tump said:

Only casually know some of Queen's music, but I do know there is a documentary on Youtube thousands of times more satisfying than having actors badly re-enact the Queen story (as they did in Bohemian Rhapsody). It goes through Freddie's life...up to his death, unlike the movie. Told directly by the people closest to him.

Bohemian Rhapsody just comes across as a poor way to generate interest in Queen for a new generation. The story has already been told thousands of times better.

The movie isn't worth $0.01 in my opinion.

That will give me something to compare it to, and prolly change my score.

iZsaZsa said:

tump said:

Only casually know some of Queen's music, but I do know there is a documentary on Youtube thousands of times more satisfying than having actors badly re-enact the Queen story (as they did in Bohemian Rhapsody). It goes through Freddie's life...up to his death, unlike the movie. Told directly by the people closest to him.

Bohemian Rhapsody just comes across as a poor way to generate interest in Queen for a new generation. The story has already been told thousands of times better.

The movie isn't worth $0.01 in my opinion.

That will give me something to compare it to, and prolly change my score.

yeah, you guys got this one right.. It was pretty bad. Choppy, and poorly written.. everything was direct speech exposition and that's the kind of crap that amateurs do.

Having been a huge Queen fan, the film throws Freddie (i.e. not Y) and John Deacon under the bus. It also notably speaks nothing about Brian and Rogers' infidelities.. It throws far too much out of sequence and makes the implausible notion that the band somehow self financed their album from the sale of tour bus. The whole thing was a weak buddy picture... and having listened to Freddie endlessly on documentaries or interviews (the kind you'd buy on CD before yt took everything out of the stores) Freddie was frenetic, kinetic, and funny when comfortable.. he could also be very shy, but I don't think the Malek performance does much to show any of that.... it's a shame cause it's such a crappy movie about a great bandI DO find it nice that somehow this generation picked it up and will revisit their music hopefully.

aside from that.. it's trash. also.. WHO CARES if they recreated the LIVE AID thing... where's the damn script? why's the conflict suggesting the band broke up for 2 years when they'd only just come off the run of a JAPAN tour in late 84 early 85?

too much stupidity and paints Freddie as a complete boob and irresponsible dolt. the entire band was knee deep in issues at that point... not merely FM

I could go on and on and on... well.. Although they had Peter Freestone as a consultant on the film for "accuracy" they didnt even have him in the film... he was practically Freddie's "hands" for everything... driving, household, cooking, arranging dates/meets, etc.. they really neglected any aspect of FM living in his lifestyle. the guy was not some completely alone boob flicking a light switch on and off in grief like a loner... I don't know what possessed them to make that film... that was not the band. That was crap.

[Edited 2/4/19 9:37am]

2045RadicalMattZ said:

iZsaZsa said:

That will give me something to compare it to, and prolly change my score.

yeah, you guys got this one right.. It was pretty bad. Choppy, and poorly written.. everything was direct speech exposition and that's the kind of crap that amateurs do.

Having been a huge Queen fan, the film throws Freddie (i.e. not Y) and John Deacon under the bus. It also notably speaks nothing about Brian and Rogers' infidelities.. It throws far too much out of sequence and makes the implausible notion that the band somehow self financed their album from the sale of tour bus. The whole thing was a weak buddy picture... and having listened to Freddie endlessly on documentaries or interviews (the kind you'd buy on CD before yt took everything out of the stores) Freddie was frenetic, kinetic, and funny when comfortable.. he could also be very shy, but I don't think the Malek performance does much to show any of that.... it's a shame cause it's such a crappy movie about a great bandI DO find it nice that somehow this generation picked it up and will revisit their music hopefully.

aside from that.. it's trash. also.. WHO CARES if they recreated the LIVE AID thing... where's the damn script? why's the conflict suggesting the band broke up for 2 years when they'd only just come off the run of a JAPAN tour in late 84 early 85?

too much stupidity and paints Freddie as a complete boob and irresponsible dolt. the entire band was knee deep in issues at that point... not merely FM

I could go on and on and on... well.. Although they had Peter Freestone as a consultant on the film for "accuracy" they didnt even have him in the film... he was practically Freddie's "hands" for everything... driving, household, cooking, arranging dates/meets, etc.. they really neglected any aspect of FM living in his lifestyle. the guy was not some completely alone boob flicking a light switch on and off in grief like a loner... I don't know what possessed them to make that film... that was not the band. That was crap.

