movies

[cardsfantx]

glad im not the only one who thought Hail Caesar was awful.

Yea, i said a coen bros movie was awful. FIGHT ME!!

i don't like any of the coen bros movies...at all...like even a little

secrets

[The Third Man]

Hail Caesar! is good. The Nice Guys is also good.

I've been watching Sion Sono films.

Why Don't You Play in Hell?: A film-about-film in which film is so powerful and violent that it has the ability to conquer love and death each. Since it's a Sono film, his message is broadcast at maximum volume, seguing from weepy melodrama to broad slapstick comedy to blood-soaked carnage at the drop of a hat. [expletive] Day for Night.

Tag: A fever dream in which a woman seeks to escape the nightmare of her existence: being controlled by men for violent, subservient ends. Shades of eXistenZ or Vanilla Sky, but with the over-the-top bent that only a Sion Sono film could provide. I'm starting to think this guy is the most brilliant director working today. He's certainly sui generis.

Shinjuku Swan: The first film of Sono's I'd seen that he did not himself write, which felt like an unfortunate compromise. It has all his stylistic quirks and madcap energy, but as a tale of crime, set in the Japanese sex industry no less, it feels comparatively rote and generic. Very watchable, but nothing special.

Tokyo Tribe: Imagine Sion Sono made a hip-hop musical adaptation of The Warriors, shot like the world's gaudiest music video, and you'd have a pretty good idea of Tokyo Tribe. Unfortunately, even compared to Sono's typical films, this is wildly scattershot and uneven. Usually there's a coherent, overarching theme stringing together his wild setpieces, but here it just kind of bounces from scene to scene. It's certainly not dull, but it feels like a trifle.

The Virgin Psychics: Promising first half-hour, but quickly gives way to an incoherent and stagnant plot, supported by nothing but an endless stream of cleavage and panty shots. I wanted to punch the lead character in his dumb face.

[GeddyWrox]

Saw Free State of Jones yesterday. It was pretty good. Mcconaughey was really good in it. Ending was a little flat -- there's no big payoff at the end -- but it was a very honest look at the Civil War and Reconstruction eras of the deep south.

[JL21]

I just watched Unforgiven for the millionth time.

The final 20 minutes are [expletive] perfect in every single way. Eastwood as the brutal avenging angel is always great (see High Plains Drifter, for instance), but it's on another level in Unforgiven.

[MrSaigon]

I wanted to go see Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Looks excellent. But it appears that I won't be able to see it in Portland until video.

Looks like Marvel has already go its hooks in Waititi for the next Thor.

[stlouie_lipp]

I just watched Unforgiven for the millionth time.

The final 20 minutes are [expletive] perfect in every single way. Eastwood as the brutal avenging angel is always great (see High Plains Drifter, for instance), but it's on another level in Unforgiven.

This guy gets it.

[JoeMcKim]

Unforgiven is a GOAT western IMO. Just such great acting by Eastwood, Hackman, Freeman and Harris across the board.

[go birds]

Finally caught Midnight Special and while i thought it was good and would recommend it, especially if you like Nichols' movie, it just didnt really stick with me like his other movies.

I dunno--maybe i just didn't really get it. I guess i was just expecting more of a payoff, given the subject matter. Again, that's not to say it was bad--it was really good actually. It just didn't really go anywhere, IMO.

[ghostrunner]

It Follows is a really interesting movie. Just saw it. A few things really stood out to me.

The time period and technology - there's one modern device in the movie as far as I can remember and it's the weird shell-shaped makeup compact Kindle thing. The only use we see for it is as a reader. There's a number of 70's and 80's cars that are in good or great condition. The TV's (multiple) they watch are all tube style, and some look to be from the 80's or thereabouts. The pool scene at the end features almost nothing but dated electronics, including a typewriter. Not sure what if any significance this has. I got the impression they weren't supposed to be very well off, but they don't exactly seem poor either. Not many prominent mobile phones either that I recall, outside the one used by the girl in the intro. I could be wrong about that, and cell phones just aren't good for horror movies.

We're not told a whole lot about the family and friends. The friend with the shell Kindle - is she a friend? Another younger sister? Only one line identifies the one brown haired girl as a sister. Then there's the Mom, who I think has no lines and almost seems like a ghost. Might be a narrative choice to keep the action and authority with the kids, but she's also blurry and off screen much of the time. I could be wrong about this too, but it seemed like the guy throwing stuff in the pool looked like Jay's Dad, who I presume must be dead. Then there's the offhand comment from a neighbor about how messed up their family is.

The pool scene - i thought for a minute the plan was going to be to electrocute Jay and hopefully release her from the curse.

I feel like there's also some gender/sexism commentary in there too that hasn't fully sunk in for me yet.

[MrSaigon]

John Goodman is a goddam treasure.


Fun movie.