What Films did You Watch Last Week (25/07 - 31/07) CLOSED

Hello again!

One of yours this week:

The Guns of Navarone (1961, J. Lee Thompson) - Been years since I've seen it, but I recall liking it. Excellent cast and some great scenes. 7/10

Mine: (An even bigger week than last week, but that will likely end now, and I'll be going back to a much more reasonable 2 to 5 films for a while)

Bullet Ballet (Shin'ya Tsukamoto, 1998)

Tsukamoto is one of my favorite current Japanese directors because I frankly never know what to expect from him (except shaky cam… there will always be shaky cam). This film is almost what I expected then it goes off in an entirely different direction. The movie follows a man who finds out that his girlfriend commit suicide with a gun (which is extremely hard to get in Japan). He becomes fascinated by guns after that and tries to locate one himself while also getting involved in a gang of young punks… it does not go where one would think this narrative would normally go. It makes one think it's going to be an edgelord of a film all brooding and nihilistic, somehow Tsukamoto plays with that while still subverting it. 8/10

Le Cercle Rouge (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1970)

An absolutely wonderful French crime film about a diamond heist. A professional thief is let out of jail, but given a nice little retirement crime by a guard at his jail. He assembles an escape artist (who happened to be on his way to jail the same day the thief was let out) and a former police marksman to pull the job… and of course there are complications. A delightful crime drama with the heist being amazingly shot. All around a great movie. My first from Melville despite hearing him talked about, and will certainly not be my last. 9/10

The Green Knight (David Lowery, 2021)

This one may be an unpopular opinion as it seems like the film is very hit or miss, but I found this simply perfect. It's a great retelling of the story, beautifully shot, and perfectly performed. It's no doubt a confusing film if one hasn't read the original work as many details are hinted at but not explained, but I find that actually works with the film as it keep Gawain in a constant state of unknowing and the viewers feel more like him. A rare 10/10

Paganini Horror (Luigi Cozzi, 1988)

Simply put, one of the worst movies I've ever seen in my entire life. It's nonsensical, almost hilariously bad at some points, while being way too boring at others and just so in competently made that I can recommended it to no one. Please, if you haven't witnessed this mess, do your self a favor and never watch it. 1/10

Jungle Cruise (Jaume Collet-Serra, 2021)

Best movie based on a Disney ride since Pirates of the Caribbean… which isn't really saying much. The film is moderately entertaining, it sets out at what it intends to do. It's nothing really special, but watchable entertainment if you're looking for something like that. 6/10

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Sam Raimi, 2022)

I haven't watched an MCU film since Endgame came out. I know a lot of people find that hard to believe or downright odd given my love of films and how one literally cannot avoid discussion of them whenever there's a new one, but I hit burnout on the series and stuck around till Endgame to essentially finish the story. I decided to return to watching some of them, but without the religious fervor of the fanbase. I can already hear some Marvel fans screaming in rage that I'm now watching them out of order, but really I'm watching the ones that interest me most and seeing if I'll even stick around for the others. Picked this one as it looked like the closest thing the MCU had to a horror movie and it looked intriguing, plus I liked the first Doctor Strange movie. Maybe it's because I haven't watched the Marvel films in a while, but I really enjoyed it. I found it a fun movie from start to finish, I liked a lot of the places they decided to go with it, and it managed to pull of nostalgic fanservice with a certain character returning without feeling too cringy. All in all, I had fun. 8/10

Uzumaki (Higuchinsky, 2000)

This is a movie about a haunted spiral somehow infecting an entire town. It's insane. I don't know what else to say. It's cartoonish and silly but damn it, I delighted in its madness. 7/10

Detour (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1945)

A classic film noir where it seems like everything that can go wrong will go wrong. It's extremely low budget and at times it shows. The plot gets a touch on the ridiculous side, the acting isn't the finest, but the film is so atmospheric that it pulls it off and genuinely had me wondering how far it was going to go. Extremely short at under 70 minutes, but well worth it for any noir fan. 7/10

Eternals (Chloé Zhao, 2021)