[Edited 2/4/19 9:37am]

too much money being made off this movie ...especially with the awards...thats why its not being seen for its real worth

damosuzuki said:

sexton said:

Cold War (2018) - In the 1950s, a music director falls in love with a singer and tries to persuade her to flee communist Poland for France.

A European, subtitled, bleak, romantic, black & white, period piece--my kind of movie to start. Adding to that a stellar soundtrack makes this one of 2018's best. 4.5/5

i've already said my piece on cold war earlier in this thread, but i don't think it can be said often & loudly enough what a miracle this film is. i think it's perfect, definitely one of my favourites of 2018.

are you gonig to try to see all the oscar noms this year, or is that a thing of the past for you now?

I'm way behind this year so seeing even close to all the nominated films isn't happening. I'll try to cover the major categories and short films, but all the movies in smaller categories like costume design, sound editing, etc. will have to wait.

luvsexy4all said:

2045RadicalMattZ said:

yeah, you guys got this one right.. It was pretty bad. Choppy, and poorly written.. everything was direct speech exposition and that's the kind of crap that amateurs do.

Having been a huge Queen fan, the film throws Freddie (i.e. not Y) and John Deacon under the bus. It also notably speaks nothing about Brian and Rogers' infidelities.. It throws far too much out of sequence and makes the implausible notion that the band somehow self financed their album from the sale of tour bus. The whole thing was a weak buddy picture... and having listened to Freddie endlessly on documentaries or interviews (the kind you'd buy on CD before yt took everything out of the stores) Freddie was frenetic, kinetic, and funny when comfortable.. he could also be very shy, but I don't think the Malek performance does much to show any of that.... it's a shame cause it's such a crappy movie about a great bandI DO find it nice that somehow this generation picked it up and will revisit their music hopefully.

aside from that.. it's trash. also.. WHO CARES if they recreated the LIVE AID thing... where's the damn script? why's the conflict suggesting the band broke up for 2 years when they'd only just come off the run of a JAPAN tour in late 84 early 85?

too much stupidity and paints Freddie as a complete boob and irresponsible dolt. the entire band was knee deep in issues at that point... not merely FM

I could go on and on and on... well.. Although they had Peter Freestone as a consultant on the film for "accuracy" they didnt even have him in the film... he was practically Freddie's "hands" for everything... driving, household, cooking, arranging dates/meets, etc.. they really neglected any aspect of FM living in his lifestyle. the guy was not some completely alone boob flicking a light switch on and off in grief like a loner... I don't know what possessed them to make that film... that was not the band. That was crap.

[Edited 2/4/19 9:37am]

too much money being made off this movie ...especially with the awards...thats why its not being seen for its real worth

Critics aren't fooled. Reviews have not been kind to this movie. Which makes it all the more perplexing that it's getting so much award recognition.

Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) - When Lee Israel falls out of step with current tastes, she turns her art form to deception.

I didn't expect Melissa McCarthy to be this good in a dramatic role. It was a surprisingly riveting movie considering the audience knows the outcome. 4/5

Prospect

Watchable, but you wouldn't miss a thing if you didnt see it. Not really a story, just 'a day in the life' where you can guess what came before and comes after.

2045RadicalMattZ said:

iZsaZsa said:

That will give me something to compare it to, and prolly change my score.

yeah, you guys got this one right.. It was pretty bad. Choppy, and poorly written.. everything was direct speech exposition and that's the kind of crap that amateurs do.

