Post by soggy on Jul 26, 2024 22:39:26 GMT
Yours:
Death at a Funeral (2007, Frank Oz)
Has some funny moments, but not one I can say I love. 7/10
Death at a Funeral (2010, Neil LaBute)
Inferior in every way. 4/10
Mine:
The Sacrament (Ti West, 2013)
Easily the best of Ti West’s pre-X movies that I’ve seen. Not a big fan of it by any means, but it’s an interesting slow burn take on reporters investigating a cult. 6/10
Tank Girl (Rachel Talalay, 1995)
I can in no way, shape or form call this a “good” movie. It’s dumb, the lead can be incredibly annoying, the plot is nonsensical when it actually decided to show up for a bit, the jokes fall flat half the time and Ice-T plays a mutant kangaroo. Yet goddamn, there’s something charming as hell about this trainwreck of a film. I love the stupid comic book interludes. I love the punk aesthetic that feels like it’s Mad Max’s little sister... I’ll confess, I also love the Ice-T plays a mutant kangaroo. It’s a fun movie to pop on with a group that enjoys bad movies. If you want a serious rating, I’d likely give it 2... but in terms of sheer stupid enjoyment, it gets way higher. 8/10
Patty Hearst (Paul Schrader, 1988)
This is week seventeen of my examination of the films of Paul Schrader. This is not his worst film, but it's the first one that I not only regret watching, but makes me somewhat question a week eighteen. This is a hard one to rate and review. On one hand we get a wonderful lead performance from Natasha Richardson. It also is extremely well filmed early on with one of the more shocking visualizations of a person being captured and what their conditions were like from their point of view. So, those are all points in the film's favor. That said, it's such a deeply unpleasant film. It looks unpleasant, the characters are unpleasant (and sadly all too real given the circumstances) and there's something of a cynical edge to it all. It's a film that reeks of taking someone's real life horror and turning it into a picture with the sole goal of being praised for it. I found myself disliking it more and more, in part because of how harsh it is when people who lived out the film were still alive (some are to this day). I'm one of those people who can deal with a lot of horrific things in film, even if it's based on real events, but it needs to be handled with care or majorly fictionalized. I feel this one was not. I can respect aspects, but I don't like it. 4/10
Petite Maman (Céline Sciamma, 2021)
This is like the cinematic equivalent of a warm hug and it’s just charming from start to finish. It’s not as good or ambitious as Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s very much its own unique film. It’s short at only 73 minutes, yet it still feels like it takes its time. It never rushes, even as the seconds tick down, but that feels fitting for a film that shows how some deal with grief. Despite the subject matter, this is not a depressing film at all, rather a comforting one. It’s a lovely work and one I highly recommend. 8/10
A Chinese Torture Chamber Story (Bosco Lam, 1994)
This is so damn weird. It alternates between a horrific tale of a court where two people framed for murder and adultery are being tortured (the sort of thing the title of the movie implies) and faster than you can say "tonal shift" it switches over to moments of goofy sex comedy antics, including a classic wire-fu fight where clothes come off. I mean... what the hell? Who was this even made for?!?! Apparently me, because I enjoyed the hell out of these bizarre tonal shifts. So many horrible things happen in this movie, but it's just so damn goofy, and the cast is clearly having a ball, that it just kept making me smile. It's ridiculous. It's bonkers. It shouldn't work in any way... yet somehow, I kind of loved it. I can’t recommend this to many, but if you enjoy CAT III films, well, this is CAT III at its finest. 8/10
Intrépidos Punks (Francisco Guerrero, 1988)
The description for the film on Letterboxd says more about the movie than I ever could. “Punks kill people and rape people and stuff… and cops kinda do their own thing… and there’s boobs and blood and motorcycles… the end.” It sums up the entire thing. 4/10
The Magic Flute (Ingmar Bergman, 1975)
