Support NeoGAF

[T Dollarz]

Just watched the new Xmen Apocalypse shit. To be fair i was expecting bad, so it actually came out a little better than that. The things i liked were Apocalypse himself, i liked the way he carried himself and looked, pretty badass. Sansa was cute, and once again, Quicksilver saves the day with he best scene in the movie.

Spoiler

And what a fucking joke he literally saves everyone in the school and nobody thanked him, they let him call himself a loser. And the whole Magneto father things was horseshit.

And then yeah a whole bunch of shit sucked, including a lot of the throwaway villains and weird perversion of Storm. Definitely the worst Bryan Singer X-Men movie i think, but still was fairly enjoyable with some alcohol.

The scene where he

Spoiler

launches all the world's nuclear weapons into space

is one of my favourite supervillain moments in recent years. I was confused by a lot of the flak that performance got; though I liked the movie a lot more than most people did, its flaws (principally Storm, where I think their idea for a character arc for her got lost in the process of actually writing and filming it) aside.

Yeah I found that movie pretty forgettable overall but I loved the mummy style Egypt opening and I thought Oscar Isaac hammed it up appropriately. He was good.

Very surprised to see this notion of Oscar Isaac's Apocalypse being a success kicked around, I thought the character was an absolute atrocity, I was rolling my eyes every time he was on screen. Worst villain I've seen in a movie in some time. And I grew up loving him on the animated series.

- Apocalypse Now
- Full Metal Jacket
- Saving Private Ryan
- Grand Budapest Hotel

If I had to rank them:

1. Apocalypse Now
2. Saving Private Ryan
3. Full Metal Jacket
4. Grand Budapest Hotel

All fantastic movies.

God damn, I'm jealous. Those four movies are incredible.

Thought The Invitation was gripping but that final minute is so boneheaded.

Spoiler

not only is it predictable—soon as he hung the lantern I thought "ah, that's either to mark where these cult killings are happening and/or to invite more culties"—it undercuts the drama. The night forces Will to face the memories of his old home and find a reason to keep fighting. It's a very personal journey and hinges on grieving being a personal process, immune to psychobabble about letting go and brain chemistry. All the lanterns along the hill make this a ridiculously fatal night and pull the focus from Will. Honestly if it had been a few lanterns rather than a constellation being buzzed by emergency helicopters that would have made a huge difference.

Man, I loved this movie. Everything felt so uneasy, the tension kept building, and it was hard to get a grip on what was actually going on. The ending was alright, I didn't have a problem with it.

Rush Hour 2. Fucking finally.

Damn, that box art tho. Very nice. Although let's pretend the third installment doesn't exist.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

Very surprised to see this notion of Oscar Isaac's Apocalypse being a success kicked around, I thought the character was an absolute atrocity, I was rolling my eyes every time he was on screen. Worst villain I've seen in a movie in some time. And I grew up loving him on the animated series.

Character != performance.
(translation: character does not equal performance)

We're not (and I say we because I posted a similar review last month) celebrating the character of Shlock Clown (apoc), we're saying Isaac is giving a great performance in spite of the character and what he's given. His performance is on a completely different level compared to Jennifer Lawrence playing Jennifer Lawrence (she is quickly becoming my least favorite actress actually, and I am no fan of Scarlet Johansson's lack of acting ability too), Magneto and Xavier doing their thing but not having that much to do performance wise -except for early scenes with Magneto- , and the others being new and unfamiliar yet all doing well ( I did not mind Jean Grey being played by Sansa Stark at all), just not on the same level as Oscar Isaac is.

Apocalypse is a terrible villain because he's basically a 80s / 90s villain version of a mary sue, that is: the ultimate overpowered can-only-be-solved-by-deus-ex-machina comic book power fantasy. Between Darkseid, Galactus, Unicron, Apocalypse, Thanos, and others born from the same power fantasy source, they all have their masculine basis in common.
Which is why the Dark Phoenix arc is actually more interesting: it's a Hulk-like tragic transformation, and it's in the hands of a woman, not another guy. As it is, I would say any real feminine characterization is very much missing from X-Men (what's in a name?). Rogue's animation version is about it, yet she has like, the body of a fucking goddess and all she dreams of is a kiss. Like, holy male gaze, man.


