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Movies You've Seen Recently |OT| September 2017

Divius

Member
yQnjLKp.gif

Source: Tropic Thunder

August Wall of Shame:

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Remember:

DO NOT just post the title of the movie you wratched. It isn't conducive at all to the kind of discussion & communication we want to engender here, because it tells us nothing of you, the movie, the impact of the latter on the former. Post scores, descriptions, essays, poems, gifs, hashtags, whatever provides you the best outlet for personal expression, you unique little digital snowflake. Also, Marvel movies are mostly shit. - icarus-daedelus

Interesting movie listing/rating sites:

Letterboxd
iCheckMovies


Our ICM group: http://www.icheckmovies.com/groups/neogaf/

Regs on such sites:

AngmarsKing701
http://letterboxd.com/blang701/

jett
https://letterboxd.com/jett/

Fancy Clown
https://letterboxd.com/fancyclown/

Anton Sugar
http://letterboxd.com/thrillho/

BaronLundi
http://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles/baronlundi/
http://letterboxd.com/baronlundi/

Big Ander
http://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles/big+ander/
http://letterboxd.com/ander/

brianjones
http://letterboxd.com/brianjones/

C(harles)F(oster)K(ane)
http://www.criticker.com/profile/cfk
http://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles...s+foster+kane/
http://letterboxd.com/cfk/

Ainsz
https://letterboxd.com/ainsz/

lordxar
https://letterboxd.com/Lordxar/

crustikid
https://letterboxd.com/crustikid/

NewDust
https://letterboxd.com/newdust/

overcast
https://letterboxd.com/overcast/

kevin1025
https://letterboxd.com/kevinlever/

Dawg
http://letterboxd.com/dawg/

demosthenes
http://letterboxd.com/mpmaley/

Divius
http://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles/divius/
http://letterboxd.com/divius/

Dragoon En Regalia
http://letterboxd.com/dragoonenregali/

eLZhi
http://www.criticker.com/profile/d_fens
http://letterboxd.com/d_fens/
http://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles/d-fens/

Femmeworth/Miss Negativity
http://letterboxd.com/femmeworth/

HiResDes
http://www.criticker.com/profile/hiresdes

Peco
http://letterboxd.com/Dobbs/

jnc
http://www.criticker.com/profile/jakncoke
http://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles/jakncoke/

Kilgore Trout
http://www.criticker.com/profile/Vonstreudal/
http://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles/kilgore_trout/

Kurisu1974
http://www.criticker.com/profile/kurisu1974/
http://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles/kurisu1974/

Lafiel
http://letterboxd.com/lafiel/

Linius
http://letterboxd.com/linius/
http://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles/linius/]

Madkiller
http://letterboxd.com/aris/

MELIORISM
Criticker - http://www.criticker.com/profile/meliorism/
MUBI - http://mubi.com/users/1017177
ICM - http://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles/meliorism/
Letterboxd - http://letterboxd.com/meliorism/

MikeMyers
http://letterboxd.com/deathscythe/

Mxgt
http://letterboxd.com/mxgt/

PhantomOfTheKnight
http://letterboxd.com/potk_ken/

Ridley327
http://letterboxd.com/ridley327/

Roosters93
http://www.criticker.com/profile/roosters93
http://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles/roosters93/
http://letterboxd.com/roosters93/

Secret Fawful
http://letterboxd.com/secretfawful/

Sibersk Esto
http://letterboxd.com/SiberskEsto/

TheKaep/Captain Yamato
http://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles/captyamato/

Thug Waffle
http://www.criticker.com/profile/Proximity/
http://letterboxd.com/thugwaffle/
http://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles/thug+waffle/

Ventilaator
http://www.criticker.com/profile/ventilaator/
iCheckMovies
Letterboxd

swoon
https://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles/swoon/
http://letterboxd.com/swoon/

Frustrated_Grunt
https://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles/frustratred+grunt/

Freeza Under The Shower
https://letterboxd.com/futs/

Serpentine
http://letterboxd.com/Serpentine/

AlternativeUlster
http://letterboxd.com/altulster/

Infernostew
http://letterboxd.com/Infernostew/

KAKYBAC
http://letterboxd.com/le_rowe/

TreyoftheDead
http://letterboxd.com/MrTrey/

TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared
http://letterboxd.com/MadManWithaBox/

