Name & Rate the Movies/TV You've Watched.

[The Panda]

Watched Ikiru again today.  It’s probably Kurosawa’s most personal and a truly soul stirring work.  It’s surreal how the final act shifts perspective in the narrative to offer a reflection on mortality and what it means to be living.  Waterworks shed by the movie’s final moments, a truly beautiful film.

 

A passing observation I made this go around:

 

The use of lighting in Kurosawa’s films is really sublime.  The way he uses shadows plays to the thematic points of many of his films (such as in Rashomon, which I could touch on lately).  In Ikiru, it seems fairly straightforward, as Wantanabe finds his purpose and will for living in his final moments you get to see the movie subtly light up.  Where, at the beginning of the film, every is overly covered in shadow and gives you the feeling of being dead, the film slowly begins to fill with light until nearly all of the sequences in the final act have a near glowing look in how they’re framed.  In his death, Wantanabe finds and creates life.

 

It’s on HBO MAX, go watch Ikiru.

Edited July 29, 2020 by The Panda

[junkshop36]

Finally watched The Boys season one. Loved it. A friend of mine had been bugging me for months to watch it lol. Can’t wait for season 2 now. 
 

Started watching Umbrella Academy. I’m enjoying it; not as much as The Boys but still good. It’s more character and story driven than I thought which is fine. I just thought there would be a little more action and powers being used than there has been but the characters are generally so interesting and well written and acted that I’ve been ok with it. I’ve got three episodes left and I’m looking forward to see what happens. 

[RealLyre]

6 hours ago, Krissykins said:

Relic 2/5 

Its a really unique idea, but the whole execution is so generic. 
 

 

Spoiler

looking at the final scene they must've been annoyed that the title hereditary was already taken

 

[lorddemaxus]

Public Enemies is fantastic. I just love how intimate and kinda romantic Mann's films are. A movie about a man whose only aspiration is to be remembered as a myth and was born in a world that didn't want men like him anymore (not even other crooks want him). Those last 15 minutes are so heartwreckingly beautiful. Also surprisingly more entertaining and fast paced than I expected for the most part. It did feel like it needed a more well explored conflict between Dillinger and Purvis but maybe that was the point (that these men didn't really have any conflict, they were just doing their jobs) but it did feel like it lacked something until the moment Dillinger enters the cinema.

 

There's also of course the lively and intimate cinematography which makes you actually feel like you are there within the film. There are many sequences in the night that use barely any lighting but they work extremely well because the little light that is used, is used to focus on the characters themselves meaning that you can still understand what's happening even with the lack of lighting. I wish more films shot on digital tried to look as real as this does instead of sterile look most films shot on digital have these days. I honestly can't believe this has been called an ugly film. 

Edited July 29, 2020 by lorddemaxus

[charlie Jatinder]

everytime you will post anything @lorddemaxus I would get excited to see views on the SRK film you watched, guess I am bound to be disappointed many times.

[lorddemaxus]

4 minutes ago, charlie Jatinder said:

everytime you will post anything @lorddemaxus I would get excited to see views on the SRK film you watched, guess I am bound to be disappointed many times.

I might try watching one this weekend. 

[Maggie]

Overlord - 7/10  I was entertained

[lorddemaxus]

On 7/29/2020 at 1:07 AM, Krissykins said:

Relic 2/5 

Its a really unique idea, but the whole execution is so generic. 

Yeah, this was awful. Another indie arthouse wannabe where literally happens for 90% of the runtime and there's some vague message that the film really only explores in the last 10 seconds. Vivarium was pretty dumb and so is this. I absolutely hate these kinds of movies.

 

And why did they make Australia so gloomy? I thought this was set in the UK based on how gloomy and grey everything looked in the trailer (and Emily Mortimer is in it too) but no, it's set in Australia.

[The Stingray]

The Passenger (1975) - 5/10

Knight of Cups (2015) - 6/10

Sunshine (2007) - 8.5/10

The Rental (2020) - 7.5/10

Adventureland (2009) - 9/10
 

[charlie Jatinder]

Week 17

25-31st July 

Movies

1. Dil Bechara: This might have passed as decent thing if I hadn't seen The Fault in Our Stars. 3/10.
2. Following: Brilliant. Among my top Nolan films easy. 8/10.
3. Insomnia: I guess the most non-Nolan, Nolan film but great stuff. Also Robin Williams is great in it. 8/10.
4. Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom: 💩. 0/10.
5. Barry Lyndon: Resuming Kubrick filmography. This gave me GWTW vibes. 8/10.
6. Spartacus: 8/10.
7. Shakuntla Devi (Hindi): The film was very pretty good in first two acts, but third act felt like not fully developed. A lenient 6/10.
8. Lolita: Kubrick's weakest for me. There are two others, won't be watching them. 5/10.
9. Lootcase (Hindi): I was expecting this to be Andhadhun level good but this was neither than smart nor funny. Decent watch though. 5/10.

[CJohn]

I needed a good laugh today, so I went to the movies to see...

An hilarious French comedy that uses familiar cliches effectively to give the audience some big laugh out loud moments. The cast really shines with on point reactions to the jokes and even if we know where the story is going it is still a great ride.

[lorddemaxus]

@charlie Jatinder Watched both Om Shanti Om and Dilwale Duhlania La Jiyange this weekend and absolutely loved them. Om Shanti Om is a hilarious and endearing parody and celebration of Bollywood cinema (also contains some of the most fun musical numbers I've seen in a long time). It's like Tropic Thunder and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood combined.