My second shot at the newer Marvel movies. I honestly picked this one out of curiosity as so many people seem to hate it. Honestly, I didn't think it was that bad. Not great by any means. It's overlong and the director seems to think there's a whole lot more here than I picked up on. Some beautiful shots (though I will complain that the 4K is too dark and it got to the point where I felt like I couldn't take in some of those beautiful shots) but it frankly feels like a movie that's mostly there to set up future things in the MCU. 6/10

Häxan (Benjamin Christensen, 1922)

Early Swedish silent film which is a combination of documentary and frankly an exploitation film. It's a history of what was perceived as witchcraft but with recreation scenes featuring at the time of no doubt shocking violence and as much nudity as they likely thought they could get away with. It's entertaining from a history of the horror genre perspective and some honestly wonderful special effects, especially considering the year. 8/10

Gemini (Shin'ya Tsukamoto, 1999)

Another Gemini Shin'ya Tsukamoto film this week. This one is a flat out horror film, but an interesting one. I won't say much on it, but it takes the classic evil double story and goes some very interesting places with it. 8/10

Vampire's Kiss (Robert Bierman, 1988)

This is a movie where someone could honestly give it any rating on the 1 - 10 spectrum and I'd go "Yep, I agree." It's not good, Nick Cage gives one of the most over the top performances of his career (and what the hell is that accent?). It's mostly known now for how many memes it generated. It's frankly just not good. It's also hilarious and has moments of brilliance. Honestly I think ideas are very clever in how it acts as a decent into madness and some of the scenes could have been great in a better movie… I'm torn because it isn't good, but I kind of delighted in its madness. 5/10 to go purely in the middle.

Vivre Sa Vie (Jean-Luc Godard, 1962)

This will be my last Godard film for a while (but hey, it's nice to know I like his films no significantly more than I did when I first discovered him). The film takes a twelve episodic tales format and shows the life of a Parisian woman and her slow descent into prostitution. Anna Karina is great, some of the direction is pure genius. It didn't pull me into it as much as some of his other films did, but worth a watch. 7/10

Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (Shinji Sômai, 1981)

An absolutely ridiculous movie in which a teenage girl inherits a yakuza organization. It's silly, it's over the top, but if you're expecting an all out comedy, prepare for disappointment… it somehow plays a completely straight yakuza film into it's plot. It's a weird movie that tries to be many things and never quite pulls it off. It's very entertaining, but downright bizarre. 6/10

Shaft (Gordon Parks, 1971)

John Shaft is a black private eye hired to find a Harlem hood's daughter who has been kidnapped. Classic from the 70s with a great soundtrack and a lot of fun scenes. It's not fantastic, but it's well worth a watch. 7/10

Tenet (Christopher Nolan, 2020)

I've literally been avoiding watching this movie for years. This may sound a strange thing to say, but I've loved almost all of Nolan's movies and had no desire to watch this. When it came out I heard a lot of people I trust in terms of movie opinions say they found it was his weakest movie. Because of the nature of the trailers I didn't know much about the plot and the vague description I received from a friend was "oh, time travel" and instantly lost interest. With the exception of Back to the Future, I actively dislike most time travel stories and just skipped out on it. Funny, because I finally watched it and really enjoyed it. I wish someone would have described it less like time travel and more like a cinematic palindrome (fun note, I was an English major in college and actually wrote several papers on palindromes and have something of a fascination with them). Anyway… long way of saying yes, I liked it, and probably should have watched it sooner. 8/10

Martyrs (Pascal Laugier, 2008)

Well, this was an unsettling movie. An extreme French horror movie that is most definitely an uncomfortable watch. One of those films where I'm giving it a high rating even though it's hard to say I "enjoyed" all of it, because it was well done and effective. Very disturbing. 8/10

Columbus - 7.5/10

The Guns of Navarone - Due for a rewatch, but I really liked it. 8/10

The List of Adrian Messenger - 7/10


First Time Viewings: 

Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959, Henry Levin) - 8/10

The World According to Garp (1982, Goerge Roy Hill) - 8/10

The Poseidon Adventure (1972, Ronald Neame) - 7.5/10

Mad God (2022, Phil Tippett) - 7.5/10

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018, David Yates) - 5.5/10

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022, David Yates) - 5.5/10

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958, Nathan Juran) - 7.5/10

Clash of the Titans (1981, Desomnd Davis) - 7/10

Willow (1988, Ron Howard) - 7/10

The Lost City (2022, Aaron Nee & Adam Nee) - 6.5/10


Repeat Viewings: 

Jaws (1975, Steven Spielberg) - 9.5/10

The Truman Show (1998, Peter Weir) - 9/10

The Hours (2002, Stephen Daldry) - 7.5/10

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016, David Yates) - 6/10

The Birdcage (1996, Mike Nichols) - 8/10


TV Viewings: 

Light & Magic (2022) - 8/10

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Season 2 (2009-2010) - 7/10


Movie Awards: 

BEST FILM: Jaws
BEST ACTOR: Jim Carrey - The Truman Show
BEST ACTRESS: Nicole Kidman - The Hours
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Robert Shaw - Jaws
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Glenn Close - The World According to Garp
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Bill Butler - Jaws
BEST SCORE: John Williams - Jaws
BEST SCRIPT: Andrew Niccol - The Truman Show
BEST DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg - Jaws

I'll probably check it out sometime.

I was going to ask if you were interested in Light & Magic, but you already answered that.

The Guns of Navarone (1961, J. Lee Thompson)
I wanted to like it, but found it somewhat tedious.
5/10

The List of Adrian Messenger (1963, John Huston)
Based on a novel from mystery writer turned Hollywood screenwriter Philip Macdonald, this unlike most of the previous books in the series is more of a thriller than a whodunit/mystery. It's fun, but the "guest stars" and Kirk Douglases villain sort of steal the limelight from the actual protagonists.
6.5/10

A Murder of Crows (1998, Rowdy Herrington)
I haven't seen this for ages. I remember liking the set up, but also vaguely recall that the movie made too little of the concept.
5/10

Striking Distance (1993, Rowdy Herrington)
This is another one I watched a long time ago and back than thought it lacked the excitement of other Willis thrillers like the Last Boy Scout. But I've been meaning to rewatch this along with some other of Bruce's films, sort of as a tribute to the man, now that he's retired.
5.5/10

The Arrival (1996, David Twohy)
I actually prefer this to the Villeneuve movie of the same name.
7/10

Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959, Henry Levin) - Lovely adventure classic. -8/10

The Poseidon Adventure (1972, Ronald Neame) - I enjoyed the set-up far more than the the part where the catastrophe actually happens. - 6/10

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018, David Yates) - As someone who still hasn't seen the first movie, this was okay I guess, but it's lacking the "magic" of the Potter films. 6/10

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958, Nathan Juran) - Haven't seen this since being a kid, but liked it very much back then. -7.5/10

Jaws (1975, Steven Spielberg) - 7/10

The Truman Show (1998, Peter Weir) - 7/10

The Hours (2002, Stephen Daldry) - Great performance from Kidman, but the movie didn't resonate with me as much as it should've. -5/10

MINE

Mouchette (1967 Robert Bresson) - 7/10

Report to the Commissioner (1975 Milton Katselas) - 7/10

Locked In (2021 Carlos V. Gutierrez) - 5/10

Mad God (2021 Phil Tippett) - 7/10

Conrack (1974 Martin Ritt) - 7.5/10

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022 Sam Raimi) - 7.5/10

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939 Richard Thorpe) - 7/10

Jurassic World Dominion (2022 Colin Trevorrow) - 6/10













Film Awards

BEST PICTURE - Conrack
BEST ACTOR - Jon Voight (Conrack)
BEST ACTRESS - Mena Suvari (Locked In)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Rex Ingram (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) 
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Madge Sinclair (Conrack)
BEST DIRECTOR - Martin Ritt (Conrack)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - Mouchette
BEST SCORE - Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

We mostly agree again, but I dislike Martyrs. The first half is effective, but the second half I am not fond of. It becomes too unbelievable and it borders on disturbing for the sake of being disturbing. 5.5/10

Haven't watched any of these.