That all said, I actually enjoyed that they tried converting it to the screen and did fairly okay with aligning the dots, they just didn't include the human factor in it, so the audience has nothing to relate to on empathy.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

I did not really wanna see Birth of a Nation, tbh, and the shit with the director pushed me over the top. What a disaster.

 

[Toothless]

Don't Breathe is a wonderful labyrinth of twists and turns, anchored by a strong supporting performance by Stephen Lang. Unfortunately, said twists and turns are rarely consistent to the world set up. Alvarez is clearly having fun toying with the audience but there doesn't seem to be an underlying purpose besides the attempt to disturb the audience (going way too far in the process). It's all fine, but those searching for a truly exquisite film will only find Don't Breathe to be a decent horror film.

 

[TheFlow]

I did not really wanna see Birth of a Nation, tbh, and the shit with the director pushed me over the top. What a disaster.

the new one right? I can never tell which one people are talking about

 

[User 479360]

The Nice Guys (re watch): Still hilariously awesome, though it does have a minor pacing issue.

I saw it in theatres but hadn't slept well so I dozed a bit. I was mad at myself and wanted to see it again.

 

[TheFlow]

saving private ryan.


solid movie all the way through.


4/5

 

[Borgnine]

the new one right? I can never tell which one people are talking about

In 1898 DW Griffith gave a woman absinthe and forced her to show him her ankle.

 

[big ander]

ALLEGEDLY forced. He claimed she offered up her left ankle voluntarily and avoided punishment. His friend was convicted for viewing as far as the right shin while the woman had a case of the vapours

 

[lordxar]

Don't Breathe was awesome! Loved it. There's a part where their in pitch black but instead of showing pitch black they actually raised the gamma so you could see what was going on. The atmosphere and reliance on audio was great. The little twist was fresh I think. It loses a few points because of minor things. Like the girl smokes but old blind dude can't smell that bit can smell other stuff. The people were a bit noisy like enough he should have noticed but overall very well done movie.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Don't Breathe - meh. There were some moments of suspense here, but this is more thriller than horror movie. Further, all of the characters are absolute cunts, so if they were to all die then I wouldn't have given a fuck. Seriously, there was no one to actually cheer for in this movie. And on top of that, the last act is tacked on to drag things out. 2/5

Now You See Me 2 - more meh. Goofy, over the top, convoluted and just plain bad. The performances are phoned in. I actually liked the first one of these for the "Oceans 11" aspect of it, but this one just felt completely horrible. 1/5

 

[~Kinggi~]

Other People - goddamn this was an emotional sledgehammer. Some of the last people in the world i would have expected to deliver such dramatic roles was Molly Shannon and Jesse Plemons. Incredible really. Ideal world she would get an Oscar nom but i doubt it.

 

[Toothless]

Went to my local theater's Gene Wilder double feature.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is a childhood classic bursting with pure magic. A musical with so many memorable songs, but yet, the film transcends the musical label. Gene Wilder captures Wonka brilliantly and Jack Albertson is underrated as Grandpa Joe. The quirky humor of the film is enchanting from even before the first golden ticket is found, and the staging of the musical numbers never ceases to amaze. Unfortunately, a few of the songs are duds and some scenes seem out of place. Even with these issues, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is a delightful morsel that will continue to inspire music makers and dreamers of dreams for generations to come.

