That's why I get myself two small popcorns. One for before the movie, one for during.
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Movies You've Seen Recently |OT| May 2017
- Thread starter Divius
- Start date
That's why I get myself two small popcorns. One for before the movie, one for during.
Rhomega Beta
Member
I've made it a point not to eat popcorn until the movie starts.
pauljeremiah
Gold Member
That makes so much sense. I usually have mine completely wolfed down before the adverts start, I have a tendency to arrive early to get the best seat possible as most of the cinemas (except one) in my area are open seating plans.
Exactly. Sit down and set the popcorn down and don't touch it until the movie starts. Still only lasts like 30 minutes or so, but better than eating it during all the bullshit you have to sit through before the movie starts.
Rhomega Beta
Member
I think I've filled out my Letterboxd diary as best I could, combining data from Facebook posts, Netflix viewing data, iTunes movie rental receipts, and even my old Fandango account from 10 years ago. Got regular data going back until 2009. https://letterboxd.com/Rhomega/films/diary/
Audition: It speaks to the excellent filmmaking on display here that even years after seeing it and knowing now just where it was going to go that the film still unnerves and disturbs just as effectively as it did the first time. It's not even because of the more graphic elements particularly, though as always, everything revolving around the acupuncture scene causes every hair on my body to stand up on end, as the way Miike handles the descent into Aoyama's personal hell of nightmares is so brilliantly structured that you begin questioning your own comprehension of what is on screen far more frantically and anxiously. It's pure nightmare fuel, and yet it's accomplished with little more than tight editing, great framing and simple yet expressive color choices that leave a lasting impression even when the more graphic moments of violence start showing up late in the game. Even after near countless amounts of films since its release, Miike will be rightfully immortalized for this one and it still stands up as one of the finest horror films of its country and of its decade.
Messofanego
Banned
While there's a poop movie right now with Charlie Hunnam pulling a sword, go see the fantastic and very under-seen The Lost City Of Z. An epic exploration film about obsession with a slight tinge of Aguirre.
While there's a poop movie right now with Charlie Hunnam pulling a sword, go see the fantastic and very under-seen The Lost City Of Z. An epic exploration film about obsession with a slight tinge of Aguirre.
Yes! Definitely go see this one if you can!!
Cripplegate
Member
Land of Silence and Darkness (8.5/10) - If Herzog could pick one film out of his long, legendary career to show to the entire world, he would apparently pick this 1971 documentary about the blind and deaf Fini Straubinger. I can see why (no pun intended). It's a powerful document of a somewhat invisible struggle (pointedly, Fini attends a conference about disability rights about halfway through the film, and asks, "What about the blind and deaf? What about us? Who will save us from our isolation?"). The film feels a bit slack on the whole, a bit episodic in the way it bounces around various scenarios, before the second half becomes something of a descent into the depression and isolation that Fini says all deaf and blind people suffer. Fini is an activist, and was originally born with sight, but eventually we meet people who were born blind and deaf and struggle to communicate, and finally, someone who was never educated at all (somebody nobody attempted to reach, or awaken, as Fini says), a 22 year old man who cannot walk and sits on the floor, repeatedly hitting himself in the face with a rubber ball (he is, literally, a 22 year old infant child).
The most shocking part of this documentary, however, might be the narrator. Hearing some generic voice over narrator in a Herzog doc really threw me for a loop. I even paused the film to check if I had selected the wrong audio track (I didn't! There were no other options!), so baffling it was to experience. And given the structure of the film, the narration is mostly there filling in contextual gaps, explaining that now we're at a birthday party, now Fini is travelling for her work, now everybody is visiting a zoo (we couldn't figure that part out on our own?). It's surprisingly straightforward, but that isn't to say typical Herzog elements are entirely absent from this film. For example, the opening scene of Fini describing her memories of ski jumpers is quite clearly a Herzog invention. The ending is also staged, given its clearly developed symbolism. But that, of course, is what Herzog does best. The ending is staggering, and delivers on that patented ecstatic truth (I will refrain from describing it, so that you may discover it for yourself).
It's not my favorite Herzog doc. Hell, it's not even my favorite Herzog doc from 1971. But I do agree with Herzog: This is essential viewing.
The most shocking part of this documentary, however, might be the narrator. Hearing some generic voice over narrator in a Herzog doc really threw me for a loop. I even paused the film to check if I had selected the wrong audio track (I didn't! There were no other options!), so baffling it was to experience. And given the structure of the film, the narration is mostly there filling in contextual gaps, explaining that now we're at a birthday party, now Fini is travelling for her work, now everybody is visiting a zoo (we couldn't figure that part out on our own?). It's surprisingly straightforward, but that isn't to say typical Herzog elements are entirely absent from this film. For example, the opening scene of Fini describing her memories of ski jumpers is quite clearly a Herzog invention. The ending is also staged, given its clearly developed symbolism. But that, of course, is what Herzog does best. The ending is staggering, and delivers on that patented ecstatic truth (I will refrain from describing it, so that you may discover it for yourself).
