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[George Oscar Bluth II]

Mad Max was pretty good. I went in knowing that it isn't full of action or really post-apocalyptic like the rest of the films, but I was still taken by surprise at how... "normal" everything seemed. I wasn't expecting Max to have the amount of dialogue that he did nor was I expecting the tragedy of losing his wife and kid to happen near the end of the film. I still liked it quite a bit, though.

 

[User 479360]

So, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials was boring and shitty. Like The Hunger Games -- once the event/gimmick is over, it becomes shit.

 

[UberTag]

Loving - Joel Edgerton's performance was both the best thing and the worst thing about this film. It was easily the best acting showcase on display (I'm not even sure why Ruth Negga is in the Actress discussion with a tougher field) and yet the veritable disinterest that Richard Loving has towards the court process and the historical ramifications of the Supreme Court's ruling on the legitimacy of his marriage distances the audience from the equation and makes for a rather mundane movie of him laying bricks repeatedly, commuting back and forth between Washington and Virginia and telling people how much he loves his wife. 6.5/10

A Monster Calls - This was originally going to be my slot to watch Palme d'Or winner I, Daniel Blake but the buzz surrounding A Monster Calls since its world premiere last weekend became too much to ignore.

I don't want to give away too much about this film but it cleverly mixes some breathtaking cinematography with both 2D animation and CGI to weave a tale that plays like The Neverending Story if Bastian was perpetually angry and lashing out at the world because his mom was dying. And, instead of a luck dragon, he had a giant tree monster that would help him break things.

J.A. Bayona knows how to get powerful performances out of young talent (which makes me particularly excited for the Jurassic World sequel) and Lewis MacDougall carries this entire movie with a performance that is almost equal to that of Jacob Tremblay in Room.

I'll share this article here - The Must-See Movie That Had Everyone Sobbing at the Toronto Film Festival. I shed tears myself which isn't all that unusual but what WAS unusual is that I audibly choked up at a revelation towards the end of the movie. I'm usually good about masking my emotional reactions but this one threw me for a loop. Unlike Lion, this film's emotional payoff felt earned. 9/10

Southside with You - I expected Before Sunrise with the Obamas and that's largely what I got. Barack and Michelle aren't as relatable as Jesse and Céline but this was still a captivating on-screen dynamic thanks in large part to stalwart performances from Tika Sumpter and Parker Sawyers. Whomever handled the casting for this film's leads deserves a raise. 7/10

 

[PassiveObserver]

Following up on Wiener Dog, that shit was great.

 

[True Savior]

A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy - Woody Allen

Sex alleviates tension and love causes it.

A special movie in his career as it marked the first collaboration with Mia Farrow. It's a glimpse over lost opportunities, relationships opportunities that have passed and haunt us. Seize the moment! But instead of any dramatic introspection, it's set on a weekend in the camp, where the couples swap partners ending up as more of a breezy, light, fun story.

but seriously, anyone thinks Manhattan Murder Mystery is the last truly hilarious Allen? Can't seem to find that sort of well written gags in his subsequential movies. Whatever Works had massive potential with the David-Allen combo, and yet..

Deconstructing Harry is very funny. It's harsher and bitter than most stuff Allen did, but it's still very good. I do like Whatever Works a lot. But Larry David plays a big part as to why I like it.

 

[UberTag]

Frantz - Seems a recurring theme of TIFF this year is directors making films in a non-native language. Verhoeven directing in French. Park directing in Japanese. Larrain directing in English. Now it's Ozon directing in German (although there's still a good deal of his native French here).

This film's most noteworthy characteristic is the use of black and white to frame the emotional state of its leading heroine, Anna (played by an exquisitely gorgeous Paula Beer). It only transitions into color when she escapes from the glooming gray of her reality.

Unfortunately, this film is old school to a fault and, while it's capably acted, it's not exactly fun to sit through although it improves in the second half as lies begin to compound on top of lies. 6/10

Certain Women - I'm not sure what the point of this movie was. Movies where nothing of consequence happens are fine provided that the characters are funny or compelling. Take Paterson as a good example of this.

