Movie opinions thread (what have you seen, what did you think?)

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oliverclaude said:
Try to see it from the perspective of a jew who spent his childhood in a Warsaw closet all surrounded by Nazis, which is probably the only perspective for all Polanski movies, and you'll know it was warranted all along.
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Good point. They don't teach us about WWII in school over here, so I'm nowhere near as familiar with it as I should be, but weren't Jews in France a victim of Nazism similar to how Jewish Poles were? Wouldn't it have made more sense to set the movie in a German city rather than in Paris to emphasize the (arguably warranted) paranoia?


I also watched Eyes Without a Face today. I liked it a lot - it did some stuff that I'm shocked they got away with. I do have a minor complaint and a medium sized complaint though.


Spoiler:

The small one is... We're supposed to see the doctor as alternatingly sadistic and sympathetic, but it was hard to see him as sympathetic. There's a scene where he's treating a young boy where I think the audience is supposed to say "Aw, he's good with kids so he must have some good to him." But the actor looked stern, mean, not overly concerned about the kid. So to me it just came off as him being emotionally detached, which was a given at that point.

The medium one is... I've noticed that a lot of movies from the period end pretty abruptly, e.g., bad guy dies, good guy smiles, roll credits. There's no fallout or followup. I think it would've been better to actually see what the doctor's daughter experienced after the movie ended, possibly regretting what she'd done and realizing she now had no recourse, or really driving home the fact that her appearance was worse off now than before the surgery. Or, given that she was begging her caretaker to kill her, if she stared into a mirror for a long time, smashed it, and slit her throat with a shard.


One other thing is that there wasn't a whole lot of extra content on the Criterion release. I was looking forward to rewatching it with an analysis dubbed in, which is the case with all the other Criterion movies I have.
 
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100proof

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Hit up Bad Times at the El Royale this evening. A little thin in spots and has some weird tone issues but it's light and airy and the kind of movie we sorely lack at this kind of budget these days. I generally enjoy Jeff Bridges playing crusty old fucks (has a stealthy Tron reference as well) and the ladies get ten straight minutes of Chris Hemsworth in an open shirt. In the end, I was just happy to see a non-superhero, non-remake in a theater.

Also continued the Joe Bob Last Drive-In marathon with Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-o-rama. Remember seeing this one heavily edited down on TV in my teens. Man, what a piece of shit. The name is probably the best thing. That and the bizarre imp puppet that talks like a racist jive caricature. Even Linnea Quigley can't redeem it.
 
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oliverclaude

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fakeXsound said:
Wouldn't it have made more sense to set the movie in a German city rather than in Paris to emphasize the (arguably warranted) paranoia?
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That would be telling and boring, wouldn't you agree? Look at Death and the Maiden: thanks to the forced relocation, the usual Wiesenthal vengeance tale could finally be told from a woman's perspective and a thought provoking Sword of Gideon conclusion (like in Silence of the Lambs by the way).

Polanski -- keeping Holocaust allegories fresh since '59!
 
SouthtownKid

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I'm kind of dense and need it spelled out for me: What was the Holocaust allegory in Chinatown?
 
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oliverclaude said:
That would be telling and boring, wouldn't you agree? Look at Death and the Maiden: thanks to the forced relocation, the usual Wiesenthal vengeance tale could finally be told from a woman's perspective and a thought provoking Sword of Gideon conclusion (like in Silence of the Lambs by the way).

Polanski -- keeping Holocaust allegories fresh since '59!
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Typically I'd agree. But I don't think it's clear enough in this movie. It's set in the mid-70s, in a place that was also attacked by Nazis, and Polanski's character seems like a normal guy, just awkward. There should have been at least some hint to present the allegory, IMO.

PS: We currently have Krull on at my office. It should be renamed "How to Make LotR 101".
 
jro

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Hotel Artemis - the cast elevated it above what it would have been otherwise. Foster was good in a quirky, weird, but liable role, and Dave Bautista was good too. Also liked Sofia Boutella. Surprisingly decent overall.
 