Rhomega Beta
http://letterboxd.com/rhomega/
https://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles/rhomega/

daydream
https://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles/daydreamde/
http://letterboxd.com/daydreamde/

mariachi507
https://www.icheckmovies.com/profiles/mariachi507/
http://letterboxd.com/mariachi507/

omgkitty
http://letterboxd.com/omgkitty/

ZombAid82
http://letterboxd.com/Zombaid/

MoodyFog
http://letterboxd.com/SamyTwoTimes/

Pachimari
http://letterboxd.com/Pachimari/


- Post your top 5 of August!

- Are you new to the Movies You've Seen Recently threads? Let us know a bit about yourself:

1. What's your favorite Movie?
2. Who's your favorite director?
3. Who are your favorite actors/actresses?
4. Favorite Genre(s)?
5. What's your favorite performance in film?


- Unsure of what to watch?

ICM has a compilation of many official movie lists with lots of interesting recommendations. Or you could ask members in the thread; we don't bite. Participate!

---
August thread.
 

Divius

Member
Weak month for me! Only watched 13 movies in August.

TOP 5 NEW VIEWINGS OF AUGUST
5. /
4. The Mist
3. It Comes At Night
2. Russian Ark
1. T2 Trainspotting

MOST VALUABLE REWATCHES
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Dredd

WORST NEW VIEWINGS OF AUGUST
Baywatch
Rough Night
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
 
Top 4 new watches of August (it was heavy with Spielberg rewatches so only 4 of my new watches were up to snuff for a best of list):
1. Schindler's List
2. Duel
3. All that Jazz
4. Samaritan Zatoichi

Best rewatch:
Indiana Jones trilogy

Worst new viewing:
Atomic Blonde

Last viewing of August:
Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo:This should be awesome, right? Toshiro Mifune reprising his role from the genre-defining Kurosawa film, the director of fantastically savage Sword of Doom, the best composer of the series retuning for soundtrack duties, and a larger budget and runtime to run wild with in this much hyped mashup.

Sadly, it's almost a total let down. Mifune is pretty great here, but his character doesn't much feel like the one who graced the screen in Yojimbo or Sanjuro. Despite having Okamoto on directing duties the action scenes here are sparse and unremarkable for the most part. And most of all the run time is wasted on a byzantine and overly talky script. Whenever Zatoichi and the Yojimbo are squabbling it's great fun, but that accounts for a small part of the film's bloated run time, and don't get your hopes up for much of a showdown between the two. There are a lot of callbacks to Yojimbo in here too, from the downtrodden village and rival factions, to a pistol wielding baddy, but it mostly just serves to highlight how much better that film is.

On the plus side this is one of the best looking movies in the series, with gorgeous high contrast lighting, and super detailed sets that contribute a fantastically evocative and desolate atmosphere. The final 15 minutes are pretty great though, chaotic and surreally demonic enough to bump this review up to three stars despite me not knowing what the hell the motivation was for about half the players involved.


What should have been an easy slam dunk given all the talent and money involved ends up being one of the weakest of the series.
 
Christ, didn't realized I posted that much.

Anyway, watched 32 movies last month, 22 new and 10 rewatches. My top five new watches would probably be:

5. Logan Lucky
4. Forrest Gump
3. One More Time With Feeling
2. Paths of Glory
1. The Social Network

Most valuable rewatches:
Coraline and The Lion King

Worst new viewing:
The Dark Tower

This month, I'm gonna try and see:
mother!
Brad's Status
The LEGO Ninjago Movie
Stronger
Battle of the Sexes
Loving Vincent
 
I was little surprised when I looked back at August and saw I had watched 16 movies (14 new, 2 rewatches). It was a pretty uneven month, with some real turds in the mix unfortunately.

Best of August:
1. Captain Fantastic
2. King Arthur: LotS
3. Lucky Number Slevin
4. What Happened to Monday
5. Demonic

Worst of August: Transformers: Age of Extinction. I watched a few bad movies in August. Like really bad. This one was the worst. I still struggle to believe I watched the full 165 minutes of this clusterfuck.

