Last Movie You Saw, Name & Review Movie • Page 194

Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) - Booo. Why remake this to be half an hour longer AND cut the chase down from 40 mins to 15?????? The movie had structure: steal 50 high end cars for cash then do a big chase. Dont add more plot, Don't moralise it, don't cram a redemption arc or an or else your brother dies plot, it doesnt need an underdeveloped romance, or an arc villain, or 20 annoying extra characters, doesnt need a ticking clock that doesn't line up. Where did the sideburns and stunt driving go?

Turns out it needed all that because it sucks at actually shooting cars. Up till the finale most of the movie is drenched in color correction and shot at night to up the edginess and when it finally gets to the chase it's all chopped to hell. Did any cool driving happen?? Dont know because you don't get to see anything for more than a second at a time.

This deserves another remake. Keep the original plot, add one additional element to get us up to the chase, glue the sides on Cage and shoot a long ass chase with classy edits. Im just going watch Drive next.


fake yuck

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) - A masterclass in the form. Storytelling with pure cinema. The contrast was stark contrast, how easy it is to enjoy a beautiful film that isn't bloated with bad writing explaining itself. We are exposed to the darkness of man, swept away in the rejuvenation of love and willed to believe that love can triumph this time, this time it's different even though it isn't.

wow interesting


Confess Fletch (2022) - Charming and tight. Good to see Don back in a suit and drinking cocktails saying lines. Good clean fun, will recommend to Mum.

The boys are back in town

 

Boooo gone in 60 seconds is a masterpiece

baby don’t be so mean!!

 

impressive they remade a 70s movie more racist

 

The S From Hell - 8/10
I can't seem to get to the bottom of whether this is real or not (it claims to be), but regardless, what a strange a fascinating blueprint for the rest of Rodney Ascher's career. Just as with The Nightmare and Room 237 and A Glitch in the Matrix, his focus is on the subjective truth and experiences of his subjects (in this case, an old Screen Gems logo that seemingly scared numerous kids), presenting their stories naturally while using audio and video elements to paint a larger, more unsettling (and occasionally hilarious) picture. If you haven't seen one of his documentaries before, this is a very fitting place to start considering it's only nine minutes long and on Youtube:

A Glitch in the Matrix - 8/10
The biggest complaints about this movie seem to be that it mimics surfing a subreddit for too long, or the fact that it occasionally presents Elon Musk clips or uses Rick and Morty stock footage (it does both), but once again, Ascher is less interested in simulation theory itself here and more in the people who believe in it and the way it's grasped our culture. In that sense, it makes perfect sense to include these clips without promoting them as anything real or tasteful. A wide-ranging documentary that showcases the eccentricities of Philip K. Dick, the rationality (and sometimes self-fulfilling convenience) of those who believe we are living in a simulation, and the tangible consequences it's had on our society. Some really wild and captivating visual choices here, specifically presenting its subjects as virtual avatars. In a somewhat profound moment, one believer talks about our understanding of the human body shifting with each new technological advance -- nerves as electrical impulses, the brain is a computer, etc. -- but stops short of hypothesizing what might come after this idea of our reality being virtual.


The Truman Show - 9/10
Ascher's "A Glitch in the Matrix" put me in the mood for films that play with the nature of our reality, and where better to start than The Truman Show. It's so funny to be that this was billed as a comedy (and I certainly accepted it as such as a kid), because while there are certainly comedic elements -- the constant advertising in particular -- this is a dark film, one that even on rewatch is occasionally terrifying. I recently went through back to back family emergencies and spent much of last week wondering what I did to make this happen, or why it was happening to me. The idea that some creator could inflict very real trauma on someone to essentially keep things interesting for himself or some perceived audience is, to me, an actual existential nightmare.

Anyways, I love how often we see things from the show's perspective or a certain in-film camera angle. It really is a thoughtful, genre-bending film that, while getting its flowers, still feels groundbreaking to me in a number of ways. Carrey of course is wonderfully casted, but so is everyone else here, and learning that Weir originally wanted cameras installed in theaters to present the audience back to themselves makes me very interested in what else this absolute madman has directed.


Being John Malkovich - 8.5/10
Imagine being cucked by Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, and actual John Malkovich all at once. I vastly prefer Kaufman as a writer over someone directing his own material, and I feel strongly that Jonze brings just enough accessibility to the film's material, humor, and visual style to make it work better than other Kaufman works. A non-racial but totally queer precursor to Get Out, framed as an absurdist comedy (and one that works best when you don't think too hard about the details). There's a sinister tone underneath all of it, partially due to a murky and gritty visual style that offsets the film's tone, and partially due to Cusack's and Keener's performances as total sociopaths, the former being a proto-incel of sorts and the latter simply being a narcissist. Despite being slightly mean-spirited, the film is unique and funny and quirky enough to keep you charmed, but boy do I feel bad for Lotte.

