Movies you've just watched

[NYN]

The Shape of Water

I used to enjoy movies by del Toro. After Pacific Rim and Crimson Peak, this feels like a third strike out. Maybe getting in projects closer to his heart and fewer objections from a finance orientated side just doesn't do it for me. There are all this outsider and invisible people as characters, which on itself is fine enough. But he pops out the point in a scene with one telling someone nasty off, even in fairy tale terms, is close to operatic. The little man won't take it anymore. You go, girl! Crowd cheers. All subtlety is flushed out by the depiction of the infinite forms of waters, and halfway through I started to cringe. The gal said "Duh. It's the title of the movie." and it sure delivers and I find it just overexposed. By now I think del Toro crawled up to much his own tum-tum tummy.

[Zen]

The film and del Toro, are a disgrace.
Tailor-made primarily for one audience; Hollywood itself.
After seeing it, I was pretty sure it would take "Best Film", for the above reason and sure enough, four days later it did.

[Zen]

Mandy (2018) - Panos Cosmatos

My man Panos, of Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010) infamy, is at it again and this time he has brought Nicolas Cage.

He has definitely refined his vision here but what Panos' general Film making vision actually is, is still not clear to me.
Is his tongue firmly in cheek? Is he serious? Is he winging it (I'm fairly certain he is).

Seems to me, Panos drew up a recipe;
A base of "Retro" (God, I'm really starting to hate that word), a splash of Charlie Manson, a dash of Grind House, a pinch of Psychedelia, a sprinkling of Lynch, a touch of King Crimson;
mixed it up and flung it, like shit to a wall. What "stuck", he scrapped back down and put on film.

Which is not to say that it's all bad. Not At all.

Firstly; It is "Very Metal".
The visuals are "striking".
It has Jóhann Jóhannsson on score, believe it or not.
It has Bill Duke.
Andrea Riseborough is superb as "Mandy".

And then there is Nicolas Cage. Going completely nuts. Which, lets face it, he is very good at.

A "recommendation" is not really appropriate here. Either you dig the above, or you don't.

[Vexorg]

The film and del Toro, are a disgrace.
Tailor-made primarily for one audience; Hollywood itself.
After seeing it, I was pretty sure it would take "Best Film", for the above reason and sure enough, four days later it did.

There are a lot of movies winning Oscars these days whose target audience consists entirely of voting members of the Academy. Recently my wife was watching The Cider House Rules(1999) and even though I wasn't paying attention, just from seeing how depressing and politically correct the whole thing was (including a healthy dose of pro-abortion propaganda) I could tell that it must have cleaned up at the Oscars. Sure enough, it won two and was nominated for five more, including Best Picture.

[Mischief Maker]

The film and del Toro, are a disgrace.
Tailor-made primarily for one audience; Hollywood itself.
After seeing it, I was pretty sure it would take "Best Film", for the above reason and sure enough, four days later it did.

There are a lot of movies winning Oscars these days whose target audience consists entirely of voting members of the Academy. Recently my wife was watching The Cider House Rules(1999) and even though I wasn't paying attention, just from seeing how depressing and politically correct the whole thing was (including a healthy dose of pro-abortion propaganda) I could tell that it must have cleaned up at the Oscars. Sure enough, it won two and was nominated for five more, including Best Picture.

"Politically Correct?" You mean the part where the father incestuously impregnates his daughter? Or do you just use PC interchangably with "left-leaning?"

Clearly you weren't paying attention because the entire plot of the Cider House Rules revolves around the abortion debate.

More specifically the theme is how it's easy to have a clear black and white morality from a distance, like the teenage Tobey Maguire cloistered in an orphanage blaming people for irresponsibly having sex, or the orchard owners writing their list of rules for the cider house, verses the realities when you're directly involved, like Michael Caine having to raise a house full of neglected orphans whose chances of finding a family diminish more and more as they get older, or the orchard workers doing the hard work of actually pressing the apple cider.

I roll my eyes at pandering as much as the next person, but The Cider House Rules is not a pander-fest. Nobody in this movie is a Mary Sue or a complete monster. Michael Caine breaks the rules constantly, and most of it is for the greater good, but his indulgence of ether kills him and endangers all his charges. Delroy Lindo makes a strong case about the power dynamics in the orchard even after he's revealed to have committed an unforgivable act. And Toby Maguire's childish view that people should just "be responsible" collapses like a house of cards when he encounters a lonely Charlize Theron.

