What Films Did You Watch Last Week? (23/04-29/04) CLOSED
Apr 28, 2018 12:17:03 GMT
petrolino likes this
Post by darksidebeadle on Apr 28, 2018 12:17:03 GMT
Welcome back to another week of the BEST & WORST edition of 'what movies did you see last week?' thread. For those who haven't been part of it before, basically your hosts (us) posts our weekly movies and you can comment on those and list your movie for the same time frame. We will get back to you on yours and you can talk to other users here about their films. It's a great place to talk about film.
Posting a little early as my Sunday afternoon may be too busy to write all this up.
FIRST TIME MOVIE VIEWING
It Comes at Night (2017, Trey Edwards Shults)
tv
This indie thriller sees a man (Joel Edgerton) who has established a tenuous domestic order with his wife and son secure within a desolate home as an unnatural threat terrorises the world. Then a desperate young family arrives seeking refuge which brings mixed emotions. The film is pretty tense even at its methodical pace. I believe the advertising for this led many people to believe it would be a different kind of film and it received some backlash, but seeing it with a clearer idea going in I rather enjoyed it.
6.5/10
Avengers: Infinity War (2018, Anthony Russo, Joe Russo)
Cinema
This is a hard film to judge on its own merits with it being the conclusion of an 18 movie story arc. All the previous films good or bad had a solid story of their own with a traditional story telling format that sprinkled the connectivity and over reaching arc in towards the goal of The Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy facing Thanos. So this is the the film that concludes these sprinkles that were set in motion 10 years ago and is 100% not a film that can be watched by someone who has not seen all or at least most of the prior films. The MCU is basically a vert expensive tv show that way and also it mimics large cross over event comics which in my experience, the individual build up issues are better than the grand finale that brings everyone together and leaves little time for characters to shine as they are overstuffed. I think this is that overstuffed 'finale' but that is not to say that there is not plenty of other good and bad factors in this epic.
The Russo brothers started with Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014) which showed their shortcomings in the action sequences (in particular hand to hand combat), from their they moved to Captain America: Civil War (2016) which had a better story with a more emotional finale and better but still imperfect editing and filming of combat sequences but was saved in this vein with a great action set piece in the middle (the airport scene) and a strong final and more personal battle. Two years on they have now brought us this, the third Avengers film which its action/combat scenes are 'mostly' quite bad... I really can't tell what's really happening in a lot of them.
However despite being overstuffed and poorly made in some ways it is well paced with a great tone. It is not overly silly and jokey like some of the more recent Disney tent-poles (Thor: Ragnarok, The Last Jedi), instead it is more appropriately toned for the circumstances the characters find themselves with plenty of more natural humour between the more sombre moments. Another big plus is Josh Brolin as Thanos and the way the characters written. He is the only really fleshed out character in the film and he is a really great three dimensional foil who does not disappoint after such a huge build up. Another positive thing that surprised me was how the film was pretty much half Avengers and half Guardians of the Galaxy.
I think James Gunn would have been a better choice as director for this film but it could have been a lot worse. In the end we have a massive film with almost every character from past films in the series that despite its technical flaws has a great last few minutes that would serve as an even more amazing exclamation mark/ full stop if we all did not realise that due to the way the economics of a successful franchise works that much of it will be undone somehow in the future. By its very nature I don't think this film was going to be for me in a big way but it was fine and certainly could have been worse.. just frustrating on a technical level in places that could have easily been avoided.
6.5/10
Manhattan Nocturne (2016, Brian DeCubellis)
Netflix
In this slow brooding noirish tale Adrien Brody (The Pianist) plays a reporter who becomes involved with a mysterious woman (Yvonne Strahovski) while investigating her husbands death. The film does have a few over the top moments that could have been handled better but I like the film and the cast all put in good work. I have always been a fan of Yvonne Strahovski (Dexter) and she is really great here, as is Brody who's career seems to have tanked since winning his Oscar.
