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[True Savior]

The Boy and the Beast - Mamoru Hosoda

Another lovely and charming Hosoda movie. It lacks the kinetic energy of Summer Wars and the sensibility of Wolf Children but it's still a beautiful tale. Once again family dynamics and conflicts take the foreground and his films become very accessible to relate cause of it. It gets a tad too melodramatic as it progresses and tries to jumble several different storylines. I would have preferred a simpler story, one which focused solely on the Beasts, the Gods and it's interaction with the kid.

 

[bomma_man]

Everybody Wants Some!

No conflict or plot to speak of but thoroughly engaging, it flew along at a great pace. Hilarious too. Impressive that it made want to go out and party, after I'd already had a pretty big weekend. At first glance I think I prefer it to Dazed and Confused.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Powaqqatsi is a much more intimate follow-up to Koyaanisqatsi, instead of focusing on a epic scale of humanity vs nature, it instead brings things down to a more human level by focusing on life in third world countries, using slow motion rather than time-lapse to get you to focus on tiny details of humans under all sorts of conditions that you would otherwise overlook. As expected the film is insanely gorgeous, and features another great score by Phillip Glass. However the languid pacing of long slow motion shots sometimes causes the film to lose a potency that its predecessor had in spades, and it frequently repeats itself over its hour and a half run time. Sometimes the beautiful images even feel contradictory, as they obfuscate the point of some of the scenes trying to depict that harshness of some of these people's lives. It doesn't feel as coherent of a narrative as Koyaanisqatsi, or as immediate and impactful, but when it works, it really fucking works, like the powerful pre-title sequence of a maze of men carrying mud, and a fallen comrade, up a hill like a Sisyphean ant colony, which then explodes into a collage of cross cutting scenes as the music picks up. And even though the slow motion and emphasis on small scale intimacy isn't as grabbing as Koyaanisqatsi's tour of extraordinary sights that offer a God-like perspective, they do allow you to instead see beauty in things that ordinarily go by too quickly or are too far away to really appreciate, and that makes this film well worth a watch.

ESPN's 30 for 30 - O.J: Made in America 5 part, ~8 hour documentary is incredible. An engrossing look at O.J. Simpson's rise and fall, celebrity worship, racial tensions in America, racial tensions in LA, corruption in the LAPD, and how all of that led to a total tainting of a murder trial and everything that proceeded it. Maximum sleazeball tactics from all sides. Even if you know the story this is worth watching for the sheer spectacle of seeing everything pieced together in sequence with lots of A+ anecdotes from lots of interesting characters. And then when you think it's over you hit Part 5 and recall that, yes, the story does take another baffling turn.

Word of warning: If you watch the uncut version on WatchESPN, there are some particularly grisly crime scene images that you won't soon forget, so.... yeah. But damn man, this is still worth watching. Amazing.

Yeah I watched the first episode a few nights ago and it was excellent. Looking forward to watching the rest of them.

 

[lordxar]

Before dumping a truckload of movies on you all, I just want to say that despite the 'clearly hilarious' (herp derp derp) poster for The Trust (2016, vod), featuring Nicolas Cage and Elijah Wood is really good at what it does and 'crazy cage' is absolutely the actor for this role. I don't want to give too much away because it's neat to go through its little journey, but this is a solid movie. After having seen the editing incompetence of Batman v Superman and Independence Day 2, it's so nice to see a movie that people are going to ignore for the wrong reasons (seriously, Cage is not the definition of a bad actor), do it absolutely right.
Very recommended.

I kind of want to make a new thread for this too, because it deserves better than people shitting on it 'because Cage'.

Really? Huh. I don't mind Cage's movies so much, Ghost Rider 2 was awful but nothing else immediately comes to mind that I hated. What made the Trust look like shit was the poster and yea I'm shallow like that Might just give this one a shot then.

Soon as I drag my ass out of bed and make breakfast I've got Repulsion sitting out there fron Netflix disc. Heard good things so looking forward to it. The Ninth Gate being the only Polanski I've watched so far apparently.

