RATE or REVIEW The Last Movie You Watched.

[The Entity]

Out of the Furnace - 6.5/10
This film has a stellar cast with names like Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Willem Dafoe, Sam Shepard, Forest Whitaker, Zoe Saldana and Woody Harrelson. And they all performed excellently. And still it "only" gets a 6.5 from me.
Can't really seem to put my finger on it where it was lacking, but I guess it's in the cinematography. The story was fairly simple, but fine.
The thing I missed were the scenes that would bring the small dying town alive, and make it sort of a character on it's own. It shows in a very few scenes and is mentioned once or twice, but I think it would've worked if you got to see more of this rural American town that basically thrives on this steelmill that's about to be shut down. This could've deepened the storyline for Christian Bale's, Zoe Saldana's and Forest Whitaker's storylines for example in showing the fear and uncertainty of the future of their town and jobs, while still remaining the current storyline.
I think it had all the ingredients to make a great crime-drama film, but sadly they weren't all used in the process.

Still, for what it is, it's a good watch. But I won't be revisiting this one anytime soon.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

LA Confidential - 10/10 - Such an underrated 90's film.

Hard Rain - 7/10 - Stupid action film, but very entertaining from beginning to end. Nonstop action.

Th illusionist - 6/10 - Good. The Prestige is better.

Interview with the Vampire - 9/10 - Tom Cruise is so great at playing villains. He should do it more often.

 

[Khev]

LA Confidential - 10/10 - Such an underrated 90's film.

Hard Rain - 7/10 - Stupid action film, but very entertaining from beginning to end. Nonstop action.

Th illusionist - 6/10 - Good. The Prestige is better.

Interview with the Vampire - 9/10 - Tom Cruise is so great at playing villains. He should do it more often.

I did like the midway twist in Hard Rain with Randy Quaid's bunch.

Agreed on The Prestige being better than The Illusionist. Much better IMO in fact.

 

[mikedanger]

Space Jam: A New Legacy 3/10

My 5 year old wanted to watch it with me and she loved so it so I gave it 2 points for that. The additional 1 point was for the Michael B Jordan cameo.

 

[karamazov80]

Klute: 7.5/10
Really good suspense movie. The psychological examination of Jane Fonda's character was particularly interesting and felt authentic.

Blowout: 7/10
I saw this a couple weeks ago, but hard not to compare it with Klute since both had prostitutes being hunted down as core plot points. DePalma gets painted as being more style than substance, and that is the case here, but it was such an interestingly made and shot film that it succeeds despite having a plot that wasn't all that great. Some of the imagery will stick with me for a long time. I read that Tarantino convinced the producers of Pulp Fiction to hire Travolta by referencing his role here, so if nothing else this film served that really important function.

Under the Volcano: 6/10
This one didn't work for me overall, but Albert Finney put on an amazing performance. The portrayal of his alcoholism and psychological hang-ups over his wife's infidelity felt authentic and were interesting, but I felt there was a lot of sub-text about the buildup to World War 2 that I didn't really catch. The end was weird.

As for Holden, when I've watched Network, that's the comparison with his performance in Sunset Boulevard that comes to my mind the most. That's had more to do with the difference in age and career trajectory between those two films than anything else, but the sort of juxtaposition you're suggesting is still applicable. His young/ambitious Joe versus his seasoned/hardened Max can also offer a sharp and intriguing contrast, IMO.

Yeah, that is another GREAT movie and performance. Haven't seen it in a few years, but had it on my mind with the recent death of Ned Beatty. Written by Paddy Chayefsky, who also penned another great exploration into American cynicism--the Americanization of Emily.

 

[Otomofan]

LA Confidential - 10/10 - Such an underrated 90's film.

I don't think it's underrated....it got a hell of a lot of praise when it came out. It's just sadly been overlooked in the last few decades.

Still....what a movie. What a cast. I watched it again not too long ago and it holds up beautifully. I know Kevin Spacey is an "unperson" now but goddamit the man could act.

10/10....absolute classic.

 

[Khev]

Yeah LA Confidential was great. I remember quite a large number of people back in the day (myself included) feeling that it got robbed for Best Picture by Titanic.

 

[karamazov80]

I loved it when I first saw it at the theaters. In terms of Spacey. . .I've got to separate the person from the performance in my own mind or I could never enjoy anything. I can still watch and enjoy a Woody Allen film or Chinatown, but probably wouldn't let those guys babysit.

 

[Ropen]

The Suicide Squad 9/10, in a world of safe risks, one man decides to risk it all and it worked!

 

[The Entity]

Burden (2018) - 6.5/10
It was an ok watch. I think they could've made a bit more of the fact that

Spoiler

the Church bought the deed of the KKK-store in the end.

It seems like that would be a good plot point to make a bit of a bigger fuss about and make it seem more special/outlandisch than they did now.

 

[karamazov80]

EXistenZ: 6.5/10

There are some interesting themes here, perhaps more relevant now than when the film was made in terms of our sense of identity and reality vis-a-vis videogames. Feels like his "modern" take on Videodrome as of the late '90s. The gore effects were well done, acting was OK (particularly Jennifer Jason Leigh), and I dig the ending, but on the whole the level of craftsmanship is well below what I like to see from Mr. Cronenberg. Not nearly as bad as Cosmopolis, but pales next to most of his filmography.