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The Omen
This movie doesn't deserve to be lumped in with The Exorcist. Exorcist was nearly Kubrick level in its subliminal approach and its attention to detail / mise en scene. The Omen is a basic bitch comparatively. It gets a little scary, especially with the chanting BGM. But I just couldn't get over how fucking OLD Gregory Peck was. Dude was 60 years old and was supposed to be a new father. It's a good movie, but like I said, nowhere near The Exorcist.

Mandy
I finally dragged my friend to see this. (His wife doesn't let him out much and I had been waiting for him to see it.) I loved it. The colors were amazing. The demon bikers were amazing. The music was amazing. Really, my only complaint is that I wish it took itself more seriously, or to put it another way, stuck more strongly to its '80s horror thesis. There are a small handful of scenes that are tongue in cheek (e.g., Cage staring with a super dumb face towards the hallucination of Mandy). Why?! It's a perfectly legitimate movie. I feel like they were almost trying to say "Hey, if this actually turns out to be shitty, we can just say we were making a comedy." I loved the title cards, but I hated the animation, which looked super cheap to me. I wish they paid up and did hand-drawn '80s style stuff or just cut the animations entirely.
 
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Where are the Halloween (2018) reviews? Spoilers ahead.


Overall, I enjoyed the movie but felt there were some bad choices made. First, there is a character who is a child that has some funny scenes, but I find this humour detracts from the impact of his babysitter's death. Second, I think the new doctor that is supposed to somewhat replace Loomis is a poor and unnecessary character. Lastly, I thought the ending was very...subdued. I think the ending needed to be more impactful. The good; I like the Strode family dynamic. The movie looks good, but it sounds amazing. IMO, the score is worthy of a watch alone. Carpenter's remixes and new pieces are great. I like the call backs to previous movies in the franchise. I really enjoyed the long tracking shot with 2 murders; kinda shows how people's homes can be vulnerable on a night like Halloween. The overall atmosphere is good and I think they got the Michael character right. I should have felt amped for a sequel, but instead I just feel slightly interested. Nonetheless, the movie is good and worth watching for any Halloween fans I think.
 
SouthtownKid

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fakeXsound said:
The Omen
This movie doesn't deserve to be lumped in with The Exorcist. Exorcist was nearly Kubrick level in its subliminal approach and its attention to detail / mise en scene. The Omen is a basic bitch comparatively. It gets a little scary, especially with the chanting BGM. But I just couldn't get over how fucking OLD Gregory Peck was. Dude was 60 years old and was supposed to be a new father. It's a good movie, but like I said, nowhere near The Exorcist.
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The first Omen is amazing. But yeah, Exorcist is on another level. Not to take away from Omen, though. Exorcist is like the Godfather, Omen is like Goodfellas. Or maybe Omen is like Once Upon a Time in America and Rosemary's Baby is like Goodfellas. I dunno. Anyway, Godfather is the best.
 
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Apostle - story was kind of mediocre but it was told really well. Dan Stevens was good. Some surprisingly nasty gore. Directed by Gareth Evans, who also made The Raid movies.

Hold the Dark - newest movie from Jeremy Saulnier (Green Room, Blue Ruin, Murder Party), written by his usual collaborator Macon Blair. Pretty good. Very understated.

Tales from the Hood 2 - the original came out in what, 1992 or so? Spike Lee's company actually produced it, and this had a surprisingly high amount of care given to it. Keith David was great (Keith David is always great). Recommended if you're a fan of the first one at all.
 
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The Trip To Bountiful. (1985)

Hadnt watched this in about 20 years. It's very much a movie that's just a slow enjoyable burn. Based on a play of the same name and you can tell since there are about 6 characters and the same amount of set pieces.

Watched it with my mom ages ago on a Saturday afternoon TV showcase, and kinda did the same with this viewing.

Similar to Harvey, it's just a good simple movie worth a good simple watch.
 
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HornheaDD said:
The Trip To Bountiful. (1985)

Hadnt watched this in about 20 years. It's very much a movie that's just a slow enjoyable burn. Based on a play of the same name and you can tell since there are about 6 characters and the same amount of set pieces.

Watched it with my mom ages ago on a Saturday afternoon TV showcase, and kinda did the same with this viewing.

Similar to Harvey, it's just a good simple movie worth a good simple watch.
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I saw it recently for the first time. It was tough to get through the initial sequences, till I realized, I was watching the hot babe from Sweet Bird of Youth. It's also very rewarding to actually reach Bountiful (young De Mornay helped a lot), but at the end, the sadness is irreversible. Gloom at depressive levels. With the old lady's fucked-up, sickening, darn son in mind, I lurked the Firearm enthusiast thread and felt a bit better afterwards.
 
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Young Frankenstein.

I haven’t seen this for over 20 years but it is just as funny as I remember it. Marty Feldman is hilarious as Igor. The “walk this way... no, this way” scene gets me every time. Classic Mel Brooks slap-stick humour.
 
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DevilRedeemed said:
Hell or High Water

It's a 9
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It's a great film imo... reminds me of the old style Westerns...

Ben Fosters film Galveston... wasn't so good....

Hollow and pointless imo... the sort of film you'd watch... and then bin... if you brought it on DVD...

xROTx
 
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Because it's the most wonderful time of the year, I went over to the Alamo the other night and watched Evil Dead 2 with the wife. She apparently had forgotten most of it as she had only watched it one other time with me. "Bobby Jooooooo!!!" I've always preferred 2 to the first one. Movie works so much better as horror/comedy than just a straight gore film for me. Not a whole lot to say that people haven't said a million times. It's beautiful schlock and everyone should see it.

Anyway, the Joe Bob marathon continued with Daughters of Darkness, a weird Belgian vampire movie. Significantly better than the last couple (some fine-ass pussy for an early 70s movie too) and Joe Bob made it all the better with his rambling about Eastern European geography and his love of lesbo vampire movies. That said, it's still slow and plodding in that kind of Europe-y way that a lot of movies from that time period are. Thankfully, I think we're through the worst of it as Re-Animator and Basket Case are coming up shortly.
 
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Evil Dead is to Real Bout as Evil Dead 2 is to Real Bout Special.

And Army of Darkness is Real Bout 2.
 
terry.330

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Accurate.

Ghost Writer- Polanski still has it (at least at the time of release) worth watching just for how fucking cool the house is.
 
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terry.330 said:
Accurate.

Ghost Writer- Polanski still has it (at least at the time of release) worth watching just for how fucking the house is.
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It wasn't bad, but kind of predictable. Also, I'm starting to think I might not like McGregor as an actor. Sometimes he's really good, but a lot of the time, he's barely okay.
 
terry.330

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Got no real problem with Ewan, he gets the job done usually.

Kim was still looking pretty good for her age. There were couple shots where I was like "damn, I'd fuck that old skank" Her accent however was not good.

Watched the Veronica Mars movie today, ugh. I enjoyed the series for what it was but Kirsten Bell has become so insufferable it's just horrible.
 
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Winter's bone
Most people here have probably already seen this, so no need for a synopsis, great "backwoods country noir" not going to use the term white trash because the situation of Ree, her mother and the kids was actually touching, also that cop stopping the car scene was one of the best badass moments in cinema I've seen in a long time. Apparently based on a novel, I'm gonna check out the author's other stuff.

Bone Tomahawk
Same as the above regarding the plot, best new western I've seen, really grisly. Also, Kurt Russell.

Both 4/5
 
F4U57

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I haven’t seen Winter’s Bone but you’ve got me interested.
 
SouthtownKid

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F4U57 said:
I haven’t seen Winter’s Bone but you’ve got me interested.
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It's fucking tremendous. It will make you depressed for the awful movies Jennifer Lawrence has chosen after this, because she is unbelievably good here. Sheryl Lee also has a great performance in a small role.
 
F4U57

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SouthtownKid said:
It's fucking tremendous. It will make you depressed for the awful movies Jennifer Lawrence has chosen after this, because she is unbelievably good here. Sheryl Lee also has a great performance in a small role.
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Noted. I haven’t seen Sheryl Lee in anything but TP and Wild at Heart. And Jennifer Lawrence is hot. She can act too, but she is hot. Actually I remember when this came out it getting great reviews and I wanted to see it, but I forgot all about it. Bumped up the To Watch Pile list.
 
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