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Post by Hurdy Gurdy Man on Jun 4, 2023 14:27:29 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. All first viewings for me last week :
This film was a surprise blockbuster and Disney's highest grossing live-action film till 1994. I thought it had excellent effects and some very creative situations that the miniaturized children were put in. This was a family film, so of course none of them were in any real danger but the simulation of danger was still present and the children had to be on their toes all the time to evade it. What I did not like was too much emphasis on the adult characters, esp. Rick Moranis who had so much screen time only because he was a headlining comedy star.
7/10
Trailer :
Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992, Randal Kleiser) : This was doomed to fail from the concept level. Miniaturized humans is a neat idea and can lead to several creative possibilities. A large human, on the other hand, is a bad idea in a family film. Roger Ebert put it best in his review, "There may be, for all I know, comic possibilities in a giant kid, but this movie doesn't find them." We know the giant baby is never in any real danger as everyone handles the situation with kid gloves. That means the film trudges along in a tired fashion till the inevitable end.
I did find a few inspired moments, such as when the giant baby cries in pain and the onlookers suddenly get emotional, as if it has dawned on them for the first time that despite the size, this is only a baby.
However, this should have been another miniaturized adventure. Maybe place the children and the adults in the big city or some other challenging surroundings.
3/10
Trailer :
This film marked Rick Moranis's last live-action role before his retirement for personal reasons. The plot goes back to miniaturization, only this time it's the adults that are shrunk and they have to contact their children.
This was released straight to TV, so the production values are quite low. Despite being directed by noted cinematographer Dean Cundey, the look of the film is as drab as they come. There is one neat sequence involving a toy car on a race track and another involving a cockroach. However, this can be easily skipped unless you are a completist.
3/10
Trailer :
Mad Love (1995, Antonia Bird) : This film takes quite a serious and intense story about a promising teen boy who falls hard for a teen girl who has emotional problems, then strips it of its dark undertones and tries to shoehorn it into the teenybopper romance genre. The film's tone was changed during production due to Antonia Bird's previous film Priest proving to be very controversial. Chris O'Donnell and Drew Barrymore are good-looking and likeable but don't have the intensity required for their respective roles. 4/10
Trailer :
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Post by James on Jun 4, 2023 15:11:45 GMT
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids - 8/10. I haven't heard many good things about the sequels but I still might check them out.
First Viewings:
Wolf Creek (2005, Greg McLean) – 7/10
Wolf Creek 2 (2013, Greg McLean) – 7/10
Reality (2023, Tina Satter) – 7/10
Repeat Viewings:
Rocky (1976, John G. Avildsen) – 8.5/10
Rocky II (1979, Sylvester Stallone) – 7.5/10
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Jun 4, 2023 20:00:23 GMT
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids - 6/10
Honey, I Blew Up the Kid - 3/10
Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves - 5/10
Mad Love - 5/10
Mine:
First Blood (1982) - 9/10
Highly thrilling start to the Rambo series.
65 (2023) - 2/10
Adam Driver and a young girl crash land on earth 65 million years ago. Highly boring film that does not explain itself. This one had potential but sadly its wasted.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) - 5/10
Marvel has been pretty disappointing of late. Some good ideas and effects are shown here but pretty dull in the middle. Plus Bill Murry is wasted.
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) - 8/10
Underrated Star Trek adventure. I thought it was fun.
Attack of Darfur (2009) - 6/10
Infamous filmmaker Uwe Boll made his share of bad film but this one is pretty good. Flawed though including non stop shaky cam but a powerful story and shocking violence really makes one think.
Daybreakers (2009) - 4/10
Vampire film. Kinda dull with a few good ideas.
The Shipping News (2001) - 3/10
Solid cast but a rather dull film.
Vampire Acadamy (2014) - 3/10
Teen Vampire flick. Not for me.