[kaicooper]

just watched MANDY
blown away

[Skykid]

Mandy (2018) - Panos Cosmatos

My man Panos, of Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010) infamy, is at it again and this time he has brought Nicolas Cage.

He has definitely refined his vision here but what Panos' general Film making vision actually is, is still not clear to me.
Is his tongue firmly in cheek? Is he serious? Is he winging it (I'm fairly certain he is).

Seems to me, Panos drew up a recipe;
A base of "Retro" (God, I'm really starting to hate that word), a splash of Charlie Manson, a dash of Grind House, a pinch of Psychedelia, a sprinkling of Lynch, a touch of King Crimson;
mixed it up and flung it, like shit to a wall. What "stuck", he scrapped back down and put on film.

Which is not to say that it's all bad. Not At all.

Firstly; It is "Very Metal".
The visuals are "striking".
It has Jóhann Jóhannsson on score, believe it or not.
It has Bill Duke.
Andrea Riseborough is superb as "Mandy".

And then there is Nicolas Cage. Going completely nuts. Which, lets face it, he is very good at.

A "recommendation" is not really appropriate here. Either you dig the above, or you don't.

I thought Beyond the Black Rainbow was basically shit with some nice cinematography. It was mainly a guy trying so damn hard to be arthouse he didn’t realise he was a subpar director.

So I’ll approach this with caution.

[Zen]

Black Rainbow, was indeed an unfortunate experience.
Turns out the missing ingredient, Panos' secret sauce if you will, may well be (God have mercy on us all) Nicolas Cage.

Your critique is wasted on Panos Cosmatos, judging by the fact that in his Mandy (2018), Panos seems to be attempting to elevate
"a guy trying so damn hard to be arthouse he didn’t realise he was a subpar director", into an art form.

Perhaps we are being too harsh. This guy could be the next Ed Wood . . .

[Mischief Maker]

Black Rainbow, was indeed an unfortunate experience.
Turns out the missing ingredient, Panos' secret sauce if you will, may well be (God have mercy on us all) Nicolas Cage.

Your critique is wasted on Panos Cosmatos, judging by the fact that in his Mandy (2018), Panos seems to be attempting to elevate
"a guy trying so damn hard to be arthouse he didn’t realise he was a subpar director", into an art form.

Perhaps we are being too harsh. This guy could be the next Ed Wood . . .

I think you guys are being a liiitle knee-jerk describing a movie with a chainsaw duel as "arthouse."

[BryanM]

Every time Jay calls Cage a "good actor", it distresses me greatly.

Since the TV thread is always dead whenever no one feels like bringing Black Mirror up and is kind of a redundant thread, I'll ask this here: kinda thinking about giving The Man In The High Castle a chance - does it have robots in it? Proper robots?

That's all I need, really.

[Zen]

I think you guys are being a liiitle knee-jerk describing a movie with a chainsaw duel as "arthouse."

Do you even Black Rainbow?!

Was it just a chainsaw duel?! What was Panos' motivation, his intention?
Was this Grindhouse inclusion, a visceral and desperate statement about the insidious dangers of canabalistic Hollywood Cinema nostalgia and the ever rising cult of Hipster-"Retro"?

Only Panos knows!

[rapoon]

Nic Cage is "the jazz musician of American acting" - David Lynch.

Black Rainbow - I enjoyed it (i think?) but admittedly have no idea what the fuck it's about. Jodorowsky leanings; is dropping acid a prerequisite?

[GaijinPunch]

Since the TV thread is always dead whenever no one feels like bringing Black Mirror up and is kind of a redundant thread, I'll ask this here: kinda thinking about giving The Man In The High Castle a chance - does it have robots in it? Proper robots?

That's all I need, really.

It's shit.
DISCLAIMER: Only made it half way through episode 1 on a treadmill.

My main problem was the Empirical Japanese Army being nice enough to learn English for the people they just conquered, despite the fact this is factually the opposite of what they have ever done. (You can still bump into very old Taiwanese/Korean/Chinese that speak amazing Japanese). The Germans did the same in the show, of course. That and it was cheesy as fuck.

[GaijinPunch]

Solo

Not good. Not sure I would have gotten all out of it that Zen did and shared with us in his review. I also watched it on a plane and dozed a few times, having to rewind.

Some fun action I guess, but didn't really care for anyone sans Woody Harrelson and the leader of the gang. Some goofy cameo cash-ins really didn't do much for me, and while the movie shows us the titular character turn into the cocky, over-confident scoundrel we've always loved, that's exactly how he started out. Also: Lando... not pimp enough.