Blazing Saddles is insane in the best sense. It's fairly inconsistent and sometimes the commentary feels more mean-spirited than anything. That said, when it's funny, it's hilarious. The first two acts are just alright, but the third act... Miraculously, I had no idea what the third act entailed going into this, and as soon I realized what was happening, it was one of the most incredible feelings I've ever had in a movie theater. Cleavon Little anchors the movie really well, and Wilder does a great job being funny without stealing the show like he easily could. Blazing Saddles is a fun if only decent movie that has an absolute comedic masterpiece of a third act. Really incredible how much a great ending can make one feel a movie is better than it is overall.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

I was thinking hard for what Sundance movie this poster reminded me of

 

[Timeaisis]

I really did not care for The Lobster at all. I understand what it was trying to do, but I couldn't believe any charcters would actually act like that. The pace was so slow and plodding that I lost count of the "slow motion set to classical music" sequences.

The message of the film was lost on me. The fact that the plot was to boring and the charcters so uninteresting that I forgot to care about anything the film had to say, even though it essentially beat the viewer over the head with it.

 

[Cipher Peon]

I had my second performance as Eddie in The Rocky Horror Picture Show!

I had a wonderful time c:

 

[UrbanRats]

Rush Hour 2. Fucking finally.

Damn, gotta get that.

I did not really wanna see Birth of a Nation, tbh, and the shit with the director pushed me over the top. What a disaster.

That shit seemed pretty bad (from the little i've read of it, anyway), but it's the old argument of art/artist separation.

 

[Discotheque]

Rush Hour 2. Fucking finally.

Whew I'm on it day one. Will hurl the third disc as far as I can out the window when I open it.

 

[UrbanRats]

Never got to see RH3, but i heard it's pretty bad.
Then again, people said RH2 was also trash, and i think it's alright.

 

[Discotheque]

Never got to see RH3, but i heard it's pretty bad.
Then again, people said RH2 was also trash, and i think it's alright.

I enjoy rush hour 2 quite a bit still. But man the third one the jokes just fell hella flat.

Also can you believe that stupid ass Soo Yan gets kidnapped again?

 

[brianjones]

little girl don't even like you

 

[Divius]

Ballad of a Soldier - Terrific performances from the fresh-faced main actor duo. It looked great, was well paced, had some emotional scenes that packed a punch while being a perfect blend of propaganda and dramatic romance at the same time. Also a relief to watch a movie of that caliber that's only 90 minutes long. 8/10

Wiener-Dog was my introduction to the specific brand of humor from director Solondz. I was told it was a hate-it-or-love-it kind of thing. Honestly, it wasn't either for me because while I didn't love it, it was enjoyable at the same time. Some scenes had me smirking, others had me checking my hypothetical watch (who wears watches nowadays right?). Not sure if the movie being broken up in segments worked. DeVito was good. 6/10

The Shallows is entertaining pulp. Nothing more, nothing less. Blake Lively in a bikini, CGI waves and a seagull that stole the show. 6/10

 

[UberTag]

Elle - Remember this thread? Well, I'm happy to report that the Gamergate similarities are purely coincidental and what we wind up with instead is Verhoeven's take on a Hitchcock / De Palma-style thriller featuring Isabelle Huppert in a much more dynamic role than what she delivered in Things to Come which I wrote about two days ago.

There's a complex supporting cast in play here with well-defined agendas and personality quirks but the film is carried largely on the shoulders of Huppert's charisma as it explores her refusal to be victimized by the rape inflicted upon her character at the beginning of the movie. It's downright fascinating... and the game her company develops is a delightfully trashy God of War ripoff for Activision which would never stand a chance of getting published in reality. 9/10

The Red Turtle - I really wanted to enjoy this film a lot more than I did. You can do a feature-length "relatively" dialogue-free animated film and have it be successful. I ADORE Wall-E and consider it to be the pinnacle of Pixar's library but THIS was just a simplistic bore by comparison. It felt like a 30-minute short unnecessarily stretched out to a running time of 80 minutes. I have never seen an animated film with so much unused screen real estate... and while I understand that was largely a conscious decision to accentuate the theme of isolation at play, it seemed unnecessarily wasteful.