6.5/10
Mulholland Falls (1996, Lee Tamahori)
tv
This neo-noir is set in 1950's Los Angeles where a special crime squad (Nick Nolte, Chazz Palminteri, Chris Penn, Michael Madsen) of the LAPD investigates the murder of a young woman (Jennifer Connelly).
The Period production is excellent, the cast is full of familiar faces and the story is in my wheelhouse but something just is not right. The film seems longer than it is, it just lacks something. Funnily enough Nolte will play the squads police chief in a movie (Gangster Squad) about the same unit many years later. An interesting, slight misfire that is worth watching once.
6/10
Ponyo (2008, Hayao Miyazaki)
tv
Well this is a big step down from the trajectory of quality work the director was on before this. The animation style is simple and dull, the story is trite and this feels very inconsequential.
3/10
REPEAT MOVIE VIEWING
Hot Fuzz (2007, Edgar Wright)
blu ray
Another fun film from this team, this time riffing on police action films. It has a slow start but once it finally gets going its a blast.
8/10
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995, Carl Franklin)
blu ray
This stylish neo-noir has great time period production values and a great cast. It can get a little over complicated in places but I find it an underrated and under seen piece.
7-7.5/10
Sliding Doors (1998, Peter Howitt)
tv
Gwyneth Paltrow plays a London woman whose love life and career both hinge, unknown to her, on whether or not she catches a train. We see it both ways, in parallel.
This interesting story telling gimmick works pretty well.
6/10
WEEKLY AWARDS
BEST FILM: Hot Fuzz
BEST ACTOR: Denzel Washington - Devil in a Blue Dress
BEST ACTRESS: Yvonne Strahovski - Manhattan Nocturne
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Don Cheadle - Devil in a Blue Dress
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melanie Griffith - Mulholland Falls
BEST SCRIPT: Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg - Hot Fuzz
BEST SCORE: Elmer Bernstein - Devil in a Blue Dress
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Tak Fujimoto - Devil in a Blue Dress
BEST DIRECTOR: Edgar Wright - Hot Fuzz
10/10 - Perfection (or as close to it as possible)
09/10 - An Excellent film
08/10 - A VERY Good film
07/10 - A Good film
06/10 - A Solid film
05/10 - An Average film
04/10 - Below Average film
03/10 - A mostly bad film
02/10 - A mostly terrible film
01/10 - Awful through and through
00/10 - Not only awful but offensive too
Posting a little early as my Sunday afternoon may be too busy to write all this up.
FIRST TIME MOVIE VIEWING
It Comes at Night (2017, Trey Edwards Shults)
tv
This indie thriller sees a man (Joel Edgerton) who has established a tenuous domestic order with his wife and son secure within a desolate home as an unnatural threat terrorises the world. Then a desperate young family arrives seeking refuge which brings mixed emotions. The film is pretty tense even at its methodical pace. I believe the advertising for this led many people to believe it would be a different kind of film and it received some backlash, but seeing it with a clearer idea going in I rather enjoyed it.
6.5/10
Avengers: Infinity War (2018, Anthony Russo, Joe Russo)
Cinema
This is a hard film to judge on its own merits with it being the conclusion of an 18 movie story arc. All the previous films good or bad had a solid story of their own with a traditional story telling format that sprinkled the connectivity and over reaching arc in towards the goal of The Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy facing Thanos. So this is the the film that concludes these sprinkles that were set in motion 10 years ago and is 100% not a film that can be watched by someone who has not seen all or at least most of the prior films. The MCU is basically a vert expensive tv show that way and also it mimics large cross over event comics which in my experience, the individual build up issues are better than the grand finale that brings everyone together and leaves little time for characters to shine as they are overstuffed. I think this is that overstuffed 'finale' but that is not to say that there is not plenty of other good and bad factors in this epic.
The Russo brothers started with Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014) which showed their shortcomings in the action sequences (in particular hand to hand combat), from their they moved to Captain America: Civil War (2016) which had a better story with a more emotional finale and better but still imperfect editing and filming of combat sequences but was saved in this vein with a great action set piece in the middle (the airport scene) and a strong final and more personal battle. Two years on they have now brought us this, the third Avengers film which its action/combat scenes are 'mostly' quite bad... I really can't tell what's really happening in a lot of them.
