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Movies You've Seen Recently |OT| March 2017

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the witch
the wailing
Train to Busan
Green Room
They Look Like People
evolution
don't breathe
under the shadow
the eyes of my mother
I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House
10 Cloverfield Lane

And then Without Name and The Ornithologist which i haven't seen but look damn fine.

Nah, it was a good year for horrors.
Especially if you count less good, but still sort of decent stuff, like LightsOut or that Ouija Origins movie.

Yeah, it was the best year for horror since I can remember. The Witch is best horror movie in probably over a decade imo. I think there's a good chance it'll attain horror classic status down the line.
 
the witch
the wailing
Train to Busan
Green Room
They Look Like People
evolution
don't breathe
under the shadow
the eyes of my mother
I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House
10 Cloverfield Lane

And then Without Name and The Ornithologist which i haven't seen but look damn fine.

Nah, it was a good year for horrors.
Especially if you count less good, but still sort of decent stuff, like LightsOut or that Ouija Origins movie.
I've seen
Green Room
Don't Breathe
Ouija: Origin of Evil
Lights Out
10 Cloverfield Lane
The VVitch
Blair Witch
The Conjuring 2
Hush

None of the films really stood out in ways that made me feel 2016 was particularly good for horror. Especially since there was no franchise horror films, which I care about keeping track of and tend to be most passionate about.

They Look Like People and I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House are both on my list though :)

For reference, the horror movies of 2015 I've seen (from best to worst)
Deathgasm
It Follows
The Woman In Black 2: Angel of Death
The Gallows
Sinister 2
Goosebumps
The Lazarus Effect
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension
Poltergeist (2015)
The Vatican Tapes
 
John Wick: Chapter 2 - Wow, already a contender for best action film of 2017. The world-building into a world of contract assassins, marks acting as curses, and the Continental safe space is as enjoyable as it is ridiculous, which the film is fully aware of as exemplified by the awesome Buster Keaton intro. At one point which had me laughing, Common and Keanu Reeves' characters are walking past pillars and shooting at each other with suppressed pistols in amongst the general public. There's a whole network of homeless assassins, like c'mon! Chad Stahelski really steps up the framing and composition thanks to DP Dan Laustsen and Keanu Reeves being in all the stunts so no need to cut around him for action sequences resulting in beautifully shot neon destruction. My favourite sequence has to be the Rome catacombs, just the whole tactical nature of it, like with the shotgun just wasting fools and then switching to sidearms or melee when up-close. This is on the level of The Raid films and then the ending is just berserk, with a nod to Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. I don't know what a third film could look like but I'm there.

The Lego Batman Movie - Very enjoyable and full of fanservice to Batman fans, especially one montage where all the most iconic shots of Batman movies are done in Lego form. I'm still in awe of how gorgeous this film can look, and I'm not surprised the director (Chris McKay) is inspired by Michael Mann films. Like The Lego Movie, it's very self-aware, and the Joker/Batman relationship is cute, but because it's about constant jokes, there isn't as much emotional investment in the fates of these characters. It's a comedy through and through, but the best part of the previous Lego movie was the heartfelt message and themes, while here there isn't that connection so it's just enjoyable fun.

I have no choice...but to be the first.
505-asset-page.jpg

Hidden Figures
While the film touches on issues of racism, intense institutional segregation in every aspect of life (toilets, buses, schools), sexism, and feminism, the film is entertainingly paced and visually poppy to never feel like just a history lesson. When push comes to shove like with the imminent space launch, there isn't any time for sexism or racism. My favourite aspect of the film is how science-y it is with dropping jargon left and right like about analytical geometry, Atlas orbits, conic periapsis, the intro of the IBM 7090DPS, Eulers Method, and changing elliptical to parabolic orbit for the pod's re-entry (go/no go). The white chalk is a repeating visual motif, and there's a good set-up and pay-off with it. Janelle Monae's character is the most fun, where she's openly confident about becoming the first black female NASA engineer and is more the comedic relief. The trio of Janelle Monae, Taraji P Henson, and Octavia Spencer have fantastic chemistry. Kevin Costner also deserves mention playing as the white leader of the whole NASA mission who just has no time for sexism and racism, at one point just busting up the coloured toilet's sign. Mahershala Ali is charming here, playing the love interest of Katherine Goble. Found it very sweet in the credits where Obama gives the 97 year old Katherine the medal of freedom.