Conversely, none of these characters were all that interesting. I understand that this was largely by design and these performances were all understated to a fault but I need some intangibles to latch on to in order to be invested as a viewer and those were sorely lacking here. I'll remember Lily Gladstone's rancher and her one-sided romance but that's about it. 5/10

 

[Blader]

but seriously, anyone thinks Manhattan Murder Mystery is the last truly hilarious Allen? Can't seem to find that sort of well written gags in his subsequential movies. Whatever Works had massive potential with the David-Allen combo, and yet..

Manhattan Murder Mystery is underrated. It's light, breezy fun, and Woody and Alan Alda's chemistry together cracks me up every time.

 

[thenexus6]

Kubo and the Two Strings

Gorgeous animation and visuals. Story was pretty good, but some things were a little hammy.. Totally worth watching though.

 

[Ampersands]

Blazing Saddles

It was ok. I really thought there'd be more slapstick or more gags but the jokes came at a relatively slow pace (which made the misses all the more painful). The only jokes I'd say held up were the race-related ones. Maybe some of the more referential humor flew over my head because I haven't seen many Westerns but I feel that a joke shouldn't stand entirely on a reference. I guess comedy's harder to when it comes to time but I just thought the movie was average. I've been playing Undertale lately and that game is funny.

Coraline

One of the best animated movies I've seen. One thing I really liked about this movie was the fact that it was a stop-motion movie made in stop-motion. It really took advantage of the aesthetic, using it to up the creepy factor in the other world. I don't know what it was but I really got the vibe that this movie could've been a point-and-click adventure with its distinguishable zones and character interactions.

 

[Window]

It's Hedley! was so lost on me the first time.

 

[User 479360]

I couldn't sleep this morning, at 4am, as per usual. So I put on Field of Dreams, which I'd PVRed. It was a rewatch, as I'd seen it years ago.

I watched it in parts throughout the day, and liked it. It's still a solid movie.

 

[lordxar]

Big post time because I forgot to make updates over the last couple days.

American Gothic. This was on Shudder and was short so it was perfect for the time I had before work on Friday...and it sucked ass. I don't care for experimental films unless their showing something really cool and this one definitely didn't work for me. The director had a short few words to explain this film at the beginning and even with that I sure as hell don't see what his words described about this film. It was supposed to be some dude locked in a painting but it didn't even come close. There were zombies, some random people, his wife which was explained but then other weird scenes. Avoid this and save your 20ish minutes of life.

Alligator X. Some Scyfy tier trash. The story wasn't anything new and definitely not that great. Horrible acting, bad cgi monster but the monster was still kind of cool looking. The two chicks weren't too bad to look at but otherwise a turd.

Intruder. Now this is what I'm talking about. It had a cool looking poster and lo and behold the Raimi's and Bruce Campbell although Bruce was only in this for a couple minutes and didn't even add anything. Some great kill scenes and I dug the story. Wasn't much of a story but it worked pretty well against all the murder and actually the ending wasn't half bad at all.

The Damned Thing. Another Masters of Horror episode down which I enjoyed. The story wasn't bad and the effects/kills were mostly good. The damned thing was pretty shitty at the end but not a bad episode at all.

Eyes Without A Face. I thought this was ok. Nothing spectacular. Its short at somewhere around 90 minutes but I think it could have been 10 or 20 minutes shorter yet and maybe would have been a bit more effective. Not a bad story but the walking and driving scenes took up a bit too much time. Didn't care for the ending either. It just kind of stopped in a way. I know there's killing and bloody stuff but this was more drama than it was horror.

 

[JTripper]

The Beatles Eight Days a Week: The Touring Years: Very enjoyable for both Beatles fanatics and new fans. I'm in the former camp, and while the movie is definitely light on new information I never knew about them before, the amount of new and restored concert footage makes this documentary worth watching alone. There's one brief clip I've never seen before of

Spoiler

John playing a melodica or something similar alone in a room in 1964, and it sounds like he's playing the intro to Strawberry Fields, which is totally bizarre.

It gave me goosebumps similar to the clip from Scorsese's George Harrison documentary where the boys are signing their "break-up" papers in 1969/1970. The colored concert clips are great and a few of the non-Beatle interviewees add nice little anecdotes about their own little "Beatles experience" of that time. I particularly liked Whoopi Goldberg and Sigourney Weaver's appearances.