It's not my favorite Herzog doc. Hell, it's not even my favorite Herzog doc from 1971. But I do agree with Herzog: This is essential viewing.
dickroach
Member
ooooh. haven't seen that movie in like 10 years. I still remember that scene where
she's cutting off the dude's foot with one of those meat cutting wires, and you can HEAR the grinding. so gnarly
True Savior
Member
How many times you've watched the trailer?
Lady Macbeth.
Yeah, the sound work in that whole scene is phenomenal. It makes it so much more uncomfortable to watch, even though Miike refrains from showing a lot of the violence directly.
The little clang noise when she taps the acupuncture needles underneath Aoyama's eyes... ALL OF MY NOPE
TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared
Member
Handsome Devil is a perfectly adequate somewhat cliched coming of age story set at an Irish boarding school, and successfully coalesces weighty themes exploring sexuality in a traditional yet ever changing environment and the modern teenager and how they (and by extension we) identify ourselves, with a good natured humour tone.
It's an interesting film that shows how you make something thats more than the sum of its parts. The story is so basic you could probably recite it from heart, outcast boy, eccentric english teacher, rugby player with a secret who becomes friends with outcast boy, etc.
The stereotyping of the characters is pretty over done (oh the music loving outcast Ned must be gay right and of course Andrew Scott as a slightly mad English teacher must also have a dark secret and the PE teacher must be a bad guy, etc) The jokes really aren't that funny, except when Andrew Scott turns up, cos that guy is always funny. Some form of comparison to Sing Street is probably inevitable, and no, it isn't nearly as good.
So yeah, way too reliant on cliches, humour that falls flat, and a boring story. The film isn't also quite romantic enough for its theme. I get the point is friendship, rather than sexual interest, but its so chaste, it's almost rather laughable. The acting from our two young leads isn't quite convincing enough, but it gets the job. We get a way too short appearence from Ardal O'Hanlon, but the only great performance as said, is from Andrew Scott.
But the film has such good intentions and clearly has such a good heart, its hard to dislike. It also looks pretty nice, and well shot, for a film that only cost a million euros to make. Not sure I could reccomend it, but I didn't hate it.
It's an interesting film that shows how you make something thats more than the sum of its parts. The story is so basic you could probably recite it from heart, outcast boy, eccentric english teacher, rugby player with a secret who becomes friends with outcast boy, etc.
The stereotyping of the characters is pretty over done (oh the music loving outcast Ned must be gay right and of course Andrew Scott as a slightly mad English teacher must also have a dark secret and the PE teacher must be a bad guy, etc) The jokes really aren't that funny, except when Andrew Scott turns up, cos that guy is always funny. Some form of comparison to Sing Street is probably inevitable, and no, it isn't nearly as good.
So yeah, way too reliant on cliches, humour that falls flat, and a boring story. The film isn't also quite romantic enough for its theme. I get the point is friendship, rather than sexual interest, but its so chaste, it's almost rather laughable. The acting from our two young leads isn't quite convincing enough, but it gets the job. We get a way too short appearence from Ardal O'Hanlon, but the only great performance as said, is from Andrew Scott.
But the film has such good intentions and clearly has such a good heart, its hard to dislike. It also looks pretty nice, and well shot, for a film that only cost a million euros to make. Not sure I could reccomend it, but I didn't hate it.
pauljeremiah
Gold Member
Watched The Seige of Jadoville tonight on Netflix. Really liked it. It's about an Irish commander and his battalion of 150 men withstand a siege by 3,000 Congolese troops led by French and Belgian mercenaries working for mining corporations.
https://youtu.be/rHNtzyXvyLc
https://youtu.be/rHNtzyXvyLc
Was flipping through the channels on my TV (yes I still have cable, mainly for sports) and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was on. Ended up watching the entire movie for the upteenth time, and I still firmly believe it's a top 3 movie of the 2000s, and easily the best western of that timeframe as well.
It's a damn shame Casey Affleck didn't get the recognition he deserved until Manchester by the Sea. Dude's been constantly fantastic in every movie I've seen him in.
It's a damn shame Casey Affleck didn't get the recognition he deserved until Manchester by the Sea. Dude's been constantly fantastic in every movie I've seen him in.