Highly recommended if you like science films with a historical bent (October Sky, A Beautiful Mind, The Imitation Game).
 

Pachimari

Member
I gotta say I kind of agree with him, when he says it wasn't particularly a great year for horror films. There was a lot of them, but I found Train to Busan to be very average. Green Room, Don't Breathe, Lights Out and Blairwitch weren't good. Hush and The Witch were pretty good. 10 Cloverfield Lane was the only great one.
 

TissueBox

Member
I was listenin' to some music and (re-)learned today that Van Dyke Parks contributed to The Brave Little Toaster's soundtrack.

Smh, THAT'S why that humbubble was eerie as hell sometimes lol.
 

gamz

Member
I've seen
Green Room
Don't Breathe
Ouija: Origin of Evil
Lights Out
10 Cloverfield Lane
The VVitch
Blair Witch
The Conjuring 2
Hush

None of the films really stood out in ways that made me feel 2016 was particularly good for horror. Especially since there was no franchise horror films, which I care about keeping track of and tend to be most passionate about.

They Look Like People and I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House are both on my list though :)

For reference, the horror movies of 2015 I've seen (from best to worst)
Deathgasm
It Follows
The Woman In Black 2: Angel of Death
The Gallows
Sinister 2
Goosebumps
The Lazarus Effect
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension
Poltergeist (2015)
The Vatican Tapes


I'd take 2016 over 2015 any day of the week. I'd also add:

The Autopsy of Jane Doe
Eye's of my Mother
The Shallows
I Am not a Serial Killer
The Monster
Carnage Park

Yeah, it was a great year for horror!
 
I had 2 horror films in my top 10 for the year, so 2016 was an unbelievable horror year for me. I'm lucky to have 1 real horror movie I care about in my top 15 every year tbh.
 

gamz

Member
2015 had It Follows.

But 2016 had Green Room and Don't Breathe, among many other good ones.

As much as I love It Follows, 2016 takes it with its roster.

I updated my post with other horror movies I dug. Looking at the complete list is pretty mind blowing. Great year for horror.
 

Pachimari

Member
It Follows was a disappointment to me, the same was Don't Breathe. I didn't like Green Room but I feel that one is the one I owe giving a second chance as I feel like I wasn't in the right mood when watching it.
 

kevin1025

Banned
I updated my post with other horror movies I dug. Looking at the complete list is pretty mind blowing. Great year for horror.

I still haven't seen most of the ones you mentioned (outside of The Autopsy of Jane Doe). 2016 continues to swamp me with good movies, haha.
 

dcassell

Banned
Seeing Get Out tomorrow. Cannot wait.

Watched Magnolia last night, the PT Anderson one that's three hours long. Seen it once before, and showed it to a friend who was craving "intellectual entertainment." I really think that's a great one despite the, uh, interesting ending. I could see how the way it wraps up breaks the movie for most, but the performances here from William H Macy, Tom Cruise, and John C Reilly really drive this movie. Heartbreaking at times. Makes me want to listen to a ton of Supertramp. The second "Goodbye Stranger" plays at the end of the first act, the rest of the movie files by and definitely doesn't make the movie feel as long as its runtime.
 

Ainsz

Member
Just watched Hell Or High Water. Oof this was a good one. Something of a more straight forward No Country For Old Men. Performances all round were great and the four main characters were all likeable in their own, sometimes twisted way. The scripted is scattered with little details throughout that add to each individual's personality and motives. The story follows two brothers on a bank robbing spree while two police partners are tracking them down. Each character is coming at the plot from a different angle and the dynamic that creates is truly engaging. The story itself is played out straight and simple in the same vein as Green Room and the more explosive scenes come in small bursts, never standing too far out from the rest of the film's tone. I'd only just heard of this film in the Oscar run up and it's a shame for it's apparent obscurity. I feel this could be regarded as a classic in the action drama genre. The film could have used a bit more style and flamboyancy in it's editing and directing however. No particular scene stands out from the rest visually and with exception to few enjoyable songs, the soundtrack is forgettable and ineffective.

All in all, a solid 8/10
 

gamz

Member
Seeing Get Out tomorrow. Cannot wait.