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Post by stickman38 on Jun 4, 2023 20:20:18 GMT
H,ISTK, I liked it, sure it's in the same vein as The Incredible Shrinking Woman and the more recent Matt Damon film Downsizing, but I'm always intrigued by these movies about tiny humans. lol. I thought the sets were really creative in this movie and perhaps this was actually the best thing about the movie. Although, I would give a higher rating, it's wildly entertaining stuff, I'll go 7.5 out of 10. I haven't seen the other movies you listed... Anyhow, I decided to re-sign up for Paramount+. I had it before but they gave me an offer I couldn't refuse. lol... $5.99 a month for 3 months. And it includes Showtime. So, what the hell. First two films were What Women Want and The Fablemans. WWW - is not too bad, it's somewhat entertaining but I really think the best thing about the movie happens in the first 10 minutes. The main character (played by Mel Gibson) grows up as a son of a showgirl and has great looking women around him all the time. This part of the movie was amusing. The rest of the movie is "poor me" I can hear women's thoughts.  I'll give it a 6.1 out of 10. Its an okay movie. TF - people seem to critize this movie as Spielberg's vanity project but it's actually a pretty good movie. I've been quoting some of lines from this movie over the last few days. That's always a good sign that the movie was above average. I liked it but I wasn't enthralled by it. I think the issue is that it dives into "family drama" territory too often. Still... some solid acting and a good story made up for the over dramatic moments. I'll give it a 7.0 out of 10. |
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Post by Hurdy Gurdy Man on Jun 6, 2023 6:40:47 GMT
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids - 8/10. I haven't heard many good things about the sequels but I still might check them out. First Viewings: Wolf Creek (2005, Greg McLean) – 7/10Wolf Creek 2 (2013, Greg McLean) – 7/10Reality (2023, Tina Satter) – 7/10Repeat Viewings: Rocky (1976, John G. Avildsen) – 8.5/10Rocky II (1979, Sylvester Stallone) – 7.5/10I watched Wolf Creek back in 2008 when I was going through the "Splat Pack" phase (Hostel, The Devil's Rejects etc.) I did not think it was anything special aside from the outback setting. I have also seen McLean's Rogue which is a decent killer croc flick. |
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Post by Hurdy Gurdy Man on Jun 6, 2023 6:41:55 GMT
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids - 6/10
Honey, I Blew Up the Kid - 3/10
Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves - 5/10
Mad Love - 5/10
Mine:First Blood (1982) - 9/10Highly thrilling start to the Rambo series. 65 (2023) - 2/10Adam Driver and a young girl crash land on earth 65 million years ago. Highly boring film that does not explain itself. This one had potential but sadly its wasted.Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) - 5/10
Marvel has been pretty disappointing of late. Some good ideas and effects are shown here but pretty dull in the middle. Plus Bill Murry is wasted.Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) - 8/10
Underrated Star Trek adventure. I thought it was fun.Attack of Darfur (2009) - 6/10
Infamous filmmaker Uwe Boll made his share of bad film but this one is pretty good. Flawed though including non stop shaky cam but a powerful story and shocking violence really makes one think.Daybreakers (2009) - 4/10
Vampire film. Kinda dull with a few good ideas.The Shipping News (2001) - 3/10
Solid cast but a rather dull film.Vampire Acadamy (2014) - 3/10Teen Vampire flick. Not for me. We agree on First Blood and The Shipping News. want to watch Daybreakers. |
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Post by Hurdy Gurdy Man on Jun 6, 2023 6:42:40 GMT
H,ISTK, I liked it, sure it's in the same vein as The Incredible Shrinking Woman and the more recent Matt Damon film Downsizing, but I'm always intrigued by these movies about tiny humans. lol. I thought the sets were really creative in this movie and perhaps this was actually the best thing about the movie. Although, I would give a higher rating, it's wildly entertaining stuff, I'll go 7.5 out of 10. I haven't seen the other movies you listed... Anyhow, I decided to re-sign up for Paramount+. I had it before but they gave me an offer I couldn't refuse. lol... $5.99 a month for 3 months. And it includes Showtime. So, what the hell. First two films were What Women Want and The Fablemans. WWW - is not too bad, it's somewhat entertaining but I really think the best thing about the movie happens in the first 10 minutes. The main character (played by Mel