It also came off as decidedly straightforward and unimaginative compared to Team Ico games (which I was reminded of quite a bit) if they were converted into an animated feature and I quickly grew tired of seeing poorly animated 2-D crabs scurrying about and imagery of turtles swimming. That said, I do admire this film's ambition and would love to see more non-Japanese animation productions released under the Ghibli umbrella. 5.5/10

The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki - This was a charming little black & white boxing film out of Finland and set in the 1960s. If you've seen The Homer They Fall from the Simpsons, then you've pretty much seen the core premise/conflict of this movie... except Olli's love interest just wishes to spend time with him instead of being inherently worried about his safety in the ring after squaring off with the decorated U.S. world champion. This was the Un Certain Regard award winner at Cannes this year (besting the likes of Hell or High Water). It's worth seeking out. 6.5/10

Kubo and the Two Strings - This was my second screening of Kubo and it more than holds up to repeat viewings. I was far more conscious of the voice direction this time around (Theron and McConaughey are both excellent) and I got a great deal of enjoyment out of hearing the crowd audibly react to all of the many jokes and "forced" comedic elements that have been largely derided in Kubo's off-topic thread. This film is just so immaculate in both its visual and audio elements and it remains my favorite movie of 2016. 9.5/10

Hell or High Water - I don't have much to add to the litany of recent comments about this film but I will go on the record that I'd love to see Jeff Bridges pick up a supporting actor nom for his Marcus Hamilton (which would be his 7th nomination overall). Also, between this film and last year's Sicario, Taylor Sheridan is making a name for himself with his scripts that easily eclipses his acting resume. 8.5/10

On deck first thing this morning is...

 

[Currygan]

Finding Dory: retread, but good. West and Elba as the cockney seals were great, Hank the Octopus was great

Anthropoid was pure brilliance, my favourite surprise of the year.

 

[Insane Metal]

The Neon Demon

Well, I... uh... what?

Great visuals... but... wtf?

 

[AngmarsKing701]

I also saw Me Before You last week, with my wife. Her idea. It was the usual sad, sappy, fall-in-love with the dying character schtick, with Emilia Clarke playing a quirky nursemaid, about as far away from the Mother of Dragons as she could be.

Overall, not a bad movie, but of course terribly predictable. My wife liked it. I ... tolerated it.

2.5/5

 

[Sean C]

The Bad and the Beautiful (1952): A comparatively rare Hollywood behind the scenes drama focused on the role of the producer, the narrative conceit here is that we see the history of Kirk Douglas' Jonathan Shields through his interactions, at varying stages of his career, with a director, a star, and a writer. All of those people come to hate Shields, but the idea is that they realize he ultimately made them better off even if he was an asshole as well. This mostly works through the first two segments, but the third, about Dick Powell's writer character, seems seriously undercut by sexism. Shields' transgressions in the earlier segments were things you could understand being mad about (stealing credit, cheating on them), but here the issue is

Spoiler

his solution to the "problem" of Powell constantly being distracted from writing by his ditzy wife: namely, asking a famous movie star to have an affair with her to keep her occupied, and then the two of them die in a plane crash. But it's all good, or so the movie argues, because she was just holding him back, and besides, Powell then got the inspiration to write a fictionalized portrayal of his dead wife that won him a Pulitzer Prize, so what's he complaining about?

Also, Gloria Grahame won an Oscar for a nine-minute performance as said wife, for some reason.

 

[Li Kao]

Hey MovieGAF, I posted a few times in this thread some months ago but with my interest in movies having been really relative for a few years now I hadn't have another occasion to do so until now. Let's hope I can sustain my desire to watch movies but I'm not too sure, I've got a real talent to select and see the shitty ones.

The presentation will be vague, I can't say I really ask myself these sort of questions often, or at all, and I'm no movie expert so who am I to judge performances for example.

1. What's your favorite Movie? 
I would say '12 angry men' is a movie I can re-watch regularly without displeasure.
Childhood faves would be 'The Watcher in the Woods' and 'The Burbs'.
I hate that I can't really answer 'Rebel Without a Cause', what a fantastic movie, but I only saw it once.

