rdhull said:

ufoclub said:

“Call Me by Your Name”... 5 stars Saw Call Me By Your Name, and wow, even with the training of seasons of Parenthood and This Is Us, the last parts of the movie with that father son talk... and that last shot... poignant. And I was scared it would stick within the Bertolucci type of romance sex travelogue. Not that I’m not a huge fan of The Last Emperor.

My favorite movie in a long time. That kid acted his ass off. He was heartbreaking. In the ending yes, but also being embarrassed in the peach scene.

plays: Love My Way

the ending of cmbyn is perfect. the movie was already great, but that ending makes it an all-timer.

the velvet vampire (1971) 4/5

elements of 70s sleazy exploitation, jodorowsky trippiness & a pinch of a feminist manifesto all work quite nicely together in this highly enjoyable vampire film, directed by stephanie meyers, who was definitely one of the more interesting talents in 70s low budget exploitation. michael bledgett (lance rocke from beyond the valley of the dolls!!!) & his blonde girlfriend don't do the greatest job of selling their parts as the victims, but celest yarnall plays the role of a bisexual vampire very nicely and she is quite the sexy little number to boot.

i have the feeling this is one of the arrows anna biller had in her quiver when she was putting the love witch together.

lair of the white worm (1988) 3.5/5 one of the rare times that a revisit to a film i hadn't seen in decades holds up well. this is bonkers trash done properly: insane dream sequences, hugh grant cuts a snake lady in half, & amanda donohoe doesn't shave her armpits & wears a snake-shaped strap-on.

the midnight swim (2014) 3.5/5

an intriguing no-budget movie that plays like a family relationship drama before it takes a dive into deep end weirdness. i think it's undercut a bit by some slightly silly moments & maybe some occasionally wobbly acting, but by the end it almost felt like a female version of gaspar noe's enter the void - slightly similar themes, and it's just about as equally self-serious and ridiculous at times.

damosuzuki said:

rdhull said:

My favorite movie in a long time. That kid acted his ass off. He was heartbreaking. In the ending yes, but also being embarrassed in the peach scene.

plays: Love My Way

the ending of cmbyn is perfect. the movie was already great, but that ending makes it an all-timer.

I hope he gets the Oscar but they are going to give it to Oldman for lifetime works and that oscar bait biopic. Fuck.

We're watching The Shape of Water tonight.

The Phantom Thread 4 / 10

TrivialPursuit said:

We're watching The Shape of Water tonight.

dark version of Splash

luvsexy4all said:

TrivialPursuit said:

We're watching The Shape of Water tonight.

dark version of Splash

My roommate mentioned that.

Another friend wanted to see it because of Del Toro directing. Then he pointed out the 'asset' in The Shape of Water was almost identical to Del Toro's Abe Sapien from Hellboy. Doug Jones played both characters, too. (del Toro and Jones have a long filmmaking relationship anyway.) Some wonder if TSOW is in the Hellboy universe.

By the way out of 5, * * * * 1/2

TrivialPursuit said:

luvsexy4all said:

dark version of Splash

My roommate mentioned that.

Another friend wanted to see it because of Del Toro directing. Then he pointed out the 'asset' in The Shape of Water was almost identical to Del Toro's Abe Sapien from Hellboy. Doug Jones played both characters, too. (del Toro and Jones have a long filmmaking relationship anyway.) Some wonder if TSOW is in the Hellboy universe.

By the way out of 5, * * * * 1/2

someone on twitter just called shape of water 'grinding nemo' and i'm pretty sure i'll now never be able to call it anything else.

i loved it too. 5/5 from me.

ufoclub said:

I’m not a fan of “The Shape of Water”, of course it’s well shot and designed. But for me it’s badly written and in some moments, badly directed. Not in an obvious way, since it’s crafted and postured like a million bucks.

what do you think of pan's labyrinth, if you don't mind me asking?

i went back and watched it shortly after seeing 'shape...' - probably the first time i'd watched pan's since it was released.

i knew it was a great movie, but i'd forgotten just how much i loved it, really. i thought it was basically perfect, right down to the final shot.

i like 'shape...' a lot, would easily rate it as one of my own favourites of last year, but i don't think i'd argue with anyone who said pan's was far superior.

not that it's all some zero-sum competition.

rdhull said:

damosuzuki said:

the ending of cmbyn is perfect. the movie was already great, but that ending makes it an all-timer.