However despite being overstuffed and poorly made in some ways it is well paced with a great tone. It is not overly silly and jokey like some of the more recent Disney tent-poles (Thor: Ragnarok, The Last Jedi), instead it is more appropriately toned for the circumstances the characters find themselves with plenty of more natural humour between the more sombre moments. Another big plus is Josh Brolin as Thanos and the way the characters written. He is the only really fleshed out character in the film and he is a really great three dimensional foil who does not disappoint after such a huge build up. Another positive thing that surprised me was how the film was pretty much half Avengers and half Guardians of the Galaxy.
I think James Gunn would have been a better choice as director for this film but it could have been a lot worse. In the end we have a massive film with almost every character from past films in the series that despite its technical flaws has a great last few minutes that would serve as an even more amazing exclamation mark/ full stop if we all did not realise that due to the way the economics of a successful franchise works that much of it will be undone somehow in the future. By its very nature I don't think this film was going to be for me in a big way but it was fine and certainly could have been worse.. just frustrating on a technical level in places that could have easily been avoided.
6.5/10
Manhattan Nocturne (2016, Brian DeCubellis)
Netflix
In this slow brooding noirish tale Adrien Brody (The Pianist) plays a reporter who becomes involved with a mysterious woman (Yvonne Strahovski) while investigating her husbands death. The film does have a few over the top moments that could have been handled better but I like the film and the cast all put in good work. I have always been a fan of Yvonne Strahovski (Dexter) and she is really great here, as is Brody who's career seems to have tanked since winning his Oscar.
6.5/10
Mulholland Falls (1996, Lee Tamahori)
tv
This neo-noir is set in 1950's Los Angeles where a special crime squad (Nick Nolte, Chazz Palminteri, Chris Penn, Michael Madsen) of the LAPD investigates the murder of a young woman (Jennifer Connelly).
The Period production is excellent, the cast is full of familiar faces and the story is in my wheelhouse but something just is not right. The film seems longer than it is, it just lacks something. Funnily enough Nolte will play the squads police chief in a movie (Gangster Squad) about the same unit many years later. An interesting, slight misfire that is worth watching once.
6/10
Ponyo (2008, Hayao Miyazaki)
tv
Well this is a big step down from the trajectory of quality work the director was on before this. The animation style is simple and dull, the story is trite and this feels very inconsequential.
3/10
REPEAT MOVIE VIEWING
Hot Fuzz (2007, Edgar Wright)
blu ray
Another fun film from this team, this time riffing on police action films. It has a slow start but once it finally gets going its a blast.
8/10
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995, Carl Franklin)
blu ray
This stylish neo-noir has great time period production values and a great cast. It can get a little over complicated in places but I find it an underrated and under seen piece.
7-7.5/10
Sliding Doors (1998, Peter Howitt)
tv
Gwyneth Paltrow plays a London woman whose love life and career both hinge, unknown to her, on whether or not she catches a train. We see it both ways, in parallel.
This interesting story telling gimmick works pretty well.
6/10
WEEKLY AWARDS
BEST FILM: Hot Fuzz
BEST ACTOR: Denzel Washington - Devil in a Blue Dress
BEST ACTRESS: Yvonne Strahovski - Manhattan Nocturne
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Don Cheadle - Devil in a Blue Dress
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melanie Griffith - Mulholland Falls
BEST SCRIPT: Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg - Hot Fuzz
BEST SCORE: Elmer Bernstein - Devil in a Blue Dress
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Tak Fujimoto - Devil in a Blue Dress
BEST DIRECTOR: Edgar Wright - Hot Fuzz
10/10 - Perfection (or as close to it as possible)
09/10 - An Excellent film
08/10 - A VERY Good film
07/10 - A Good film
06/10 - A Solid film
05/10 - An Average film
04/10 - Below Average film
03/10 - A mostly bad film
02/10 - A mostly terrible film
01/10 - Awful through and through
00/10 - Not only awful but offensive too