Best rewatch: The Martian
 
Surprised this is playing in the US! I saw it here in Korea.
Was a lot of fun, great buddy crop movie. I already liked the two lead actors but they had great chemistry together in this.
I didn't expect the tonal shift but it worked pretty well I think.
Yeah the fight scenes were good hey. Like they're kicking ass but not indestructible in any sense at the same time.

We get a few Korean films every now and then. Not everything but stuff on the level of say New World, The King, and Assassination will show up. I'm lucky enough to live in an area with a fairly high Korean population and as such the local theatre plays a few Korean films. I'll be watching Memoir of a Murderer in a few days.

Yeah, god mode was off for the two. Added a fair bit to the tension. The action being super easy to follow was a treat too.
 

Blader

Member
Alien: Covenant
Not that bad, I thought it was mostly ok overall, largely because of the excellent dual Fassbenders; he/they absolutely carry the film. The production design looks really good in some parts, weirdly cheap in others. The alien CGI is really bad though. While I usually have a strong tolerance threshold for characters who should be smart but make dumb decisions for no reason, this movie just really pushed it too far. Bad calls are made for dumb reasons on a constant basis and it undermines whatever threat the movie puts up because the characters are pretty much begging to be killed! Kudos for pulling off a very unHollywood-like ending, even if it was telegraphed way in advance. Overall, a slight improvement on Prometheus, anchored entirely by Fassebender pulling double duty. But the well on things to say about alien monsters (not that there was anything really to say about them in the first place, they're alien monsters!) has quite clearly run dry now.
6/10


Best of August:
1. Blue Velvet
2. Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds
3. Shin Godzilla
4. Wind River
5. Red Sun
6. They Call Me Trinity
7. Cape Fear (1962)
8. King Kong (1933)
9. Free Fire
10. A Pistol for Ringo
 

Rvaan

Banned
Last Month I saw Atomic Blonde, the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring, and Death Note. I loved Atomic Blonde and Lord of the Rings. Death Note is easily the worst movie I've seen this year and might also be the wildest thing I've seen this year.

1.Lord of the Rings
2. Atomic Blonde
3. Death Note.

Edit: missed the section for new folk

1. What's your favorite Movie? Blazing Saddles
2. Who's your favorite director? Mel Brooks
3. Who are your favorite actors/actresses? Tough call. I might have to go with Samuel Jackson.
4. Favorite Genre(s)? Action. I love a good popcorn flick.
5. What's your favorite performance in film? Not sure I have one. I'll have to think about it.
 

Pachimari

Member
TOP NEW WATCHES AUGUST
1. Colossal
2. Land of Mine

Wow, I only got around to two movies last month. That surprises me, as I usually watches more films a month. But a big chunk of my viewings went to tv shows as I were catching up on those before the new Fall season, so that explains it. I liked both Colossal and Land of Mine, especially the last one surprised me a lot. I have no plans to go to the cinema this month, but I might change that if something interesting comes up.
 
Had kind of a busy August, so I didn't get to watch a TON. I also ended up binging all of THE HANDMAID'S TALE, which was incredible. My Moviepass came in towards the end of the month, so I should have much more to report on this month.

Top 5 First Views of August:

1. The Third Man

2. Paterson

3. Logan Lucky

4. The Wicked Lady

5. Girls Trip
 

Sean C

Member
Woohoo, another month on the Wall of Shame!

Top 5 New Watches of August
1. Risky Business (1983)
2. State of the Union (1948)
3. A Summer Place (1959)
4. Logan Lucky (2017)
5. A Bag of Marbles (2017)

Top 5 Rewatches of August
1. Boogie Nights (1997)
2. Magnolia (1999)
3. Rushmore (1998)
4. Colossal (2017)
5. Hercules (1997)
 
oh fuck it's September already.

Well I think I watched about three movies last month, which is already three more than the month before that. One of them was Alien: Covenant though...
 

kevin1025

Banned
I saw 28 movies in August (way more than I expected, though I watched a lot last weekend).