Having been a huge Queen fan, the film throws Freddie (i.e. not Y) and John Deacon under the bus. It also notably speaks nothing about Brian and Rogers' infidelities.. It throws far too much out of sequence and makes the implausible notion that the band somehow self financed their album from the sale of tour bus. The whole thing was a weak buddy picture... and having listened to Freddie endlessly on documentaries or interviews (the kind you'd buy on CD before yt took everything out of the stores) Freddie was frenetic, kinetic, and funny when comfortable.. he could also be very shy, but I don't think the Malek performance does much to show any of that.... it's a shame cause it's such a crappy movie about a great bandI DO find it nice that somehow this generation picked it up and will revisit their music hopefully.

aside from that.. it's trash. also.. WHO CARES if they recreated the LIVE AID thing... where's the damn script? why's the conflict suggesting the band broke up for 2 years when they'd only just come off the run of a JAPAN tour in late 84 early 85?

too much stupidity and paints Freddie as a complete boob and irresponsible dolt. the entire band was knee deep in issues at that point... not merely FM

I could go on and on and on... well.. Although they had Peter Freestone as a consultant on the film for "accuracy" they didnt even have him in the film... he was practically Freddie's "hands" for everything... driving, household, cooking, arranging dates/meets, etc.. they really neglected any aspect of FM living in his lifestyle. the guy was not some completely alone boob flicking a light switch on and off in grief like a loner... I don't know what possessed them to make that film... that was not the band. That was crap.

[Edited 2/4/19 9:37am]

I'm not a hardcore fan, I would be in the balcony, I suppose, which is why the movie was fine with me. The videos on youtube that I watched were boring, I didn't need to be spoonfed most of that stuff to get what was happening (fighting, being broke, cheating) with the band/members. It's Rock & Roll. I liked seeing Freddie and Mary meet - he was shy, but got the girl, captured her. To Malek .

they shall not grow old (2018) 4.5/5

i'm pulling back a 1/2 star because i found myself wishing for subtitles at times, since i did have trouble sorting out some of the heavier british accents heard throughout.

not a documentary in the sense you might traditionally think of one, and it doesn't really tell a story that will be unfamiliar to anyone with a passing familiarity with ww1, but i found spending 90 minutes with this footage hypnotic and rewarding. seeing the footage cleaned up and presented in this way shows you something & makes you feel something that a billion written words can't.

if it's available at your screening, stick around for the 'making of' documentary that's showing with this film.


the oregonian (2011) 3.5/5

a movie that had a curious effect on me. hopefully this won't sound too wankerish, but i did feel that, by being so odd & offputting & openly boring, my own emotions rolled through a series of states, from curiosity to annoyance to boredom all the away around to a kind of loving admiration. it sort of reminds me of how meditation gurus will say that you can use boredom as a mental state to recognize your own thoughts.

a meaner person might write it off as half-baked david lynch fan-fiction, but it's its own experience, and i ended up kinda loving it.

[Edited 2/6/19 19:50pm]

Hudson said:

I've seen critics rank Bohemian Rhapsody as the worst movie nominated for best picture this century. One of them said it's not even a movie. I'm rooting for BR, which I haven't seen, just for the uproar.

I guess I can understand them. As a Prince fan the only movie that would ever truly be great enough for me is one that's 57 years long. In other words, I would probably flame anything else.

Roma (2018) - A year in the life of a middle-class family's maid in Mexico City in the early 1970s.

This is the only 2018 release I've seen so far to which I'll give a perfect rating. A simple, beautiful story and seeing it on a proper movie screen really makes the cinematography shine. 5/5

Can You Ever Forgive Me?. Melissa is the same ornery woman from The Happytime Murders, but here she is nominated for an Oscar. Go figure. 5/5.

The Wife. 4/5.

Mary Poppins Returns (2018) - Decades after her original visit, the magical nanny returns to help the Banks siblings and Michael's children through a difficult time in their lives.

If you like sugary sweet retro musicals then this film is for you. 3/5

Shoplifters (2018) - A family of small-time crooks take in a child they find outside in the cold.

