Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Might've just been a case of not connecting to it as much as I hoped. I might check out the director's commentary like Takoma recommended to see if it enhances my enjoyment of the film.

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I think that the film has a more subdued, slow feeling to it than you would expect. Which is not to say that there aren't moments without real charge, but it feels more low-key than the concept would suggest.

While I think that I liked it a lot more on my first viewing than you did, a framing from the director's commentary that helped me appreciate it more was the idea about the comparison between two characters (Johnny and Jeremy) and the way that they do harm to those around them. For example, both characters but that there is a fundamental difference between why they commit these actions.

I also think that, interestingly, this is a film where the supporting characters are kind of the stars, with Johnny and Jeremy eliciting different kinds of responses from them and displaying very different levels of empathy.

I don't know if you'll like it more on a rewatch, but these two ideas really deepened my understanding and appreciation of what the film is after.

Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68455486

Incantation - (2022)

Here we have it - my "beggars can't be choosers" scary movie for 2022 - because Incantation does a lot of things right, and if you're into movies like The Ring this has some perfect scenes that will no doubt give you chills. It's also a little muddled, and doesn't always work. But if you like these kind of movies, I really recommend this new release, which tries to scare you with it's straight-faced proclamation that it's based on a true story (so was Noah's Ark) and it encourages you to chant invocations, memorize symbols and do other things to prevent the evil from the film seeping into your reality. There's a great twist which...



7/10


By The poster art can or could be obtained from the distributor., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48189460

The Nightmare - (2015)

Here's another nice little spooky documentary about 'sleep paralysis' which most of us get from time to time. Those who suffer from it a great deal are interviewed, and their experiences reenacted for terrifying effect. It's directed by Rodney Ascher, who made the excellent Room 237 - I get this happening to me less than once a year, and yeah, it's scary, but for some strange reason I kind of like it.

7/10


Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68455486

Pentimento - (1979)

This interesting little arthouse film is pretty full-on and graphic - it's ending reminding me a lot of Antichrist. It squares with you right off the bat, showing you a lady masturbating, and then gets progressively more disturbing. It's kind of a misogyny tale with various women held captive and being subject to medical experiments, and throws class in for good measure. I thought it was pretty good - but I don't know if I could ever watch it a second time.

7/10


By Unknown - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025510...r/rm2540572160, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57997280

A Modern Hero - (1934)

I read an article by Christopher Horak, titled "G.W. Pabst in Hollywood or Every Modern Hero Deserves a Mother" and that led me to watching Pabst's one and only film he directed in the U.S. - A Modern Hero. It's not a very good film at all, and races through what might have been an interesting plot in 70 minutes, never stopping to let us catch up. A real rags to riches to rags tale with middling performances and oedipal drama where Pierre Radier (Richard Barthelmess) becomes rich the wrong way, has wives and lovers, has a son and loses him, then returns to mama.

5/10

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The Anderson Tapes follows Duke Anderson (Sean Connery), a thief that walks out of a 10-year stint in prison only to plan an elaborate burglary in the apartment building of his girlfriend Ingrid (Dyan Cannon). After getting financed by the Mafia, he recruits a four-man crew for the job. What Anderson doesn't know is that he's the subject of various surveillance groups: the FBI, the IRS, the BNDD, and even a P.I. hired by Ingrid's former wealthy lover.

If you've seen Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven, this is pretty much the same vibe (although maybe a tad more serious). Like Clooney, Connery is a cool-ass motherf**ker in the role of Anderson, but also shows significant shades of morality. It was nice to see him in this role right after his James Bond turn as it shows a bit more range from him. Cannon was also great as his lover, even though I felt her character was undercut. The rest of the supporting cast includes a really young Christopher Walken, a very slick Dick Anthony Williams, and an extremely enjoyable Martin Balsam.