Watched Magnolia last night, the PT Anderson one that's three hours long. Seen it once before, and showed it to a friend who was craving "intellectual entertainment." I really think that's a great one despite the, uh, interesting ending. I could see how the way it wraps up breaks the movie for most, but the performances here from William H Macy, Tom Cruise, and John C Reilly really drive this movie. Heartbreaking at times. Makes me want to listen to a ton of Supertramp. The second "Goodbye Stranger" plays at the end of the first act, the rest of the movie files by and definitely doesn't make the movie feel as long as its runtime.

My favorite PTA. It's amazing the energy and emotion that is sustained for 3 hours. It's operatic.
 

dcassell

Banned
My favorite PTA. It's amazing the energy and emotion that is sustained for 3 hours. It's operatic.

The game show sequences made me have to relax my shoulders. PTA has a talent of making conversations and normal human interaction seem very, very tense. Felt the same during TWBB.
 

gamz

Member
The game show sequences made me have to relax my shoulders. PTA has a talent of making conversations and normal human interaction seem very, very tense. Felt the same during TWBB.

The best opening:

And it is in the humble opinion of this narrator that this is not just "Something That Happened." This cannot be "One of Those Things... " This, please, cannot be that. And for what I would like to say, I can't. This Was Not Just A Matter Of Chance. Ohhhh. These strange things happen all the time.

Chills every time.
 

omgkitty

Member
Just got back from John Wick: Chapter Two

I've never seen so many people get shot in the head.

There's something very cathartic about how accurate his shots are. While watching, I kept thinking how awesome a game would be, and yet, 99% of the people playing that game would be unable to recreate anything he does. The closest you could get would probably be Superhot after it's sped up.
 

big ander

Member
the witch
the wailing
Train to Busan
Green Room
They Look Like People
evolution
don't breathe
under the shadow
the eyes of my mother
I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House
10 Cloverfield Lane

And then Without Name and The Ornithologist which i haven't seen but look damn fine.

Nah, it was a good year for horrors.
Especially if you count less good, but still sort of decent stuff, like LightsOut or that Ouija Origins movie.
I'd add Hush to that "fine b-movie" group. One of those horror films that's perfectly functional and just crafty enough to make it a decent ride.

The Ornithologist is great but idk if I'd call it horror, other than there being a bit of a survival element. More like a psychedelic psychological drama.
 
I've seen
Green Room
Don't Breathe
Ouija: Origin of Evil
Lights Out
10 Cloverfield Lane
The VVitch
Blair Witch
The Conjuring 2
Hush

None of the films really stood out in ways that made me feel 2016 was particularly good for horror. Especially since there was no franchise horror films, which I care about keeping track of and tend to be most passionate about.

They Look Like People and I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House are both on my list though :)

For reference, the horror movies of 2015 I've seen (from best to worst)
Deathgasm
It Follows
The Woman In Black 2: Angel of Death
The Gallows
Sinister 2
Goosebumps
The Lazarus Effect
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension
Poltergeist (2015)
The Vatican Tapes

I gotta say I kind of agree with him, when he says it wasn't particularly a great year for horror films. There was a lot of them, but I found Train to Busan to be very average. Green Room, Don't Breathe, Lights Out and Blairwitch weren't good. Hush and The Witch were pretty good. 10 Cloverfield Lane was the only great one.

Have you seen Under The Shadow? That was the best horror film I saw last year.
 
I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore (2017)

Streaming now on Netflix. Directorial debut for Macon Blair, veteran of Jeremy Saulnier films. This gets a bit cute at times, if you weren't tipped off by the title. It's a fun Coenesque romp with plenty of charm and violence.
 

gamz

Member
I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore (2017)

Streaming now on Netflix. Directorial debut for Macon Blair, veteran of Jeremy Saulnier films. This gets a bit cute at times, if you weren't tipped off by the title. It's a fun Coenesque romp with plenty of charm and violence.

I fucking loved the hell out of it!! Watched it twice already.
 
So, uh, I just saw Logan. I enjoyed the movie and Laura was adorable. Then I came home and saw the reviews... what the hell? I liked it as in "it's an ok film", fun to watch and that's it. It's sitting at 94% on RT. 😵

Idk, I feel like a 3/5 is good enough for it.
 

Peco

Member
I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore (2017)

Streaming now on Netflix. Directorial debut for Macon Blair, veteran of Jeremy Saulnier films. This gets a bit cute at times, if you weren't tipped off by the title. It's a fun Coenesque romp with plenty of charm and violence.
Lol, even the synopsis reads like this is some kind of spinoff for Blue Ruin.
 