 

[obin_gam]

Keanu
I too woould have done the same things to get this kitty back

 

[lordxar]

Repulsion. Somebody took a left turn where everyone else took a right. Incredible movie, just incredible. Loved the emphasis on audio and the effects that show her mind devolving. Definitely one of those movies you watch and say yep, that is definitely a classic.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Fuckin love Repulsion. First time I watched it in college when I was sort of sick and sleep deprived in my bed at night on a laptop with some good headphones. Probably one of the most disturbing movie viewing experiences of my life. I love Polanski's idiosyncratic touches like the old guys playing spoons down the street which for some reason adds so much eeriness to atmosphere. The sparse sound design is fantastic.

 

[ironmang]

10 Cloverfield Lane

By far my favorite movie of the year so far and the only one that's even memorable. Was completely engrossed from the second Goodman appeared on screen.

 

[Baroquemantic]

Keanu
I too woould have done the same things to get this kitty back

Lol, I really need to go see this.

 

[lordxar]

Fuckin love Repulsion. First time I watched it in college when I was sort of sick and sleep deprived in my bed at night on a laptop with some good headphones. Probably one of the most disturbing movie viewing experiences of my life. I love Polanski's idiosyncratic touches like the old guys playing spoons down the street which for some reason adds so much eeriness to atmosphere. The sparse sound design is fantastic.

I'm wondering if people like that exist in this world. Two dudes hunched over playing spoons and marching with a guitar player. Where the one spoon guy is walking backwards into traffic was weird but when cars are driving between them was even stranger. Like nobody really noticed them.

 

[KonradLaw]

Saw Confession of Murder. Absolutely loved it. Fresh, surprising and all round so much fun.I must watch Korean movies more often.

 

[Fancy Clown]

The Neon Demon was pretty bad, but I definitely respect some things about the movie. I dug how gonzo it goes in the last third, and the movie looked and sounded good for the most part (although many scenes are awkwardly quiet but that might have been the point), and it was overall a far more coherent film than Only God Forgives. But the dialogue is pretty bad, and there are a lot of stilted, lifeless, and pretty boring scenes in the build up, he needs to stop writing his own films. He also has to pull his head out of his ass just a teensy bit, he's even got his own little "NWR" logo plastered on the screen in addition to his spelled out name.

 

[Secret Fawful]

Can MovieGAF help me out? I want to know if there was ever a movie like Bicycle Thieves or like 400 Blows that Morricone did music for? I really want to watch movies similar to those, but only if Morricone did the score. I know something that specific might not exist, but figured you'd all know if it did.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Nothing that specific but Days of Heaven or Battle of Algiers might fit the bill if you haven't seen those

 

[Secret Fawful]

Thanks. I'll check 'em out. In the time since I posted I looked up Cinema Paradiso and it looks a lot like what I'm looking for right now.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Oh yeah duh, that one would for sure be up your alley

 

[UrbanRats]

Prisoners - The least interesting Villaneuve i've seen so far, but even when the script doesn't exactly blow me away, like in this case, his ability to create a dense, foreboding atmosphere, always manages to keep me engaged (reminds me of Fincher in this sense).
I would say he just got better as he went along, but i liked Polytechnique more than this, and i have yet to see Incendies).
Everybody gave a very strong performance, but between the religious themes that didn't feel that well explored, and some of the characters that felt left behind halfway through, i can't say i loved it.
I still enjoyed it, but unlike Enemy and Sicario, i don't think it's gonna sit with me for very long, it felt more by the numbers than these two.

 

[lordxar]

Tetsuo the Bullet Man. Did not know this was part three of a trilogy. Pretty whacked out story of bioengineering gone off the rails. The camera moved a bit too frantically a lot of the time and the club mix was loud as shit but it was an interesting enough movie.

 

[Toothless]

Jaws is a truly stellar blockbuster. Constantly thrilling although not necessarily scary, it exemplifies Spielberg in its focus on three strong characters and their fight against the elements - in this case, a great white shark. Shaw gives the best performance of the three, but Dreyfuss and Scheider are also fantastic. Spielberg's direction is exemplary and the film is perfectly paced. John Williams' score is also phenomenally iconic and still stands today after countless parodies. Jaws is another masterpiece from Steven Spielberg and an legendary film that lives to the legends.

Got to see it on the big screen too, that was neat.

 

[Blader]

Thanks. I'll check 'em out. In the time since I posted I looked up Cinema Paradiso and it looks a lot like what I'm looking for right now.