This is an extremely heartfelt and ultimately sad story about a makeshift family of outsiders. 4.5/5

incendies (2010) 4/5 a mother's dying wish sends her two children on a trip to the middle east to find their father & half brother. i really don't quite know what to think of that ending. it's quite a stunner.
can't fault anything in it up to that point though.

the cook, the thief, his wife & her lover (1990) 4/5

my first watch in a good 25 years, i believe. i remember really loving this twisted, odd little film, and i greatly enjoyed revisiting it.

i'm pretty certain the version i saw in the 90s was the shortened, censored 90 minute version. too long has passed for me to recall the details, but this definitely felt like a more fleshed out, detailed story. that said, i do think this might have benefited from a tighter running time. particularly in the last third, i did feel that the film's energy flagged substantially.

regardless, a terrific ugly story that ought to be seen by all that enjoy such things.

[Edited 2/10/19 5:18am]

Overlord

Had no clue what it was about, and i surely didnt expect what i saw, but it was very well done and entertaining all the way! War zombies!

Robin Hood

Luckily, it was not the ordinairy tale once again. It has quite a different angle and i actually enjoyed it.

Bad Times at the El Royale 3/5

I feel like this movie could have been great, but it missed the mark a bit.. a damn shame. The chemistry between Jeff Bridges and Cynthia Erivo was strong though. Their scenes made the movie for me. I still enjoyed it, but could have been so much more.

A Star Is Born 2/5

All the bradley cooper fans, sorry, but he was cringeworthy for me. Overacting 101. The grammys scene was absolutely ridiculous. Completely over the top. This movie just tries too damn hard.
Surprisingly though, and contrary to opinions i've seen here, I actually thought Gaga did a really good job.

Mary Queen of Scots (2018) - Mary Stuart's attempt to overthrow her cousin Elizabeth I, Queen of England, finds her condemned to years of imprisonment before facing execution.

I watched this primarily for Saoirse Ronan and because I generally like period pieces. There was clearly a contemporary twist to this story with the multiracial casting and feminist slant of pitting all the men against the two queens--a fictional meeting between whom was also added to give the film a needed high point. These liberties taken were a little distracting at first, but it's still a respectable, albeit slightly fantastical retelling. 3/5

damosuzuki said:

the cook, the thief, his wife & her lover (1990) 4/5

my first watch in a good 25 years, i believe. i remember really loving this twisted, odd little film, and i greatly enjoyed revisiting it.

i'm pretty certain the version i saw in the 90s was the shortened, censored 90 minute version. too long has passed for me to recall the details, but this definitely felt like a more fleshed out, detailed story. that said, i do think this might have benefited from a tighter running time. particularly in the last third, i did feel that the film's energy flagged substantially.

regardless, a terrific ugly story that ought to be seen by all that enjoy such things.

[Edited 2/10/19 5:18am]

this was a long time in my top5 movies ever. Still in my top 50 surely

Cold War (2018)

A story of love, attachment, possesiveness and regret against the backdrop of postwar Europe. It was a movie on a surprisingly epic scale and wonderful music.

.75

My birthday was yesterday. The Big Six-Oh, in fact. After enjoying eight straight days of skiing in Northern New Mexico, we came back to Houston yesterday. "What do you want for your birthday?" asked my loving family. "Let's go to the movies! There's a Liam Neeson movie in which he kills bad guys in the snow using imaginative devices!"

Also, Neeson just released a movie called "Cold Pursuit". That's what we went to see, as it turns out the movie where he kills bad guys in the snow using imaginative devices really doesn't exist.

Although this movie is called "Cold Pursuit", it should have been called "Why?". Allow me to explain/complain:

The movie opens with Liam Neeson running his giant snowplow in some place called Kehoe. My unsubstantiated Google-inspired guess was that Kehoe was named after Andrew Kehoe, a mass murderer who blew up a school in Michigan back in 1927, killing 44 (mostly 2nd-6th graders) and injuring at least 58. Dang - I never thought when I Googled "Kehoe" and got a hit on a guy who was an "American farmer and treasurer of his township school board" that it would turn out this way.

