Which films did you see last week? (10.10.2021 - 10.16.2021)
Oct 17, 2021 8:35:49 GMT
theravenking and petrolino like this
Post by Hurdy Gurdy Man on Oct 17, 2021 8:35:49 GMT
Hello, good folks of FG. The weekly film discussion thread is back.
The topic under discussion is made clear in the title. Made-for-TV, direct-to-video, streaming, TV series/episodes, documentaries, short films can also be listed.
The minimum requirement is that a numerical rating out of 5 or 10 be provided - whichever the poster wishes to choose - and it'll be even more helpful if he/she also writes a few thoughts regarding his/her experience with the feature/documentary/short/TV series' season. This will help in starting discussions, which is one of the main intentions of this thread. I also request all those who reply here to go through the whole thread once and see if you can see some common topic to discuss with other posters.
The topic under discussion is made clear in the title. Made-for-TV, direct-to-video, streaming, TV series/episodes, documentaries, short films can also be listed.
The minimum requirement is that a numerical rating out of 5 or 10 be provided - whichever the poster wishes to choose - and it'll be even more helpful if he/she also writes a few thoughts regarding his/her experience with the feature/documentary/short/TV series' season. This will help in starting discussions, which is one of the main intentions of this thread. I also request all those who reply here to go through the whole thread once and see if you can see some common topic to discuss with other posters.
My last week was so-so, overall. All first viewings except the first one.
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Once Upon a Time in the West (1968, Sergio Leone) :
SECOND VIEWING
I don't appreciate this film that much anymore. True, it has got several excellent slow-burning individual setpieces, Morricone's score is incredible and I appreciate the various western-related themes it tackles. However, its plot is narrated too slowly and in too convoluted a way simply in order to prolong the runtime beyond my breaking point.
6/10 (Down from 9/10)
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This film is quite corny despite having a strong undercurrent of tragedy. I did not care for the characters either. Its plus points are two excellent sequences of explosive destruction.
I was so surprised that I laughed involuntarily when the "Mesa Verde" sign appeared holographically above James Coburn. I know it was to signify Rod Steiger's imagination but did it have to be presented this way? I expect such visual corniness from someone like Manmohan Desai but not Leone.
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I had not planned any horror related stuff for October but I had this trilogy for too long on DVD and I need to get rid of my piling backlog. So I thought now is as good a time as any.
I had expected this one to be mostly fun. What I got instead was 50% fun, 50% irritation. What it has going for it that all actors are well cast, hit their beats well as far as the limitations of the writing allows them and, at times, even manage to rise above those limitations due to their interpersonal chemistry. Some of the 80s music video inspired directorial touches are pretty cool to look at as well.
Where it fails is due to some pretty mediocre writing. It did not surprise me to know that the final product was not what was originally intended by the writers and large swathes of it were modified before production. The concept that teenagers can be lured into vampirism due to its promise of everlasting youth and immortality is interesting but it does not work for me as Michael (Jason Patric) is such a personality-deprived cipher that I could not buy as to why he would be lured into the cult. They should have established his personality better. Also, the lead heroine has a kid hanger-on she cares for but the film sprung it upon me without any preamble and expected me to care for it. Compare this with the genuinely unsettling as well as sympathetic child vampire in Near Dark and it's immediately obvious where The Lost Boys dropped the ball. As far as I am concerned, both Near Dark and Fright Night wipe the floor with this.
5/10
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It was one of the highest selling home videos of 2008 but I can understand why fans of the original were pissed off. It purports to be a sequel but is, in fact, a remake that hits most of the same story beats as the original. They even went to the extent of casting Kiefer Sutherland's half-brother Angus as the head vampire!
However, since I did not find the original to be all that great, I am more willing to forgive the missteps of this film than others. I also recognize that this film gave the leading man more of a reason to embrace everlasting youth as he is shown to long for a glorious past which he had to abandon. The opening scene had a nice twist that was cool on its own, even though it is logically stupid when reflected upon. I can't recall having encountered Autumn Reeser before - she was super easy on the eyes. Finally, the best thing about the film is, of course, Corey Feldman.
5/10
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In the trilogy, this is the only film that knows exactly what it wants to be and delivers exactly that. It does not have any teenage characters, thus not being worthy of the "Lost Boys" brand name. Or maybe the Frog brothers are the 'lost boys' now? It (sort of) fits as their obsession with vampires has engulfed their lives and prevented them from moving on.
But anyway, like I said, this one is not about teenage angst at all and is a straight vampire hunting flick. I also found it to be the most entertaining of the trilogy. Jamison Newlander joins Corey Feldman only in the climax and I would have much preferred them teaming up from the beginning but I am satisfied with what I got. I could foresee from the beginning the twist that a character, who is too obviously a traitor, end up betraying the heroes. However, this was followed by two more twists, neither of which I could foresee.
6/10
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I found this to be a lame, derivative, cliched psycho thriller which mostly coasted along on Julia Roberts' charisma and likeability. Patrick Bergin was too bug-eyed insane to be actually intimidating and Kevin Anderson was a total wet rag.
However, I do understand why this was such a hit back in the day. It was the female audience who made it a success. Women are creatures of emotion more than men. They reacted on a base emotional level to this film's story and protagonist. When emotions primarily determine your consensus about a film, things like lack of logic or pace or thrills become moot.
4/10
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