Top 5 new watches:

1) Lady Macbeth
2) The French Connection
3) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
4) Annabelle: Creation
5) The Trip to Spain

Worst film of the month:

Kidnap

My $12.25 cries out in horror at you, Kidnap. How dare you.

At least I'm seeing Good Time and Wind River sometime in the next couple of days, and IT is so close now! Plus I'm hoping to really cut down on my Netflix list, which is well over 100+ at this point.
 

big ander

Member
17 new watches and a couple rewatches and shorts for me.
1) The Last Days of Disco
2) To Have and Have Not
3) Lost Highway
4) The Beaches of Agnes
5) Logan Lucky
 
After the BBC list of best comedies, decided to watch a few b&w screwball comedies.

It Happened One Night (1934) definitely shows its age with how women and men are treated. Clark Gable treats Claudette Colbert like a spoiled brat but also as a paternal figure, telling her what to do in every situation. Her father puts out a nationwide search for her escaping the coop, which seems a bit ridiculous that a rich mogul would have that much power over authorities and the news media but then you realise Rupert Murdoch is not much different heh. The fun of the film is the roadtrip aspect and the rich girl being humbled to live like the working class, such as sleeping on hay out in the field. The funniest moment is easily the hitchhiking scene where Clark's character has specific hand signals that with his overabundance of confidence believes will work in every situation but doesn't at all, and Claudette's ankle-showing gets the job done. It's worth watching as a historical thing to see how screwball comedies started and the quick witted dialogue keeps it a brisk and entertaining affair. The romance angle doesn't fare as well, where it just seems if a guy ignores and rebukes you, they seem more attractive and worth changing your vows to.

Some Like It Hot (1959) starts more as a gangster flick than a screwball comedy and it sure doesn't flinch from violence like lining up a rival gang and shooting them up against the wall with Tommy guns. Two musicians are the only witnesses to this and are on the run so they head to Florida and change identities to be as female musicians for an all-female group. It's full of hilarious scenes like the ridiculous late night train drinking hijinks or the rush to change from girl musician to rich yacht owner. However, the standout aspect is of Jack Lemon's character, who goes on a gender confusion journey where the character insists that he's a girl which could see parallels with gender identity struggles in transgender people. Once he becomes Daphne, he stays as her for nearly the entire movie right up to the very ending unlike Tony Curtis' character. It's a fun comedy but I see the next film as one of the funniest.

Walter, you're wonderful, in a loathsome sort of way.
2bNnSNJ.png

His Girl Friday (1940)
Frankly, it's an amazing comedy. The mile-a-minute witty dialogue and multiple actors almost interrupting each other is like Gilmore Girls and Aaron Sorkin turned up to 11. The big news story everyone is chasing is a guy who is about to be hanged for the suspected murder of a coloured police officer, and he's treated with gallows humour all the way! Rosalind Russell who plays Hildy is a powerhouse of a woman, and Cary Grant is no slouch. Some of the dialogue scenes are sheer comedic chaos, specifically in the press room and a repeating gag is talking to multiple phones at once.
q8q340S.gif


She is done being a strong newswoman and wants to settle in a more traditional female role of being a housewife and having a husband who does the heavy work. Hildy is never belittled for her work ethic, it's just most can't believe she'll settle.
5yQHqZn.gif

But one suspects it's more a reaction to not wanting to be in the same room with Walter Burns anymore after their failed marriage, and she eventually realises the quiet life isn't for her. The shenanigans are relentless and the pacing is rapid-fire, as evidenced by the 92min runtime. It's free to watch on Amazon Prime, Youtube, and even Wikipedia, so no reason to miss out one of the best comedies ever.
 

dcll

Banned
I watched It Comes At Night this week, it was ok and the budget must have been dirt cheap. It was pretty much shot at one spot
 
It Comes at Night

Watching right now but I thought I'll jump on and say they keep showing that one rickety lock on the door and it keeps make me think "why don't you put more than 1 lock thingo on that door". Be interesting to see where this goes.
The kid is now hallucinating that the woman is drooling on him with black goo


* also this movie RN is somewhat TLOUish.


_ finished.