Gibson) grows up as a son of a showgirl and has great looking women around him all the time. This part of the movie was amusing. The rest of the movie is "poor me" I can hear women's thoughts. I'll give it a 6.1 out of 10. Its an okay movie. TF - people seem to critize this movie as Spielberg's vanity project but it's actually a pretty good movie. I've been quoting some of lines from this movie over the last few days. That's always a good sign that the movie was above average. I liked it but I wasn't enthralled by it. I think the issue is that it dives into "family drama" territory too often. Still... some solid acting and a good story made up for the over dramatic moments. I'll give it a 7.0 out of 10. I haven't seen either of those films but I will watch them eventually. Especially The Fablemans. |
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Post by jcush on Jun 6, 2023 8:00:37 GMT
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids - 7/10
Mad Love - Interesting premise, but the execution is off. I thought it was okay. 6/10
First Time Viewings:
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949, John Ford) - 7/10
Goin' South (1978, Jack Nicholson) - 6.5/10
The Return of Ringo (1965, Duccio Tessari) - 6.5/10
Breezy (1973, Clint Eastwood) - 7/10
Heartbreak Ridge (1986, Clint Eastwood) - 7/10
Hannie Caulder (1971, Burt Kennedy) - 7/10
Yellow Sky (1948, William A. Wellman) - 8.5/10
The Wild (2006, Steve Williams) - 6/10
West and Soda (1965, Bruno Bozzetto) - 7.5/10
Repeat Viewings:
The Searchers (1956, John Ford) - 8/10
The Sting (1973, George Roy Hill) - 8.5/10
The Wild Bunch (1969, Sam Peckinpah) - 7/10
Rio Bravo (1959, Howard Hawks) - 8.5/10
Unforgiven (1992, Clint Eastwood) - 9.5/10
The Hellbenders (1967, Sergio Corbucci) - 8/10
Django (1966, Sergio Corbucci) - 7.5/10
The Naked Spur (1953, Anthony Mann) - 8/10
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Post by theravenking on Jun 6, 2023 11:26:18 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. All first viewings for me last week :
This film was a surprise blockbuster and Disney's highest grossing live-action film till 1994. I thought it had excellent effects and some very creative situations that the miniaturized children were put in. This was a family film, so of course none of them were in any real danger but the simulation of danger was still present and the children had to be on their toes all the time to evade it. What I did not like was too much emphasis on the adult characters, esp. Rick Moranis who had so much screen time only because he was a headlining comedy star.
7/10
Trailer :
Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992, Randal Kleiser) : This was doomed to fail from the concept level. Miniaturized humans is a neat idea and can lead to several creative possibilities. A large human, on the other hand, is a bad idea in a family film. Roger Ebert put it best in his review, "There may be, for all I know, comic possibilities in a giant kid, but this movie doesn't find them." We know the giant baby is never in any real danger as everyone handles the situation with kid gloves. That means the film trudges along in a tired fashion till the inevitable end.
I did find a few inspired moments, such as when the giant baby cries in pain and the onlookers suddenly get emotional, as if it has dawned on them for the first time that despite the size, this is only a baby.
However, this should have been another miniaturized adventure. Maybe place the children and the adults in the big city or some other challenging surroundings.
3/10
Trailer :
This film marked Rick Moranis's last live-action role before his retirement for personal reasons. The plot goes back to miniaturization, only this time it's the adults that are shrunk and they have to contact their children.
This was released straight to TV, so the production values are quite low. Despite being directed by noted cinematographer Dean Cundey, the look of the film is as drab as they come. There is one neat sequence involving a toy car on a race track and another involving a cockroach. However, this can be easily skipped unless you are a completist.
3/10
Trailer :
Mad Love (1995, Antonia Bird) : This film takes quite a serious and intense story about a promising teen boy who falls hard for a teen girl who has emotional problems, then strips it of its dark undertones and tries to shoehorn it into the teenybopper romance genre. The film's tone was changed during production due to Antonia Bird's previous film Priest proving to be very controversial. Chris O'Donnell and Drew Barrymore are good-looking and likeable but don't have the intensity required for their respective roles. 4/10
Trailer :
None of yours this week.
