sexton said:

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

ha, that first sentence legitimately made me lol.

i agree on the value of repeat views with tarkovsky. new viewings really do give fresh rewards. i do find the first section of solaris a bit tough. some scenes really just are too long i feel - though i actually love the shots of driving through japan. don't ask me why; i'm not going to attempt to justify that opinion, but i actually love those moments.

sexton said:

damosuzuki said:

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.

i have had 'the illusionist' bookmarked on sundancenow for at least 1/2 a year, and did start to watch it about 2 months back, but got pulled away by family commitments and never got back to it. i had no idea that it had any kind of connection to tati, monsieur hulot, or playtime. i'll definitely make a point of watching it now. thanks for the heads-up!

pather panchali (1955) - 4/5 i think this story of an impoverished family struggling to survive in rural bengal may well be the saddest, most depressing film i've ever watched to completion. i have to add that qualifier in there because i've never managed to watch grave of the fireflies through to the end. it's a bit of a tough watch from a technical aspect - the film, or at least the print i saw, is not in brilliant shape & the sound was a bit rough too. i'm glad i watched it, it's interesting both for its historical value as the first indian film to be widely seen internationally & as a look at the relentless grind of poverty, but it truly did leave me feeling depressed in a way few other films ever have.

Thor: Ragnarok (20017) It's my fav Thor film to date, it has lots of action, its funny, there is a beefcake scene and Cate Blanchett is a total badass as Hela Spoiler Alert: Watch out for the mid and a post credit scene. I give it a 4.5 out of 5

[Edited 10/26/17 22:36pm]

Goddess4Real said:

Thor: Ragnarok (20017) It's my fav Thor film to date, it has lots of action, its funny, there is a beefcake scene and Cate Blanchett is a total badass as Hela Spoiler Alert: Watch out for the mid and a post credit scene. I give it a 4.5 out of 5

[Edited 10/26/17 22:36pm]

Did you see at an early screening?

I'd never heard of this and had low expectations. It's really good!

The Florida Project -

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

predictable but wholly enjoyable!

XxAxX said:

predictable but wholly enjoyable!

It's time for the Final Org Fitness Thread of 2017!

You probably think I'm on the wrong thread. No, YOU are on the wrong thread. I know what I'm doing, but if you are not in tip-top shape by now, then wait one week and then check in on the actual new Final Org Fitness Thread of 2017 for the tips you need in order to not be mistaken for Santa Claus or, God forbid, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

But still - fitness!

As the groupies who exist in my mind know, I embarked on a push-up quest last year. I did 100 push-ups every single day. Then this year, I resumed that program, although I've missed a day or two here and there. The main reason I'm still doing push-ups is that since I started, I have not been sick one minute of one day...until now.

My favorite mother-in-law shall forever be known as Typhoid Favorite Mother-In-Law. She gave me a cold! She gave everyone in the office a cold! You would think that a woman who is without a doubt a professional vodka drinker (said with peace and love) would have an immune system that, if nothing else, would drown all germs in vodka. But no! She made us all sick, including Mr. 60,000 Push-Ups Since January 1, 2016.

This really upsets me. I did all those push-ups for nothing! I could have slept an extra 10 minutes every morning! Oh well, at least I look good. I'll make a handsome corpse after I die from this cold.

So now you know - I am sick. But not as sick as an old friend of ours, who passed away last week. Great guy, lived to the grand old age of 85. Even though I was sick, I drove with my wife and Typhoid Favorite Mother-In-Law to Dallas Friday, for the Saturday morning funeral. But when we got to Dallas, I felt even sicker (Dallas can do that to normal people), so I missed the reception Friday night AND the funeral Saturday morning. I stayed in the hotel room, feeling sorry for myself and watching....

30 Days of Night.

What a great title! But as you may have surmised after a seven-paragraph lead-in that centered around mucous and chills, not so great a movie. I still felt an obligation to entertain you though, so you got to hear about my maladies in a hopefully entertaining way. I'll try to do the same with this movie.

I missed the first 10 minutes, which may have made all the difference. When I tuned in, some ugly guy was in an Alaskan jail cell, telling the Alaskans they were all marked to die. His teeth were a silver grill and since this movie was made in 2007, I just figured he was a fan of 2007's most popular rapper, Paul Wall:



Go Astros!