 

When people make the case that some great visual artistry was lost in the instant transition to sound, this is absolutely Exhibit A (along with, like, The Crowd and The Docks of New York). It's crazy that they had this much visual style and had to throw it all away because the microphone had to be hidden in a plant and shit.

 

Yes i definately noticed how much more room for style there was with no tradional dialogue shots and cuts dictating the frame and pace.

 

Nightcrawler - 4/5

I remember enjoying this in theaters but I loved it on this rewatch. Probably Gyllenhaal’s best performance. I never saw the Denzel movie the director made but velvet buzzsaw was not great from what I remember.

 

Velvet Buzzsaw is fun for what it is but definitely a step down from this one

 

About Schmidt - 2/5

ehhh

The Last of the Mohicans - 2.5/5

DDL is bad in this

 

What's going on with Daniel?

 

Boogie Nights 5/5


god damn this was not really what I expected it to be based on the premise and cast but it also was exactly what I thought it would be? hard to explain but I cannot fucking wait to see Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love now. also Phillip Seymour Hoffman turns in the best performance of the movie in my book. The scene where he’s showing Dirk his car and kisses him had me dying. Phenomenal movie with a ton of heart.

 

I'm fine, how are you?

 

Late report on my Cronenberg Weekend (plus, Death Spa):

Crimes of the Future (2022) - 8/10
Billed as a "return to form" (meaning a return to gross-out sci-fi body horror in somewhat abstract, near-futuristic settings), Crimes of the Future certainly feels like the quintessential Cronenberg film; it's got less mainstream appeal than something like The Fly, but still feels marketed towards those who grew up with or discovered his films late, specifically incorporating the espionage, double-agents, and revolutionary movements showcased in eXistenZ, or even friend/foe/peer/counterpart Carpenter's They Live. Even with those elements, Crimes of the Future manages to feel a bit more like a Cronenberg-flavored sci-fi drama; it's slightly convoluted and deliberately paced, so casual fans likely need not apply, but it scratches a familiar itch in a way that is so well-directed and acted (specifically by Mortensen and Stewart) that diehards will hardly blink an eye. Sometimes, it just feels good to have one of your favorites back.

Shivers - 7/10
Technically, Shivers isn't a directorial debut, but it certainly feels like one. Following the shaky experimentation of his previous two features, Shivers arrives with what may be the director's first uniquely Cronenbergian premise - doctor and nurse are stuck in a seemingly inescapable apartment complex, surrounded by individuals infected by a parasite hellbent on spreading by any means necessary. Of course, it's not the Romero-esque plot that makes the film feel unique; it's Cronenberg's distinct interest and use of sex in the way these infected individuals assault their prey. Moments of the film still feel shocking today, making it interesting to consider how it may have impacted audiences nearly 50 years ago. As much as it occasionally feels like Cronenberg learning how to make a movie in real-time, it's also carried by a visual flair and frenetic energy unique to filmmakers desperate to put their vision to tape.

Fast Company - 7/10
One for them, a racing action-comedy that Cronenberg has admitted to directing in order to feed his family, and it still manages to do a very solid job at showing how competent he is as a filmmaker, regardless of what's on the other end of his camera. In this case, it's the kind of pleasant, salt of the Earth, relatively low-stakes flick that your dad would probably enjoy. At least my dad would. Maybe that's why it's such a comforting watch for me.

The Brood - 10/10
It's no secret this is Cronenberg's divorce movie, and that bit of behind-the-scenes knowledge paints this masterpiece with a slightly problematic stroke, not entirely unlike the way it feels to watch Kubrick tamper with an actual married couple in Eyes Wide Shut. I'm the first person to understand that giving some folks pause, but boy does it make for a personal and engrossing piece of work. In anyone else's hands, animalistic childlike clones with an elderly appearance would absolutely be a cause for laughs, but it is uniquely terrifying here - especially during one iconic moment where one of them leaves behind bloody handprints on the bars of a white stairwell. If you can take a step back and observe the film's themes more broadly, it does manage to approach parenting, mental illness, and marriage in a way that gives the film more grounding in relaiity and warmth than the bulk of Cronenberg's catalog; this, paired with the Canadian Winter and lots of 70s wood paneling also make it one of his coziest films, a descriptor the director is definitely not synonymous with. The Brood delivers the fantastical, near-futuristic body horror you've come to expect in a package that makes it an unforgettable outlier in the Cronenberg's filmography.

Death Spa - 8/10
A borderline indescribable experience, but if I had to take a shot at it, I would call it a "neon-soaked supernatural 80s slasher soap opera hybrid with ghost incest set in a gym." Somehow more convoluted than, but every bit as unhinged and aggressively horny as you'd expect. A must-see!