I hope he gets the Oscar but they are going to give it to Oldman

damosuzuki said:

TrivialPursuit said:

My roommate mentioned that.

Another friend wanted to see it because of Del Toro directing. Then he pointed out the 'asset' in The Shape of Water was almost identical to Del Toro's Abe Sapien from Hellboy. Doug Jones played both characters, too. (del Toro and Jones have a long filmmaking relationship anyway.) Some wonder if TSOW is in the Hellboy universe.

By the way out of 5, * * * * 1/2

someone on twitter just called shape of water 'grinding nemo'

You guys may or may not know that it was shot in Toronto (with a soupcon of Hamilton, apparently).

P.S. I've met del Toro. Sweetheart of a guy. Gave me a big bear-hug!

damosuzuki said:

ufoclub said:

I’m not a fan of “The Shape of Water”, of course it’s well shot and designed. But for me it’s badly written and in some moments, badly directed. Not in an obvious way, since it’s crafted and postured like a million bucks.

what do you think of pan's labyrinth, if you don't mind me asking?

i went back and watched it shortly after seeing 'shape...' - probably the first time i'd watched pan's since it was released.

i knew it was a great movie, but i'd forgotten just how much i loved it, really. i thought it was basically perfect, right down to the final shot.

i like 'shape...' a lot, would easily rate it as one of my own favourites of last year, but i don't think i'd argue with anyone who said pan's was far superior.

not that it's all some zero-sum competition.

I really like "Pan's Labyrinth" although I do feel it is a bit torturous (cruelty porn). The part where the farmer's son is killed is unbearable!

The ending is incredibly emotional. It has been a fantasy of mine to create a music video for the Prince song 3121 with shots from Pan's Labyrinth, lol.

I also really liked "Pacific Rim" as perfect popcorn entertainment.

ufoclub said:

I’m not a fan of “The Shape of Water”, of course it’s well shot and designed. But for me it’s badly written and in some moments, badly directed. Not in an obvious way, since it’s crafted and postured like a million bucks.

I haven't seen it. The subject matter just doesn't interest me. But I've seen the trailer and it looks gorgeous.

I, Tonya (2017)

A movie that matches 3 Billboards' mix of absurdity and brutality. Another great ensemble performance, with Allison Janney and Margot Robbie leading the way, earning well-deserved Oscar ominations. Neither may be my first choice but they'd earn the wins.

Sebastian Stan was really good, too.

.5

ufoclub said:

“Call Me by Your Name”... 5 stars Saw Call Me By Your Name, and wow, even with the training of seasons of Parenthood and This Is Us, the last parts of the movie with that father son talk... and that last shot... poignant. And I was scared it would stick within the Bertolucci type of romance sex travelogue. Not that I’m not a huge fan of The Last Emperor.

This film is a masterpiece, haven't seen yet Call Me By Your Name.

214 said:

ufoclub said:

214 said:

This film is a masterpiece, haven't seen yet Call Me By Your Name.

The ending of The Last Emperor destroys me.

remind me the ending please

Last night was the final night of my Birthday Weekend #1. The festivities conclude with Birthday Weekend #2 this upcoming weekend. But honestly, I just put this in so y'all would wish me happy birthday.

At any rate, since it was my Birthday Weekend #1, I used my perogative and decided not to watch the Olympics with my wife. She LOVES the Olympics. I think they are her favorite thing in the world. Summer or Winter Olympics, it doesn't matter. She just loves them.

She loves them so much that not only does she watch the primetime telecasts, but I also have to get to watch the late-night broadcasts on NBCSN or NBCSNOOZE as I call it. I have probably watched more skeet shooting or biathalon than you have. I'm not bragging about that, either.

Back to the story. I left my wife downstairs to watch ice dancing or ice skating or ice sculpturing, while I went upstairs obstenisbly to tune my guitars, but really to watch SyFy, who was KILLING it last night! First, I watched most of the end of "The Transporter" and it was great. Jason Statham was much more of a badass in that one than in any of the other Transporter movies.

