Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Brassed Off (1996)

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[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

Apocalypse Now (1979)


I still cant bring myself to give 5 stars to a 3+ hour movie, but this was obviously very good.

At least you had the fortitude to sit down and watch the entire film. I’m pretty sure there’s no way I could sit through this entire film,

Tribute To The Teachers

Nice, short documentary by Abbas Kiarostami interviewing teachers and students. Some retired... They also talk about interactions by happenstance once they're adults.. I saw a teacher of mine right before COVID and she's still one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen.


This is on Criterion, but I noticed the YouTube one was longer (but lesser quality)

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Selva. A Portrait of Parvaneh Navai
beautiful. part of me would love to see a cleaned up copy, a part of me adored the crusty, washed out version i saw.

Love Me Tonight (1932) - A

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I'm confused... so the length of a film dictates a rating for you? What about Lawrence of Arabia or The Godfather? This is a new take I haven't really encountered before.

By Paramount Pictures - http://www.oknation.net/blog/home/bl...mages/marx.jpg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40508643

Animal Crackers - (1930)

I'm really enjoying this Marx Bros marathon that I've just started on - I'm becoming a fan, especially of their wordplay. It's my kind of comedy, and although I've seen the occasional film of theirs it's seeing the act evolve over the course of their first two films that provides a lot of the fun. Animal Crackers doesn't have much of a story beyond the mystery of a stolen painting, which is at first replaced by John Parker (Hal Thompson), an aspiring artist whose painting is replaced itself before all three become the source of a hunt that involves Captain Jeffrey Spaulding (Groucho Marx), The Professor (Harpo Marx), Signor Emanuel Ravelli (Chico Marx) and Horatio Jamison (Zeppo Marx) at a home on Long Island of which Mrs. Rittenhouse (Margaret Dumont - basically a Marx Sister) is host. All of the usual elements are here. Harpo has a number playing a harp, Chico gets to show off his piano talents, there's a number sung by Lillian Roth and Hal Thompson and all of the vaudeville acts that form the main body of the entire film. Once again, it's Groucho and Chico's routines together that I love the most, with their comedic chemistry shining particularly brightly, along with Groucho and Margaret Dumont's to-and-fro. It was good to see Zeppo given a little something to do and Harpo is particularly strong in this one with his facial expressiveness. A huge mood-lifter with so many laughs and an overall feeling of fun and high energy. I'm glad I'm watching these - they came at just the right time.

8/10


Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40508643

The Last of His Tribe - (1992)

This is an HBO TV movie about the discovery of the last remaining Native American of the Yahi tribe, Ishi (Graham Greene) in 1911 and his experiences adjusting to 20th Century Western society with the help of Professor Alfred Kroeber (Jon Voight), who struggles to find the right balance between studying the man/his culture and becoming his close personal friend. It struggles at times to find an engaging dramatic heartbeat in a narrative sense but hits hardest when it shows Ishi's tribe and family members hunted down and slaughtered by bands of gun-toting settlers. At times it finds itself repeating slow storytelling lulls that make the movie-watching experience a little difficult, but it does have a compassionate core which I found touching.

6/10


By Worldview Entertainment and Focus Features - http://comicbook.com/blog/2014/01/16...-movie-poster/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42706282

Wish I Was Here - (2014)

Aidan (Zach Braff), his wife Sarah (Kate Hudson), kids Tucker (Pierce Gagnon) and Grace (Joey King) along with brother Noah (Josh Gad) and dying father Gabe (Mandy Patinkin) are an extended family in crisis. Aiden is an out of work actor supported by Sarah who shoulders the financial burden of putting their kids through school when Gabe's cancer treatment means he can no longer help pay for their orthodox Jewish education. It's his father's approaching death that shakes up Aidan's vision of himself and the relationship he has with his reclusive and recalcitrant brother who refuses to see their father after a lifetime of verbal abuse. Cue many montage scenes set to inspirational music - and the more of those I see, the more I feel that Wish I Was Here has nothing really original to say, and relies on tired tropes along with a moribund screenplay. Do films this derivative and seemingly generic have heart if the intentions are pure? Maybe, but my heart sank pretty low every time I thought of how many times I've seen exactly what I'm watching before done much better. I was frustrated and angry at how unoriginal and ploddingly rote this attempt at an inspirational family tale was.

4/10


Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9535771

Sorrowful Jones - (1949)

Overall there were a few laughs and of course much cuteness (a prerequisite for any adaptation of the Little Miss Marker story), but overall this didn't quite rise up to the level of Bob Hope's absolute best knee-slappers. Full review here, in my watchlist thread.