 

My Cronenberg watching is wack, I've seen crimes of the Future and maps to the stars but not videodrome or the fly

 

Yeah, you gotta fix that lol what were your thoughts on Crimes of the Future? I feel like I wouldn't like it nearly as much if I wasn't already a fan. Highly recommend checking out Videodrome, The Fly, The Brood, and Crash. I own the Criterion, but The Brood is on Max right now (The Fly might be as well).

 

I gotta see Death Spa

 

I really liked Crimes of the Futures, it worked on me at a visceral level. It sticks tendrils into a lot of uncomfortable areas, highlighting some really weird and incoherent ideas we hold on to about what is and isnt human, what we think of as natural is the byproduct of very unnatural systems. Its sustainabilty themes were very direct, switch food for out energy sources and oil corps for the surgery company and leave the goverment as is, while the general public primary concerns remain instinctual, aesthetics and pleasure.

Ive also seen The Brood, Videodrome will happen soon.

 

Videodrome gets better every time I watch it.

 

Curious why you thought this sucked because I thought it was borderline great and preferred it to Election

 

I don’t know if I wasn’t in the mood or whatever but it just did not work for me at all. I didn’t connect with any of the characters and found it dull and kind of boring. I thought Nicholson was just okay and Kathy Bates was the only real stand out for me.

 

Payne's movies in general are all over the place.

 

A handful of Jim Cummings shorts (all available for free on his Vimeo. Plus, some first watches for Doughboys' Payne month.):

Thunder Road (2016) - 8/10
This short might be played a little too hard for laughs, but it's strong case for Cummings as a writer/director/performer and the way different characters in our lives deal with grief. As a big fan of both of his other features (Wolf of Snow Hollow and The Beta Test), I'm excited to see how he expanded this into a feature.

The Last Brunch - 7/10
Cummings' version of an I Think You Should Leave sketch. It's definitely funny, well-constructed and worth watching, but considering the way that show has changed the culture's sense of humor, it feels a little too close to a pastiche at times.

The Robbery - 8/10
Now this is what I'm talking about. Even if a couple of references/jokes don't completely land, the very original premise of a woman receiving a call about her father's death while robbing a liquor store -- and the way it is framed as a tragicomedy, with all of this happening as the owner shoots at her with a crossbow -- is the best case I've seen for Cummings' unique personality in an early short of his. Inspired and enjoyable stuff.

It's All Right, It's OK - 7.5/10
It's a little hard to not feel like this is a white guy's version of "Racism: The Short Film," but that being said...it's also very good, and heartfelt, and a little bit shocking. The story Cummings is able to tell in three minutes is pretty unbelievable.

Election - 8/10
I've avoided Payne for a while now following his statutory rape allegation and the fact that I have no nostalgia attached to his films. Considering one of my favorite podcasts in now covering a month of his films, it seems like the best excuse to get acquainted. I've heard a lot of good things about Election, and I've gotta tell ya two things: 1. it's a very good film, and 2. it does not paint Payne in a flattering light, especially in 2024. As a very flawed protagonist, Broderick does get his just desserts, but it's hard not to feel like you're supposed to be rooting for him in this fight against an actual child that is written to drive the audience as close to insanity as possible. It's funny, occasionally poignant, and will make you say "yikes" a whole lot, so it's best to focus on sweet, dumb Paul and his apathetic but wise-beyond-her-years sister, Tammy.

About Schmidt - 8.5/10
A film that has aged much, much better than Election even in just the sense that it doesn't involve adults taking advantage of children as a bit. Nicholson's titular character may be retired and experiencing a pretty specific three-quarter-life crisis, but his oscillation between not knowing what to do with himself and feeling a desperate desire to break the mold and do something important with the time he has left should be relatable to pretty much anyone over the age of 25. This is a grounded film that takes its time, less slapstick-driven than Election, and it's carried by a pitch-perfect cast and tone. Then again, maybe I just have a soft spot for journey movies, which I would define a bit differently than road films. Even if certain moments feel off or less engrossing in the back half of the film, they contribute to the odyssey of a character I found myself consistently compelled by. That ending is truly something.

 

Thunder Road rules

Didn't know the beta test happened I'll check it out soon.
Wolf of Snow Hollow was a little disappointing, might of just been the genre.

 

I don’t agree that an audience is “supposed” to be rooting for Matthew Broderick’s character in Election. He’s pathetic, insecure, and frustrated that he can’t reconcile his dissatisfaction with his life with the ambition of a teenager he finds annoying to the point of self destruction. He’s portrayed empathetically, and the point is that not all of his emotions are invalid or unrelatable, but that he can’t work through them responsibly even though he’s supposed to be the adult in the room.

 

Definitely understand all of that and agree that the overall sentiment is not one of empathy for the character; I just think that point is more clear in some scenes than others.