2. Who's your favorite director?
After 'The Haunting' and 'West Side Story' I'm physically forced to say Robert Wise.

3. Who are your favorite actors/actresses? 
No real preference here, I could say Cary Grant but what part of it would be genuine preference and what part would be because he is big ? Seriously can't think of favorite at the moment.

4. Favorite Genre(s)? 
Horror (Gore-less).

5. What's your favorite performance in film? 
No idea, sorry. I hate bad performance as much as anyone but I'm not well versed enough to have a favorite performance.

--

So with that little presentation out of the way, yesterday I saw... two shitty movies... again. Whelp.

Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)
Well, I don't want to be too hard on this one, despite all its shortcomings I have sympathy for it, but let's be real.
For starter it's one of those movies where if you've seen the trailer you've seen the movie. Then there is the fact that it have a nice base idea and run with it without ever trying to do something more, again what you see in the trailer is what you will get, period.
At the end of the day you have a harmless 1h29 flick, totally watchable, but that's it. Not enough plot or talent in it to elevate it past it's base idea.

Would watch the trailer again - 2/5

Fright Night (1985)
I long wanted to see this one but feared the horror element, wondering if it wouldn't be a little too graphic. The famous vampire girl photo didn't help at all... in fact the girl appear for maybe 15 seconds on screen, so that's that.
It was hard to watch, a huge let down.
The movie is not dated, at this point you need a fucking archeologue to appreciate it. Everything scream 80's in the most ridiculous way. Then you have leads that acts like wood planks nearly sinking the whole thing by themselves (Roddy McDowall have his moments though, I'm mainly speaking about the three teens). The plot is your typical suspend you disbelief or risk rolling your eyes the whole time.
I get that the movie tried to pay hommage to Hammer-type horror in a slasher period, but imho it fails on nearly everything. The last part is nice, no wonder, it's a big action sequence, hard to fail as much as during the rest of the movie.
Special mention to 'Evil Ed', the actor skills are truly frightening indeed... I think I'm shell shocked.

I learned there is a direct follow-up, but why would I want to suffer through more of that shit ? - 1/5

 

[UrbanRats]

Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)
Well, I don't want to be too hard on this one, despite all its shortcomings I have sympathy for it, but let's be real.
For starter it's one of those movies where if you've seen the trailer you've seen the movie. Then there is the fact that it have a nice base idea and run with it without ever trying to do something more, again what you see in the trailer is what you will get, period.
At the end of the day you have a harmless 1h29 flick, totally watchable, but that's it. Not enough plot or talent in it to elevate it past it's base idea.

Would watch the trailer again - 2/5

Oh yeah, i thought T&D was alright (maybe even a little less than that) and then i saw a lot of people praising its comedic genius, like it had some revelatory quality to it, but all i got from it, was a good premise that was really brought nowhere clever or interesting.
Wasted potential, basically.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Yeah it's a decent movie but it's just the same joke being repeated in every single scene.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

Damn, gotta get that.


That shit seemed pretty bad (from the little i've read of it, anyway), but it's the old argument of art/artist separation.

I absolutely believe in separating the art from the artist, but when you are middling on wanting to see a movie in the first place (looked a hell of a lot like it was cribbing the visual style of 12 Years a Slave, and what I have read of the movie suggests it sanitized the historical Nat Turner somewhat), the fact that the director might be a scumbag who you'd rather not have your money just kinda seals it.

 

[George Oscar Bluth II]

I really like the original Fright Night. Just a lot of cheesy fun.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Yea I enjoyed it pretty well too, I saw it for the first time in my October horror marathon last year. It felt like a lesser John Hughes movie but with vampires, which was pretty cool.

 

[George Oscar Bluth II]

The soundtrack (by Brad Fiedel of Terminator fame) is pretty nice too.

Spoiler

Kinda sounds like porno music, tho

 

[Ridley327]

You described most of Brad Fiedel's output, though. Seriously, love that synth he uses.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

Tucker and Dale versus Evil is great. Y'all are dicks. Dicks!