It's sad that there aren't more unseen interview clips of George or John. I really wonder how John in particular would talk about The Beatles if he were around now like Paul and Ringo do.

The movie also ends with

Spoiler

my favorite single Beatles performance: the rooftop version of Don't Let Me Down.

So while the film itself has no choice but to end on a bittersweet tone hence its title "the touring years", it was a high note for me.

 

[SeanC]

TMNT: Out of the Shadows

The Turtles are more likable, I think their personalities work a lot better here and I get a sense of a team, but damn is it a bad flick overall. There's actually very little fighting, just a lot of crashing and loud noises and people slamming into shit. Throw in a convoluted plot and a "no big whoop" on the whole Dimensional portal/End of World thing and you have a movie that's just going through motions with no sense of stakes and dull as shit.

And that's not Casey Jones. Amell was fine, but they wrote Jones like a chump (Shredder too) with no edge to him and he wears a mask for ten seconds. People say this is better than the first, but is it really? It's a push at best. A plot that never feels risky because they constantly play it light, obnoxiously shot action sequences, a couple of OK Spectacle moments and they call it a day. Bay production 101

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

I'm posting while watching a movie, but it's because Comcast is making me watch ads. Not sure what the level of sin is, here.

 

[MidnightCowboy]

Jesus everybody said it, but seeing it is another thing altogether: Suicide Squad is pure garbage.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Andrei Rublev (1966): Tarkovsky is one of the more impenetrable major directors for me (except Solaris which I really like), so it took a while to build up the courage to jump into this 3 hour beast. Didn't connect with it much, honestly, but there are a number of effective scenes throughout, and it was interesting the way that the ending sequences

Spoiler

feel like a huge gasp for air after being trapped in the muck for at least 100 minutes prior.

Beautiful final frame too. Also has a few of those great strange moments where time seems to stop for a few seconds that few filmmakers did as well as Tarkovsky. My favorite chapter was probably "Feast" just for the atmosphere and visuals, especially the pan right at the end.

So idk, Tarkovsky remains someone i appreciate more than actually enjoy. Iconic moments in everything I've seen so far, but most of it just doesn't hit me on an emotional/visceral level. I'll keep trying, I guess.

 

[TissueBox]

The Feast chapter is so strikingly beautiful in certain moments it might just dispel any rigidness one may have felt up to that point, I believe. (The scene with

Spoiler

Andrei running through the trees and the camera following him with the pagans in the background always tickles my fancy

.) And the ending wraps it up with with painfully ironic grace.

It's the chapter before that resonated with me most, however; sagely philosophizing and contemplative dialogue abound, the final scene

Spoiler

with Jesus ascending the hill to his crucifixion

was the icing on a robust cake.

...THAT said I've only watched up to the part where the country's succumbed to war and Andrei is being a recluse; still don't remember much aside from that, lol. (Though I have seen the ending, early.) One undeniable fact either way is that it's arguably Tarkovsky's most ambitious work. Maybe his best if it weren't for The Mirror. (Cough-ahem-ha.)

He is my favorite non-American director because of his deep, metaphysical yet anthropologically shrewd eye, despite his sometimes inscrutable nature. His 'time sculpting' approach to choreographing scenes is also simple yet immensely well-done, always rich to watch imo.

 

[Fancy Clown]

So idk, Tarkovsky remains someone i appreciate more than actually enjoy. Iconic moments in everything I've seen so far, but most of it just doesn't hit me on an emotional/visceral level. I'll keep trying, I guess.

Have you seen Ivan's Childhood? I feel like that's an easy one to like and a good jumping on point for the Tarkovksky bandwagon.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

always rich to watch imo.

Agreed. I've never felt like I wasted my time, most of his work just doesn't hit me like it does so many others.

Have you seen Ivan's Childhood? I feel like that's an easy one to like and a good jumping on point for the Tarkovksky bandwagon.

I broke my "start at/near the beginning" rule with Tarkovsky years ago by starting with Solaris and have been jumping around looking for something of his that I'd like as much. But no, I haven't seen Ivan's Childhood yet. I'm getting there though.