But the feature presentation was another Jason Statham movie - "The Mechanic". What a great movie! More or less!

This was my second viewing of "The Mechanic" but I don't think I've ever reviewed it before. So here goes!

Statham plays a mechanic - in every way. He's restored this awesomely beautiful Jaguar E-type:




I guess that's the actual car from the movie, which is good news because SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT it gets blown up at the end. So they must have blown up a model or some other fakery.

At any rate, Statham is also another kind of mechanic - a hired killer. He's really good at it, too! His handler is Donald Sutherland. Sutherland is a partner in The Company, which is a private enterprise that arranges for people to get whacked. It appears they only whack bad people, but nonetheless whacking is the name of the game. Which reminds me:

I never watched "The Sopranos". Don't hate me. It just held no interest to me. Not even after I saw the greatest entry ever in TV Guide. It said, and I quote, "Big Pussy gets whacked". How that ever made it past the TV Guide censors I'll never know, but it sure was unforgettable!

Sutherland is Statham's mentor. Sutherland is also in a wheelchair. Sutherland also (allegedly) sold out some other Company hitmen in Cape Town, South Africa who then got whacked and Statham is instructed to kill his turncoat of a mentor.

Which he does.

But they have a nice conversation first. Sutherland knows Statham has tricked him into coming to an empty parking garage, and knows he's being killed because of Cape Town. But Sutherland doesn't argue. He just says, "Do it. Might as well be you. The Company will send others if you don't do it. At least I know you won't let me suffer. Take care of my son".

This is an important conversation.

Because, Statham does take care of Sutherland's son. The son is a total loser but is good at fighting and killing people. Too good, in fact, and he gets fired from jobs where his skills would come in use. So he asks Statham to train him to be a mechanic too. He does not know Statham killed his dad. But Statham feels guilty, and decides to train the guy.

The son's first job is to kill some gigantic hitman who works for a competitor. This dude is HUGE. Like, 6'7" and 350 pounds of muscle. The son - whose name is Steve - is supposed to seduce this dude and then poison him. Steve seduces him but decides he'd rather choke him with a belt, like he'd seen Statham do to another guy.

Big mistake.

Steve is nearly killed in the fight but somehow wins. But because most of his face was kicked in, Statham figures out Steve did not follow directions. This does not please Statham but they have another job to do. They've got to kill some shyster preacher guy.

Steve screws that up too, by not securing a nut which rolls out of the ventilator he and Statham are hiding in, which leads to a giant shoot-out, which makes the news. This does not please the president of The Company.

However, Statham is not pleased either because at the airport, he sees one of the guys that was supposed to have been killed in Cape Town. The guy says, "No man, I wasn't killed. I killed everyone else though, and me and The Company president put the blame on Donald Sutherland". Naturally this infuriates Statham and naturally Statham kills this dude and declares war on The Company's president.

The war doesn't take long, either. Statham and Steve eventually turn the president's head into mush with about 150 machine gun rounds fired at point blank range. They figure now is a good time to disappear but back at Statham's home, Steve finds his father's gun and realizes Statham had killed his dad.

Now, this is the part of the movie that I thought was weak. There were all kinds of reason for Statham to have Sutherland's gun. Plus, Steve hated his father. But I guess that since Steve was a loser, it made sense for him to try and kill Statham.

Of course, he fails and ends up being blown up along with (the model of) the Jaguar E-type.

Did you know this movie was a remake of a 1972 movie called "The Mechanic" starring Charles Bronson? Neither did I! We probably did not know this because the 1972 movie cost $10,000,000 to make. It's world-wide box office receipts?

$86,000.

I believe that works out to a loss of $9,914,000. Ouch.

Wouldn't it have been cool to hear the pitch given that got funding for this movie? "My proposal is to re-make one of the biggest bombs in Hollywood history. All I need is a budget of $40 million and we're on!" And that worked!

I'm glad it did, too. This is a great action movie. I rate it as 4 2/7 Jaguar E-types out of 5 Jaguar E-types. Now, to watch the sequel, "The Mechanic: Resurrection"!