(haven't seen it in years, but that chainsaw chase is so good. The look on the kid's face as he figures out what just happened is gold. Kind of similar to Raimi's Spiderman at the end with Dafoe come to think of it. "oh" )

And Brad Fiedel is great. Though I suspect he -and Cameron- saw Halloween III and took the 'heart beat' from the start of that one. It's very similar between the two soundtracks, even if Terminator's goes more haywire (how great is that?! so goooood) as the Terminator's theme invades Reese and Sarah's. Oh yeah, they have actual themes, except Sarah's basically dies after Tech Noir and is transformed at the end.
I like soundtracks. Like a lot. Speaking of which: Danny Elfman's best soundtrack is Sleepy Hollow. Or Batman. SH's is more bombastic theme though, even if Batman's has become -literally!- iconic.

I'm kind of hoping they bother to have the Burton movie theme running in some way with the Affleck reboot, or perhaps insert the TAS versions of character themes into it. Just scream: "we're back, bitches" into my ears to get rid of that Snyder-stain.

 

[lordxar]

T&D is stupid sure but it's a fun stupid. Fright Night is just 80's cheezy goodness.

 

[Li Kao]

80's-wise, I'm tempted to watch Monster Squad now. Or the first House.
Oh, and was the remake of Fright Night any good ?

 

[George Oscar Bluth II]

You described most of Brad Fiedel's output, though. Seriously, love that synth he uses.

Haha, true. I love me some synth.

I'm kind of hoping they bother to have the Burton movie theme running in some way with the Affleck reboot, or perhaps insert the TAS versions of character themes into it. Just scream: "we're back, bitches" into my ears to get rid of that Snyder-stain.

Hearing this theme in Affleck's Batman would give me serious chills.

 

[Infernostew]

80's-wise, I'm tempted to watch Monster Squad now. Or the first House.

Both are great. I think I like House better but it's close.

 

[Ridley327]

80's-wise, I'm tempted to watch Monster Squad now. Or the first House.
Oh, and was the remake of Fright Night any good ?

I liked it! It wisely goes into a very different direction early on, since you can't really replicate the whole "Hammer nostalgia in the slasher era" angle in this decade, and the setting being along the outskirts of Vegas looked really awesome from an atmospheric standpoint. Really fun performances from everyone, and a neat little cameo to boot. I don't think it's as successful as the original, and there is one really silly plot element that they introduce late in the film that made me roll my eyes, but it's the kind of remake that's smart to use the premise as a jumping off point to do its own thing.

 

[lordxar]

Put this on the horror thread:

Just finished my first viewing of this:

I put Cannibal Ferox on my Halloween list so I figured I'd better knock out the original first. I am going to say that this is a very well made movie that I can definitely see as a classic but can also see why its not well received given the content. I would say this is a must see for a horror fan but you have to go into this expecting what it throws your way because this isn't really a fun movie. It's pretty fucked up and I feel like Green Inferno was almost a parody by comparison. Can't say I'd ever revisit this but it was well worth the hype it gets.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

On deck first thing this morning is...

Uber I need you to get in here and tell me about this movie right now

 

[True Savior]

Siberiade- Andrey Konchalovskiy

260 minutes. Sweet Jesus. These guys had some monster balls to do these type of movies. So clean. So much ambition. The story of several generations in a village in Siberia and how the revolution affects them. This film has a very interesting dynamic with nature and it's role in our lives. We see it being consumed in name of our progress. A combo of imagery/sound that is as unique as I have ever seen. Very contemplative, long, with an immensity of characters. All wrapped with a synth soundtrack. A bold style of filmmaking that perforates russian art.

Konchalovskiy would get a bit of fame with this movie and flee to Usa where he ended up making a bunch of movies including...Tango and Cash. Crazy.

