

It definitely redeemed Audiard from Rust and Bone in my eyes. There are some really beautiful shots.

 

I Walked with a Zombie is probably my favorite of the 5 RKO/Val Lewton films I've seen. The way it bites from Jane Eyre gives it nice structure, and while his whole MO was creating atmosphere, this one has it in buckets.

 

Nymphomaniac Extended Director's Cut Parts 1 and 2

The performances by all of the main cast were great, including Shia LaBeouf, who still inexplicably felt a little out of place. Charlotte Gainsbourg and Stacy Martin somehow made Joe a sympathetic character despite her flaws. The Rammstein really took me out of the movie, as did any other song used that had lyrics. At first, I didn't like that the film was framed as one person telling her life story to a stranger, in chapters, no less. Usually, I would be all for that sort of thing because it disrupts the natural flow of events, adds a bit of self-awareness to the film, and the chapters give it a novel-like quality, blending the mediums, so I don't understand my initial aversion to it. Towards the end of Part 1 and especially throughout Part 2 I realized how well Joe and Seligman foiled each other as they sort of co-narrated the story. For some reason I can't pinpoint, I didn't connect to this film as much as I did with Melancholia or Dancer in the Dark, despite it being perhaps the most ambitious I've seen of von Trier's work. It's not like I was bothered by how graphic it was. I think it might simply be that Melancholia and Dancer in the Dark appeal to me mentally and emotionally in equal measure, whereas Nymphomaniac is more the former than the latter. The more I think about the ending, the more I see how it's sort of fitting. At first, I was confused by it because I thought the film was trying to say that sexuality isn't a bad thing, but after all the trouble her addiction caused in her life, I guess I can understand her desire to want to give that up. Also, I'm intrigued by the reversal of roles, Seligman wanting sex and Joe not wanting it. I knew the gun was going to be brought up again one way or another, so I guess that could've gone worse, like her killing herself or something stupid like that. What probably bothered me is how abrupt the reversal of roles and the existence of the gun in present time both felt as I was watching. Also, I had to think about it a lot more to see how it comments on everything else in the film. Perhaps I'm still having trouble making that connection.

 

The Conjuring 2 - 8.5/10

Anyone else think of a horror sequel that has character(s) in it from the first that was actually able to match the original? I am struggling but this film is more than capable of resting on its own laurels. Everything that I loved about the first makes a return be it the tension, the great visuals, the brilliant sound design or the two leads. Where this differs is that it has somewhat more spectacle but still manages to be grounded and doesn't forget the people at the center of its story. Also had me again scared (like I have said before in prior reviews that isn't something that is easily achieved) and I was genuinely on edge throughout. The score is also solid, the design of the ghosts (demonic presences whatever you want to call them) are creepy and even though it has its predictable moments and some cliches there no more than the previous. Well done James Wan and all involved.

 

I know I'm likely in the minority but I'd say Saw sequels were pretty great.

Clearly if Wan/Whanell are involved in sequels they're gonna be great

 

Yeah never been a big fan of the Saw films, first was okay but never really bothered with the rest.

 

Finding Dory

8/10 (maybe a 9....8.5?)

I wrote about it (spoiler free!) here, along with lots of interesting tidbits about history and why the studio's new-founded focus on sequels is worth supporting:

In Defense of Dory, In Love with Pixar

 

THANK YOU. I thought Bill Hader was funny (as always) but still underutilized.

 

Central Intelligence - 4/10

A half-decent comedy mixed with an underdeveloped and lame action film as well as a middling, cheesy inspirational film.

As often as I chuckled, this was a punishing, overlong film to sit through. This was business as usual for Kevin Hart while most definitely NOT Dwayne Johnson's greatest comedic role.

Ours By Accident Song Shop

 

Yeah that was a rough rough movie.

 

Persona is intriguing. Gorgeously shot. A lot on its mind. Well acted. But also a little distant and reserved in that Bergman way.

 

So we've got the De Palma doc playing in town right now. I plan on seeing it in the next week or so but want to watch a few more of his films before hand. I'll be seeing, or at least trying to see, Hi Mom, Raising Cain, The Fury, Body Double, and Greetings at the current retrospective they are having. Are any of these that I haven't seen worth watching before?

Wise Guys
Mission to Mars
Casualties of War
Redacted

I figure I'll watch Mission to Mars because it seems to far removed from the rest of his work and he might have some interesting stuff to say about it. The other three seem to be pretty disposable within his work.

 

Now You See Me 2

3/10

Awful. Way too over the top and cheesy; story was all over the place. Mark Ruffalo is better than this

 

That's gotta be the first time that last sentence has ever been said

 

Mark Ruffalo is good.

 

He's fine. He's also in way too many movies, phoning it in a great deal of the time.