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Full review on my Movie Loot

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If you haven't seen Kung Fury, but most importantly, if you don't know anything about Kung Fury, is to read no further and just look for it. It's only 30 minutes long, and if you have a sense of humor, you'll probably thank me later. For those that choose to read anyway, the film follows the titular character (David Sandberg), a Miami detective with kung fu superpowers that has to stop Adolf Hitler, a.k.a. "Kung Fuhrer", from taking over the world with his army.

The film does feel like its straining a bit to keep the schtick during the last minutes, but I'd say it succeeded. When I finished watching this short film, I felt like I had watched the "best film in the world", which obviously it isn't... but when you see a detective/kung fu master beating Adolf Hitler's ass, while a giant Thor watches, then maybe that's the closest you can get to it.

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Parade

https://boxd.it/30ImFx

3.5/5

My final and sadly least favorite Tati.

You're not the only one (missing something that is, not planning on a rewatch). I watched Naked for some HoF and absolutely hated it.

Incantation was fine. I was a little disappointed that it didn't feel scarier, and the mother-daughter stuff should have been written out (most of those scenes were boring fluff and existed only to allow the lame twist you speak of in the spoilers). The "6 years ago" footage and generally the stuff regarding the village were good and I can see where all the Noroi comparisons come from.

So write the daughter out of the film and make it purely a cosmic horror rooted in eastern mythology and you could have a real winner. Now it's just fine (which is still quite good for a found footage).

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Sometimes a blind watch can backfire. From the title and the poster (A lot of awesome posters for this), I was hoping/imagining something like After Hours or The Neon Demon. This is one of those movies in which you're constantly wondering what's real and what isn't. Dream? Imagination? Mental health? Supernatural? There are movies that do these things that I like, but it's not my ideal and this movie goes full hog in that direction, especially in the second half. There are positives like London, the 60's, the music, and some nice things visually, but if not for the forum, I would have shit it off an hour in. It just became a chore to sit through. I can understand how others could enjoy it. Not a fan of the director so far and he's had some hits.

A muse is defined as the "source of inspiration for a creative artist", something or someone that drives them to produce art, music, poetry, sometimes obsessively. That is the case of artist Wilfrid Wood and model Theo Adamson, who met through Grindr when the former was looking for a model. The result was over 1000 drawings, a relationship, an art show, and a documentary short.

Drawings of My BF is that documentary short directed by James Oliver Cooper. It chronicles Wood's incessant drawing of Adamson. But as Wood puts it, "what was a model/artist relationship turned into a bit more". Whether the art drove them to love, or vice-versa, is up to them to decide, but to see the obsessive drive in Wood is quite something.

The documentary is fairly short and simple, featuring voiceovers by both Wood and Adamson talking about their relationship as we see Wood drawing non-stop. What I found more impressive is to see the huge variety of drawings by Wood, all in different styles and sizes. It's not a groundbreaking short film, or something that would probably stick with me years from now, but it's lovely to see that creative connection between two seemingly different people working on so many levels.

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Naked with David Thewlis? It’s a brilliant movie.

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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.

That's how plantation owner Paul Holland (Tom Conway) describes the island of Saint Sebastian to nurse Betsy Connell (Frances Dee). He knows because he has seen "death and decay" among the slaves his family has brought there, and now sees it in the state of his wife Jessica, who's been in a catatonic state due to a serious illness, and who Betsy has been hired to take care of.

I Walked with a Zombie follows Betsy's attempts to heal Jessica through various methods, including through voodoo rituals that are common in the island. As she discovers the truth behind these rituals, she also finds herself entangled in the family problems between Paul and his half-brother Wesley (James Ellison), as well as their mother (Edith Barrett).

Although I've seen this film attributed more to producer Val Lewton, with whom I'm not that familiar, my main drive to see it was director Jacques Tourneur, who four years later would direct my favorite film noir, Out of the Past. In that department, the film totally delivered. Tourneur uses some great direction and camera movement to build up dread, whether it is through a tense walk through the woods or in a dark humid basement.

