Rate The Last Movie You Saw

4/5 - Unconventional and creepy.

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I Was a Stranger follows Eliza (Elizabeth Rodriguez), a woman who's running from her abusive husband (Jason Butler Harner) and seeks refuge in a trailer park community. As she befriends the residents, she realizes that she's not the only one running away from something.

This short film was directed by Reiko Aylesworth, who is known for portraying Michelle Dessler on Fox's 24, which is how I stumbled upon it. It is a fairly simple short with a 17-minute runtime, but I really enjoyed her approach to the material. The subject matter can lend itself to some heavy-handedness or preachiness, but I don't think that's the case here. Aylesworth's direction and the script from April Brassard tackle it with care.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

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1st Rewatch...Robert Zemeckis deserves the lion's share of the credit for the success of the sequel to his 1985 smash. At the end of the first film, Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) tells Marty (Michael J Fox) they must return to the future to save his kids. Upon their arrival in 2015 (which looks like 2215 here), the problem with Marty's son gets taken care f economically but Doc and Marty find there are a lot of other issues that have to be dealt with, primarily that Biff (Thomas F Wilson) is now married to Marty's mom, Lorraine (Lea Thompson). The film is initially very confusing but eventually unravels into a slam bang action comedy that brilliantly sets up a third film. My two favorite moments in the film are when 2015 Biff is correcting 1955 Biff about the use of the phrase "Why don't you make like a tree..." and when Marty is talking to Doc on the phone, while in a window behind him, you actually see the scene from the first film where George clocks Biff about to take pace. This movie is a textbook in movie continuity. They even managed to camouflage the fact that Crispin Glover refused to appear in the film as George McFly, even though Glover initiated a lawsuit anyway.

P2 follows Angela (Rachel Nichols), a young executive in Manhattan getting ready to leave work on Christmas Eve. But when she gets trapped in an underground parking garage, she starts being stalked by Thomas (Wes Bentley), a psychopathic security guard that's obsessed with her.

The premise is fairly simple, which probably brings me to my main complaint against the film, and it's that this film should've been 60-70 minutes tops. For the first act, things move at a pretty nice pace, but after an hour, you kinda get the feeling that the writers were struggling to stretch things to a certain point. All of this leads to a fairly weak last act and resolution, which kinda spoils the whole thing a bit.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

By The poster art can or could be obtained from Herald Ace., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6714678

Ran - (1985)

Off to see Ran last night on the big, big screen at the Luna Leederville - it sets the vast epic up in my mind as more unforgettable than ever. I didn't want it to end. Ran's visuals demand to be seen on the big screen, but the human side of the epic drama also becomes more clear when the film is being presented in such an overwhelming way. The tragic power of flattery, and the inability to recognize that your biggest critic may in fact be your most trustworthy friend - in the form of a warlord and his three sons. To be fair, our King Lear substitute - Ichimonji Hidetora (Tatsuya Nakadai - Shimura had passed and Mifune was no longer talking to Kurosawa) is a bloodthirsty warlord who has done a lifetime of horrific deeds, but somehow our sympathies overflow when we see him crushed by his own progeny. My friend was amazed that Ran is rated "PG" here, which basically all but the most innocent kid's movies will get rated - there are amputations and blood is spurting everywhere in this. The mountains and plains of Mount Aso are really stunning, and so lushly green and verdant. The various colours and costumes are incredible. A cinema near where I live has been holding a Kurosawa Film Festival for the last few months, and most of his movies have had a run - I'm only very sorry that I missed Seven Samurai on the big screen - I hope I'll get a chance to rectify that. Ran was magnificent.

10/10

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ok so this is kind of terrible but it won me over eventually and i really like paul mescal

The Monk and the Gun (2023)
There has been a couple of really good filmmakers coming out of Bhutan in the past 20 some years, Khyentse Norbu (Travellers and Magicians) is one, and Pawo Choyning Dorji, who directed Monk, is another.

This was a funny, humanistic look at differing cultures and a clash of old ways with new. Very much enjoyed it.

Apocalypse Now (1979) - Francis Ford Coppola: 8.5/10

Tony Leung double bill.

Chungking Express - A+
Hard Boiled - A-

Still great and amazing after all these years... yeah start prepping for your 90's list MoFo-ers!

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Did you see the redux or theatrical version? I think the theatrical is the best, but it's difficult to find.

I watched Dead Zone this evening. It's a good adaptation. The movie is a little too quick though. I know Stephen King got wordy in the original novel. The movie just feels like they had a time limit for movie length so it goes too fast. I loved the pacing of the book (although that could be because I read slowly). I like it, and Walken was great. It just needed to take its time.