This is an odd one. It’s a Bergman film that I like, but don’t love at all... and I think I like it in spite of Bergman’s choices rather than because of them. I get what Bergman was going for. He wanted the experience of an opera with close ups so that you can get more out of each actor’s subtle performances. He succeeds, but at the same time I find it a bit annoying. Here you have a stage, changing scenery, fake but beautiful looking costumes, and we are given constant close-ups rather than letting us see all that’s going on. Some may like this choice, but I find it frustrating. He also chooses to show the audience for an opening overture which was neat, but then decides to show only one kid’s reactions repeatedly for the rest of the movie and they cut to the kid far too many times. On the plus side, the film is very pretty when we are actually able to see more than faces and sounds amazing. The performances are also all very fun to watch... I just wish I could see more of it. 6/10
Paint Your Wagon (Joshua Logan, 1969)
There are some movies that make you sit there wondering how the hell they managed to get made.I mean you take a movie that had to be a major audience-alienating premise in the 1960s; a western starring Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin, but it’s a musical comedy about them sharing a wife and helping bring prostitution to a gold town. Let’s add to it. Marvin and Eastwood while solid actors (and great depending on the role) can neither be called great singers, something the film reinforces in that quite often they feel like background singers in their songs, while the actual background singers are louder than them. Let’s continue this though, very few of the songs are actually catchy (the only exceptions in my opinion are “They Call the Wind Maria,” which is easily the best performed song and “Wand'rin Star” which gets points for the sheer novelty of a grumpy Lee Marvin singing it). Finally, the film is almost three hours long. You get two hours and forty minutes of a musical where the main stars can’t sing, and if you’re expecting a good old-fashioned shootout or two in this western, again, you’ve come to the wrong place. There are wacky shenanigans aplenty, but not a shootout in sight. The fact that this film was a disaster when it came out should come as a shock to no one. I can’t imagine what they were thinking. I’m not going to lie and say I hated it, it’s actually a pretty fun movie, but only because of how bizarre it is. I can in no way, shape or form call it good without breaking down into hysterical laughter at the end of the sentence, but for sheer novelty I’m glad I watched it. Sometimes a mess can be enjoyable. 5/10
Perfect Days (Wim Wenders, 2023)
This may very well be one of the most perfect movies ever made. It's about everything and nothing all at once. It is a beautiful poem set to film. It is everything I could have asked for and more. It's about everyday life, as well as those occasional perfect moments that come along and feel like they can never quite be captured no matter how hard you try. I cannot express how good this film is, no matter how I try to explain it. I won't even try anymore. It doesn't need me to try to speak for it. 10/10
Ghost World (Terry Zwigoff, 2001)
I’m usually annoyed by what I think of as “teen angst” movies, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that caught the highs and lows of it as well as this. Instead of annoyed, I found myself rather enthralled by it and enjoyed it very much. 9/10
After Blue (Bertrand Mandico, 2021)
A surreal French science fiction western. It’s extremely weird, but beautiful in its own way. I’d be lying if I said I could explain the damn thing, but I enjoyed it for what it was. 6/10
Sympathy for the Underdog (Kinji Fukasaku, 1971)
This may be my favorite yakuza movie that Fukasaku made... and considering this is the man who made Battles Without Honor and Humanity, that says a lot. It subverts so many of the yakuza tropes we expect from him and the genre. Characters are set up to be potential allies only to not make it far at all. A character is hinted to be someone from the past, even played by the same person, only for it to quickly be revealed as a coincidence and so the closure our lead wants with that individual never comes. It sets things up that we know should happen from a traditional narrative in this genre, only to shrug and essentially say “life doesn’t work that way.” It does play some tropes straight, which makes for an even more enjoyable experience in my mind. It’s not a complete subversion of the genre, trying to act like it’s saying more than it is... no its just a more grounded yakuza film, giving people what they want from these films, while also trying to do some things different. 9/10
The VelociPastor (Brendan Steere, 2018)
Casablanca, Seven Samurai, The Godfather, The Seventh Seal... and now, The VelociPastor. Truly, I will never shed such tears at pure cinema as I did when I saw "VFX: Car on fire" 10/10 ... or 1/10. It doesn’t matter which.