Nothing wrong with having cable js. DVR is the goat.
pauljeremiah
Gold Member
Agreed, it's a fantastic character study of fame and celebrity culture before people even knew what that was. The voice-over at the beginning and end are just beautiful.
pauljeremiah
Gold Member
Lola (1961): Jacques Demy's film debut, which I watched for the first time a couple of years ago as part of the Criterion box set, and revisited as a prelude to watching my TCM recording of Model Shop, which features the return of the main character. On rewatch I revised my Letterboxd rating up by a half-star, as it's an above average production, even if it doesn't have the verve of Demy's later musicals. Anouk Aimee is engaging as the title character, and it's interesting to revisit Roland Cassard's backstory since he reappears in a more prominent role in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, which I'd rewatched a number of times since my initial run through the box set.
Model Shop (1969): On to Demy's 1969 Hollywood debut (also the only film he would make in Hollywood), a deeply boring picture about an unlikeable guy driving around Los Angeles one day trying to scrounge up money to save his car from repo men, in the course of which he takes to pursuing Anouk Aimee's Lola, who is now working at a titular model shop, where men come and pay to take pictures of ladies posing in their underwear (was this a thing?). The final twenty minutes or so do their best to revive the film, but I'm never given any reason to care about the lead. It's most interesting for the followup for what happened to Lola after the events of the first film, even if I expect many viewers would have hoped for things to be a bit smoother.
Model Shop (1969): On to Demy's 1969 Hollywood debut (also the only film he would make in Hollywood), a deeply boring picture about an unlikeable guy driving around Los Angeles one day trying to scrounge up money to save his car from repo men, in the course of which he takes to pursuing Anouk Aimee's Lola, who is now working at a titular model shop, where men come and pay to take pictures of ladies posing in their underwear (was this a thing?). The final twenty minutes or so do their best to revive the film, but I'm never given any reason to care about the lead. It's most interesting for the followup for what happened to Lola after the events of the first film, even if I expect many viewers would have hoped for things to be a bit smoother.
Split
Let's get this out of the way: holy SHIT that fucking ending.
Apart from the amazing ending, this movie's still really really solid. Anya Taylor-Joy is great (as she was in The Witch), but James McAvoy obviously steals the show. The cinematography and camera is also really well done, and creates incredible tension.
It's the best movie M Night's done since Unbreakable (I do enjoy Signs and The Village, but this is better than those films), and one of the best so far this year.
Let's get this out of the way: holy SHIT that fucking ending.
Apart from the amazing ending, this movie's still really really solid. Anya Taylor-Joy is great (as she was in The Witch), but James McAvoy obviously steals the show. The cinematography and camera is also really well done, and creates incredible tension.
It's the best movie M Night's done since Unbreakable (I do enjoy Signs and The Village, but this is better than those films), and one of the best so far this year.
If Unbreakable is the most grounded version of a superhero origin story, then Split is the most grounded version of a supervillain origin story. Loved the parallels between this and Unbreakable, and not very many movie moments will come close to the feeling I got when the Unbreakable music started playing. The movie is already great on its own, but the Unbreakable connection elevates it to another level.
Discotheque
Banned
Yeah split rocked, certainly one of my favorite movies of the year and Shyamyalan has set a unique stamp on the superhero genre with his pair of movies. His stuff is among the best of them easy. McAvoy's multiple personalities were pretty hilarious, dude wasn't afraid to mix camp with the horror. Anya Taylor Joy has had a nice couple years between The Witch and this too. A lot of people in my theater were kind of confused by the ending which is a shame because as soon as I heard that music during McAvoy's monologue I was shook. that was one of the best movie moments for me in a while.
And Jesse James is for sure one of the best of the century for me. The soundtrack is impeccable, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis' best film work. The movie serves both as a slow meditative western film and a kind of timeless story about the myths of celebrity. Casey da gawd. Even in small appearances like the Oceans trilogy he was awesome, but I love when he gets a great film to show off his chops.
god damn Criterion, so bummed they haven't picked up Jesse James. That would fit nicely in their collection.
And Jesse James is for sure one of the best of the century for me. The soundtrack is impeccable, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis' best film work. The movie serves both as a slow meditative western film and a kind of timeless story about the myths of celebrity. Casey da gawd. Even in small appearances like the Oceans trilogy he was awesome, but I love when he gets a great film to show off his chops.
god damn Criterion, so bummed they haven't picked up Jesse James. That would fit nicely in their collection.
Split is superhero movie?
Fancy Clown
Member
Yeah, Disco, what's up with that??
Net_Wrecker
Member
Yeah, Disco, what are you saying bro???
Net_Wrecker
Member
After. It's really, really not meant to be seen before.