Cinema Paradiso is a lovely movie. One of my favorite Italian flicks.

Once Upon a Time in America is much much longer than Bicycle Thieves or The 400 Blows, but is still a sort of coming-of-age type human drama story (it's technically a crime/gangster movie, but it's not really a genre picture), and has a nice Morricone score too. I'm not sure if it's exactly what you're looking for, but it's something.

 

[Ridley327]

Jaws is a truly stellar blockbuster. Constantly thrilling although not necessarily scary, it exemplifies Spielberg in its focus on three strong characters and their fight against the elements - in this case, a great white shark. Shaw gives the best performance of the three, but Dreyfuss and Scheider are also fantastic. Spielberg's direction is exemplary and the film is perfectly paced. John Williams' score is also phenomenally iconic and still stands today after countless parodies. Jaws is another masterpiece from Steven Spielberg and an legendary film that lives to the legends.

Got to see it on the big screen too, that was neat.

Nothing beats getting to see a large group of people shriek during the Ben Gardner scare. That's the one everyone forgets is in the film.

 

[Fancy Clown]

I really want to go to one of those outdoor Jaws screenings where you're floating in the water as you watch

 

[TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared]

Now You See Me 2 is a very enjoyable, well acted, but largely empty and fluff movie.

For one thing, after the first movie and this movie as well constantly hammering it into you about not believing what you see and constant misdirection and 'there's always more than whats on the surface' etc, its very difficult to believe any of the stuff that happens in a narrative sense, and its very hard to manufacture tension in a scene which we've already been led to believe isn't what we say and our characters are the smartest in the movies. There's also not a whole lot of character development, and while Lizzy Caplan does a great job with her role, it feels very much like her own joke in the movie about her being 'the female horseman' is pretty accurate. What's more, for a movie thats tagline is 'there's always more than whats on the surface' there really isn't in this movie, aside from some beating you over the head social commentary about rich people and lack of privacy blah blah.


But its very well acted, looks amazing, very enjoyable, so thats all good. The magic tricks still look and come across as amazing, even when the movie explains the tricks to you, especially the ones seen in the trailer, like Eisenberg's character making the rain go up. All the cast do a great job, even Daniel Radcliffe who I find hard to see as anyone except Harry Potter. And I was never bored.

So if it is disposable fluff, it was very enjoyable fluff, and I'd happily watch it again.

 

[MidnightCowboy]

Abbas Kiarostami has died. RIP. I urge everyone to watch Close-Up, it's a true masterpiece.

 

[Secret Fawful]

Once Upon a Time in America is much much longer than Bicycle Thieves or The 400 Blows, but is still a sort of coming-of-age type human drama story (it's technically a crime/gangster movie, but it's not really a genre picture), and has a nice Morricone score too. I'm not sure if it's exactly what you're looking for, but it's something.

I know it. Leone is my favorite director, but I refuse to watch a chopped up version of his intended vision. Thank you, though.

 

[User 479360]

The Way Way Back - It looked interesting, and I liked part of the cast, so I PVRed it. Overall, it was mediocre. The storyline didn't have enough oomph, impact or wow factor; it didn't go far enough either. The movie wasn't bad -- it was just a bit ho-hum.

Seeing Steve Carell play an asshole was weird. He looked good in the movie, though -- different than normal, but it suited him.

Everybody Wants Some!

No conflict or plot to speak of but thoroughly engaging, it flew along at a great pace. Hilarious too. Impressive that it made want to go out and party, after I'd already had a pretty big weekend. At first glance I think I prefer it to Dazed and Confused.

I drove about 30 minutes to see it in a theatre where it was playing. It was the only nearby location, and was well worth it. We actually saw Everybody Wants Some and Green Room.

EWS is hilarious, and a lot of fun. I look forward to watching it again. I think I still prefer Dazed, but they're both high up there.

 

[Ridley327]

Abbas Kiarostami has died. RIP. I urge everyone to watch Close-Up, it's a true masterpiece.

Damn, this weekend has been brutal on directors.

 

[Fancy Clown]

I know it. Leone is my favorite director, but I refuse to watch a chopped up version of his intended vision. Thank you, though.