Kehoe is allegedly in Colorado, just 3 hours (north?) of Denver. But Kehoe does not get a Colorado amount of snow - it gets an Arctic Circle amount of snow. Therefore, as the guy who keeps the roads open by snowplowing through 10-foot snow drifts, Liam Neeson is named Kehoe's Citizen of the Year. He accepts the award wearing a nice suit with a French-cuffed shirt, but he COULD have worn a jacket like this:





Neeson is married to Laura Dern, whose entire life revolves around cooking and smoking brown cigarettes. I have no idea what the brown cigarettes were supposed to be. Virginia Slims? Pot? Homemade? All I know is that the film maker thought it was important that we know Dern smoked brown cigarettes, because he focused on them at least a couple times.





While Mr. Plow is accepting his award, his son goes to work at the Kehoe International Airport, where he is a lineman that helps private jets find their way to the jet fuel depot. This particular snowy night, a Cessna Citation X with a CANADIAN TAIL NUMBER, is filled with bad guys and heroin. So naturally after the jet lands in the blizzard, the bad guys must kidnap Neeson's son and his co-worker (I think), blindfold them and put them in a van, shoot them up with a lethal dose of heroin, and dump them in a snowdrift.




Neeson is bummed out about his son's death, but his wife - the aforementioned brown cigarette-smoking Laura Dern - goes bananas when she finds out her son has "a Facebook". Yes - "a Facebook". She grills Neeson about this. "Did you know he had a Facebook? He talked about his favorite band. Do you know who his favorite band was?!?" Sadly, Neeson does not know, nor does the brown cigarette-smoking Laura Dern ever tell us who was their son's favorite band. I'm going to assume it was Mumford and Sons. The brown cigarette-smoking Laura Dern continues. "Just what did you and he talk about on all those hunting trips you took?!?" Neeson says, "Hunting".

Neeson goes to the snowplow shed, sticks a rifle in his mouth, and is just about to pull the trigger when the co-worker who, I think, was in on the heroin/killing, comes out from behind some snowplow supplies. Hard to tell if he's good or bad because he's all bloody. But not too bloody to tell Neeson that he's sorry Neeson's son was killed. "It wasn't supposed to happen like that" says the kid. Neeson gets the name of one of the drug dealers from the kid, and then chokes him to death.

He goes back home to tell the aforementioned brown cigarette-smoking Laura Dern that he has begun killing the people responsible for their son's death, only to find that the brown cigarette-smoking Laura Dern has left him. There is a card envelope on Neeson's bed. He opens it up to find a blank, white sheet of paper in it. Apparently the brown cigarette-smoking Laura Dern has left him because he didn't know his son had a Facebook.




Neeson goes to Tha Club where he finds Speedo, who is obviously Tha Boss of Tha Club. Now, you might think that Tha Boss of Tha Club would never take a private meeting with Mr. Plow, but you are wrong. Neeson and Speedo go somewhere private, whereupon Neeson chokes Speedo to death. It takes a couple chokings, but Speedo is gone. However, not before he gives up the name of "Limbo" to Neeson.

Neeson finds Limbo somehow, and kills him. However, not before Limbo gives up the same of "Santa" to Neeson Why is he called "Santa"? Limbo's last words are "Because he looks like Santa Claus".

Actually, he looks NOTHING like Santa Claus. He looks exactly like this guy:




I don't know about you but when I see a picture of Jim Gaffigan, I don't think of Santa Claus. I think of Hot Pockets.

Neeson kills Mr. Hot Pockets whose last words are "You don't know who you're messing with. You're a dead man". Let's just see who Neeson IS messing with.

The man Neeson is messing with is Viking (all the drug dealers, and I mean ALL OF THEM have nicknames). Viking is a young, hip, almost-divorced Drug Kingpin of Denver. As a matter of fact, he's the second generation Drug Kingpin of Denver, having inherited the Drug Kingdom from his father. Viking's father had made a deal with White Bull Tha Indian in which White Bull handled the heroin business on the reservation, whereas Viking handled it everywhere else.

But someone is killing Viking's dealers and stealing their heroin. Not knowing that Liam Neeson even exists, Viking assumes it's White Bull so he kills White Bull's son as a deterrent. With no warning. Remember that. NO WARNING.