 

[BaronLundi]

I couldn't sleep this morning, at 4am, as per usual. So I put on Field of Dreams

Had the same experience. Worked like a charm

 

[True Savior]

The Neon Demon - Refn

I adored it. If you like Martinez's bombass sounds and Refn lavish visual style, it's hard not to appreciate this visual moody manifestations. This sort of repugnant environment is captured with such vehemency. It's naturally uncomfortable. Natasha Braier work on The Rover was very good and once again it's very impressive. There's very little movement in-frame, static elements are only broken by pans and zooms. Every frame looks sorta opulent. I do have to say that I don't think Elle Fanning is particularly beautiful/unique which creates a sort of immediate distance. On the other hand, Abbey Lee felt like a natural in the whole thing. It helps she's a model, but I really liked her presence in everything, even simpler setups such as the diner scene.

And then comes the craziness of the last half hour

How can you not like it?

 

[ActWan]

Sky High
Alright movie, nothing more to add.

 

[Currygan]

Jesus everybody said it, but seeing it is another thing altogether: Suicide Squad is pure garbage.

oh, indeed

 

[UberTag]

Sieranevada - Another film that could have used a lengthy trip to the editing room. There are some nice moments to be found here - most notably involving Mimi Branescu's Lary - but they're smattered in between lengthy stretches of incidental bantering between the rest of this dysfunctional family doing mundane tasks like clearing the table. I did not need to see the apartment get blessed by a priest for 20 minutes. That said, there's a genuine quality to the family's dynamic that many similar films lack. 6.5/10

Sing - My exposure to the Illumination film library has been rather underwhelming. No desire to see Despicable Me. Thoroughly underwhelmed by the Minions while impressed at their marketing. Rather bored throughout The Secret Life of Pets. And while my initial reaction at the start of this film was pity due to releasing during the same year as Zootopia, I became impressed with how each of the 6 unique character arcs were artfully balanced together to serve as the basis for this film.

The voice acting was solid. The plot holes from this summer's monster success were non-existent. The amount of recognizable music on license was impressive. Most of the jokes hit the mark. It was still lacking the heart and emotional engagement of a Pixar or Disney flick but it's a step in the right direction for this studio. 7/10

Christine - Rebecca Hall turned out what is probably my favorite performance from any movie this year with this biopic on the on-screen suicide of newscaster Christine Chubbuck. It certainly doesn't hurt that she came off as a real-life incarnation of Daria Morgendorffer getting progressively more unbalanced and unhinged until the fateful moment in the film's climax. She seems to effortlessly juggle the dramatic heft of the scenes thrust upon her and it doesn't hurt that she's bolstered by a capable supporting cast - most notably Michael C. Hall and Tracy Letts (impressing the hell out of me for the second time this week).

This is an Oscar-worthy performance that may not even land a nomination thanks to the competitive nature of that category this year. She's better than Portman's Jackie, Negga's Mildred, Streep's Florence, Adams' Susan and Stone's Mia. Only Isabelle Huppert's Michèle in Elle gives it a run for its money. 8/10

Probably not going to get to see Arrival today due to a cell phone accident. May need to wait on the mainstream release for that one.

 

[Baron von Loathsome]

The opening heist in The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) was quite fun, but everything after that was quite dull. I didn't find myself caring about any of the characters or the story. Wouldn't watch it again, although I hear the remake is better.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), on the other hand, was far from dull. Beautiful movie, and it takes full advantage of its set-up.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

King Kong (2005) - A precursor to modern blockbuster phenomenon of being bloated, overlong, and messy...with the big difference being it never comes off like corporate product being pushed out to keep the trademark in rotation. This is a giant passion project from Peter Jackson, with an obvious affection and affinity for classic 1930s Hollywood adventure archetypes and bold melodrama. Cleary inferior to the original of course, but I absolutely love the power of its WETA-digital enhanced compositions, and the grace and tone the center Beauty and the Beast love story adds.

 

[Sean C]

45 Years (2015): Great acting in the service of one of the most absurd non-stories I've ever seen, where we're expected to sympathize with our main character's consistent attempts to make two other people's tragedy all about her.

 

[Daante]

X-Men: Apocalypse

Really liked this one.

8/10

 

[Sean C]

X-Men: Apocalypse

Really liked this one.