Mine:
First Time Viewing:
The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent (2022; Tom Gormican) - I soo wanted to like this being a Cage fan and with Pedro Pascal seeming like a cool guy too. There's some great chemistry between the leads, but instead of focusing on them the movie gets lost in a generic kidnap/spy plot and it also felt way too grounded and safe for this type of crazy meta-comedy.
5.5/10
Unlawful Entry (1992; Jonathan Kaplan) - Ray Liotta is great in this otherwise predictable thriller as a psychotic cop inserting himself into the life of a respectable couple. One shocking late surprise aside though there's nothing particularly interesting here.
6/10
TV
Harsh Realm (1999) - This Chris Carter show was axed after only three episodes had aired, but it's by no means as bad as the poor reception might indicate. It's a virtual reality plot with some obvious similarities to The Matrix, but it might've developed into something more meaningful and exciting had it been given a chance.
6/10
Repeat Viewing:
Cold in July (2014; Jim Mickle) - Terrific tough thriller with a cracking cast. The first time around I was a bit irritated by the shift it took in the second half, but now that I was already familiar with the plot I enjoyed it very much. Thinking about it, I'm not sure whether the twists make a lot of sense, but even so a fun movie.
8/10
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Post by Cat on Jun 6, 2023 17:27:35 GMT
I have some difficulty with the minimum requirement. I have difficulty ranking films by numbers. It's so weird. Perhaps jumbled in all of my thoughts about a movie is a number to be derived, but typically speaking I don't rank because I don't know how..
Nonetheless, last week I saw:
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
I really liked it. It felt right on the threshold for indie film, but maintains its accessibility with (in my opinion) smooth dialogue writing of Shane Black. He's all but famous for dialogue and partner-in-crime/buddy cop stories and seems to dwell in conversational dialogue. It seemed to me Robert Downy Jr. was really kind of rehearsing for Iron Man with this movie. It's a casual, comfortable but entertaining detective noir sorta film. It never strayed too far from the people enmeshed in the plot, meaning that although there was a fair bit of plot, the film made sure the stories and feelings of the main characters were the star of the film, in my opinion.
Beau is Afraid (2023)
Really, really liked it. It's a surreal sort of film that one could say by the end was trying not to collapse under the weight of its own ambition. By the end it was almost impossibly well-dressed up but running out of places to go. That said, Joaquin Phoenix is very well cast not just as someone who executes the role, but as an actor who is game for this sort of material. It really is a ricocheting from pillar to post odyssey type of movie.
I've heard it likened to a Jewish Lord of the Rings. I've also heard it compared to a Jewish Everything Everywhere All At Once. Not sure how I feel about either of those comparisons. It reminds me most of Orson Welles' The Trial (1962), in that the main character's agency is constantly questioned in a manner befitting suffocation. There are also numerous instances where he is either held or embraced without being made fully aware of the circumstances, and that's the Kafka. That's the same Kafka-type device from Orson Welles' The Trial wherein the main character is scrutinized, interrogated and charged without being made aware of the crimes. Beau is Afraid employs that same type of displacement from reality.
I recommend Beau is Afraid. It's so much more than its plot suggests.
Death Duel (1977)
Classic Shaw Brothers Kung Fu movie. I liked it. I always do. This one I'd never heard of before. It's essentially about a fabled third swordsman attempting to evade his own life because of the trauma of killing hundreds of men in self-defense because they keep showing up to challenge him. There's love interests. There's corruption in the town, namely with the local brothel.
It's not the chewiest meat but it is very entertaining if you're into that sort of thing, which I am.
Decision to Leave (2022)
I liked it. I've liked everything from this director so far (that I've seen). It stretches genres but if I had to categorize it, it's something of a crime/romance/mystery. Long story short, a married insomniac detective becomes too involved with a woman briefly suspected of murdering her older husband after the details of her own mother's death are called into question as well as her shaky immigration status.
It's got a lot of details, a lot of attention to details. It's packed with marital complications, isolation, manipulation, evidence tampering, and all against a backdrop of murder mystery and recurring suspects in South Korea. Very good, in my opinion.