6/10

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Young and Innocent (1937)

Dictate is a strong word there, as there are obviously many factors. I just haven't found a movie eclipsing this kind of runtime that immediately doesn't make my mind think "what scenes could have been cut". Appreciate the inquiry though, because it does make me think a bit more about my tendencies.

I see. Well, for me, it's like Roger Ebert said. No good film is too long and no bad film is too short.

Say Anything... (1989, Cameron Crowe) - A-

Set 10 years after The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones follows the attempts of the Jedi to stop an intergalactic war while also avoiding the spread of the dark side of the Force, which might have already infiltrated them. However, what is at the forefront is the relationship between Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and Senator Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman).

Beyond the performances, the overall excess of CGI is extremely distracting. It's evident that Lucas had no reins about what he could/should do with the technology. There are a ton of things and characters that could've been done practically or through costume/makeup, but he chooses CGI just because he can. The result is a disjointed look (especially when you compare it with the Original Trilogy) that feels like a cartoon or a video game.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

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Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)



Compared to the many parodies that came out it the 1980s, 1990s and even the 2000s I'd say Walk Hard is a slightly more sophisticated version. It's over-the-top but at least not as awful as the more cartoonish parodies like The Naked Gun or the Not Another Whatever Movie franchise.
There's the cast, the production, but more importantly the music itself. Despite being intentionally generic versions of the classics, it still sounds kinda good.
I guess a parody works best when it shows a little love for its subject rather than "hating" it.

The film's biggest flaw (imo) is that it sometimes forget to parody the biopic genre and instead focuses on roasting its subject. And even so, that subject should be Joaquin Phoenix, not Johnny Cash.
Walk Hard has a lot of funny details but they're often upstaged by the more obvious histrionics.
The first half is the strongest part, especially when Dewey's parents are still alive. After that it starts to go through the motions in order to reach the finish of its 90+ minutes running time.

Which brings me to the question: does parody (possibly the most extreme version of comedy) ever work in the relentless fashion of a full length feature film?
Overall, I found it amusing rather than laugh-out-loud funny, and when it isn't funny at least it's not irritating.
Funniest scene: Dewey's brother, accidentally cut in half by Dewey, is declared dead (!!) by the doctor, which makes mother Cox burst into tears. Margo Martindale is definitely one of the film's highlights.

I wouldn't recommend it as a film worth checking out, but if you plan on watching a parody movie then Walk Hard - despite its shortcomings - might be one of the better options.


Incidentally, I didn't see the scene with Patrick Duffy. A deleted scene, or was the youtube upload incomplete?

Hey, that’s what I always say!

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

Hong Sang-soo directed this. Not bad, but nothing special.

I discovered Aniara back in 2020, and I was instantly captivated by it. This is my third watch, as I was preparing to talk about it on a podcast, but it just cemented how much I adore it. For a recent full review, check out what I wrote after my second rewatch here, but if anything, the film just keeps burying deeper and deeper into my psyche.

Grade:


Another full review here in my Movie Loot

Senso (1954) - Luchino Visconti: 3/10
3 points for the sweeping Veneto countryside shots and for the background artistes, who were great. The main actors however... they were just painful to watch and the story tedious, uninspiring, nihilistic, pointless and sadistic even.

After my rewatch of Aniara, I realized that I had never ventured to check out the directors' filmographies, even though it's just a handful of short films. As I was browsing it, I was intrigued by the premise of this one so I gave it a shot. Reckless follows this young woman (Ellekari Bergenrud) who has just broken up with her boyfriend (Amed Bozan); something that has left her devastated, aimless, and remembering those happy memories.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

Batman Returns - 8/10

Strongly increased the circus freakshow vibe from the previous movie, for better or for worse. I liked the tone of the previous movie a little better, but on the other hand, this one's more focused identity has allowed it to have objectively stronger story theming. The plot of weirdo 1 vs weirdo 2 vs weirdo 3 vs decadent normal world as embodied by Max Schreck has a lot more going on than the previous Batman, which almost had something to that effect, but missed it by a hair. Thankfully, the dark humour and Danny Elfman's whimsical score are as good as ever, and while there's noone as good as Jack Nicholson's Joker, Danny Devito's Penguin is really good in his own right. Simultaneously scary, disgusting, funny, and pitiable. You can easily buy that this is a person raised in the sewer, without a smidgeon of social grace, fueled by nothing but spite and bodily drives.

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