Last Movie You Saw, Name & Review Movie • Page 190

Civil War - 8.5/10
I kind of think Garland is operating on another level here. When I saw the trailer for Civil War, I was skeptical, and when I heard it was "apolitical," even more so. (Don't even get me started on thanking Andy Ngo and the TERF reporter, which is still an incredibly weird and bad choice). Somehow, this is neither the film it is being marketed as or the film people expect it to be.

Garlands strengths are as apparent as ever and on full display here: strong visuals, provocative sound design, and some all-time performances from a pitch perfect cast. In terms of content, I can only speak to my own experience, and that is this: about five months ago, I cut out most news and current events via social media as an act of self-preservation. I wrestled with that decision, and the decision to turn away from staying informed, internally. But at the time, it felt necessary.

By providing something of a blank canvas for the audience to project their own political values and morals onto, Civil War becomes a Rorschach test for its audience. It begins to matter less and less what Garland's questionable politics may be and more about who you identify with here. And while the film's photojournalist protagonists are never explicitly labeled good or bad, I found myself intensifying with them heavily, and I did not like how that felt. That alone gave me more to chew on and feel than I ever anticipated from a post-2016 film about a second civil war in the U.S., and I hope others consider giving this film the chance I was skeptical to give it.

Abigail - 6.5/10
Undeniably fun, goopy, and mostly charming, even if the jokes don't always land for me. Radio Silence is great at filming mansions; both Ready or Not and this film carry an almost William Castle-esque haunted house feel, despite neither being a real haunted house film, and that atmosphere is definitely a good thing. Casting Elon Musk and Mac Miller (RIP) lookalikes in your vampire ballerina movie is crazy. In all seriousness, the cast here is largely very good -- Barrera, Durand, and Weir in particular.-- even with the occasional undercooked dialogue or bizarre line read.

And ultimately, it is the writing that has held back the past two Radio Silence projects -- Scream VI and this film, both written by Guy Busick -- from being really good, especially in their third acts. There's a reveal about an hour into this that lands with a bit of a thud for me, and while the awesome and gratuitous blood splatter ratchets up from there, so do the unpredictable moments that go against character motivation, the unearned heart of the film, the titular character's arc that doesn't seem to make much sense. As a blast of a genre-bender that occasionally zigs when it should zag or attempts to stack to many hats, Abigail's reach simply exceeds its grasp.

 

Im with you here. Although I have erased my guilt with media theory. Actual important news is unavoidable, and for other topics I will wait for long form, well researched peices.

 

I’m so close to deleting all social media from my phone lol

 

The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring 5/5

it’s a miracle it took me this long to watch this because this is extremely my shit in every sense of the word and watching this I’m reminded of just how many video game franchises that I adore shamelessly rip Tolkien directly. can’t wait to dive into the rest of the trilogy because this has me hooked, the cgi is beautifully rendered and mixes in enough practical effects and sets to keep it from feeling completely fake. sure if you nitpick you can tell the age in some scenes but taken as a whole it’s an immersive experience that rivals avatar in terms of scale and scope. again, I love shit like this so I’m gonna be watching the next two shortly and I doubt I’ll like them any less than this.

 

I watched those movies over and over as a kid/preteen/high schooler, they’re magic to me. It’s been about a decade or more since I last watched all three but I reread the books last winter so I have the itch.

 

They only get better with age. Truly astounding films.

 

La La Land - 4 1/2 out of 5.

Finally got around to watching this. Loved the dialogue, the cinematography, and how funny the characters were, especially Gosling’s. The ending smacked me and then spit in my face. I said thank you.

 

Krisha - 7.5/10
Not much to say about this one. It's crushingly personal and sad. Krisha is America's Number One Party Aunt

You're Next - 8/10
Honestly even better than I remember. Movies that hinge on a twist can be tough, because the rest of the movie has to be good enough to make you want to experience it again despite knowing the reveal. It's probably been five years or so since I've seen this, but while I did remember the final act, there is another angle to how the story plays out that really surprised me. The way movies like this and Ready or Not are written is great; unlike slashers from the 80s (which I also love, but suffer from highs and lows in between kills), the best post-2010 slashers spend about 10 minutes setting things up, 20 minutes wrapping up necessary exposition, and proceed to take the next hour continuously ratcheting up the tension and action. It's a suspenseful and bloody home-invasion thriller that is compelling enough to catch the interest of non-horror lovers (like my wife), but also delivers the masked killer confrontations that horror lovers want to see. Pretty solid casting, too; I forgot Joe Swanberg was in this. I'm considering working my way through all of the horror features from Wingard, West, and Barrett based on how much I enjoyed revisiting this one.

 

Thief - 3/3

great film.

 

Thief rules

 

Another Mann joint, right?

 

Ex Machina - 8/10 (tw: mention of SA)

I wanted to revisit this after catching Civil War, and man, it is just a fantastic directorial debut upon which Garland has only improved (Men aside). It feels really brisk for 108 minutes, even if you feel the slow-build in the first half a little more on repeat watches. I don't know how many times I can say his work looks good; the stylistic choices here (from the red lighting to the cybernetic skin being peeled back) is really great stuff. The score and casting are both perfect, Isaac in particular. It is eerie and compelling and a bit of a bummer to watch a 10-year-old movie about a tech-bro making unique advances in AI and immediately utilizing them for his own gratification, a natural evolution of the way some men simply brutalize women because they can. Then again, I guess that's why the ending hits so good. There is some validity to Garland writing female characters as defined by their trauma, and whether that feels exploitative or successful will largely depend on the viewer. (In many ways, Ex Machina feels like a rape and revenge film without any actual sexual assault, at least on-screen. It's more about violation than it is about specifics or gruesome details.) The last half-hour of this is seriously unimpeachable. It really does lay the groundwork for Garland making unpredictable, tense, uncomfortable, and occasionally beautiful work.

 

I love this scene. The song is on my disco playlist called Funky Friday. We work out to it every Thursdays because of scheduling issues. We call it funky Friday on a Thursday.

What did you do to Ava?
What?
You torn up her picture!
I'm about to tear up the dance floor

 

yep

 

Inherent Vice - 3/3

Great film. So much better on a second viewing when you don’t worry about the plot and just enjoy the ride.

 

@imthegrimace what's with the 3s?

Anyways, love Inherent Vice. Very underrated PTA film, top five of his and maybe even top three for me. Was just thinking about a rewatch!

 

I liked Inherent Vice more the last time I watched it but it's still very easily my least favourite PTA. Maybe next time it'll click for me.

 

I would put Inherent Vice above Hard Eight but definitely below his usual work. I recently saw an interview where Anderson called The Big Lebowski the greatest film ever made and he was clearly trying to make something like that but it did not get the tone exactly right.

 

1 - ok
2 - good
3 - great

 

gonna start giving everything a 1

if it’s bad it’s a 0, if it’s 1 you decide how much I liked it

 

Inherent Vice is easily better than Licorice Pizza and, in my opinion, Magnolia. Have not seen Hard Eight.

 

Licorice Pizza is probably my least favorite

 

My brain doesn't like it.

 

I probably like it about as much as Hard Eight but my expectations for the two probably lead one to feel like a disappointment and the other a pleasant surprise.

 

I’d put it above hard eight, magnolia (which I haven’t seen in forever) and phantom thread.