Addendum; One thing with the movie is that they trimmed a lot of the flavor of the book. I think that plays a part in the pacing of each medium. The movie is fine. It just feels oversimplified, I guess. It's a commonality of Stephen King's writings to get wordy so I get some of the story would get lost. And the Castle Rock Killer sequence, while essential, didn't quite work how the movie did it. It felt forced even though it isn't. Again; it feels rushed.

Overall the movie works as a movie. It's a fine film, although I would have preferred a slower pace for what it is.

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I destroyed the dastardly dairy dame! I made mad milk maid mulch!
He hid in the forest, read books with great zeal
He loved Che Guevera, a revolutionary veal
Cow Tse Tongue

The Art of the Steal (2013)

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[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

4 STARS

Pity this one is on Apple TV as many won't get the chance to see it or even know that it exists!



One of the things I liked about it - as I have a soft spot for them - is that it's a film that takes place over one night. A bit of a chamber piece with some action sequences thrown in for good measure. Pitt and Clooney are great - there's an amusing theme about aging which feels quite personal to the pair who have of course in a number of films together with the Ocean's franchise.

Heretic (2024)

Quite a nifty horror/thriller. Hugh Grant plays a loner that invites 2 young missionaries into his home only to lock them up and start playing his own psychological games with them regarding the nature of religion and belief (I must say the Monopoly sequence was rather funky). So does he have an enlightened insight into the "one true faith" or is he merely a whacko?
Overall this film is good, the first 1/2 especially is foreboding and you can feel the tension. The 2nd half not so much but still watchable if a tad predictable.
[rating3[/rating]

Messiah of Evil (1973)

Well after seeing a few likes for this in the Horror thread I thought I'd give it a go. My main take-away from it was it had a good, surreal atmosphere but the story was a real plodder. Most of the unintentional atmosphere comes from the, frankly, pathetic acting that you are in a semi-state of wondering who has already been affected by the "Red Moon" but no, it's just awfully acted. The ending is pretty good but I found this a slog to sit through.

I watched Messiah of Evil a few weeks ago for a similar reason vis I read about it here. The idea is great. The execution left me feeling empty. I never really felt like things were fleshed out, excuse my euphemism. It's not necessarily bad. It just falls a bit flat. Messiah of Evil is one of those films that could have been great that just missed the mark.

By Warner Bros. - http://cdn3-www.comingsoon.net/asset...oster-1200.jpg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51139966

King Arthur : Legend of the Sword - (2017)

Talk about your Marvel Universe - there was meant to be an Arthurian Legends Universe featuring six different characters who would eventually all team up in a mega-blockbuster. That all got thrown out when this first film didn't perform at the box office. Guy Ritchie was coming off the box office bomb that was The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (which I actually quite liked), and thank goodness this bombed as well, forcing him to go back to what he does well - geezer gangster movies. Anyway, what is wrong with King Arthur : Legend of the Sword? I'd say first thing is the way every little bit of action is festooned with ugly CGI effects that take you out of whatever's going on. There's far more concentrated on the film's look than the characters within it. The way everything plays out, it really feels like a game - Assassin's Creed mixed with God of War - I wouldn't have been surprised if I saw characters jumping into hay bales or opening chests. Story-wise, Ritchie and his co-writers take the legend of King Arthur (Charlie Hunnam) and make it their own, adding an underworld element by having the future King rescued as a baby by being floated down the river in a boat - adopted by the staff at a Londinium brothel. From there it's pulling Excalibur out of a stone and on to fighting his nemesis of the day - evil King Vortigern (an excellent Jude Law) - all in good time, with the crooked gang he grew up with and his new allies fighting the powers that be. Ritchie manages to inject a lot of the hoodlum, gangster stuff we're used to seeing in his films, making this an original take on King Arthur if nothing else. A lot of people complained that this isn't who King Arthur was - but I'm always willing to check out something new, as long as it's well made. This is so much of a mixed bag however, that I can't recommend it in good faith. I didn't hate it though, even though it fails as a cohesive whole - there are some good elements, with mythical creatures that looked pretty good, and Law's seething portrayal as a slimy, power-hungry fearmonger who must kill what he loves most to hang on to the supernatural power he uses to good effect. (There's a very Lord of the Rings prologue featuring Eric Bana as King Uther Pendragon, which gives you a clue as to what this film has to offer.) The screenplay is lacking, and there aren't enough solid characters that stand out - plus also that shocking overuse of CGI to brain-numbing excess. It has to be in support of a good story, characters and such - not the be-all and end-all itself.

5/10

The Substance (Coralie Fargeat, 2024)



The violence detracts from the message, felt like it was being deliberately disgusting and over the top for marketing purposes. The actresses are great and the message is interesting, but it was immediately obvious what it had to say in about ten minutes and the rest was just being as repulsive as it could be.

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If the premise were merely that of being lost in a large underground parking garage, they could've plausibly stretched it into a three-hour epic.