Anyway, the grill guy was actually transitioning into a vampire. Somehow he had been hand-picked by the vampires to come to this Alaskan town just as it entered its 30 polar night (hence the awesome title), disable all power, and prepare the townspeople for being the main course at the Vampire Feast.

It turns out I'd already missed the vampires eating most of the townspeople, but the survivors were making a plan. That plan involved running. But that's about it.

The vampires seemed more to me to be zombies. They looked like zombies; they ate like zombies; and you killed them like you kill zombies - by lopping off their heads. The only differences I could see were that the vampires had their own language (sounded like Klingon to me, but all sci-fi languages sound like Klingon to me), and the sun fried them.

Most of this movie was non-sensical. So many questions, such as if the vampires could smell blood, run super fast, and were super-strong, how could they not find the survivors for four weeks? How could the survivors safely walk from one place to another, which they did many times? If the survivors were safe in a particular house, why did they decide to leave after only a few days? Where did they go to the restroom when they were holed up in that attic for a week? How did that little girl they found on the last day survive all by herself for 29 days? Why was she covered in blood and yet wasn't a vampire herself? And on and on and on and on.

Josh Hartnett is the town sheriff and after out-witting many vampires for a month, and coming within a few hours of the sunrise, decides the only way to beat the vampires is to become a vampire himself. He figures this is a good plan because he's noticed that people bitten by the vampires don't immediately turn into vampires. They grow vampire teeth, but are still their non-blood-sucking selves for a few hours.

Hartnett decides to inject himself with vampire blood and then go fight the vampire leader before he goes Full Vampire himself. How he knows which one is the Vampire Leader is never explained.

The Vampire Leader beats the poop out of Hartnett but Hartnett gets his second vampire wind and makes a thrilling comeback. He wins the fight by jamming his fist through the throat of the Vampire Leader when the Leader tries to finish him off by leaping on him from a great height. It was a move straight out of professional wrestling!

Luckily for Hartnett, there are THREE things that kill vampires and the third thing is a fist through the throat. No one else attempts this move, however.

Like a Jenga pile that should have fallen down ten moves ago, the movie finally crumbles here. Even though no other vampire is outwardly affected by the killing of the Vampire Leader, they all disperse anyway. Maybe they had to go back to their coffins before sunrise? If so, the two-minute fight between Hartnett and the Vampire Leader was kind of pointless. The vampires were all about to leave anyway, right? I don't know.

What I do know is that Hartnett and his estranged wife have rekindled their love for each other just in time to watch the sunrise together, which melts off Hartnett's face. The end.

I think this movie is a waste of a great title. It's the opposite of "Shockadelica" (please do not tell me I need to explain that on PRINCE dot org). It is very well shot and directed, but sadly there's not a plausible story to work with. So I have to give "30 Days of Night":

One Melted Face out of Five Melted Faces.

edited. Arrival

this is a brilliant movie. the female protagonist is strong, makes her own decisions and is allowed to thwart and ultimately change a military patriarchy for the betterment of humankind. an excellent watch!

[Edited 10/29/17 9:48am]

Frank and Lola.....4/5 stars

Blade Runner 2049 (2017) - A young blade runner's discovery of a long-buried secret leads him to track down former blade runner Rick Deckard, who's been missing for thirty years.

It looked stunning in IMAX. I wish I had time for another viewing in that format. The plot was a worthy sequel to the original in my opinion. 4.5/5

[Edited 11/7/17 15:25pm]

XxAxX said:

edited. Arrival

this is a brilliant movie. the female protagonist is strong, makes her own decisions and is allowed to thwart and ultimately change a military patriarchy for the betterment of humankind. an excellent watch!

[Edited 10/29/17 9:48am]

Really that good? to me is a very overrated film.

214 said:

XxAxX said:

edited. Arrival

this is a brilliant movie. the female protagonist is strong, makes her own decisions and is allowed to thwart and ultimately change a military patriarchy for the betterment of humankind. an excellent watch!

[Edited 10/29/17 9:48am]

Really that good? to me is a very overrated film.

massively overrated. silly even.

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

214 said:

Really that good? to me is a very overrated film.

massively overrated. silly even.

For some reason I couldn't get into that film......3 out of 5

XxAxX said:

edited. Arrival

this is a brilliant movie. the female protagonist is strong, makes her own decisions and is allowed to thwart and ultimately change a military patriarchy for the betterment of humankind. an excellent watch!