 

[Infernostew]

L'Avventura - A woman who is unsatisfied with her life goes missing when she on a boating trip with her best friend and boyfriend. While looking for he, the two begin to start falling for each other. This was a really good film that I was expecting that I would like a bit more than I did in the end. It's beautifully shot and the acting is just great. It ran quite a bit longer than it should've and I initially thought the focus on the film was way different than what the end product was. I'm sure when this film ran in 1960, it was shocking and there was nothing like it. I mean it was booed at Cannes on it's first run because of how unconventional it was, although it was applauded and won the grand jury prize the following year when it was shown again. For me, it was a bit hard to buy the relationship that bloomed while searching for the missing friend and

Spoiler

the man's betrayal at the end

wasn't as devastation or unexpected to me as it maybe was to audiences back then. 7/10

Inside Man - After seeing Hell or High Water, I've been in the real mood for some good old fashion bank robberies. So naturally, I rewatched Heat. After still itching for more, I turned to Inside Man which may still stand as the last real good film directed by Spike Lee (Although Chi-raq was decent). First of all, the cast list is absolutely insane for this film. Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer, Willem Dafoe, Chiwetel Ejiofor.... goddamn! They all killed it. I also liked that while it was a bank robbery film, there's more to it than just that and there are quite a few unexpected twists along the way. Totally worth checking out. 7/10

Strange Days - Man, this was a pretty strange flick. So, in the future there are VR-like headsets that strap into your brain and you can buy disks that play out experiences. Most are either violent or sexual and are illegal in the future. Ralph Fiennes buys and sells these disks to the rich but when he finds one that actually involves

Spoiler

rape and murder of a prostestute he knows

he becomes involved in the investigation of who is behind these crimes. Tonally this film is all over the place. There's humor, serious scenes of sexual violence, scenes of police murdering black men and women, police corruption, etc. While Kathryn Bigelow's directing is top notch, I feel the script was a bit of a let down and the acting can be a bit spotty even with a good cast on paper. Still enjoyable but I was hoping for it to be a bit better. 6/10

 

[lordxar]

I wonder if Strange Days still holds up like it once did now that I've watched so many other movies. Might need to revisit it after Halloween. It's one of those movies I love so it might be in that realm that does no wrong...then again I thought the same of Event Horizon and that wasn't quite as good as I remembered. I was also reading a lot of Shadowrun back when I saw SD so that may have had more of an impact than now.

 

[Toothless]

The Light Between Oceans is a pretty fascinating melodrama. Taut with moral ambiguity and strong characters, the film just intrigues from start to finish. Yet, the finish is protracted in the odd sense that's all still enjoyable, but still makes one antsy for the credits. Despite its odd plot structure, the performances are consistently excellent and the cinematography frequently astounds. Cianfrance utilizes delightful montages to portray his sense of story that never feel out of place. Alexandre Desplat's score is also wonderful, constantly making the film more enticing. The Light Between Oceans struggles with pacing but excels with nearly every other attribute, making a potential masterpiece just a good film.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

I enjoyed both Tucker & Dale and Fright Night. Granted, I didn't know anything about T&D going in.

 

[sk3]

I really enjoyed the Fright Night remake (never seen the original). I think of it the same way as Disturbia which is a pseudo homage to Hitchcock's Rear Window.

A bit over the top, a bit hokey but strong casting and tone-setting.

Both pretty solid as far as teeny-bopper remakes go.

 

[Fancy Clown]

I get the impression that Summer With Monika isn't the highest regarded of Bergman's more we'll known films of his lengthy filmography, but I enjoyed it nearly as much as The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries. The characters feel a little too broad, and I the core concept of the story has been parodied so often (particularly the final act) that it occassionaly felt a little shallow, but damn if the movie isn't filled with absurdly beautiful moments. I particularly loved the whole middle of the movie where Harry and Monika have run away from responsibility to an island. Lots of amazing shots and natural beauty abound. I really liked the abrupt shift to a darker tone as soon as they return to the city too, it's like a horror film with droning music and lots of incredibly haunting closeups as Harry and Monika realize they've rushed themselves into an adulthood and relationship neither of them were remotely prepared for.