Breaking the Waves (1996)
This movie wants you to feel pain.
It's got a pleasing soundtrack. It's a hard film to describe and even harder to watch (though worth it, in my opinion). It's told in phases as a story of a woman infatuated with husband. In 1970's Scotland, a woman marries an oil rig worker who becomes paralyzed during his first outing on the rig after their marriage. While this is happening, the wife prays for his return and feels guilty about it. She is also in love with her husband in a manner befitting addictive devotion to the point where she's inconsolable without him. He's a freer man, spiritually, and as such, advises her to have sex with other men so as to not miss out on her own life. In order to persuade her of this (as he lays paralyzed), he persuades her to have sex with other man and tell him about it because that will help him live.
She believes it and embarks on a deeply conflicted and dangerous journey into promiscuity because this is how she's come to define being a dutiful wife.
I haven't seen any of the movies you reviewed. I watched the first Honey I Shrunk the kids ages ago. Long enough ago that it predates memory. I've not heard of Mad Love either. I've seen worse trailers, but Chris O'Donnell is all but inseparable from Batman and Robin. He's probably not thrilled about it either.
Haven't seen it and no intention to, but ouch.
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Post by Hurdy Gurdy Man on Jun 7, 2023 16:31:34 GMT
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids - 7/10 Mad Love - Interesting premise, but the execution is off. I thought it was okay. 6/10 First Time Viewings:
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949, John Ford) - 7/10
Goin' South (1978, Jack Nicholson) - 6.5/10
The Return of Ringo (1965, Duccio Tessari) - 6.5/10
Breezy (1973, Clint Eastwood) - 7/10
Heartbreak Ridge (1986, Clint Eastwood) - 7/10
Hannie Caulder (1971, Burt Kennedy) - 7/10
Yellow Sky (1948, William A. Wellman) - 8.5/10
The Wild (2006, Steve Williams) - 6/10
West and Soda (1965, Bruno Bozzetto) - 7.5/10
Repeat Viewings:
The Searchers (1956, John Ford) - 8/10
The Sting (1973, George Roy Hill) - 8.5/10
The Wild Bunch (1969, Sam Peckinpah) - 7/10
Rio Bravo (1959, Howard Hawks) - 8.5/10
Unforgiven (1992, Clint Eastwood) - 9.5/10
The Hellbenders (1967, Sergio Corbucci) - 8/10
Django (1966, Sergio Corbucci) - 7.5/10
The Naked Spur (1953, Anthony Mann) - 8/10The Wild Bunch: I remember it being great, been almost 15 years, it needs a rewatch. The train robbery scene was thrilling in a slow-burning way.
Rio Bravo: Watched it a few months back. It's good, not more. It's not a patch on High Noon (to which it was made as a response) or Hawks's own Red River.
The Naked Spur: My favourite Mann-Stewart collaboration. Robert Ryan is excellent. It' also the first film in the series which depicts native Americans as something other than bad guys.
In watchlist:
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
The Searchers
Django
The Sting
Heartbreak Ridge
Unforgiven
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Post by jcush on Jun 7, 2023 18:39:26 GMT
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids - 7/10 Mad Love - Interesting premise, but the execution is off. I thought it was okay. 6/10 First Time Viewings:
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949, John Ford) - 7/10
Goin' South (1978, Jack Nicholson) - 6.5/10
The Return of Ringo (1965, Duccio Tessari) - 6.5/10
Breezy (1973, Clint Eastwood) - 7/10
Heartbreak Ridge (1986, Clint Eastwood) - 7/10
Hannie Caulder (1971, Burt Kennedy) - 7/10
Yellow Sky (1948, William A. Wellman) - 8.5/10
The Wild (2006, Steve Williams) - 6/10
West and Soda (1965, Bruno Bozzetto) - 7.5/10
Repeat Viewings:
The Searchers (1956, John Ford) - 8/10
The Sting (1973, George Roy Hill) - 8.5/10
The Wild Bunch (1969, Sam Peckinpah) - 7/10
Rio Bravo (1959, Howard Hawks) - 8.5/10
Unforgiven (1992, Clint Eastwood) - 9.5/10
The Hellbenders (1967, Sergio Corbucci) - 8/10
Django (1966, Sergio Corbucci) - 7.5/10
The Naked Spur (1953, Anthony Mann) - 8/10The Wild Bunch: I remember it being great, been almost 15 years, it needs a rewatch. The train robbery scene was thrilling in a slow-burning way.