Man, that was kind of dogshit. 3/10


How the fuck did the dog even get in the house?
Really bad movie. That was all moody texture and no substance.
 

lordxar

Member
I logged 19 films in August and spent the majority of time watching horror films which there were some damn good films in there.

Top 5

1. Kong Skull Island
2. The Devil's Candy
3. Get Out
4. The Girl with All the Gifts
5. Anabelle Creation

Worst New Viewings
1. Frontier(s)
2. Anabelle

Fairy Tale Killer I really like the story here. Dude shows up looking like the Joker with face paint dripping off and a purple coat confessing murder. From there you go into a Saw/Seven style flick with like no gore which worked against it somewhat. I mean some gore would have helped this a lot. The other thing that would have helped is a better translation for the subtitles. They were terrible. You get the point but you can tell some things didn't match quite as well as they should have. Overall this was pretty cool and I'd like to see a good remake.
 

Peco

Member
Continuing the trend of shitty months for movies, having only seen 2 in August: Dr. Strangelove (loved it) and Scanners (eh).
 
The Mummy starring Tom Cruise

just finished. Not terrible. Not good. Just a weird underwhelming bit of nothing with an uncharismatic female lead. I reckon if they'd cast someone else in her role it would have been a better movie. What's his face from who's that girl - as weird comedic ghost is a strange choice for the movie tonally. He just shows up whenever the plot needs him to. Russell Crowe ain't bad in this

Also
movie makes Tom Cruise a god at the end of it?
LOL. It's like we'll make up the rules on the lore - etc
he didnt know he can control the god when he stabbed himself with the dagger
.. its all very convienient.

Mummy chick is as the trailer telegraphs her to be. Also, largely inconsequential.

4/10
 

SeanC

Member
I can't make much of a Top new or even rewatches for August. Was traveling a lot so missed some new released and no time for that, but managed to catch two:


1) Skull Island - Would happily watch again, gives me hope on the Godzilla/Kong flick.
2) Hitman's Bodyguard - Stupid as hell but I really liked the action


Everything else...meh....either not good enough to bring up on a list (Mummy or Conjuring 2) or just outright bad (looking at you, Alien Covenant, you piece of shit).

I watched a lot of TV seasons and got that out of the way more than I did movies.
 
I can't make much of a Top new or even rewatches for August. Was traveling a lot so missed some new released and no time for that, but managed to catch two:


1) Skull Island - Would happily watch again, gives me hope on the Godzilla/Kong flick.
2) Hitman's Bodyguard - Stupid as hell but I really liked the action


Everything else...meh....either not good enough to bring up on a list (Mummy or Conjuring 2) or just outright bad (looking at you, Alien Covenant, you piece of shit).

I watched a lot of TV seasons and got that out of the way more than I did movies.

I liked Skull Island too, even though it didn't make my list. I think I liked Godzilla more, Edwards filmmaking is, to me, stronger than Vogt-Roberts's. Though I think Vogt-Roberts has a real gift at balancing wildly divergent tones that does make him a great option for the potential Metal Gear film.

I agree, I'm optimistic about the future of this "monsterverse". For all the flack DC has (deservedly) gotten for the DCEU, they've simultaneously been able to launch a trio of smaller cinematic universes between Lego, MonsterVerse, and The Conjuring Universe, that have all mostly made for a pretty good time.
 
Top 5 views in August:

1. Brigsby Bear
2. Good Time
3. Wind River
4. The Asphalt Jungle
5. Detroit

Worst film watched in August:
Circle

Best Rewatch:
Ghost in the Shell (1995)
 
Wind River might be my favorite movies of the year so far; it'll be a tough fight between that, Logan, and John Wick 2, One thing I noticed with Sheridan's scripts is that they are all great at placing you in a setting, plots that feel like they couldn't happen anywhere else but these places and with these communities, be it the border, or the struggling Texan outskirts, or here with the bleak, isolated, and forgotten Wyoming wilderness of Wind River

Wind River was a well-crafted balance between painful drama, murder mystery, and thriller, with a pervasive sense of tension and isolation that comes from both the snow-swept setting and the lack of back-up that comes with the nature of the reservation. Much like Sicario, the movie is great at tense build-up leading to explosions of violence, and the violence here feels brutal and chaotic. The emotional weight of loss and grief really anchors and elevates what is a relatively simple story, and in some scenes, the heartbreak feels as raw as the violence does.
 

weshes195

Member
All right my top movies in August:

1. Good Time
2. Coraline (if you want to ignore old films just move the following ones up a number!)
3. Baby Driver
4. Annabelle
5. Dunkirk
6. Detroit
7. Atomic Blonde
8. Hitman's Bodyguard


I am planning to see Lucky Logan tonight so I'll post either today or tomorrow. I did, however, see another film earlier today (not new).

Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)

I loved they first film but I didn't want to see the 2nd one as I strongly believed it didn't need a sequel (and tbh, it didn't). However, this was actually a very fun movie with many laughs and had the same spirit as the first. It was just a fun film that, while different from the first, should be seen if one loved the original film. 3 stars out of 5.

So September List:

1. Hotel Transylvania 2
 
Are Brigsby Bear and Good Time objectively better than wind river? High praise.

I mean, the 1,2,3 don't really mean all that much. I liked them all real close (rated all 3 an 8/10). Those order can (and probably will) change upon rewatches when I make my list at the end of the year. All 3 I really really enjoyed.
 
Wow, I didn't realize it but I only watched three movies last month. Spiderman Homecoming, Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2, and a rewatch of Deep Red. I spent most of my time reading Stephen King's It and watching Twin Peaks. I've still got to finish both of those as well.

Next month is a different story though, it's almost 31 days of horror time.
 

Sean C

Member
The Glass Castle (2017): A director making a great debut film and then following it up with a bad one is nothing new; much rarer and more dispiriting, though, for the followup to call into question skills you assumed the director had based on their prior work. I would have assumed from Short Term 12 that Destin Daniel Cretton had a keen sense of the consequences of an abusive parent, but The Glass Castle makes me wonder if Short Term 12 wasn't at some point supposed to end with Brie Larson smiling at the memory of a time her father bought her an ice cream cone.

As a disclaimer, I haven't read Jeanette Walls' memoir of her childhood, so I don't know what she took away from her experiences; it's possible that she ended up reconciling with her father in the manner the movie depicts, in which case, that's sad, but understandable. However, for a bunch of other people at arm's length from this situation to present the story this way is, to be, repulsive.
Throughout the movie it's shown that, in no uncertain terms, Jeanette's parents are abusive and neglectful by times, and all the kids are badly damaged by this. The film's attempt to come around and show that Jeanette's dad wasn't so bad after all is frankly insulting, and entirely unconvincing. Jeanette has the right idea earlier when she says his own childhood traumas don't excuse his own behaviour.

On top of that, you have one of the most unconvincing
critiques of 80s yuppie culture I've ever seen, one that had me entirely on the side of Jeanette's husband who is supposedly trying to make her into something she's not. All I saw was him objecting to interacting with her nasty father who physically antagonizes him unprovoked.
There's also a real problem with the supporting characters here.
Jeanette's brother gets molested at one point, and this is never brought up in any other scene he appears in. In general, the bond between the siblings isn't developed all that well. Maureen, the youngest, is shown literally moving across the country to get away from her parents, but in the finale she's back, laughing and smiling at what a rascal old dad was, with nothing in between. Did somebody guilt her into liking him too?

The movie is well-acted, if nothing else. Brie Larson is on the poster, but Ella Anderson and Chandler Head, who play the younger versions of the character, are the real draws here, in my opinion. Great young child actresses.
 

ActWan

Member
The Hitman's Bodyguard - 4/10
Eh...didn't like the acting and the movie wasn't interesting in almost every front except the concept I guess...so many stupid stuff just ruined any potential it had. It was a bit funny at parts, I'll give it that.
 
Deadfall (2012) - huh... Eric Bana, Olivia Wilde, Charlie Hunnam, Kate Mara, Treat Williams, Kris Kristofferson, Sissy Spacek.

That's a lot of pretty well known actors. The fuck is this movie about?