Death at a Funeral (2007, Frank Oz)
Has some funny moments, but not one I can say I love. 7/10
Death at a Funeral (2010, Neil LaBute)
Inferior in every way. 4/10
Mine:
The Sacrament (Ti West, 2013)
Easily the best of Ti West’s pre-X movies that I’ve seen. Not a big fan of it by any means, but it’s an interesting slow burn take on reporters investigating a cult. 6/10
Tank Girl (Rachel Talalay, 1995)
I can in no way, shape or form call this a “good” movie. It’s dumb, the lead can be incredibly annoying, the plot is nonsensical when it actually decided to show up for a bit, the jokes fall flat half the time and Ice-T plays a mutant kangaroo. Yet goddamn, there’s something charming as hell about this trainwreck of a film. I love the stupid comic book interludes. I love the punk aesthetic that feels like it’s Mad Max’s little sister... I’ll confess, I also love the Ice-T plays a mutant kangaroo. It’s a fun movie to pop on with a group that enjoys bad movies. If you want a serious rating, I’d likely give it 2... but in terms of sheer stupid enjoyment, it gets way higher. 8/10
Patty Hearst (Paul Schrader, 1988)
This is week seventeen of my examination of the films of Paul Schrader. This is not his worst film, but it's the first one that I not only regret watching, but makes me somewhat question a week eighteen. This is a hard one to rate and review. On one hand we get a wonderful lead performance from Natasha Richardson. It also is extremely well filmed early on with one of the more shocking visualizations of a person being captured and what their conditions were like from their point of view. So, those are all points in the film's favor. That said, it's such a deeply unpleasant film. It looks unpleasant, the characters are unpleasant (and sadly all too real given the circumstances) and there's something of a cynical edge to it all. It's a film that reeks of taking someone's real life horror and turning it into a picture with the sole goal of being praised for it. I found myself disliking it more and more, in part because of how harsh it is when people who lived out the film were still alive (some are to this day). I'm one of those people who can deal with a lot of horrific things in film, even if it's based on real events, but it needs to be handled with care or majorly fictionalized. I feel this one was not. I can respect aspects, but I don't like it. 4/10
Petite Maman (Céline Sciamma, 2021)
This is like the cinematic equivalent of a warm hug and it’s just charming from start to finish. It’s not as good or ambitious as Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s very much its own unique film. It’s short at only 73 minutes, yet it still feels like it takes its time. It never rushes, even as the seconds tick down, but that feels fitting for a film that shows how some deal with grief. Despite the subject matter, this is not a depressing film at all, rather a comforting one. It’s a lovely work and one I highly recommend. 8/10
A Chinese Torture Chamber Story (Bosco Lam, 1994)
This is so damn weird. It alternates between a horrific tale of a court where two people framed for murder and adultery are being tortured (the sort of thing the title of the movie implies) and faster than you can say "tonal shift" it switches over to moments of goofy sex comedy antics, including a classic wire-fu fight where clothes come off. I mean... what the hell? Who was this even made for?!?! Apparently me, because I enjoyed the hell out of these bizarre tonal shifts. So many horrible things happen in this movie, but it's just so damn goofy, and the cast is clearly having a ball, that it just kept making me smile. It's ridiculous. It's bonkers. It shouldn't work in any way... yet somehow, I kind of loved it. I can’t recommend this to many, but if you enjoy CAT III films, well, this is CAT III at its finest. 8/10
Intrépidos Punks (Francisco Guerrero, 1988)
The description for the film on Letterboxd says more about the movie than I ever could. “Punks kill people and rape people and stuff… and cops kinda do their own thing… and there’s boobs and blood and motorcycles… the end.” It sums up the entire thing. 4/10
The Magic Flute (Ingmar Bergman, 1975)