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Full review on my Movie Loot

During the last 10-20 years, the zombie horror sub-genre has been beaten to death (no pun intended) by filmmakers and studios with great and not so great results. From the horrific to the comical, from the endless thrills of Train to Busan to the seemingly interminable Walking Dead, and its spin-offs.

Despite this long parade of films, series, and short films, it is fun to still find some efforts that don't try to reinvent the wheel, but are still effective to some extent. That is the case of this short film from Icelandic filmmaker Ómar Örn Hauksson. Undying Love is a fairly simple short about a lonely man (Hilmir Jensson) trying to survive in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse.

At roughly 12 minutes, it's hard to talk about it without spoiling anything, but I'll just say that it was fairly well made, and well acted. With that little time, Jensson does a solid job conveying all the mixture of emotions that his character goes through. It might not bring the genre back to life, but it sure gives it a jolt.

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29th Hall of Fame

Anomalisa (2015) -

I found this to be a solid film which was enhanced by one great element. For one, I enjoyed it for its representation of alienation and social awkwardness. The conversations Michael and Lisa have with each other feel awkward, but they're also a realistic representation of how people like them actually behave. While I don't think the movie quite gets going until Michael meets Bella, once we get to that scene, the film becomes consistently engaging throughout the remainder of its runtime. While I like this dynamic quite a bit, the unconventional casting choices were what clicked with me most of all. Aside from David Thewlis and Jennifer Jason Leigh, everyone else in the film (both the men and women) are voiced by Tom Noonan. It's obvious that they all sound like the same person and Noonan doesn't appear to attempt to hide that, but this is the point of the film. Part of why Michael feels alienation from everyone is that they all seem the same to him (represented through their voices all sounding alike). Lisa interests Michael though since she's different from everyone else. This is a brilliant concept and the kind that works best in animation as opposed to live action. I don't think that aspect is quite enough for the film to be great, but it's definitely enough to elevate the material to a higher degree. Overall, I'm glad I finally got to this. Charlie Kaufman has written and directed a bunch of interesting films over his career so far and this one is no exception.

That's what people here tend to say, but I'm missing its awesomeness. I guess it's somehow expected, though, considering how many people hate the films I adore.

Tell me which movie you adore the most. (Back on Wednesday.)

Rebellion against Shogun's systematic tyranny and control.
Masterpiece.

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"This Would Sharpen You Up And Make You Ready For A Bit Of The Old Ultra-Violence."

My favorite chanbara not directed by Kurosawa. Though Kobayashi's own Harakiri gives it a run for it's money.

I Confess - I'm gonna have to do a fresh count of the Hitchcock movies I've seen because I can not only cross this off the list but Sabotage as well. This is a 1953 entry starring Montgomery Clift as Father Michael Logan. Hitchcock starts off the film as a mini travelogue of sorts, showing different parts of Quebec City. He reveals the victim right off the bat, lying inside his house and then a man scurrying off. He's wearing a cassock which he quickly removes as he makes his way back to a nearby church.

That's how the films opens but as it delves deepers into the actual crime the identity of the man is revealed as he admits his guilt to Father Mike. From there springs the crux of the film, the sanctity of the confessional and the covenant between confessor and penitent. But wait, there's more. As it turns out Father Logan also had a connection of sorts to the dead man. One which further obfuscates his involvement in not only the crime but with Ruth Grandfort (Anne Baxter), the wife of a local politician. It also rouses the suspicions of Inspector Larrue (Karl Malden), the detective doggedly leading the investigation.

This isn't one of Hitchcock's classics. It's rather slow moving with a somewhat awkward flashback that only serves to further sidetrack the narrative. But Clift was a genuine star and he does hold the viewer's attention whenever he's onscreen. Worth a watch because it is Hitchcock after all. And the story does ultimately deliver the goods.

80/100

This is one of the "few" Hitchcock films I haven't seen. I need to check it out.