That's important because Viking has a son. Later in the movie, after Neeson kidnaps Viking's son, Viking goes nuts and screams, "YOU DON'T TAKE SOMEONE'S SON WITHOUT A WARNING! EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT!!1!1!11!"

At this point, however, Viking's murder of White Bull's son sets off a gang war. So naturally Neeson goes to see his rich, retired brother. It must be said that Neeson's brother has recently retired from Drug Kingpinning, and knows Viking quite well. He suggests that Neeson hire The Eskimo - a hitman who is not an Eskimo - to kill Viking. Neeson does so, whereupon The Eskimo immediately informs Viking of the contract on him - for a small fee, of course. Viking appreciates this life-saving betrayal so much that he kills The Eskimo.




Viking is a real SOB. An over-the-top SOB, because this is supposed to be a "black comedy" Pro Tip - there is no such thing as a "black comedy". Something is either funny or it's not. If you take it to a dark place, it's not funny. The only exception is when you get a bunch of macho dudes together in a military plane, riding to what is probably a suicide mission, and they make jokes about it. You know, like the cool dudes did in "Predator". But those dudes were so cool that they could get away with it. I mean, when you shake hands like this...




...ANYTHING you do is cool.

Viking does not shake hands like that.

Anyway, the wheels are in motion for an all-out gang war and somewhere around this time, the Keyhoe Cops appear. The Keyhoe Cops aren't Denver PD; no, it's two rubes from the Kehoe PD. While you might think Kehoe is perpetually buried under 28 feet of snow, it's actually the site of the most expensive ski resort in Colorado. It's populated, naturally, by snowboarders who smoke hippie lettuce on the street. As the father of a professional snowboarder who teaches snowboarding to hippie-lettuce-smoking teens, I can tell you that hippie-lettuce-smoking snowboarders could not actually afford to go to a place like Kehoe. Don't believe me? Just remember that the recently-departed wife of Kehoe's Citizen of the Year - whose husband actually had a visible means of support - smoked brown cigarettes that I am now convinced were not hippie lettuce.

The female Keyhoe Kop is the leader of the Keyhoe Kops; the male Keyhoe Kop is the jaded cop lifer who tells her not to bother with the hippie-lettuce-smoking snowboarders. As luck would have it, Madame Keyhoe Kop is sidetracked from busint hippie-lettuce-smoking snowboarders when she finds White Bull's son's carcass on a highway sign, and so she automatically figures out there is a drug war going down in Kehoe.

I don't know if the Keyhoe Kops were meant to be a comment on the War on Drugs or not, but the presence of the Keyhoe Kops adds absolutely nothing to the story, as the Keyhoe Kops are never in the mix; have no input on aything at all; and don't even crack any good jokes. The only question to ask re: the Keyhoe Kops and their presence in this movie is:




After Neeson kills Speedo, Limbo and Santa, the movie kind of forgets about Liam Neeson. Which of course can only prompt a





Instead, the movie shifts to the narrative of Viking vs. The Indians. Obviously Viking is a bad guy. BUT SO ARE WHITE BULL AND HIS BAND OF DRUG DEALING INDIAN ASSASSINS. And yet, White Bull is portrayed time and time again as the sage old Indian who is above it all.

No, he isn't! He's a drug dealer responsible for an untold number of deaths! He's ordered his Band of Drug Dealing Indian Assassins to kill Viking's innocent 10-year-old son! And they would have, if Neeson hadn't shown up and kidnapped the kid first! WHITE BULL IS NOT A GOOD GUY.




White Bull and His Band of Drug Dealing Indian Assassins show up at the swanky Kehoe Ski Resort. But they don't have a "reservation". Get it? GET IT? When asked if they have a "reservation", they throw down a rasher of indignation on the hotel clerk which, of course, gets them a bunch of suites. It also gets one Drug Dealing Indian Assassin a free paraglider ride. He takes off on the afternoon of the big showdown, so he's basically useless and has to watch from the air as everyone he knows is gunned down by Viking's men. You would think this would upset our paragliding friend, but we actually don't see him again until the next day. Remember that.