This is an odd one. It’s a Bergman film that I like, but don’t love at all... and I think I like it in spite of Bergman’s choices rather than because of them. I get what Bergman was going for. He wanted the experience of an opera with close ups so that you can get more out of each actor’s subtle performances. He succeeds, but at the same time I find it a bit annoying. Here you have a stage, changing scenery, fake but beautiful looking costumes, and we are given constant close-ups rather than letting us see all that’s going on. Some may like this choice, but I find it frustrating. He also chooses to show the audience for an opening overture which was neat, but then decides to show only one kid’s reactions repeatedly for the rest of the movie and they cut to the kid far too many times. On the plus side, the film is very pretty when we are actually able to see more than faces and sounds amazing. The performances are also all very fun to watch... I just wish I could see more of it. 6/10
Paint Your Wagon (Joshua Logan, 1969)
There are some movies that make you sit there wondering how the hell they managed to get made.I mean you take a movie that had to be a major audience-alienating premise in the 1960s; a western starring Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin, but it’s a musical comedy about them sharing a wife and helping bring prostitution to a gold town. Let’s add to it. Marvin and Eastwood while solid actors (and great depending on the role) can neither be called great singers, something the film reinforces in that quite often they feel like background singers in their songs, while the actual background singers are louder than them. Let’s continue this though, very few of the songs are actually catchy (the only exceptions in my opinion are “They Call the Wind Maria,” which is easily the best performed song and “Wand'rin Star” which gets points for the sheer novelty of a grumpy Lee Marvin singing it). Finally, the film is almost three hours long. You get two hours and forty minutes of a musical where the main stars can’t sing, and if you’re expecting a good old-fashioned shootout or two in this western, again, you’ve come to the wrong place. There are wacky shenanigans aplenty, but not a shootout in sight. The fact that this film was a disaster when it came out should come as a shock to no one. I can’t imagine what they were thinking. I’m not going to lie and say I hated it, it’s actually a pretty fun movie, but only because of how bizarre it is. I can in no way, shape or form call it good without breaking down into hysterical laughter at the end of the sentence, but for sheer novelty I’m glad I watched it. Sometimes a mess can be enjoyable. 5/10
Perfect Days (Wim Wenders, 2023)
This may very well be one of the most perfect movies ever made. It's about everything and nothing all at once. It is a beautiful poem set to film. It is everything I could have asked for and more. It's about everyday life, as well as those occasional perfect moments that come along and feel like they can never quite be captured no matter how hard you try. I cannot express how good this film is, no matter how I try to explain it. I won't even try anymore. It doesn't need me to try to speak for it. 10/10
Ghost World (Terry Zwigoff, 2001)
I’m usually annoyed by what I think of as “teen angst” movies, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that caught the highs and lows of it as well as this. Instead of annoyed, I found myself rather enthralled by it and enjoyed it very much. 9/10
After Blue (Bertrand Mandico, 2021)
A surreal French science fiction western. It’s extremely weird, but beautiful in its own way. I’d be lying if I said I could explain the damn thing, but I enjoyed it for what it was. 6/10
Sympathy for the Underdog (Kinji Fukasaku, 1971)
This may be my favorite yakuza movie that Fukasaku made... and considering this is the man who made Battles Without Honor and Humanity, that says a lot. It subverts so many of the yakuza tropes we expect from him and the genre. Characters are set up to be potential allies only to not make it far at all. A character is hinted to be someone from the past, even played by the same person, only for it to quickly be revealed as a coincidence and so the closure our lead wants with that individual never comes. It sets things up that we know should happen from a traditional narrative in this genre, only to shrug and essentially say “life doesn’t work that way.” It does play some tropes straight, which makes for an even more enjoyable experience in my mind. It’s not a complete subversion of the genre, trying to act like it’s saying more than it is... no its just a more grounded yakuza film, giving people what they want from these films, while also trying to do some things different. 9/10
The VelociPastor (Brendan Steere, 2018)
Casablanca, Seven Samurai, The Godfather, The Seventh Seal... and now, The VelociPastor. Truly, I will never shed such tears at pure cinema as I did when I saw "VFX: Car on fire" 10/10 ... or 1/10. It doesn’t matter which.