 

[The Entity]

Sonic the Hedgehog - 7.5/10
I was really pleasantly surprised by this one. It was a lot of fun. It actually had some laugh out loud moments and a lot of heart. It was also good to see Jim Carrey doing his thing again. I seem to remember he hasn't been doing all to well for a while and even considered to quit acting, but seeing him like this I'm glad he didn't. He was like an evil Ace Ventura in this one.
I can definitely say I'm interested in what the sequel brings.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

The Three Stooges - 5/10 - I liked it...I guess? The three actors did an amazing job bringing to life Moe, Curly, and Larry. So as a homage to the originals it was good, but they didn't do anything new or innovative, so I kind of rather watch the original shorts instead. I also think it should have taken place in the 1940's since they were being so faithful to the original source material.

 

[greygoose]

Sonic the Hedgehog - 7.5/10
I was really pleasantly surprised by this one. It was a lot of fun. It actually had some laugh out loud moments and a lot of heart. It was also good to see Jim Carrey doing his thing again. I seem to remember he hasn't been doing all to well for a while and even considered to quit acting, but seeing him like this I'm glad he didn't. He was like an evil Ace Ventura in this one.
I can definitely say I'm interested in what the sequel brings.

I've seen this a few times - it's just as good on each watch.

I was pleasantly surprised by how good Carrey was in the role.

Hopefully the sequel delivers. Idris as Knuckles is a good sign.

 

[The Entity]

Monster Hunter - 1.5/10
One of the dumbest movies I've ever seen. (And usually, I'm all up for movies like this). Warning, some very minor spoilers ahead.

It actually starts out ok-ish. A pirate ship sailing through a desert, attacked by monsters. Pretty cool. I'd want to know more about that. Then we skip to our world and meet the protagonists. Slightly less cool, but still ok-ish. Then there's a freak storm that transports them to The New World... and it all goes to s***.

None of the characters is likeable and they have an intellect rivaled only by garden tools. T.I. taking the cake for closing the eye he's going to use to look through his scope... at a monster the size of a building.

The non-story is only there to get the characters to fight the monsters and even that doesn't work well. The monsters are pretty lame and generic. The battles look ok, as does the cgi on the monsters. It sure shows where the focus for the cgi team went, because everything else looks like a video game.
Speaking of which (although I never played them) I know the movie is based on a game series, and I guess fans of the game might know a bit more about the background about everything. But for the uneducated viewer a bit more on background besides half a minute of half-a**ed explanation would be welcome.

For instance, why is there a pirate cat working in the kitchen and why is Jovovich's character smitten for the kitten? She kept giving that thing giggly smiles like a thirteen year old schoolgirl, and the cat even blows her a kiss.

There is no character development, no backstories whatsoever. Jovovich keeps pulling a ring from a small box. It's clearly a wedding-ring type memento of course, but we learn nothing about it... Is he (or she) alive and waiting for her? Is he (or she) dead? No idea. I actually think it's for a cat she has back at home, if her looks to Whiskers the Pirate are any indication.

Anyway, then the ending is about to happen and the movie just stops. Like literally, it stops. A new scene starts and the movie stops. We get a mid-credit scene that wants to put a full monster-fight in 10 seconds and that's it. And it is so extremely obvious that they are setting up the sequel, but they shouldn't have wasted that time on what things may come, because going by this movie, there won't be anything coming next.

Oh yeah, Ron Perlman is in it as well.

 

[ajp4mgs]

Wind River (2017): 8/10

Taylor Sheridan wrote the screenplays for two of my favorite films of the past decade (Sicario and Hell or High Water), and this is a really solid one too. I enjoyed it a lot, although not quite as much as those previous two. And since Sheridan got to actually direct here for the first time, I can't help but wonder if a more seasoned director could've elevated this to the level of those two earlier films.

Something that Villeneuve and Mackenzie established incredibly well in Sicario and Hell or High Water, respectively, was a well-defined tone and mood. Everything was presented with a distinctive style in both films, which not only helped define the tone but also resulted in an amazing level of immersion. Wind River had the setting and surrounding culture to achieve the same thing, but I don't think there was enough distinctive style employed to maximize that potential.

The harsh and deadly environment was crucial to the plot, yet there are some sequences where it's not really being conveyed as such. For example, when a shirtless Bernthal is having an extended late-night chat with his girlfriend who is standing outside the door, neither seem to be cold in the slightest, nor have any urgency to get her inside and shut the door. Stylistically, the crucial scene after that might've benefited from a more frenetic use of the camera to intensify the sense of chaos and urgency. Just little things that help with immersion, imo.

My sense was that Sheridan's approach to directing amounted to relying on his screenplay to the point where the camera was merely filming it rather than embellishing it. No matter what, it's still an excellent film, though. In fact, maybe his more by-the-numbers approach was actually *better* since it left the acting to do a lot of the heavy lifting. And on that front, I thought Renner and Olsen were at their best. It was also pretty well paced, and had good emotional resonance.