8/10

Welcome to the club; we're in the minority around here.

 

[TheFlow]

Everybody Wants Some 2016
★★★★★

Such a fun movie, that makes you feel good. Not only is this some of the best casting of the year, with a stellar soundtrack, but the movie has no faults.


I am going to look back at the end of 2016 and think "man that was one hell of a movie." I am going to pick this up on Blu-ray because I loved it so much.


guys goooo see this.

 

[Discotheque]

a few successful people came out of Dazed and Confused. I don't really see anbody in everybody wants some reaching that McConaughey/Affleck level but I think maybe Glen Powell might have a future. Dude was really entertaining in this for sure.

 

[MidnightCowboy]

Everybody Wants Some 2016
★★★★★

Such a fun movie, that makes you feel good. Not only is this some of the best casting of the year, with a stellar soundtrack, but the movie has no faults.


I am going to look back at the end of 2016 and think "man that was one hell of a movie." I am going to pick this up on Blu-ray because I loved it so much.


guys goooo see this.

Still the best movie I've seen this year.

 

[TheFlow]

Like everybody was so good in that movie.
Zoey deutch has my heart. Surprised she is not more famous.

 

[Woorloog]

Forrest Gump
Technically a rewatch but i don't remember much of the film.
The film is best summed up with this: Tom Hanks is one excellent actor.

 

[Infernostew]

Forrest Gump
Technically a rewatch but i don't remember much of the film.
The film is best summed up with this: crap

Ftfy

 

[lazybones18]

Ftfy

Amen to that

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Tom Hanks is great tho

 

[Infernostew]

Tom Hanks is great tho

No objections here.

 

[Blader]

45 Years (2015): Great acting in the service of one of the most absurd non-stories I've ever seen, where we're expected to sympathize with our main character's consistent attempts to make two other people's tragedy all about her.

lmao. This was a much more succinct, funnier way of articulating what my issue with that movie was.

 

[User 479360]

Sisters was on early this morning when I couldn't sleep, so I watched it. It wasn't as bad as expected. It's not something I'd really say is good, though.

The premise of

Spoiler

them wrecking the house before their parents officially sold it was stupid

.

 

[Woorloog]

Ftfy

Amen to that

Tom Hanks is great tho

Ironically, i was just reading from TV Tropes how the film is highly polarizing.

I think it is a good film but not a great one. Wouldn't work without Hanks probably.

 

[Infernostew]

So, I'm skipping a bunch of stuff that I'll get to but...

Blair Witch - So, today after all my years of going to the cinema, I had by far the worst experience I've ever had today. My friend and I arrived at the theater 20 minutes early and got choice seating (theater wasn't even close to being full when the movie started anyway) but about 2 minutes before it started a group of 6 comes in. I see a mother carrying a child (3-5 years old) over her shoulder and they sit in the row behind me to the left. I knew right away this was gonna be trouble. Even before the film started this kid was talking loudly, crying and whining during the previews. I shushed them right before the film started but it made no difference. This went on throughout the whole film. The kid even started crawling on the ground banging into the back of my seat. Parents couldn't even care less and the mom was even talking loudly to the child. We ended up moving from our desired seat to the non-stadium seating on the floor but could still hear him whining and talking. My friend got up and complained to customer service who were no help and said a child can be in the theater accompanied by a parent before 6pm. They also said we would have to leave before the film ended to get refunds. Fuck those people for being shitty parents and having no respect for anyone in the theater.

As for the film, it's pretty much more of the same as original. I found it pretty boring since there wasn't really anything all that new. Jump scares are lame and predictable. Lots of screaming. The use of multiple cameras on different people made it somewhat hard to follow. They really should've put a better effort into this film. 4/10

 

[Currygan]

Frantic is not top tier Polanski but it's a good movie nonethless: great atmosphere, intense, unsettling, intriguing, Ford in the middle of his brief "gotta legitimize myself as an actor" phase thus giving an acceptable performance, all marred by a flaccid ending which just feels tacked on, imagine James Cameron directing T2, calls a break before the grand finale, steps into his trailer and Roger "zero style" Spottiswoode, dressed like De Niro in King of Comedy when he kidnaps Jerry ambushes him and duct tapes his arse to a chair, walks on the set and says "okay people, I've gotta direct the final scene or the slimy Ontarian is dead". And he does. That's how I felt watching Frantic's final scenes. Atta shame