[Edited 10/29/17 9:48am]

Funny, initially I got this confused with the Charlie Sheen movie called The Arrival from 1996, which I really enjoyed. Can't comment on this one yet; will have to check it out.

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

214 said:

Really that good? to me is a very overrated film.

massively overrated. silly even.

Yes, as overrated as Rogue One. Rogue One is a good movie, enoyable enough, but really nothing special. The best thing about this film is the Darth Vader badass scene, but that's about it. Episode 7 is much better; although the storyline is quite similar with the Darth Vader's one.

214 said:

XxAxX said:

edited. Arrival

this is a brilliant movie. the female protagonist is strong, makes her own decisions and is allowed to thwart and ultimately change a military patriarchy for the betterment of humankind. an excellent watch!

[Edited 10/29/17 9:48am]

Really that good? to me is a very overrated film.

that's okay. we can have different responses to the film. i liked the idea that language can rewire our brains, and the notion that she was experiencing life on two (or more) time tracks simultaneously.

Goddess4Real said:

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

massively overrated. silly even.

For some reason I couldn't get into that film......3 out of 5

i liked amy adams in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, which is wonderful good fun imo. the character she plays in Arrival is 180 degrees different from her character in Miss Pettigrew. reminded me of how talented she is. imo.

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

214 said:

Really that good? to me is a very overrated film.

massively overrated. silly even.

to each their own, i guess i'm always down with a strong female protagonist

purplethunder3121 said:

XxAxX said:

edited. Arrival

this is a brilliant movie. the female protagonist is strong, makes her own decisions and is allowed to thwart and ultimately change a military patriarchy for the betterment of humankind. an excellent watch!

[Edited 10/29/17 9:48am]

Funny, initially I got this confused with the Charlie Sheen movie called The Arrival from 1996, which I really enjoyed. Can't comment on this one yet; will have to check it out.

hope you like it! i think i'm the only one here who does

214 said:

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

massively overrated. silly even.

Yes, as overrated as Rogue One. Rogue One is a good movie, enoyable enough, but really nothing special. The best thing about this film is the Darth Vader badass scene, but that's about it. Episode 7 is much better; although the storyline is quite similar with the Darth Vader's one.

Rogue One ? I'mma check it out. what is Episode 7??

[Edited 10/30/17 15:38pm]

XxAxX said:

purplethunder3121 said:

Funny, initially I got this confused with the Charlie Sheen movie called The Arrival from 1996, which I really enjoyed. Can't comment on this one yet; will have to check it out.

hope you like it! i think i'm the only one here who does

I liked it too, it's a cool movie i just don't think is great or as great as people made it out to be.

Rogue One gets better every time I watch it. I wish there was a commentary and deleted scenes on the home video release, every Star Wars film should come with those.

XxAxX, Episode VII is Star Wars: The Force Awakens which is currently the highest grossing movie of all time. https://en.wikipedia.org/...ion_series

Hudson said:

Rogue One gets better every time I watch it. I wish there was a commentary and deleted scenes on the home video release, every Star Wars film should come with those.

XxAxX, Episode VII is Star Wars: The Force Awakens which is currently the highest grossing movie of all time. https://en.wikipedia.org/...ion_series

Yep. I agree.

And I don't think that's the case with The Force Awakens. The ending of TFA feels rushed, weird and tacked on. Far more so than Rogue One.

Hudson said:

Rogue One gets better every time I watch it. I wish there was a commentary and deleted scenes on the home video release, every Star Wars film should come with those.

XxAxX, Episode VII is Star Wars: The Force Awakens which is currently the highest grossing movie of all time. https://en.wikipedia.org/...ion_series

aha! thanks! got to have a peek at that too

XxAxX said:

edited. Arrival

this is a brilliant movie. the female protagonist is strong, makes her own decisions and is allowed to thwart and ultimately change a military patriarchy for the betterment of humankind. an excellent watch!

[Edited 10/29/17 9:48am]

This is a great film. Avoid the 1996 one with the same title though!

Lianachan said:

XxAxX said:

edited. Arrival

this is a brilliant movie. the female protagonist is strong, makes her own decisions and is allowed to thwart and ultimately change a military patriarchy for the betterment of humankind. an excellent watch!

[Edited 10/29/17 9:48am]

I liked that film...

This is a great film. Avoid the 1996 one with the same title though!