Rate The Last Movie You Saw

The Santa Trap (2002) Watched on Tubi. Corbin Bernsen, Shelley Long, Stacy Keach and Dick Van Patten star in this family Christmas movie about a little girl who traps Santa, resulting in Santa being arrested and a biker impersonating him. This was pretty silly. I liked the trash talking teddy bear toy and the elves.

Pretty Poison follows Dennis Pitt (Anthony Perkins), a paranoid man who hasn't really changed much after being recently released from a mental institution. This leads him to become involved with Sue Ann (Tuesday Weld), a high school teenager after telling her he's a secret agent on a mission, something that leads to all sorts of mayhem.

The main thing about the film is the relationship between Dennis and Sue Ann. This can obviously be seen as problematic, with her being a teenager, but the truth is that we're not meant to empathize with Dennis and his behavior. His character is deeply troubled, unable to change, while Sue Ann is dealing with her own issues mostly coming from a strict and abusive mother (Beverly Garland).

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

__________________

Gladiator II (2024)

Atrocious.

Set in the near future, Underwater follows the crew of a drilling facility in the middle of the ocean that is partially destroyed by what they assume is an earthquake. As the remaining survivors set out for safety, they have to find ways to stay alive from their surroundings, but also from the real threat: a giant underwater creature.

One of the things I liked from the film is its emphasis in characters. Despite its plot driven mechanisms, there is a lot of focus put on who these characters are and how they might be feeling. At the center of it all is Norah Price (Kristen Stewart), the mechanical engineer of the facility that seems to be haunted by choices of the past. Stewart does a really good job of adding layers to her character that I get the feeling weren't even in the script.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

SF = Z

Viewed: Amazon Prime







[Snooze Factor Ratings]:
Z = didn't nod off at all
Zz = nearly nodded off but managed to stay alert
Zzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed
Zzzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed but nodded off again at the same point and therefore needed to go back a number of times before I got through it...
Zzzzz = nodded off and missed some or the rest of the film but was not interested enough to go back over it

rewatch. so many cool ideas but not all of it hits. the music caries tho.

Never Let Me Go (2010) - Mark Romanek: 1/10

rewatched Super 8½ and yeah that's an all-timer

SF = Z

Viewed: Amazon Prime



[Snooze Factor Ratings]:
Z = didn't nod off at all
Zz = nearly nodded off but managed to stay alert
Zzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed
Zzzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed but nodded off again at the same point and therefore needed to go back a number of times before I got through it...
Zzzzz = nodded off and missed some or the rest of the film but was not interested enough to go back over it

LOVED this movie..:Hopkins and Colman were brilliant

The Third Man (1949)

__________________

[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

Big Time Gambling Boss (1968)
Most of my movie pals loved this thing, and it started off fine.... before sinking like a stone from the weight of repetition and exaggerated melodrama. And these gangsters were as dumb as rocks. Come on...

Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970)

By The cover art can or could be obtained from IMP Awards., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31516693

Warrior - (2011)

Warrior had completely escaped my notice until now, despite it's monster IMDb score of 8.1/10 (177th ranked movie overall) and fine trio of headliners in Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton and Nick Nolte (who deservedly snagged an Oscar-nomination for his performance.) I don't know, maybe it's because I've never been interested in mixed martial arts - but hell, I'm interested in movies and love Rocky despite not loving boxing. This one works hard for it, but succeeded in wringing some emotion out of me with a finale that has a sheen of perfection about it. I can be cynical sometimes, but when you get the formula right and pull it off you deserve at least some plaudits. The story is an old one. Alcoholic dad who has wrecked a family. Two sons who are bitter because of it, and the death of their mother. The Dad is a coach. The boys top-notch fighters. They both enter an ultimate contest (one of them coached by dad, despite the fact that both hate him) for very different reasons - but when there can be only one winner, how will this not just rub salt into wounds that simply won't heal? Great fight cinematography and editing - super performances and the looming specter of family, love and hate mixed up with the fight to get through their lives as well as out of the ring alive. Worth seeing.