Somehow Neeson ends up with Viking's son, takes him to the snowplow hut in Kehoe, and the kid immediately bonds with Neeson. "Have you ever heard of the Stockholm Syndrome?" asks the kid, right before falling asleep in Neeson's arms. Now, the kid knows his dad is a bad guy. But he has a mother who is a good person. She is totally forgotten about.

The next day Viking shows up with his henchmen. They confront White Bull and His Band of Drug Dealing Indians -except for the paragliding Indian, who believe it or not has paraglided throughout the night. No, really.

There's a big shootout and everyone dies except Neeson and White Bull. Viking's son hijacks a snowblower and heads back to Denver. Did I mention he's 10 years old? I think I did.

Neeson is driving some other kind of snowblower/tree-eater/wood-chipper/grinding vehicle and is about to head out when White Bull jumps in the cab with him. Keep in mind - White Bull, as an Indian Drug Kingpin who is supplied his inventory by Viking, is indirectly responsible for the death of Neeson's son. And was trying his darndest to kill Viking's 10-year-old son, whom Neeson has been protecting. No matter! Neeson and White Bull drive serendipitously into the snowset. (I made up "snowset" but it's a pretty cool word, wouldn't you agree?)

The final scene is Neeson and White Bull plowing through 15-foot-high snowdrifts, breaking out into the open, and the tree-eater/wood-chipper/grinder thingie sucking up the Indian who'd been paragliding for 24 hours, chewing him up, and spitting him out in tiny pieces.

The end.

If you're thinking of paying good money to watch "Cold Pursuit", I only have one question:





"Cold Pursuit" is not good. I've established time and time again that there is no such thing as a "black comedy". You know it; I know it; the American people know it. Unfortunately, a guy from Norway made this, and he just found out the hard way that there is no such thing as a "black comedy".

"Cold Pursuit" gets 1.5 Geography Lessons out of a possible10 Geography Lessons. There is no Kehoe in Colorado, and it doesn't snow that much anywhere in Colorado.

Destroyer
with Nicole Kidman

Underwhelming. Continued watching cause i spent already too many minutes on it to stop. A movie like so many with the typical estranged cop characters.

Phantom Thread. 4/5. "Love" can make some people do and live with crazy goings on.

hale county this morning, this evening (2018) 3/5 unconventional academy award nominated documentary. occasionally interesting but ultimately frustrating to me. very nice to look at during many moments, but, not to sound too basic, i more often felt stymied by the way the people presented in this film never come into focus, but rather just drift away like the wafts of smoke we see during one scene.

sorcerer (1977) 3.5/5 men from different parts of the world on the run from their past take refuge in the same south american town. the bridge set-pieces are some of the most intense, chair-gripping scenes i've ever seen in a movie. it is just a bit plodding in the first half, but the second section is great, in a herzog-ian 'man vs the pitiless indifference of nature' way.

damosuzuki said:

sorcerer (1977) 3.5/5 men from different parts of the world on the run from their past take refuge in the same south american town. the bridge set-pieces are some of the most intense, chair-gripping scenes i've ever seen in a movie. it is just a bit plodding in the first half, but the second section is great, in a herzog-ian 'man vs the pitiless indifference of nature' way.

i watched 'sorcerer' a couple of years ago as part of a william friedkin retrospective. great movie. based on a french (?) novel/film, 'wages of fear' (which i regret not watching when i had my filmstruck subscription).

i read friedkin's memoir around then, also. very recommended. plenty of anecdotes about the production of his films up to 'killer joe'. one of the first stories he relates, maybe in the preface, is of turning down prince's offer to have him direct the video for 'little red corvette'.

Wandering Earth

A chinese blockbuster movie that surely will get its Hollywood remake rather sooner then later.

Besides some 'Chinese habits' that are so typical of their movies and makes it sometimes look comique, it's a pretty decent flick, better than the 'armagedons' of the other side of the ocean.