A getaway from a heist goes bad in the first couple of minutes, with a pretty epic accident and then bad shit going down. Wilde and Bana need to separate, and thus we get a little bit of a meandering tale of how they wind up back together under the same roof on Thanksgiving a couple days later. In all honesty, this isn't a bad movie, and it's not a great one either. It's pretty much straight-line mediocre, lifted really mostly by Bana's obsessed performance, which I thought stood out.

Sort of off track, but how hilarious is it that whether you're in Alabama or Minnesota, if you need an old couple who live on a farm and do some hunting and bake pies from scratch, it's gonna be Kris Kristofferson and Sissy Spacek. Type-casting out the ass on this one.

2.5 / 5
 

kevin1025

Banned
The Glass Castle (2017): A director making a great debut film and then following it up with a bad one is nothing new; much rarer and more dispiriting, though, for the followup to call into question skills you assumed the director had based on their prior work. I would have assumed from Short Term 12 that Destin Daniel Cretton had a keen sense of the consequences of an abusive parent, but The Glass Castle makes me wonder if Short Term 12 wasn't at some point supposed to end with Brie Larson smiling at the memory of a time her father bought her an ice cream cone.

As a disclaimer, I haven't read Jeanette Walls' memoir of her childhood, so I don't know what she took away from her experiences; it's possible that she ended up reconciling with her father in the manner the movie depicts, in which case, that's sad, but understandable. However, for a bunch of other people at arm's length from this situation to present the story this way is, to be, repulsive.
Throughout the movie it's shown that, in no uncertain terms, Jeanette's parents are abusive and neglectful by times, and all the kids are badly damaged by this. The film's attempt to come around and show that Jeanette's dad wasn't so bad after all is frankly insulting, and entirely unconvincing. Jeanette has the right idea earlier when she says his own childhood traumas don't excuse his own behaviour.

On top of that, you have one of the most unconvincing
critiques of 80s yuppie culture I've ever seen, one that had me entirely on the side of Jeanette's husband who is supposedly trying to make her into something she's not. All I saw was him objecting to interacting with her nasty father who physically antagonizes him unprovoked.
There's also a real problem with the supporting characters here.
Jeanette's brother gets molested at one point, and this is never brought up in any other scene he appears in. In general, the bond between the siblings isn't developed all that well. Maureen, the youngest, is shown literally moving across the country to get away from her parents, but in the finale she's back, laughing and smiling at what a rascal old dad was, with nothing in between. Did somebody guilt her into liking him too?

The movie is well-acted, if nothing else. Brie Larson is on the poster, but Ella Anderson and Chandler Head, who play the younger versions of the character, are the real draws here, in my opinion. Great young child actresses.

I was really looking forward to seeing it, and nearly went and saw it the other day. But the middling to negative talk around it has kept me back. Which is real unfortunate, since I absolutely loved Short Term 12. I'll wait for it to pop up on digital, I guess. I think the movie is pretty close to the memoir, so maybe the execution as a movie doesn't feel right compared to her writing.
 
Haven't watched too many movies last month, been getting into Star Trek: Deep Space 9. Anyway, Top 5 of August:

1. A Life in Waves
2. The Legend of Drunken Master
3. Gone With The Wind
4. Killer Klowns From Outer Space
5. WarCraft
 

weshes195

Member
Alright, just came back from seeing Logan Lucky.

HIGHLY reccomend this film if you want to see not only a pure fun, entertaining, and hilarious film, but also amazingly crafted and paced. It really is that good. It felt like an Ocean's film except more original due to the limitations of being not some fancy, rich people.

Also, no matter what, this movie gets huge rankings due to the comedy. 1. It isn't forced every single second, this movie has story and characters and is very well paced. And mainly, 2. while many jokes poke fun of some of the characters dumbness, the movie NEVER hits the classic "southern red necks, pure stupid, racists who loves guns" crap. I hate movies that immediately classifies characters into a role which comedies LOOOVE to do.

Literally the fat girl in Pitch Perfect is just that: a character to make fun of herself about her weight. She has no real character. Or jokes, only fat ones. Thankfully, any flaws the characters have in this movie, it's because of the characters themselves, not some stupid tacky thing.

One of the year's best by far, going by just having fun in the theaters (with amazing quality too, not "just" a fun movie). 4 out of 5 stars!