 

Dilwale on the other hand, is just such a heartwarming romantic melodrama. It's cliched in every way but it's also so well executed and sincere. Quite close to a 10/10 but the European trip sequence was tiring to watch with the constant bickering. But the movie starts picking up once both characters fall in love and the musical numbers are really beautiful (espescially the ones in India). Espescially loved how it ended.

Spoiler

Like, it's pretty expected that both characters would end up being together but they do a brilliant job of showing how the dad changes his mind. Just the way the film shows his change from anger to actual empathy towards SRK only through his eyes is some amazing directing and acting.

 

And again, like with Kal Ho Naa Ho, the camerawork here puts almost every mainstream romantic film that Hollywood has produced in the last couple of decades to shame.

Also, lol whoever thought of this is a genius. Probably the funniest part of Om Shanti Om.

 

[Joel M]

Atlantics. Very strange movie, shifts from naturalism to the fantastical without needing much effort and while it gets a bit messy towards the end, it's still one of the most unique movies I 've seen in years. 

Alpha. Meh, by the numbers and not even that well executed "boy and his pet" movie with some really bad animal cgi and even worse human performances. The dog is a stone cold movie star though.

 

rewatch

The adventures of Tintin. Lots of fun and the motorcycle chase is still one of the most insane sequences of Spielberg's entire career but the Tintin mocap just bothers me every time there's a close up. It's all really Zemeckies fault.

Munich. The last truly great Spielberg movie imo. It still irks me a bit that the Greek scenes are so obviously not shot in Athens, but that's on Greece being a bureaucratic nightmare andnot the filmmakers fault.

Lincoln. A very well crafted and surprisingly engaging movie despite the "boring" subject matter. I still have very little passion for it and the last couple of minutes still feel like the ending to a completely different much worse movie.

[Plain Old Tele]

Saw the original Cat People (1942) last night, thanks to Captain Wondy’s Wonderful Projection get-together. Great vibe and mood, killer cinematography and sound design. Shame that the Hayes Code meant there had to be a “moral” ending.  

[CoolioD1]

12 minutes ago, Plain Old Tele said:

Saw the original Cat People (1942) last night, thanks to Captain Wondy’s Wonderful Projection get-together. Great vibe and mood, killer cinematography and sound design. Shame that the Hayes Code meant there had to be a “moral” ending.  

the sequel is one of the weirdest follow-ups ever. also very solid tho. and robert wise's first film. 

 

My personal favourite Val Lewton picture is The Seventh Victim which has Tom Conway reprising his role as dr. judd and he does refer to the events of Cat People, despite his being mauled to death in that film.

[Eric Duncan]

Movies

It Happened One Night - Saw it as a part of Wondyful's Projections. HopedI would have made yesterday, but I had a bit of a mild cold, so...yeah. Anyways, great stuff with plenty of solid one-liners and a charming relationship. Also Clark Gable's hair curl is to die for.

Now, Voyager - Very tight blend of romance and melodrama, and a very well-made take on mental health and parental abuse that I think still holds up decades later. Also Bette Davis and Paul Henreid are way too hot for words in this. Could barely handle my lust at some points. 😍

Mildred Pierce - Also a great look at mother-daughter relationships tied smartly into a murder mystery and deconstruction of the housewife trope, which I always love. Fuck Veda tho

 

TV

The Handmaid's Tale Episodes 1-3 - Mom and I decided this would be our next show to watch together. Really powerful stuff here, though knowing that a baby bust is inevitable does also give me anxiety this might be the future.

Muppets Now - On a lighter note, thought the pilot for this was strong. It's basically a series of YouTube shows back-to-back, but all the characters are themselves and I liked each segment. Already a better start compared to that weird ABC mockumentary show they tried to do.

Phineas and Ferb Season 1 - The new movie coming out gave me the incentive to watch this for the first time in years. Definitely more repetitive than I remember, but they still have fun with the formula just enough to not make it a huge problem.

[35MM-18]

The Impossible (2012):

 

• The visual effects are amazing considering the modest budget, and it's buoyed by great cinematography and production design
• Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and Tom Holland are incredible (there's a good case to be made that Holland should've been Oscar-nominated for his performance)
• It's also really bloody and intense, and really pushes the limits of the PG-13/12A rating (it helps that it's light on swearing)
• The direction is really strong (I can see why J. A. Bayona was hired for Fallen Kingdom)
• Overall, one of the best films I've seen in a while, and proof-positive that Tom Holland can act
• 9/10

[Jake Gittes]

43 minutes ago, Eric Sparrow said:

😍Mildred Pierce - Also a great look at mother-daughter relationships tied smartly into a murder mystery and deconstruction of the housewife trope, which I always love. Fuck Veda tho

It may not have a murder mystery but be sure to check out the Todd Haynes miniseries too sometime, it's an excellent work.

[Plain Old Tele]

1 hour ago, CoolioD1 said:

My personal favourite Val Lewton picture is The Seventh Victim which has Tom Conway reprising his role as dr. judd and he does refer to the events of Cat People, despite his being mauled to death in that film.

That’s...amazing.  I’d also be fine with watching a Dr. Judd cinematic universe where he gets repeatedly mauled every movie. 

[Plain Old Tele]

@Eric Sparrow you missed some amazing hair in Forbidden Planet.