Now I need to check out Those Who Wish Me Dead to see if/how Sheridan's directing has evolved. He's a talented dude, and it'd be cool if his directing skills could end up matching his writing ability.

 

[The Entity]

The Green Knight - 4/10
I was really looking forward to this. I had my eye on it for quite a while. I almost went to see it in the cinema, but it I wasn't able to make it. So Amazon Prime it was. And I'm glad I didn't go see this and pay money for it.
The film is overly long with some very longwinded scenes that don't amount to anything. I guess that's the central theme here. There are all kinds of interesting concepts and things happening, but nothing is resolved. It al just happens and we move on.
It seems to me the director went for a Robert Eggers mixed with Nicolas Winding Refn atmosphere, but it ended up to be a pretentious piece of .

 

[greygoose]

The Green Knight - 4/10
I was really looking forward to this. I had my eye on it for quite a while. I almost went to see it in the cinema, but it I wasn't able to make it. So Amazon Prime it was. And I'm glad I didn't go see this and pay money for it.
The film is overly long with some very longwinded scenes that don't amount to anything. I guess that's the central theme here. There are all kinds of interesting concepts and things happening, but nothing is resolved. It al just happens and we move on.
It seems to me the director went for a Robert Eggers mixed with Nicolas Winding Refn atmosphere, but it ended up to be a pretentious piece of .

That's a shame. Was looking forward to this. Not sure when it's out in the UK...

 

[ajp4mgs]

Reminiscence (2021): 5/10

This felt like a really poor attempt at something along the lines of Christopher Nolan meets 40's detective noir. That impression resurfaced every few minutes as I kept watching. So, when the end credits rolled and I saw that Jonathan Nolan was one of the producers of this vastly inferior wannabe, I couldn't help but gain more respect for his brother.

While I understand that doing noir usually means employing a distinctively peculiar sort of dialogue, most of it here was still just horrendous. As a result, some of the stiff delivery had a few of the lesser supporting roles performed no better than if they were high school drama rejects. But Jackman and Newton were their usual solid selves, and their dynamic wasn't awful.

There's some redeeming value in the ending, but not enough to overcome the first two acts which ranged from only mildly interesting to astonishingly absurd. The third act made it seem like some of the material could've actually been worthwhile if handled more thoughtfully. Some of the pseudo-science concepts about accessing memory could've been intriguing. I would've even preferred if the narrative focus had been centered around one of the throwaway lines from early in the movie: "Nostalgia never goes out of style."

Speaking of Hugh Jackman, though, I recently revisited . . .


The Fountain (2006): 7.5/10

This one has gotten a bit of unjust criticism, IMO. Over the years, I've come across remarks about how dumb it was to have the story take place over hundreds of years. Well yeah, that *would* be dumb... if the movie's narrative actually did that. But it doesn't. The 1500's "Conquistador" is nothing more than a fantasy character from Izzy's book. And the bald "Traveler" version in the distant future is an extension of that character as written by Tommy (to fill in the final chapter, as his wife had asked him to).

The only "real" scenes are the ones taking place in the modern-day setting. And I like the idea of interweaving those fantasy elements. But how it was done (in a total runtime of just 96 minutes) didn't allow enough character development for the ones which actually matter. And for the ultimate takeaway to have a meaningful impact, the audience would need to empathize more with Tommy and Izzy.

I don't dismiss the whole film as pretentious drivel the way many others do (though I can understand why they feel that way). To me, Aronofsky just aimed for more than he's capable of delivering, and more than the simplicity of the themes would've ever allowed for. But I'll take unwarranted ambition over lazy or uninspired storytelling *any* day. And I think that making a film to impart the value of accepting mortality (rather than fighting it in a futile attempt to be godlike) is a worthy storytelling endeavor. But it's one which needs to be handled more deftly.

To me, Aronofsky seemed to be hoping to employ a Kubrick-style abstract narrative with grand thematic designs. If so, then he was playing out of his league. He's certainly no Kubrick. Plus, Kubrick's approach in a film like 2001 only works because it was meant to remain open to interpretation. The takeaway of The Fountain, on the other hand, was explicit and blunt. That renders any abstract and symbolic elements neutered to a great degree. So, the end result gets undercut as more of a mixed bag than it needed to be.

 

[Otomofan]

The Green Knight - 4/10
I was really looking forward to this. I had my eye on it for quite a while. I almost went to see it in the cinema, but it I wasn't able to make it. So Amazon Prime it was. And I'm glad I didn't go see this and pay money for it.
The film is overly long with some very longwinded scenes that don't amount to anything. I guess that's the central theme here. There are all kinds of interesting concepts and things happening, but nothing is resolved. It al just happens and we move on.
It seems to me the director went for a Robert Eggers mixed with Nicolas Winding Refn atmosphere, but it ended up to be a pretentious piece of .

The Green Knight: 3/10

Terrible. Terrible. Terrible.

Avoid at all costs unless you simply can't fall asleep, then put it on. It might help.