214 said:

ufoclub said:

214 said: The ending of The Last Emperor destroys me.

remind me the ending please

He's an old man sweeping, and steals away behind the red tourist rope to get to the throne area, and finds the jar where he put a cricket as a child, now it's huge still alive, and he tells some kid, I was once Emperor... and then an obnoxious horn blasts as a tour guide interrupts with a tour group and announces that the last Emperor died on so and so day.

THE MUSIC.

(David Byrne had something to do with the score)

Ace said:

TD3 said:

In lite of the political climate, the MeToo campaign, allegations of sexual harassment/violence and in lite of Hollywood and Award Show's have taken political stances about everything; I find the silence or the shutting down of any criticism of this movie hypocritical. LBGT community is full of it.

I wondered about that, too. I remember thinking, 'I wonder how Kevin Spacey feels about the outpouring of praise for this movie?'

It's a funny ol' world.

Having seen the movie, other than it being about a relationship between two males with an age gap, there is no similarity between it and Kevin Spacey's problems.

RodeoSchro said:

It's happening!

I'm liveblogging "Lady Macbeth".

First of all, the whatever-you-call all the credits of the people that paid for this. They're all British! And this was funded in part by th National Lottery! In America, we fund education and graft with our lotteries but in Britain I guess they fund cineman.

So a young girl got married. Then her husband came in and made her strip. Then he went to bed. She just stood there. No music. Scene could have used some music; even porn music would have helped.

The next day - they have a maid. No one talks much or smiles.

The maid dresses the wife. Pretty boring. The wife descends some stairs. She doesn't fall, which is disappointing. Nor do any ninjas, zombies or terrorists appear. Also disappointing. She sits on a couch in silence. It's her Sitting Couch.

The men have shown up for dinner but only the wife sits at the table. She gets up, which is a major breach of British protocol. She is told by another British man that she has to wait up for her husband. But she's sleepy. The maid is put in charge of keeping her awake. The maid's name is Anna. The wife's name is Mrs. Lester.

The husband comes in and makes her stand. Still no music. This film needs music in th worst way.

She again strips as her husband sits by the fire and watches. He is an asshole. He makes her face thw wall while he dances with Rosie Palmer and her five sisters. Amazingly, he is not played by Louis CK.

Some old guy lives with them. He eats horribly. He tells her that Mr. Lester has gone away, as there has been an explosion somewhere. He is also an asshole. Hopefully he dies soon. In an explosion, and one that we get to see this time.

She leaves the house and goes to the sea. As we all know, every old British house is BY THE SEA. Nothing happens at the sea.

The workers have a girl suspended from the ceiling, and she's in a bag. The wife makes them free the woman. I think it was the maid. Apparently Britsh men were racists and women-haters. One worker picks up the wife in an attempt to see how much she weighs. She fights back and then asks Anna the maid who the guy was that had her in the bag. Maybe Mrs. Lester is going to go Hobo With A Shotgun on him. We can only hope.

Mrs. Lester looks out the window some more.

She also goes to the sea again and now Anna thinks she has cold skin. This movie REALLY sucks so far but I'm hoping for some bloodshed in order to lighten the mood.

And here comes the worker who had Anna in a bag! He forces his way into Mrs. Lester's room and calls her "Katherine". She asks "What do you want?" Three guesses. Oh, and after fighting awhile, she pulls a 180 and gives it to him. She was winning the fight, too. We have no idea why she suddenly became his sex slave.

The vicar coms by. He figures she is sick because she goes outdoors, and also doesn't go to church. He, like everyone else, wants her to stay indoors. So she does, and continues to boink the workman.

More boinking ensues. Anna the maid watches through the keyhold.

It turns out the old guy is Mr. Lester's father, which makes him Katherine's father-in-law. He wants some flourie (a wine, I guess), but Katherine has drank it all. However, the maid is blamed but she knows who really drank it all.

The father-in-law beats He Who Did The Boinking but I assume it had something to do with either the flourie or the dogs he is in charge of. But wait - his name is Sebastian. And, somehow, the father-in-law knows about the boinking. I guess the maid was tired of being made to walk on all fours like a dog, and spilled the beans.

Sebastian has been locked in a dungeon or something. Katherine wants him freed but Daddy In Law won't do it.