Rio Bravo: Watched it a few months back. It's good, not more. It's not a patch on High Noon (to which it was made as a response) or Hawks's own Red River.
The Naked Spur: My favourite Mann-Stewart collaboration. Robert Ryan is excellent. It' also the first film in the series which depicts native Americans as something other than bad guys.
In watchlist:
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
The Searchers
Django
The Sting
Heartbreak Ridge
Unforgiven
I like High Noon and Red River (I rate both 7.5/10), but I definitely like Rio Bravo more than both. |
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Post by stickman38 on Jun 8, 2023 0:22:18 GMT
H,ISTK, I liked it, sure it's in the same vein as The Incredible Shrinking Woman and the more recent Matt Damon film Downsizing, but I'm always intrigued by these movies about tiny humans. lol. I thought the sets were really creative in this movie and perhaps this was actually the best thing about the movie. Although, I would give a higher rating, it's wildly entertaining stuff, I'll go 7.5 out of 10. I haven't seen the other movies you listed... Anyhow, I decided to re-sign up for Paramount+. I had it before but they gave me an offer I couldn't refuse. lol... $5.99 a month for 3 months. And it includes Showtime. So, what the hell. First two films were What Women Want and The Fablemans. WWW - is not too bad, it's somewhat entertaining but I really think the best thing about the movie happens in the first 10 minutes. The main character (played by Mel Gibson) grows up as a son of a showgirl and has great looking women around him all the time. This part of the movie was amusing. The rest of the movie is "poor me" I can hear women's thoughts. I'll give it a 6.1 out of 10. Its an okay movie. TF - people seem to critize this movie as Spielberg's vanity project but it's actually a pretty good movie. I've been quoting some of lines from this movie over the last few days. That's always a good sign that the movie was above average. I liked it but I wasn't enthralled by it. I think the issue is that it dives into "family drama" territory too often. Still... some solid acting and a good story made up for the over dramatic moments. I'll give it a 7.0 out of 10. I haven't seen either of those films but I will watch them eventually. Especially The Fablemans.
The Fablemans is worth watching if you're a Spielberg fan for sure. But more casual film fans might get annoyed by it. Still, a solid movie either way.
But in regards to movies featuring tiny people... I really liked Downsizing a lot. I thought it was hilarious even though it's not a comedy, it's unintentionally funny. Christoph Waltz was great in it and so was Asian actress, Hong Chau. The critics and apparently fans too didn't care for it that much. I'm going to have to strongly disagree with'em all. This is a quality film.
****EDIT******EDIT****
Don't watch the trailer for Downsizing, it definitely gives away some of the best parts.
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Post by Hurdy Gurdy Man on Jun 8, 2023 3:48:48 GMT
Unlawful Entry: It was one of those "xyz from hell" 90s thrillers that were usually more popular on cable and home video than theatres. Not the best I have seen of its kind, not the worst either. Later I found out that it has a sort-of precursor in The Prowler.
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Post by Hurdy Gurdy Man on Jun 8, 2023 3:54:47 GMT
I have some difficulty with the minimum requirement. I have difficulty ranking films by numbers. It's so weird. Perhaps jumbled in all of my thoughts about a movie is a number to be derived, but typically speaking I don't rank because I don't know how..
Nonetheless, last week I saw:
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
I really liked it. It felt right on the threshold for indie film, but maintains its accessibility with (in my opinion) smooth dialogue writing of Shane Black. He's all but famous for dialogue and partner-in-crime/buddy cop stories and seems to dwell in conversational dialogue. It seemed to me Robert Downy Jr. was really kind of rehearsing for Iron Man with this movie. It's a casual, comfortable but entertaining detective noir sorta film. It never strayed too far from the people enmeshed in the plot, meaning that although there was a fair bit of plot, the film made sure the stories and feelings of the main characters were the star of the film, in my opinion.