So, uh, I just saw Logan. I enjoyed the movie and Laura was adorable. Then I came home and saw the reviews... what the hell? I liked it as in "it's an ok film", fun to watch and that's it. It's sitting at 94% on RT. 😵

Idk, I feel like a 3/5 is good enough for it.

Then your review would have counted as one of the fresh reviews that make up that 94%

How do people still not get how rotten tomatoes works??
 
So, uh, I just saw Logan. I enjoyed the movie and Laura was adorable. Then I came home and saw the reviews... what the hell? I liked it as in "it's an ok film", fun to watch and that's it. It's sitting at 94% on RT. 😵

Idk, I feel like a 3/5 is good enough for it.
94% means 94% positive, positive could range anywhere from "best movie ever" to "eh, I guess it's good". It's ok to think it's not 94/100 good.
 
Personally the only slow downtime that I liked in Logan is at
farmer's house
, the others are not really effective at emotional bond building in my opinion. The villains are pretty fun for the limited screentime they got.
 
This is what life looks like...You should take a moment. Feel it, Logan. You still have time.
logan-body-9.png

Logan
For such a stacked sub-genre that is superhero films, Logan still doesn't have many equals. Superhero films that are more character studies and thematically focused are either not particularly well liked (Ang Lee's Hulk), don't follow through (Hancock, Iron Man films) or rare but flawed (Nolan's Batman films). Here, the focus is squarely on fatherhood and importance of family in trying times. It's like a sci-fi Lone Wolf and Cub. It's 2029, and mutants are nearly extinct. A company called Transigen is about making new mutants as their own weapons. Logan (Hugh Jackman) has to take care of Charles (an unhinged Patrick Stewart) in a tipped over water tower, who's essentially his father, albeit one with a neurodegenerative disease whose seizures can cause people in the surrounding area to freeze (there's an inventive setpiece in a casino hotel during one of them). He also has to start acting as a father of a new mutant kid, Laura (Dafne Keen), who sports a similar rebellious personality. In a mostly post-mutant world, the few mutants are on the run which turns the film into a very effective and beautifully shot (DP John Mathieson) neo-western. This is not surprising coming from the director James Mangold who previously did 3:10 To Yuma. In fact, there's a key western film (Shane) in the background that ties to the two main characters, Logan and Laura, who have killed but whether it was for "right or wrong, it's a brand, a brand that sticks". The destination is North Dakota, so it's time for a perilous road trip.

Due partially to the R rating, the film can go into showing the true emotions of characters, especially their frustrations. Logan is at the end of his rope, drinking and suicidal ideation hand in hand. Logan's character arc is believable even if saddening, to go from shunning everyone to avoid getting them hurt to eventually trusting in others but there being a big risk. Charles is not afraid of swearing, but these moments can show these characters to be at their most raw and real. Laura (X23-23) is mostly mute, but her playful nature shines through in moments like riding a mechanical horse and getting angry when the ride is out of coins, wearing sunglasses, or riding Charles' wheelchair. Elsewhere the more adult rating shines is in the action being visceral through dismemberment, decapitations, and impaling. While the opening bout with groggy Logan outside of his Chrysler is not the most interestingly shot, it gets better in the later setpieces and especially near the end when tag-teaming is a strategy. Laura's action is as good as Wolverine at his very best. The action choreography with even the cars is memorable, like when Logan reverses his car with a barbed wire stuck to the bumper and uses that to knock out other enemies. There is a glorious one-shot of Logan in the forest just chewing through a gallery of enemies. The villains are formidable even if predictable, with one who can be on equal proving grounds with Logan, making for quite the SNIKT SNIKT battles.

However, when the action dies down, it's when the quietest and most intimate moments happen that give the film real weight (like a family dinner), incomparable to most other superhero films. When Laura
finally talks and delivers some powerful lines: ("You are dying. You want to die. Charles told me", to which Logan responds with, "What else did he tell you?" and Laura closes, "To not let you")
, it lands like a hammer. The film isn't self-serious all the time and has rare but appreciable comedic scenes such as Logan's beard being cut to give his trademark mutton chops. All of these moments are when you realise you're watching humans interact and bond with each other, and not costumed heroes set to save the world.

Early days, but one of the best superhero films ever with one of the most emotional and poignant final shots.
 