Ughhhhh, I want to do a Twin Peaks + FWWM rewatch before the new season but I don't know if I'll make it.
haha thank you. I had it recorded it, but didn't know. Shit gotta marathon 2 seasons.
Search your feelings Rey. You know this to be true.
My latest was Along Came a Spider (2001) which I started many times over the years but never finished - mostly because I read the source when I was a kid and kept getting bored with the film halfway through. Without spoiling anything, hopefully, I'll just say that they didn't sell the twist. Not for lack of trying by the actors and director. I just think whoever wrote the screenplay failed to make it feel natural at all.
Fancy Clown
Member
I finished my Twin Peaks run like 4-5 months ago, so I think I'm good on that front. I need to watch Fire Walk With Me tho...and subscribe to showtime.
Showtime has FWWM streaming, so you can kill two birds with one stone there.
Had the same problem - haha. Opted for a "directed-by-Lynch" binge.
Count Dookkake
Member
So jealous of everyone who has seen Alien: Covenant.
God, I can't wait to see what sounds like such a glorious turd.
Lol at anyone who expected it to be good after Poometheus.
God, I can't wait to see what sounds like such a glorious turd.
Lol at anyone who expected it to be good after Poometheus.
Puck Beaverton
Banned
How Scott made Alien and Blade Runner I'll never understand.
Fancy Clown
Member
Yeah at this point those are really anomalies in his filmography aren't they?
Boom, there we go
After I saw someone say Covenant was actually the same shit as Prometheus I decided fuck it, will wait for a rental. My Prom rewatch left me with a bad taste so washing shit down with urine just doesn't seem healthy...that said if friends of mine ask I will go. Will power is lacking, but I won't I initiate it! I swear...
Fancy Clown
Member
I'm gonna see Covenant in theaters for sure, but it won't hurt like Prometheus did because I know it's a turd going in
Ichi the Killer: More or less the most violent and longest episode of the Looney Tunes. Taken on their own, the acts of violence in the film should, on paper, get it banned in every country in the world, but Miike pitches them to such gleeful extremes that it's nearly impossible to take them too seriously. Everyone in the film takes a comical amount of abuse before expiring, and the participants are all too eager to vie for the title of the most ridiculous method of dispatching. Lest you think it's an outright splatter comedy, Miike does sneak in commentary on how normalized this behavior has become among the characters, putting this at an interesting point in the trends of Japanese cinema at the time where it seemed like a veritable arms race of gore was unfolding as each film vied to be the Next Big Thing for cult crowds. That's hardly a dated theme, as it's always been relevant as the limits of on-screen violence get pushed further and further with each new generation of filmmakers, but it's hard not to see how relevant it was especially then when the first big Asian boom was happening and a lot of what was coming over was propelled by how much more permissive they were in the violence department compared to mainstream American cinema. Miike ultimately takes a non-judgemental approach in the end, letting the viewer draw their own conclusion on how to address the cavalcade of carnage, which is always appreciated and gives it a nuance that you wouldn't expect for a film that has its title sequence emerge from a pool of semen. That all being said, boy, is this film long! At over two hours long and featuring a story that would have a hard time filling in the usual 90 minute yakuza potboiler that is being spoofed, there's an awful lot to the film that may not be needed, especially as the second half of the film decides to throw in a lot more intrigue with the characters as their paths start crossing more and more between massacres. It could be a holdover from the manga's plotting, though I'm not familiar with it beyond its mere existence, but the thinness never lets up as the film keeps going and going, with too many characters present to enjoy following along diligently. Sure, Tadanobu Asano is having a lot of fun as the justifiably iconic Kakihara, but it's definitely not a major surprise that he was what all the advertising focused on with how much livelier he is than everyone else, which is a problem since he isn't the title character! There is a late play the film makes that is promising and ties in rather well to the commentary on top of being a nice jolt that comes as a genuine surprise, but when that happens to be within the final 10 minutes of the film, it comes across as too little, too late for it to have the maximum impact that it could have had with the film having a better focus to nail its landing. It's a weird film to describe: it's a polished production and features a lot of good filmmaking to along with the decent production values and inspired aesthetic choices (the soundtrack being a particular highlight for me), and it definitely has a strong message at its core, but it also features the unusual problem of being simultaneously overstuffed and being deficient enough in the story and character departments to feel too lean. It's a film I do like a fair amount, but it seems like the kind of film I could have easily loved had it ironed out those issues.
This show is tailor made for you.
True Savior
Member
Good scripts, good crew and he was on a tight leash.
He also made Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, The Martian and American Gangster, which are all pretty great films.
It's all about the scripts he chooses, which are very hit or miss.