Beau is Afraid (2023)
Really, really liked it. It's a surreal sort of film that one could say by the end was trying not to collapse under the weight of its own ambition. By the end it was almost impossibly well-dressed up but running out of places to go. That said, Joaquin Phoenix is very well cast not just as someone who executes the role, but as an actor who is game for this sort of material. It really is a ricocheting from pillar to post odyssey type of movie.
I've heard it likened to a Jewish Lord of the Rings. I've also heard it compared to a Jewish Everything Everywhere All At Once. Not sure how I feel about either of those comparisons. It reminds me most of Orson Welles' The Trial (1962), in that the main character's agency is constantly questioned in a manner befitting suffocation. There are also numerous instances where he is either held or embraced without being made fully aware of the circumstances, and that's the Kafka. That's the same Kafka-type device from Orson Welles' The Trial wherein the main character is scrutinized, interrogated and charged without being made aware of the crimes. Beau is Afraid employs that same type of displacement from reality.
I recommend Beau is Afraid. It's so much more than its plot suggests.
Death Duel (1977)
Classic Shaw Brothers Kung Fu movie. I liked it. I always do. This one I'd never heard of before. It's essentially about a fabled third swordsman attempting to evade his own life because of the trauma of killing hundreds of men in self-defense because they keep showing up to challenge him. There's love interests. There's corruption in the town, namely with the local brothel.
It's not the chewiest meat but it is very entertaining if you're into that sort of thing, which I am.
Decision to Leave (2022)
I liked it. I've liked everything from this director so far (that I've seen). It stretches genres but if I had to categorize it, it's something of a crime/romance/mystery. Long story short, a married insomniac detective becomes too involved with a woman briefly suspected of murdering her older husband after the details of her own mother's death are called into question as well as her shaky immigration status.
It's got a lot of details, a lot of attention to details. It's packed with marital complications, isolation, manipulation, evidence tampering, and all against a backdrop of murder mystery and recurring suspects in South Korea. Very good, in my opinion.
Breaking the Waves (1996)
This movie wants you to feel pain.
It's got a pleasing soundtrack. It's a hard film to describe and even harder to watch (though worth it, in my opinion). It's told in phases as a story of a woman infatuated with husband. In 1970's Scotland, a woman marries an oil rig worker who becomes paralyzed during his first outing on the rig after their marriage. While this is happening, the wife prays for his return and feels guilty about it. She is also in love with her husband in a manner befitting addictive devotion to the point where she's inconsolable without him. He's a freer man, spiritually, and as such, advises her to have sex with other men so as to not miss out on her own life. In order to persuade her of this (as he lays paralyzed), he persuades her to have sex with other man and tell him about it because that will help him live.
She believes it and embarks on a deeply conflicted and dangerous journey into promiscuity because this is how she's come to define being a dutiful wife.
I haven't seen any of the movies you reviewed. I watched the first Honey I Shrunk the kids ages ago. Long enough ago that it predates memory. I've not heard of Mad Love either. I've seen worse trailers, but Chris O'Donnell is all but inseparable from Batman and Robin. He's probably not thrilled about it either.
Haven't seen it and no intention to, but ouch.
Hey, it's okay if ranking/rating is not your thing; your thoughts will more than suffice in its stead.
I like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang a lot too. Its dialogue and the interplay between the characters is definitely its best feature.
I have Breaking the Waves in my watchlist.
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Post by Cat on Jun 14, 2023 20:10:09 GMT
I have some difficulty with the minimum requirement. I have difficulty ranking films by numbers. It's so weird. Perhaps jumbled in all of my thoughts about a movie is a number to be derived, but typically speaking I don't rank because I don't know how..