 

[UberTag]

After the Storm - There's an earnest sweetness to Koreeda's films - particularly with how he frames dysfunctional relationships - that is unlike just about any other director I've come across. He somehow finds a way to showcase their faults from every available perspective and yet we're still somehow sympathetic to all parties involved. I especially enjoyed Kirin Kiki as Ryota's mother. 8/10

Neruda - I went into this expecting it to be another biopic like Jackie from earlier this week and, as such, I was completely caught off guard by the swerve that this would wind up as a manhunt flick crossed with Adaptation. I'm not so sure that the execution went as flawlessly as one would like but the performances from Gael García Bernal and Luis Gnecco and the camerawork from Sergio Armstrong made this watchable even if it did ultimately amount to nothing more than an overblown cat and mouse chase. 7/10

The Age of Shadows - As much as I enjoyed seeing Snowpiercer's Song Kang-ho play opposite Train to Busan's Gong Yoo, this film amounted to little more than a litany of stylish gunfights amidst a string of rebellious faction nonsense that seemed difficult to invest in given that the end game of just about everyone was to kill the other guys first. It was also difficult to invest in much of the cloak-and-dagger antics given that none of these spies and would-be betrayers actively put up much of a believable front.

That said, I did enjoy the tension built during the dining car showdown between our two leads and Um Tae-Goo's Hashimoto. But, outside of that scene, I was left underwhelmed and I have to seriously question the logic behind Korea's decision to back this as their entry for this year's Foreign Film Oscar over the Cannes-favorite Handmaiden. 6.5/10

Arrival - This truly does feel like Contact for a new generation. Amy Adams impressed the hell out of me here. Jóhann Jóhannsson delivers another auspicious mood-setting score for a Villeneuve film.

I peered ahead into the future - specifically next February - before making this post and it revealed to me that Arrival will crack the Top 3 in GAF's Best Movie of the Year polling for 2016. The top prize will still elude Villeneuve and company but that will be rectified a year later with Blade Runner.

My rating is...

/10

La La Land won TIFF's Grolsch People's Choice award earlier this evening. I had the winner pegged as either it or Lion.

Moonlight did NOT win the TIFF Platform competition. That honor, instead, went to Jackie.
I suppose this isn't too much of an upset seeing how Jackie is the #2 rated film on Metacritic for 2016 right now behind only Moonlight.

Here's my Top 10 of the year thus far (heading into festival week; 2016 initial release films only so no The Witch, The Lobster, etc.)...

1) Kubo and the Two Strings
2) Hunt for the Wilderpeople
3) Captain Fantastic
4) Zootopia
5) Weiner
6) Sing Street
7) Star Trek Beyond
8) Eddie the Eagle
9) The Jungle Book
10) The Nice Guys

Most of these won't be hanging around my Top 10 after this month.

My newly-revised (and much different) Top 10 of the year post-TIFF festivities.

1) Moonlight
2) Kubo and the Two Strings
3) The Handmaiden
4) Hunt for the Wilderpeople
5) Elle
6) A Monster Calls
7) Toni Erdmann
8) Indignation
9) Zootopia
10) Paterson

 

[FTF]

So, I'm skipping a bunch of stuff that I'll get to but...

Blair Witch - So, today after all my years of going to the cinema, I had by far the worst experience I've ever had today. My friend and I arrived at the theater 20 minutes early and got choice seating (theater wasn't even close to being full when the movie started anyway) but about 2 minutes before it started a group of 6 comes in. I see a mother carrying a child (3-5 years old) over her shoulder and they sit in the row behind me to the left. I knew right away this was gonna be trouble. Even before the film started this kid was talking loudly, crying and whining during the previews. I shushed them right before the film started but it made no difference. This went on throughout the whole film. The kid even started crawling on the ground banging into the back of my seat. Parents couldn't even care less and the mom was even talking loudly to the child. We ended up moving from our desired seat to the non-stadium seating on the floor but could still hear him whining and talking. My friend got up and complained to customer service who were no help and said a child can be in the theater accompanied by a parent before 6pm. They also said we would have to leave before the film ended to get refunds. Fuck those people for being shitty parents and having no respect for anyone in the theater.

