Post by william123 on Jun 26, 2020 2:40:45 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 host (me) posts my weekly movies and you can comment on those and list your movie for the same time frame. I 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.
FIRST TIME MOVIE VIEWING
In a Valley of Violence (2016, Ti West)
Cult horror director Ti West brings us a dark, gritty revenge western that despite some budgetary constraints is mostly successful. Ethan Hawke (Before Sunset) plays a mysterious stranger who because of a random act of violence drags a town of misfits and nitwits into his crosshairs. The lack of extras outside the main cast is the main stroke against this film, everything else worked pretty well.
7-7.5/10
The King of Staten Island (2020, Judd Apatow)
A solid enough drama, comedy that centres around SNL cast member Pete Davidson who in a semi autobiographical way plays a messed up young man who lost his father in a fire. The acting and film making is pretty solid here but the film is about 45 minutes too padded and Davidson is not that likeable.
6/10
Fletch Lives (1989, Michael Ritchie)
I had seen bits of this on tv decades ago but never the whole thing. The setting is very different from the original film with this one primarily set in the south as opposed to a coastal city. It is not as smooth as the original but not the train wreck some report it to be.
5/10
Foul Play (1978, Colin Higgins)
This somewhat comedic crime film stars Goldie Hawn (Private Bejamin) as a shy San Francisco librarian who together with a bumbling cop (Chevy Chase) fall in love as they solve a crime involving albinos, dwarves, and the Catholic Church.
Film starts strong but starts to drag and ultimately is not totally satisfying.
5/10
Dreamscape (1984, Joseph Ruben)
Dennis Quaid (Any Given Sunday plays a young psychic who is recruited by a government agency experimenting with the use of the dream-sharing technology and is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of the U.S. president. There are some interesting idea but a large section of the film is pretty dull, it has a solid enough third act though.
4.5/10
House (1986, Steve Miner)
This whacky horror stars William Kat (The Greatest American Hero) as a troubled writer who moves into a haunted house after inheriting it from his aunt.
The film is trying to imitate the successful style of The Evil Dead but does not have that kind of talent in front or behind the camera to make it work.
3.5/10
REPEAT MOVIE VIEWING
The Usual Suspects (1995, Bryan Singer)
Netflix
Decided to watch this again this week with my partner. This is a very tautly told tale with superb performances and it is really well made. Whomever Bryan Singer was working with back then, he should have stayed with because his films have never been as well put together since.
8-8.5/10
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015, JJ Abrams)
UHD Disc
Well this first chapter in the 'sequel trilogy' is just so well crafted, maybe the most visually awe inspiring modern blockbuster there is. The cinematography, design, pacing and editing are all on point. It sets us up with some great new characters and only a couple (Snoke, Hux) that do not work. Unfortunately the next chapter treated the story set up with disdain but The Force Awakens magic cannot be denied.
8/10
Fanboys (2009, Kyle Newman)
blu ray
This comedy is a fun love letter to Star Wars that sees a group of Star Wars fanatics take a cross-country trip to George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch so their dying friend can see a screening of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) before its release.
7/10
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019, JJ Abrams)
UHD Disc
This final chapter in the 'sequel trilogy' is stunning to look at and brings the main characters together for an adventure but has too much ground to cover with having to be a default 2nd and 3rd act to the trilogy as well as bringing back an old villain because the last chapter did not advance the plot and also left the story with nowhere to go. So the editing and stpry telling is pretty ramshackle. However it is still a whole heap of gorgeous fun.
7/10
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018, Ron Howard)
blu ray
Ron Howard has directed perhaps the ugliest looking Star Wars film ever made. Despite that and the too on the nose checklist style story telling, this origin story of the fabled character is actually quite fun for what it is.
6.5/10
Fletch (1985, Michael Ritchie)
This comedy of a film noir styled story sees Chevy Chase play a newspaper reporter being offered a large sum to kill a cancerous millionaire, but is on the run, risking his job and finding clues as to why,
6/10
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2016, Rian Johnson)
blu ray
So after finding a stack of these in a bargain bin, I am finally watching the second chapter of the 'Sequel Trilogy' for a second time. I liked the same few bits and disliked all the same stuff and what was much more apparent to me after a second viewing is exactly how ugly this film is in comparison to the chapters on either side. This chapter uses much more digital effects than the others in the trilogy and everything lacks weight and size. This of course would not be that bad if the story was good but for the most part there is not a story. The one good thing character wise is the continuation of the mental and emotional battle between Rey and Kylo which is the heart and best part thematically of all three films. Other than that the film ends pretty much in the same position for all the characters as the last film only removing Snoke and Luke from the playing field. Going into the next chapter all mysteries from the first film have been scrubbed away and now you have Kylo as the leader of the villains but he has already been beat twice by our hero, so... umm yeah. At least this time while watching the film I was aware of how abrasively it did not want to be part of a trilogy in advance so it did not rattle me as much.
4/10
WEEKLY FILM AWARDS
BEST FILM: The Usual Suspects
BEST ACTOR: Ethan Hawke - In a Valley of Violence
BEST ACTRESS: Daisy Ridley - The Force Awakens
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Kevin Spacey - The
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Taissa Farmiga - In a Valley of Violence
BEST EDITING: John Ottman - The Usual Suspects
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Dan Mindel - The Force Awakens
BEST SCRIPT: Christopher McQuarrie - The Usual Suspects
BEST SCORE: John Williams - The Force Awakens
BEST DIRECTOR: JJ Abrams - The Force Awakens
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
Yours:
Dreamscape 7/10
Haven't seen it in ages, I remember it being O.K.
House 6.5/10
Same thing, haven't seen it in a long time, I remember thinking it wasn't bad.
The Usual Suspects 9/10
Yep, loved it.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens 8/10
I liked it.
Fanboys 7/10
I remember it being O.K.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 6.5/10
I thought it was kind of a mess, but not bad.
Solo: A Star wars Story 7.5/10
It felt a bit too long, IMO, but I enjoyed it.
Fletch 7/10
Haven't seen it ages, I remember it being O.K.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi 7/10
I thought it was O.K., kind of well made, but I wasn't crazy about it.
Mine:
Bridge of Spies 8/10
It's Steven Spielberg movie with Tom Hanks. It's about the American lawyer who orchestrated an exchange betwen a Soviet spy and a US pilot, captured while he was flying a spy plane over Soviet Union. I like it, it's reallly well made, it feels very human. Mark Rylance is great, loved Tom Hanks too.
The Grifters 9/10
It's Stephen Frears movie, with Angelica Huston, John Cusack and Annette Bening. It's about a woman who works for a mob boss who gets in touch again with his son, who's a con man. Loved it, loved the vibe, the film noir atmosphere. The cast is great. Also, Annette Bening is really hot here.
L'Assassino 9/10
It's a movie with Marcello Mastroianni, Elio Petri directed it, he did Investigaton on a Citizen Above All Suspicion too. It's about an antiquity shop owner, kind of sleazy, who becomes the prime suspect in the murder of his rich lover, who financed his shop. Loved it it's truly great, it's really complex and dark, I found it kind of touching too. Marcello Mastroianni is fantastic, loved the actor who playes the inspector who's investigating too, Salvo Randone.
The Son of No One 4.5/10
It's a movie with Channing Tatum, Ray Liotta and Al Pacino. It's about a cop, with some secrets in his past that are threatened to be exposed by a series of anonymous letters sent to a newspaper. Didn't like it, it feels kind of a mess, bland too, IMO.