Still no music. I miss music. Much more of this and I might not even complain if they play Cardi B or some other horrible music, like Ed Sheeran or something.

Katherine locks Daddy In Law out of the dining room, and lets Anna the maid eat. This makes Daddy In Law pretty mad. Mr. Lester, the husband, is still not home and Daddy In Law won't tell Katherine where he is. Maybe it was Mr. Lester locked in the dungeon, but I think it was Sebastian. Yeah, it was Sebastian.

Katherine breaks into the dungeon, licks all the blood off Sebastian's back, and gets a doctor to look at him.

They have a really ugly cat. I don't like cats to begin with, but this one is really ugly.

Hey, the father-in-law died! I missed how, but I'm really glad he died. He's in a casket. Katherine passes up the chance to spit on him. His son - Mr. Lester - still has not shown back up.

Katherine makes Sebastian the "man of the house". Keep in mind that Sebastian is not a good guy.

Ah, it was the poisonous mushrooms that Anna had picked that killed the father-in-law. For some reason they think Anna is mute but she isn't.

The husband has returned!

He tells Katherine that she's fatter.

And later, also a whore.

It turns out that everyone knows she has been boinking Sebastian. It also turns out the Mr. Lester didn't just marry Katherine, he bought her too.

Surprise! Katherine brings Sebastian out of the closet and begins to boink him in front of her husband, which leads to a fight between Sebastian and Mr. Lester. Katherine wins the fight by killing her husband with a poker.

Sebastian buries her huband in a secret grave. Then Katherine shots the husband's horse and they bury it, too. I guess the plan is to assume no one else knows the husband came home, so eventually everyone will assume he died somewhere and isn't coming back. This plan has been tried many times in history, and has never worked. Will it work this time?

Unfortunately, Sebastian is not really cut out for murder although I wouldn't have called this murder. He is now repulsed by Katherine but she gives up the booty and he is seemingly cured now.

PLOT TWIST! Mr. Lester had boinked a maid and a little boy was the result. He is introduced as the ward. You know, like Robin was for Batman. But I don't know if this kid has Robin potential. However, I have no doubt Katherine could be a Batman. Or Batwoman. She's actually pretty badass.

Sebastian is perplexed because he knew Mr. Lester could not boink Katherine. And yet, he apparently boinked a maid and now there's a ward. He is not convinced about all this. But to be honest, Teddy The Ward looks a lot more like Sebastian that he looks like the dear departed Mr. Lester.

I'm guessing Katherine is pregnant. Extracurricular boinking can do that to you.

For some reason, Sebastian is back to sleeping on the floor in the stables. Apparently, because the ward is around, he/Sebastian can't be seen in the house. Then they would be "found out" and Sebastian would "hang". So that's the "end of it".

Katherine is mean to Teddy while he is playing cricket. And now Teddy is missing. Hmmm, maybe Sebastian took care of his Teddy problem.

Nope! Not yet, anyway. He finds Teddy sitting on the rocks by some rushing rapids. It's pretty clear what he can do but in case you are not into British Murder, what he can do is push Teddy into the water. Which, I think he does although we don't see it.

What we do see is Sebastian running into the house with Teddy. He says he fished Teddy out of the water. Then later, I think he confesses that he pushed Teddy into the water and then fished him out. Maybe Sebastian has a conscience. But Teddy is still alive although he's in bad shape.

Teddy's grandmother is for some reason living with them. She's pretty bossy. She yelled at Sebastian for bringing Teddy into the house. I guess "mother of maid" rates above "stable hand" in British royalty. Anyway, Teddy's grandmother is watching Teddy but is tired. Katherine offers to take over.

Guess what?

Katherine and Sebastian smother Teddy.

I'm guessing Sebastian is going to feel really guilty about killing a five-year-old kid. We'll see. Katherine pretends to feel bad but I think it's an act.

Yep! Sebastian feels bad about murdering child! He goes into the woods to cry.

Uh oh - the doctor found there were bruises and he suspects something. Katherine tries to tell them the bruises were from the waterfall but then Sebastian bursts in and tells everyone that Katherine killed the father-in-law, her husband, and Teddy. Katherine says Sebastian is lying, and that it was Sebastian and Anna the maid that killed everyone. Because "everyone knows Anna is the one that picks the mushrooms".