I'd add Hush to that "fine b-movie" group. One of those horror films that's perfectly functional and just crafty enough to make it a decent ride.

The Ornithologist is great but idk if I'd call it horror, other than there being a bit of a survival element. More like a psychedelic psychological drama.

Hush was pretty good. I wanted them to stretch out the impact of her deafness a bit longer. It's odd but a lot of horror movies try to amp up the intensity for a lot longer before the big reveal of the monster or what have you. It's that ramp up that builds the tension, and usually the reveal is a let down.

Hush sort of cut out their own intensity a bit imo by not playing out that tension. The killer could have fucked around with her way more than he did before revealing himself.
 

BlueTsunami

there is joy in sucking dick
I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore (2017)

Streaming now on Netflix. Directorial debut for Macon Blair, veteran of Jeremy Saulnier films. This gets a bit cute at times, if you weren't tipped off by the title. It's a fun Coenesque romp with plenty of charm and violence.

Such a good flick. Refreshing in its mixture of humor and gore.
 
Finally saw Fences, wow that was powerful. It felt particularly effective since I could see quite a bit of my dad in Troy. But damn, now I see why Davis was nominated and won for her performance. She could say more in a look, a change of expression, than words ever could, but when she did finally unload was one hell of an emotionally-charged moment.

I've never seen the play, either versions, so don't know how it compares, but Fences was a fantastic drama
 

Speevy

Banned
I do. Average Rating: 7.9/10

I still think it's high. But whatever, just my opinion.

You may be surprised to know that many of the 90%+ rated moves on Rottentomatoes received solid C+ and B- reviews from most reviewers.

Rottentomatoes tells you what the extent to which a film is worth seeing for mainstream audiences, not how good it is.
 

kevin1025

Banned
Logan

Now that was great. Beautifully acted by Jackman, Stewart, and Keen, with a surprise Stephen Merchant! Holy cow, the action was brutal and savage, and I loved every bit of it. But it was during the quieter moments, and the interactions between Logan, Xavier, and Laura, that really hit home.

Except for the ending, when the lights went up during the WORST possible moment and fucking ruined things. They also never dimmed back down.

But still, as someone who likes superhero movies a good amount but never quite loves them as much as most, this is the kind I want to see more of, this kind of filmmaking style and approach. Well done, Mangold.
 
Beasts of No Nation (2015) - brutal, sad but at the same time indomitable. What a gut-wrenching, heart-breaking movie. Idris Elba delivers, as he is wont to do, but it is Abraham Attah's Agu that delivers all the kicks to the gut and pulls at all the strings of your heart. What a wonderful, delightful child Agu is... and then war comes ... and he's drafted into the army as a boy ... and the darkness that sweeps through him is--we fear--all consuming.

But that ending.

Wow.

Tremendously powerful.

4 / 5 - this is one of those movies where I actually hovered over the Like button on letterboxd and had to think about it. Great movie, gave it a high rating, but did I like it? Hmmm... Ultimately I hit the button because Attah and Elba deserve it, but it's hard to like a movie that tells this story.

Edit - oh, and this is what Fukanaga directed after that kick-ass True Detective S1? Great work.
 
Metropolitan (1990) (Whit Stillman): Dryly humorous, peculiar, coming of age-esque satire of Manhattan elite. Laced with interesting dialogue and ridiculous arguments. Like a hang out movie with the rich kids you're supposed to hate.

"What Jane Austen novels have you read?"

"None. I don't read novels. I prefer good literary criticism. That way you get both the novelists' ideas as well as the critics' thinking. With fiction I can never forget that none of it really happened, that it's all just made up by the author. "
 

overcast

Member
Can the op add me to the letterboxd list?
Already came out in EU. For some reason there's a delay with the US release. It hasn't even been announced over here yet :(
Well this sucks.

So, uh, I just saw Logan. I enjoyed the movie and Laura was adorable. Then I came home and saw the reviews... what the hell? I liked it as in "it's an ok film", fun to watch and that's it. It's sitting at 94% on RT. 😵

Idk, I feel like a 3/5 is good enough for it.
That's how rottentomatows works man. "Eh it was okay, 3-3.5/5 would put you in the 94%. That's how a lot of comic flicks and animation movies get easy passes. Doctor strange is far from a 9/10 movie (it straight up sucked imo though).

I would say something like Nocturnal Animals has a really accurate tomato score and I hated that shit.
 
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