I think you can get the uncut version on DVD though

 

[daydream]

RIP Kiarostami

A Bigger Splash: Imagining a modern take on 'La Piscine' with terrible camera work, aimless directing, a ruinous script, pacing issues and no aesthetic profile of its own is strange enough. The only thing stranger is actually being granted the funds to put that dreadful notion into film.

 

[User 479360]

Is Black Mass boring and drawn out, or actually worth watching? I PVRed it. Also PVRed Jem and the Holograms for the Hell of it.

 

[UrbanRats]

Is Black Mass boring and drawn out, or actually worth watching? I PVRed it. Also PVRed Jem and the Holograms for the Hell of it.

Boring and trite.
Only fun thing is Johnny Depp's distracting make up.
---
Blind Shaft - Wanted to watch more mainland China cinema, since in the last few years i've only focused on Hong Kong stuff.
I liked it, it hit a great balance between that "cinema veritè" vibe, while, remaining very clear and lean with the story telling. or outright straight forward with it.
I wonder if the kid was played by a professional actor, but he did a good job either way: the scene where they

Spoiler

bring him to a prostitute

went from funny awkward, to sad awkward, and back, mostly thanks to his acting.
It managed to have some touching moments, without ever getting melodramatic, something for example you can have an issue with, with someone like Yimou (as a random comparison, lol).

EDIT: Fuck, apparently that kid is Wang Baoqiang, who was the guy with a limp in Kung Fu Jungle, and also in Touch of Sin.
Didn't recognize him at all.

 

[Discotheque]

Is Black Mass boring and drawn out, or actually worth watching? I PVRed it. Also PVRed Jem and the Holograms for the Hell of it.

It's whatever. Depp is really entertaining in it though. Dude's still got it when he shows up every 6 years or so.

Kinda dull true crime film though despite depp and Edgerton putting in work.

 

[User 479360]

I'm torn on whether to delete it or watch it.

 

[TheFlow]

just found out about sing street, and how people love it.


so what are some best movies of the year so far?

 

[Toothless]

Nothing beats getting to see a large group of people shriek during the Ben Gardner scare. That's the one everyone forgets is in the film.

Hell, I'm jumped out of my seat lol. I totally forgot it was there too.

Anyway, finally caught Midnight Special, which continues Jeff Nichols' love of E.T. in a more obtuse way, despite what it may seem. The story of Alton and his family is touching in its own quiet way. Nichols exercises restraint throughout the picture to go big until the end, but even then, he's focused on the characters and their struggles. Nichols also tackles the wonder of this world delightfully, and frequently had this viewer in awe at sequences and reveals much in the way of early Spielberg. Shannon gives yet another astounding performance, and the rest of the cast is great too. Driver in particular perfectly fits Nichols' style and is a highlight. The score by David Wingo is also a delight, fitting the film perfectly. Midnight Special is a lovely entry in the science-fiction genre, and yet another excellent film from Jeff Nichols.

 

[Fancy Clown]

The 400 Blows lived up to its rep for me. An immensely satisfying, charming, and impressive debut feature. The much vaunted ending worked beautifully in the context of the whole film. Glad I finally got around to watching this one.

 

[old manatee]

I'm torn on whether to delete it or watch it.

It's just good enough to be worth watching for free. The director also made Crazy Heart and Out of the Furnace. I would say it is similar to those movies in that it is well made, but ultimately doesn't add up to much.

It's sort of worth it just to see Johnny Depp turn in a horrible late-career Nicholas Cage performance.

 

[Fancy Clown]

I forgot I saw Black Mass approximately 45 minutes after I left the theater. Thank you for reminding me.

 

[UrbanRats]

I'm torn on whether to delete it or watch it.

If we were talking Legend, i'd say delete ASAP, but Black Mass is just mediocre, not shit.

 

[Blader]

Abbas Kiarostami has died. RIP. I urge everyone to watch Close-Up, it's a true masterpiece.

Oh fuck. He wasn't even that old, was he?

I know it. Leone is my favorite director, but I refuse to watch a chopped up version of his intended vision. Thank you, though.

The most recent blu is essentially the film he intended. The older extended cut is basically the same thing too. I think there's been more than just the "chopped up version" available for a while.

 

[Meliorism]

Abbas Kiarostami has died. RIP. I urge everyone to watch Close-Up, it's a true masterpiece.