8/10


By Cosmopolitan, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20531198

Empire Records - (1995)

University. Me. A group of acquaintances of whom I might have been ready to spend more time with. They were absolutely mad about this movie - Empire Records. So, to me the equation was easy - rent Empire Records, watch it, love it (which I surely would) and then have this thing which would help me bond with them. So I rented it. I watched it. I hated it. I mean, I really hated it. Maybe it was this one moment that made me think these guys weren't as cool as I thought they were. Well, it's been a long time since I last tried it, but finally after all these years I checked this movie out again. At first I had to turn it off - I was disliking it that much again - but after another attempt (with me being as forgiving as I possibly could be) I finally got through it without at least hating it. With seeing something in it - what other people love about it. For me that's mission accomplished - but Empire Records doesn't make it easy. It wants to be cool and hip so bad it constantly tries too hard and thinks it is sinking clever 3-pointers while in actual fact it's throwing out air balls that are hitting spectator seats. There's some good music, and there's a fine cast - but this is for a select audience, and if you're not one of those people watching this can be a painful experience. If you love kids despite the way they behave sometimes you might be able to find the right mindset for this one.

5/10


By May be found at the following website: IMPAwards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30991912

Becoming Jane - (2007)

Honestly, I haven't seen many 18th/19th Century biopics - although Becoming Jane is speculative enough to almost regard as complete fiction. I was kind of expecting a turkey considering what I'd read about this, but instead it managed to reach that steady plateau of averageness which relieved without delighting me. Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy really get to work with what they're given and were good enough for me to wish this had been a little better than it ended up being. Technically, this was very uninspiring - but worst of all it could have been a movie about any two people. There should have been more in it that was specific in exploring who Jane Austen was, and how it could help give us some insight into her novels and the direction they took. One failed romance doesn't quite cut it. All that said, judging from a neutral perspective the film was okay.

6/10


By Unknown - Mongrel Media, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73243747

You Can Live Forever - (2022)

Overall, performance-wise, this hits a similar tone to Never Rarely Sometimes Always - and if I'm mentioning a film in comparison with that great 2020s release, then it has for sure done something particularly well. Full review here, in my watchlist thread.

8/10


By Freezing Point OY and Immortal Sisu UK Ltd - IMP Awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73102564

Sisu - (2022)

I'd imagine a very mixed response regarding this one from audiences depending on taste, and I could easily understand why some people might dislike it while others love it. It caters to a particular audience - and while I was absolutely entertained I do question some of it's more extreme, over the top tendencies. Full review here, in my watchlist thread.

6/10


By The poster art can or could be obtained from Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10547714

Peeping Tom - (1960)

This is the kind of movie that's ripe for endless analysis and also one that's hard to classify as horror or thriller - a psychologically complex and searching story about observation and the dichotomy between what we see on a screen and what's real in the moment. Full review here, in my watchlist thread.

8/10

__________________

Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story (2024) I enjoyed this. The cast does a wonderful job and I thought it was an enjoyable and fun story. I especially liked the cameo appearance by Catrick Mahomes (the cat who looks like Patrick Mahomes). My main objection is that the film should have focused on the Packers, instead of the Chiefs, as the Packers are the more Christmasy team. After all, the Packers is Santa's favourite team.

You are sadly mistaken.

Red One


Was not good. Rock and Chris Evans prove beyond any doubt that neither has any acting range.


J.K. Simmons made me feel kinda funny as Santa, but otherwise there's nothing to speak of.

The Iceman Cometh (1973)

I'd heard the name before and O'Neill as a prominent playwriter so gave this a go. It's a hard film to get hold of and never seen it on TV. It centres around a group of flops. Drinkers and ne'er do wells that reside in a bar/flophouse. Each has their own story of woe as to how they ended up, basically, alcoholic bums. There is a wallowing in self pity that somehow gives them a bond that is its own dis-functional community. This should be changed by the visit of a salesman named Hickey that (has) indulged them but this time the salesman has new ideas. The performances are all great and I love a bit of Robert Ryan (who died before its release). It's claustrophobic as many play adaptations are but the tale flits between the characters seamlessly so it's not an issue. At 4 hours it is a lengthy proposition, I did it in 3 sittings.

i like the concept but every character is soooo annoying.

Shoot to Kill was pretty much a surprise watch. I wanted to close #Noirvember with a breezy film noir, so I browsed some Letterboxd list and sorted it by length. At barely over an hour, this sounded like just the thing, and in a way, it was. The runtime itself works to its advantage since it doesn't really give us a lot of time to breathe between all the twists and turns, and whether they make sense or not.

Like many film noir, the story begins at the end, as everything is retold via flashback. Its mostly set at night, making great use of lights and shadows, its gritty in plot and looks, has some witty dialogue, and one great femme fatale. The gist of the story, which I'm still trying to figure out, follows the reporter investigating how his D.A. friend ended up involved with crime boss Dixie Logan (Douglas Blackley).

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot