raw - 4.5/5 vegetarian veterinary student discovers her inner carnivore. not the first movie to equate sexual awakening & yearning for conformity with violence & blood-lust, but it absolutely hit all the right notes for me every step of the way. fantastically atmospheric, viciously brutal at times & containing one of the toughest, most squirm-inducing scenes i've seen in i don't know how long, but also very funny & satirical. reminiscent of body-horror era cronenberg & dario argento, & potentially my movie of the year.
I forgot that this came out this year! (was thinking I saw it last year for some reason) I really enjoyed this one too, and am now kind of itching to see it again. I loved the finger scene... talk about awkward...
i think it did get some 2016 screenings, but no wide release until this year - so perhaps you did catch it somewhere last year?
have you ever seen ginger snaps? i feel like raw & ginger snaps are almost 'sister' films.
“It means finding the very human narrative of a man navigating between idealism and pragmatism, faith and politics, non- violence, the pitfalls of acclaim as the perils of rejection” - Lesley Hazleton on the first Muslim, the prophet.
I forgot that this came out this year! (was thinking I saw it last year for some reason) I really enjoyed this one too, and am now kind of itching to see it again. I loved the finger scene... talk about awkward...
i think it did get some 2016 screenings, but no wide release until this year - so perhaps you did catch it somewhere last year?
have you ever seen ginger snaps? i feel like raw & ginger snaps are almost 'sister' films.
I haven't seen this yet, but it looks perfect for the season! I'll look it up this weekend
singin' in the rain - 5/5 - i found singin' in the rain to be ridiculously entertaining. how entertaining? i watched twice, in full, on consecutive evenings, then scanned through the disc again to watch some of the numbers, some of which included almost superhuman movements.
playtime (1967) 5/5 various characters attempt to navigate a futuristic building & have dinner at a newly opened restaurant/club. very much reminded me of some of terry gilliam's movies, in the intricate, detailed sets & in the way it perpetually was teetering on the edge of devolving into complete chaos. i've only watched it once, but it seems like a movie with incredible replay value, with it's carefully calibrated chaos & perpetually odd things things poking in at the edges.
singin' in the rain - 5/5 - i found singin' in the rain to be ridiculously entertaining. how entertaining? i watched twice, in full, on consecutive evenings, then scanned through the disc again to watch some of the numbers, some of which included almost superhuman movements.
For some reason I watched Star Wars I - III again. 3/10. Especially I is really laughably bad. And there's not a single shot that's not 90% CGI.
i think a pretty solid case could be made for ep 1 being the worst major studio movie ever released. laughably bad is a perfect description - it's badly written & clumsy & overloaded with graphics & stiffly acted. but what really makes it a historically awful film is that it as almost impossibly inert & boring. i'd give it a 0/5. there's really nothing of value in it.
the other two are better i suppose, at least in that they have a little more life & energy. both have enough enjoyable scenes to make them a bit fun to go back to every now and then, something i never do with ep 1. the last one almost rises to some level of competence, possibly. i'd say 1/5 + 2/5 for 2 + 3.
i don't like sand. no, it's because i'm so in love with you. yeesh.
the leopard (1963) long (my god, it was long) period piece about a prince attempting to manoeuver through political & national upheaval in 1860s italy. i found the first 2 hours of this 187 minute movie to be a real dirge. i don't think i've ever checked the time left on a film quite so much in my life. the last hour mostly involves a very elaborate & colourful ballroom dance, and the energy picked up for me at that point, but overall this was a very long slog. perhaps it was just the wrong thing to watch at the end of a fairly long day & i might have been more receptive if i'd tried in the morning or afternoon, but i don't think i'll be going back to give it another go any time soon.
Collateral Beauty - 3/5 It got bad reviews, I guess because with such a cast you really don't get drawn into the characters. But I liked the premise and the story enough to make it interesting though I couldn't tell you the definition of collateral beauty.
For some reason I watched Star Wars I - III again. 3/10. Especially I is really laughably bad. And there's not a single shot that's not 90% CGI.
i think a pretty solid case could be made for ep 1 being the worst major studio movie ever released. laughably bad is a perfect description - it's badly written & clumsy & overloaded with graphics & stiffly acted. but what really makes it a historically awful film is that it as almost impossibly inert & boring. i'd give it a 0/5. there's really nothing of value in it.
the other two are better i suppose, at least in that they have a little more life & energy. both have enough enjoyable scenes to make them a bit fun to go back to every now and then, something i never do with ep 1. the last one almost rises to some level of competence, possibly. i'd say 1/5 + 2/5 for 2 + 3.
i don't like sand. no, it's because i'm so in love with you. yeesh.
i think a pretty solid case could be made for ep 1 being the worst major studio movie ever released. laughably bad is a perfect description - it's badly written & clumsy & overloaded with graphics & stiffly acted. but what really makes it a historically awful film is that it as almost impossibly inert & boring. i'd give it a 0/5. there's really nothing of value in it.
the other two are better i suppose, at least in that they have a little more life & energy. both have enough enjoyable scenes to make them a bit fun to go back to every now and then, something i never do with ep 1. the last one almost rises to some level of competence, possibly. i'd say 1/5 + 2/5 for 2 + 3.
i don't like sand. no, it's because i'm so in love with you. yeesh.
The saber battle at the end of I was its sole redeeming quality. Liam Neeson, Ian McDiarmid, and Pernilla August were just wasted. It was just heartbreakingly bad given the anticipation for it. I'd go .5 for I, for II and for III.
Good night, sweet Prince | 7 June 1958 - 21 April 2016
Props will be withheld until the showing and proving has commenced. -- Aaron McGruder
The saber battle at the end of I was its sole redeeming quality. Liam Neeson, Ian McDiarmid, and Pernilla August were just wasted. It was just heartbreakingly bad given the anticipation for it. I'd go .5 for I, for II and for III.
i have the feeling this may have been discussed here fairly recently, maybe on one of the review threads, but i'd like to know what you think...(& phishanga too, of course)...
you're fairly luke-warm on the force awakens, right? would you rank III over tfa? or do you consider them about equal?
tfa is definitely a retread, and i think it definitely doesn't have the same kind of replay value because of that - but i still think it's far superior than to 3 (which is surely the best of the prequels, i agree), just on basic film-making competencies. it's paced properly, the good & great actors are able to perform properly, nothing in it really makes me cringe, the effects have a weight that i never felt in the prequels, etc.
Collateral Beauty - 3/5 It got bad reviews, I guess because with such a cast you really don't get drawn into the characters. But I liked the premise and the story enough to make it interesting though I couldn't tell you the definition of collateral beauty.
It's quite enjoyable, i lked it although i can see why it was met with so much critisism.
The saber battle at the end of I was its sole redeeming quality. Liam Neeson, Ian McDiarmid, and Pernilla August were just wasted. It was just heartbreakingly bad given the anticipation for it. I'd go .5 for I, for II and for III.
i have the feeling this may have been discussed here fairly recently, maybe on one of the review threads, but i'd like to know what you think...(& phishanga too, of course)...
you're fairly luke-warm on the force awakens, right? would you rank III over tfa? or do you consider them about equal?
tfa is definitely a retread, and i think it definitely doesn't have the same kind of replay value because of that - but i still think it's far superior than to 3 (which is surely the best of the prequels, i agree), just on basic film-making competencies. it's paced properly, the good & great actors are able to perform properly, nothing in it really makes me cringe, the effects have a weight that i never felt in the prequels, etc.
Despite my genuine excitement for TLJ (I have great faith in Rian Johnson charting a new, powerful arc for the saga), I've cooled on TFA, but it remains superior to III imo despite the story being derivative of ANH, largely because it had the original cast intact, relied less on CGI, and the chemistry among the characters was far more real.
III was a good movie in its own right. But on further consideration, I'd give an edge to TFA at .5 (down from the I gave TFA 22 months ago).
I think Rogue One is superior to the I-III or TFA.