As for the film, it's pretty much more of the same as original. I found it pretty boring since there wasn't really anything all that new. Jump scares are lame and predictable. Lots of screaming. The use of multiple cameras on different people made it somewhat hard to follow. They really should've put a better effort into this film. 4/10

I would have changed seats the second they sat down. I've done it many times and never regret it.

 

[Infernostew]

I would have changed seats the second they sat down. I've done it many times and never regret it.

Yeah. I was hoping that someone would take the child out of the theater and switch to something more age appropriate. We could still hear him pretty well once we moved too.

 

[FTF]

Yeah. I was hoping that someone would take the child out of the theater and switch to something more age appropriate. We could still hear him pretty well once we moved too.

Ah yeah I see you did move, good call there. But yes, incredibly annoying and it drives me nuts when parents take young kids to completely inappropriate movies.

 

[Miss.Selfdestruct]

Blair Witch: Though it was alright given the expectations of it being something... more with the Wingard/Barrett team at its helm. It was a fun ride though overall. Production and camera work I thought was ace. I especially loved the claustrophobic atmosphere that gradually sucked the characters in. Also loved their very P.T. demo inspired last act. I hope they get to do another sequel in hopes they get more freedom in regards to style and story.


Snowden: It was meh. Highly recommend just looking up Citizenfour (2014) instead if you want a proper run down of the events surrounding Snowden's whistleblowing the NSA. Oliver Stone's version does manage to humanize Snowden by focusing more on his personal life and what he had to sacrifice in recent years to get where he is now.


White Girl: Really decent film about the mishaps of a young white girl during summer in NYC.

So, I'm skipping a bunch of stuff that I'll get to but...

Blair Witch - So, today after all my years of going to the cinema, I had by far the worst experience I've ever had today. My friend and I arrived at the theater 20 minutes early and got choice seating (theater wasn't even close to being full when the movie started anyway) but about 2 minutes before it started a group of 6 comes in. I see a mother carrying a child (3-5 years old) over her shoulder and they sit in the row behind me to the left. I knew right away this was gonna be trouble. Even before the film started this kid was talking loudly, crying and whining during the previews. I shushed them right before the film started but it made no difference. This went on throughout the whole film. The kid even started crawling on the ground banging into the back of my seat. Parents couldn't even care less and the mom was even talking loudly to the child. We ended up moving from our desired seat to the non-stadium seating on the floor but could still hear him whining and talking. My friend got up and complained to customer service who were no help and said a child can be in the theater accompanied by a parent before 6pm. They also said we would have to leave before the film ended to get refunds. Fuck those people for being shitty parents and having no respect for anyone in the theater.

As for the film, it's pretty much more of the same as original. I found it pretty boring since there wasn't really anything all that new. Jump scares are lame and predictable. Lots of screaming. The use of multiple cameras on different people made it somewhat hard to follow. They really should've put a better effort into this film. 4/10

Sorry to hear about your shitty movie experience. Maybe the movie would have made more sense without distraction. I absolutely HATE shitty parents that take their stupid kids to the theater.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

The Age of Shadows - As much as I enjoyed seeing Snowpiercer's Song Kang-ho play opposite Train to Busan's Gong Yoo, this film amounted to little more than a litany of stylish gunfights amidst a string of rebellious faction nonsense that seemed difficult to invest in given that the end game of just about everyone was to kill the other guys first. It was also difficult to invest in much of the cloak-and-dagger antics given that none of these spies and would-be betrayers actively put up much of a believable front.

That said, I did enjoy the tension built during the dining car showdown between our two leads and Um Tae-Goo's Hashimoto. But, outside of that scene, I was left underwhelmed and I have to seriously question the logic behind Korea's decision to back this as their entry for this year's Foreign Film Oscar over the Cannes-favorite Handmaiden. 6.5/10

I'm curious, what's your take on this from the perspective of someone like me, who adores something like The Good The Bad The Weird purely for the quality of its action and energy, fully accepting that the story isn't much beyond a treasure hunt where everyone wants to kill everyone?

Arrival - This truly does feel like Contact for a new generation.

In.