His most recent two, Certified Copy and Like Someone in Love are no slouches. But those three are the only ones I've seen, so I'm about to watch Taste of Cherry.

 

[not psycho]

Top 10 first time watches of June:

****
12 Years a Slave (2013)
The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Shame (2011)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
***
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978)
To Have and Have Not (1944)
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
**
The Thing from Another World (1951)
The Fortune Cookie (1966)

Five Easy Pieces is held together by Nicholson's great performance, but has some big flaws imo. Some of the characters come across as stereotypes, set up perfectly for his personality to lash out at them.

The Fortune Cookie is another Billy Wilder comedy that doesn't quite work for me (similar to Some Like It Hot). Witness for the Prosecution (my favorite so far), The Major and the Minor, and Ball of Fire (writing only) are great though, otherwise I'd conclude we're just on different wavelengths.

 

[TheFlow]

Criterion semi-annual sale starts tomorrow

 

[rainz]

Everybody Wants Some

As an absolutely huge an of Dazed and Confused I was all over this movie from the first trailers and the hype on here etc...
The actual thing though.. wow. I haven't been so let down by a movie in a very long time..

I loved the way it captured the atmosphere and setting of that time, but i felt the story beats themselves and the characters particularly just were nowhere near as memorable or engaging as Dazed.

I was hyping this up to my stoner friends as a dazed and confused spiritual sequel but now im actually hoping they don't watch it as it just is not funny and doesnt live up to the hype... I heard maybe 3 or 4 laughs throughout the whole cinema.

Sometimes neogaf hype lets me down, this is one of those times, be warned any other dazed and confused fans..

 

[Fancy Clown]

Yeah, no, definitely everyone should go see Everybody Wants Some especially if they liked Dazed and Confused.


Three Colors: Blue. Pretty heavy movie, but I really like how restrained it was. Great cinematography too, with lots of ethereal shots through glass or other reflective surfaces. I wasn't totally blown away like I was expecting given the way people talk about these films, but this one will likely be a grower. Looking forward to watching the others at some point.

 

[Blader]

^I don't know if Blue is really something I'd think of as "mind blowing" anyway, it's just an extremely sad film, and it does so without being overwrought which in and of itself is pretty impressive. The film's sadness has a way of just sinking in with you after you've finished it; it might not knock you on your ass after you finish watching it, but the more you think on it, the more it's like "whoa, that was fucking heavy."

Blue is the best of the trilogy imo, though the other two (or at least Red) are still worth watching.

 

[Discotheque]

That's a really solid trilogy no doubt.

The Shallows
forgive me for getting my pervert on here for a sec but the Charlies Angels-esque scene where Blake Lively gets ready to surf and puts on the wetsuit....

Anybody who says this is better than Jaws is on crack, but it's a fun survival thriller regardless. There are a few spotty CGI moments involving the shark and also a fucking cartoon Blake Lively face transposed onto a surfer during the big surf scene haha. Real missed opportunity not quoting Jaws either, otherwise yeah I enjoyed this. Doesn't do anything new but considering all the bloated ass big event films we've been getting this was a refreshing change of pace. Nice strong lead character in here getting shit done (in this regard I bought this lady a lot more than the last 15 minutes of 10 Cloverfield Lane) against nature.

 

[Lima]

High Rise

What the fuck was that? I knew nothing about the book and was intrigued by the trailer alone so I didn't know what I was getting into. I certainly didn't expect this kind of fuckery. It kinda reminded me of The Neon Demon which I watched last week. Like this could also have been a NWR movie.
Beautiful cinematography and awesome soundtrack by Clint Mansell though.
After readin up on the story of getting the movie made I can certainly see why it took 40 years to bring it to the big screen.

 

[Discotheque]

Didn't like High Rise all that much outside of certain scenes and Luke Evans in particular. Empire of the Sun and Crash are better Ballard adaptations imo, I enjoyed those films much more.

Still, Ben Wheatley is a pretty interesting filmmaker. Seems like he's worth keeping an eye on whenever a project is coming up.

 

[Swimmer9800]

I watched There Will Be Blood on Netflix the other day. It was one of the best films that I have ever seen. Beautiful cinematography complex themes, symbols, and characters. Cannot praise it enough. I also watched The Godfatherlast night for the first time in years and enjoyed it.