[Edited 10/25/17 16:09pm]
Good night, sweet Prince | 7 June 1958 - 21 April 2016
Props will be withheld until the showing and proving has commenced. -- Aaron McGruder
I watched The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones yesterday, and in spite of the bad dialogue they were both still really exciting. The climax in Menace with the 4 battles going on at once is still my favorite in the saga. I'll never understand the hatred for the CGI. Should they not show the capital of the Republic just becausee people can't handle planets that don't look like Antarctica or the Sahara desert? The Coruscant night life in episode 2 is still drop dead gorgeous in 1080p.
i have the feeling this may have been discussed here fairly recently, maybe on one of the review threads, but i'd like to know what you think...(& phishanga too, of course)...
you're fairly luke-warm on the force awakens, right? would you rank III over tfa? or do you consider them about equal?
tfa is definitely a retread, and i think it definitely doesn't have the same kind of replay value because of that - but i still think it's far superior than to 3 (which is surely the best of the prequels, i agree), just on basic film-making competencies. it's paced properly, the good & great actors are able to perform properly, nothing in it really makes me cringe, the effects have a weight that i never felt in the prequels, etc.
Despite my genuine excitement for TLJ (I have great faith in Rian Johnson charting a new, powerful arc for the saga), I've cooled on TFA, but it remains superior to III imo despite the story being derivative of ANH, largely because it had the original cast intact, relied less on CGI, and the chemistry among the characters was far more real.
III was a good movie in its own right. But on further consideration, I'd give an edge to TFA at .5 (down from the I gave TFA 22 months ago).
I think Rogue One is superior to the I-III or TFA.
[Edited 10/25/17 16:09pm]
I remember liking TFA when I first saw it, but when I recently started again, not all the way through yet, it bothered me much more that the writing is just so lazy, in the sense that it's basically copy-paste. But it definitely looks much better and no one says "so that's how democracy fails... with thunderous applause" or whatever the fuck that was. Poor Natalie Portman. At least Ep III tries something, so... I don't know.
I watched The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones yesterday, and in spite of the bad dialogue they were both still really exciting. The climax in Menace with the 4 battles going on at once is still my favorite in the saga. I'll never understand the hatred for the CGI. Should they not show the capital of the Republic just becausee people can't handle planets that don't look like Antarctica or the Sahara desert? The Coruscant night life in episode 2 is still drop dead gorgeous in 1080p.
Those are ok, yes, but it's just everywhere and much of it look so bad, IMO... I don't know why I'm thinking of that scene specifically, but in Ep III Obi-Wan stands above the destroyed General Grievous and it looks so fake and plastic. And is it Ep III, when C3PO dangles from this machine things? Goof lord.
I still have to see Blade Runner, maybe the new Thor/Hulk movie and most definitely The Last Jedi. But it’s been a very very bad movie going year so far.
So far, I would give every award to Dunkirk. Not because it’s a perfect film, just that it’s the best film this year so far.
Solaris (1972) - A psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane.
I finally made it to the end of this one! Actually, the cinematography at times is exquisite and the movie gives you a lot to think about. It's so dense with subtext that I should watch it again before forming an opinion--all of Tarkovsky's films should be seen more than once anyway--but for now I'll prematurely rate it 4/5
playtime (1967) 5/5 various characters attempt to navigate a futuristic building & have dinner at a newly opened restaurant/club. very much reminded me of some of terry gilliam's movies, in the intricate, detailed sets & in the way it perpetually was teetering on the edge of devolving into complete chaos. i've only watched it once, but it seems like a movie with incredible replay value, with it's carefully calibrated chaos & perpetually odd things things poking in at the edges.
Tati's Mon Oncle is another good one, but Playtime is near flawless. I bought the Jacques Tati Criterion box set after completely falling for that one.
There is also the animated film, The Illusionist to get an additional fix of Monsieur Hulot--which I admittedly saw before any of the Tati movies so my first impression was not as positive as it is now knowing the backstory.
It got an Oscar nomination for best animated feature film, but unsurprisingly lost to Toy Story 3.
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I'll look it up this weekend
.5 for I, 