Remember - they all think Anna the maid can't talk.

And I guess she can't, because she doesn't say anything when accused of all this. So she and Sebastian are taken away.

Hey! There's some music! It's just whole notes, but still! Music!

The music builds and builds. It's getting louder! Katherine goes to her Sitting Couch. She stares at whatever it is she stares at on the Sitting Couch.

The screen goes black. This can't be the end.

BUT IT IS.

Well, I did it. I watched "Lady Macbeth". And you know what?

It wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen. Hey - it had some sex, some blood, and a Sitting Couch. It was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than "War on Everyone".

Bravo to you for enduring this art film. I thought for sure the story about a sociopathic aristocrat who kills a child, blames it on the help and gets away with it, you'd find reprehensible.

Boi neon / Neon Bull (2015) - Iremar works at the rodeo in North East of Brazil. From his home, the truck used to transport the animals, he dreams of a future in the region's booming clothing industry.

A humorous and surprisingly sensual snapshot of the life of a Brazilian rodeo worker. 4/5

ufoclub said:

214 said:

remind me the ending please

He's an old man sweeping, and steals away behind the red tourist rope to get to the throne area, and finds the jar where he put a cricket as a child, now it's huge still alive, and he tells some kid, I was once Emperor... and then an obnoxious horn blasts as a tour guide interrupts with a tour group and announces that the last Emperor died on so and so day.

THE MUSIC.

(David Byrne had something to do with the score)

Now I remember, that was a stunning, wonderful film.

sexton said:

RodeoSchro said:

Rigamarole

Bravo to you for enduring this art film. I thought for sure the story about a sociopathic aristocrat who kills a child, blames it on the help and gets away with it, you'd find reprehensible.

LMAO, thanks! It was pretty boring until luckily people started bleeding.

Goodfellas (1990)

One of the great movies of my lifetime, and of all time.

.75


Casino (1995)

Not as good as Goodfellas, but a sprawling, fascinating look at Las Vegas and a showcase for so many great actors.

.75

mudbound

apt portrayal of a tumultuous period of american society...what a shameful legacy this country has cultivated.

i could listen to mary j. blige's beautiful voice for hours...so soothing.

4.5/5

peedub said:

mudbound
apt portrayal of a tumultuous period of american society...what a shameful legacy this country has cultivated.
i could listen to mary j. blige's beautiful voice for hours...so soothing.

I'm just not a fan of MJB as a singer, other than "Love No Limit", and that's probably more about the song itself.

But I am glad you brought up Mudbound. I heard about it for a few minutes in the media, then it just seems to have disappeared. I see nothing about it anywhere. It was a great reminder for me to find it and watch it. Every Oscar season we try to go through all 10 best pic noms but Mudbound wasn't a best pic nom. It sort of fell out of my mind frame. Now it's back on my list.

TrivialPursuit said:

peedub said:

mudbound
apt portrayal of a tumultuous period of american society...what a shameful legacy this country has cultivated.
i could listen to mary j. blige's beautiful voice for hours...so soothing.

I'm just not a fan of MJB as a singer, other than "Love No Limit", and that's probably more about the song itself.

But I am glad you brought up Mudbound. I heard about it for a few minutes in the media, then it just seems to have disappeared. I see nothing about it anywhere. It was a great reminder for me to find it and watch it. Every Oscar season we try to go through all 10 best pic noms but Mudbound wasn't a best pic nom. It sort of fell out of my mind frame. Now it's back on my list.

i'm referring to her speaking voice...i'm not a big fan of her singing...

it's an excellent movie, perhaps overlooked for an oscar nod...i defy you to not be constantly remembering val kilmer's performance as doc holiday in 'tombstone' while enjoying garrett hedlund's performance in 'mudbound'.

namepeace said:

Goodfellas (1990)

One of the great movies of my lifetime, and of all time.

.75


Casino (1995)

Not as good as Goodfellas, but a sprawling, fascinating look at Las Vegas and a showcase for so many great actors.

.75

any release date for his new one?...cant find anywhere