I do have a question for those who have seen the movie:

What happened to the two brothers in the end? I mean, we saw them sleeping,
but they weren't in the last shot. I just wanted to make sure that was really the last time we see them. Just a strange way to show even the convict but not even see those 2 characters. And not see them get their money? Just really weird. My dad thought maybe something happened in the editing room.
 

kevin1025

Banned
Alright, just came back from seeing Logan Lucky.

HIGHLY reccomend this film if you want to see not only a pure fun, entertaining, and hilarious film, but also amazingly crafted and paced. It really is that good. It felt like an Ocean's film except more original due to the limitations of being not some fancy, rich people.

Also, no matter what, this movie gets huge rankings due to the comedy. 1. It isn't forced every single second, this movie has story and characters and is very well paced. And mainly, 2. while many jokes poke fun of some of the characters dumbness, the movie NEVER hits the classic "southern red necks, pure stupid, racists who loves guns" crap. I hate movies that immediately classifies characters into a role which comedies LOOOVE to do.

Literally the fat girl in Pitch Perfect is just that: a character to make fun of herself about her weight. She has no real character. Or jokes, only fat ones. Thankfully, any flaws the characters have in this movie, it's because of the characters themselves, not some stupid tacky thing.

One of the year's best by far, going by just having fun in the theaters (with amazing quality too, not "just" a fun movie). 4 out of 5 stars!

I do have a question for those who have seen the movie:

What happened to the two brothers in the end? I mean, we saw them sleeping,
but they weren't in the last shot. I just wanted to make sure that was really the last time we see them. Just a strange way to show even the convict but not even see those 2 characters. And not see them get their money? Just really weird. My dad thought maybe something happened in the editing room.

I figured everyone got their cut in the end, but that maybe Joe Bang had their cut in the backyard dig-up spot. I figure they're unimportant to the main plot and so they didn't earn the bar/FBI hangout moment.

Edit:

Little Evil

This movie is all sorts of uneven. A Netflix Original, it has a really great cast, and Adam Scott is a whole lot of fun. I had some major laughs in the first half, though maybe that was the couple of drinks I had during it. The second half feels really forced and unearned, though it does have some decent moments. It's middling, in the end, and wastes Evangellne Lilly, which is its cruelest crime. As the technical successor to Tucker & Dale vs Evil, it's disappointing overall, despite some very singular funny spots.
That Sally Field cameo, though... I guess because it's her son, but still. Out of nowhere.
 

UrbanRats

Member
Little Evil - Didn't even chuckle once, good Lord was it unfunny; but then again, so was Tucker & Dale vs Evil.

The movie start with what seems a fool proof premise for a comedy, but then is completely unable to have one goddamn decent joke, in 90 minutes.

Evangeline Lilly is very attractive, so she was nice to look at, but that's about the extent of this movie's qualities.

Couldn't even commit to a darker, more original ending.
 

kevin1025

Banned
Little Evil - Didn't even chuckle once, good Lord was it unfunny; but then again, so was Tucker & Dale vs Evil.

The movie start with what seems a fool proof premise for a comedy, but then is completely unable to have one goddamn decent joke, in 90 minutes.

Evangeline Lilly is very attractive, so she was nice to look at, but that's about the extent of this movie's qualities.

Couldn't even commit to a darker, more original ending.

I'm starting to get the feeling that Neflix original films, at least those that aren't bought up from festivals, are just plain, indifferent nothing movies. The ones solely from them are inoffensive, void of anything original, and just don't end up meaning much of anything in the end. It's kind of weird how they all feel the same in a weird sort of way. You can feel the algorithm that created them, rather than the talent.
 

UrbanRats

Member
I'm starting to get the feeling that Neflix original films, at least those that aren't bought up from festivals, are just plain, indifferent nothing movies. The ones solely from them are inoffensive, void of anything original, and just don't end up meaning much of anything in the end. It's kind of weird how they all feel the same in a weird sort of way. You can feel the algorithm that created them, rather than the talent.
Many of them seem to have an interesting or at least fun premise, but yeah, i don't remember liking even one, so far.

Have yet to watch Okja, though, i'm a bit scared at this point.
 
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