Nonetheless, last week I saw:
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
I really liked it. It felt right on the threshold for indie film, but maintains its accessibility with (in my opinion) smooth dialogue writing of Shane Black. He's all but famous for dialogue and partner-in-crime/buddy cop stories and seems to dwell in conversational dialogue. It seemed to me Robert Downy Jr. was really kind of rehearsing for Iron Man with this movie. It's a casual, comfortable but entertaining detective noir sorta film. It never strayed too far from the people enmeshed in the plot, meaning that although there was a fair bit of plot, the film made sure the stories and feelings of the main characters were the star of the film, in my opinion.
Beau is Afraid (2023)
Really, really liked it. It's a surreal sort of film that one could say by the end was trying not to collapse under the weight of its own ambition. By the end it was almost impossibly well-dressed up but running out of places to go. That said, Joaquin Phoenix is very well cast not just as someone who executes the role, but as an actor who is game for this sort of material. It really is a ricocheting from pillar to post odyssey type of movie.
I've heard it likened to a Jewish Lord of the Rings. I've also heard it compared to a Jewish Everything Everywhere All At Once. Not sure how I feel about either of those comparisons. It reminds me most of Orson Welles' The Trial (1962), in that the main character's agency is constantly questioned in a manner befitting suffocation. There are also numerous instances where he is either held or embraced without being made fully aware of the circumstances, and that's the Kafka. That's the same Kafka-type device from Orson Welles' The Trial wherein the main character is scrutinized, interrogated and charged without being made aware of the crimes. Beau is Afraid employs that same type of displacement from reality.
I recommend Beau is Afraid. It's so much more than its plot suggests.
Death Duel (1977)
Classic Shaw Brothers Kung Fu movie. I liked it. I always do. This one I'd never heard of before. It's essentially about a fabled third swordsman attempting to evade his own life because of the trauma of killing hundreds of men in self-defense because they keep showing up to challenge him. There's love interests. There's corruption in the town, namely with the local brothel.
It's not the chewiest meat but it is very entertaining if you're into that sort of thing, which I am.
Decision to Leave (2022)
I liked it. I've liked everything from this director so far (that I've seen). It stretches genres but if I had to categorize it, it's something of a crime/romance/mystery. Long story short, a married insomniac detective becomes too involved with a woman briefly suspected of murdering her older husband after the details of her own mother's death are called into question as well as her shaky immigration status.
It's got a lot of details, a lot of attention to details. It's packed with marital complications, isolation, manipulation, evidence tampering, and all against a backdrop of murder mystery and recurring suspects in South Korea. Very good, in my opinion.
Breaking the Waves (1996)
This movie wants you to feel pain.
It's got a pleasing soundtrack. It's a hard film to describe and even harder to watch (though worth it, in my opinion). It's told in phases as a story of a woman infatuated with husband. In 1970's Scotland, a woman marries an oil rig worker who becomes paralyzed during his first outing on the rig after their marriage. While this is happening, the wife prays for his return and feels guilty about it. She is also in love with her husband in a manner befitting addictive devotion to the point where she's inconsolable without him. He's a freer man, spiritually, and as such, advises her to have sex with other men so as to not miss out on her own life. In order to persuade her of this (as he lays paralyzed), he persuades her to have sex with other man and tell him about it because that will help him live.
She believes it and embarks on a deeply conflicted and dangerous journey into promiscuity because this is how she's come to define being a dutiful wife.
I haven't seen any of the movies you reviewed. I watched the first Honey I Shrunk the kids ages ago. Long enough ago that it predates memory. I've not heard of Mad Love either. I've seen worse trailers, but Chris O'Donnell is all but inseparable from Batman and Robin. He's probably not thrilled about it either.
Haven't seen it and no intention to, but ouch.
Hey, it's okay if ranking/rating is not your thing; your thoughts will more than suffice in its stead.
I like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang a lot too. Its dialogue and the interplay between the characters is definitely its best feature.
I have Breaking the Waves in my watchlist.
Apologies for the response in last week's conversation. Breaking the Waves was tough. The emotionally demanding good kind of tough. It took me 4 days to watch something else. My contribution to the next what have you seen last week thread would be pretty light on account of that.
I hope you get to enjoy it when you can! |
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Post by brandomarlon2003 on Jun 14, 2023 23:55:26 GMT
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Savage Salvation (2022)
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