[kaicooper]

tonight gonna watch BRAINDEAD directed by Peter Jackson
i watched it back in early 90's but no memories at all!

[soprano1]

tonight gonna watch BRAINDEAD directed by Peter Jackson
i watched it back in early 90's but no memories at all!

"I KICK ARSE FER THA LORD!"

[scrilla4rella]

Since the TV thread is always dead whenever no one feels like bringing Black Mirror up and is kind of a redundant thread, I'll ask this here: kinda thinking about giving The Man In The High Castle a chance - does it have robots in it? Proper robots?

That's all I need, really.

It's shit.

Seconded. I barely made it through the first episode. It's really too bad because I'm a huge Phillip K Dick fan. The show had so much potential but the acting, the issues brought up by GP, and the overall cheesiness of the production make it a huge failure. Even my wife was done after the first episode and she watches a ton of crap.

[kaicooper]

Braindead 1992
right away after the end looked for Making of the movie but nothing there..really?
fantastic and crazy shit going on everywhere...
--------

Devil's Backbone 2001
cinematography is top notch
but i expected more from the movie.

[soprano1]

The Great Silence (1968)
Amazing spaghetti western by Sergio Corbucci (who directed the 1966 Django) taking place in 1898 Utah, and an amazing score by Morricone. The last 10 minutes are gritty as fuck.

[Mischief Maker]

Black Panther

Maybe it's because I haven't watched that many superhero movies these past few years so I don't have superhero movie fatigue, but I'm calling bullshit on people who said this was bland and overhyped then turned around and praised Thor Ragnarok. The soundtrack was better, the colorful avante garde set design was better, the film raises some surprisingly heavy topics for a dudes-in-tights movie.

The only real ding I'd give the movie is all the supporting characters are way more interesting than the protagonist. That and Martin Freeman's shaky American accent.

I ain't saying this is Citizen Kane, but I can't help but wonder what the motivation was behind all these pannings. Was it because of how dismissively everyone in the film treated the token white?

[kaicooper]

Summer of 84
damn feel so good after the credits..u guys remember that
movie Distrubia? its similar but much better with twisted ending
also here we donno who's the killer..and yea the Synth music here is Amazing

[emphatic]

Summer of 84
damn feel so good after the credits..u guys remember that
movie Distrubia? its similar but much better with twisted ending
also here we donno who's the killer..and yea the Synth music here is Amazing

I haven't given you tips on movies in a while, but just remembered really liking this in the 80's: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094072/?ref_=nv_sr_1

[GaijinPunch]

Summer of 84
damn feel so good after the credits..u guys remember that
movie Distrubia? its similar but much better with twisted ending
also here we donno who's the killer..and yea the Synth music here is Amazing

I haven't given you tips on movies in a while, but just remembered really liking this in the 80's: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094072/?ref_=nv_sr_1

I watched that many times... had a shitty VHS copy. Not sure if it would hold up now, but as a junior high kid was pretty entertaining.

[kaicooper]

I haven't given you tips on movies in a while, but just remembered really liking this in the 80's: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094072/?ref_=nv_sr_1

watched it in late 80's eheheh
but i'll watch it again for sure..i dont remember a damn thing lol
maby one scene only..anyway i watched most 80s movies

but if u didnt watch Summer of 84 ..u should
im digging into the new throwback to 80s movies..let me know if u find some

=========

Sicario 2
this's by far one of worst movies i've seen in years
what a waste of time..who asked for a sequel..!!!
seems third coming too..bleh

the first one was Damn good from Denis

[EmperorIng]

Did you make it to the Music Box, GaijinPunch? I went with my sister's boyfriend to see The Thing, but when we got there it was all sold out. We couldn't believe it.

I did buy tickets to make sure I saw The Dark Crystal, 2001, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It was a good weekend+.

I had forgotten how slow 2001 was. I enjoyed it but man those shots of spaceships slowly moving around... I wish I had a cup of coffee.

The theater smelled like weed lol. The guy I sat next to, some rando barista in my neighborhood who had to tap out because the movie was like, too intense, man, and left after the intermission to smoke it up, until he bummed me for a ride home. It's never a cute barista chick that asks for a ride home.

Black Panther

I got about 3/4 through. I gave up after Michael B. Jordan wanted to challenge Black Manther to a fight.

Around there I felt like the interesting stuff was being increasingly sidelined for the bland Marvel stuff. Which I guess if someone is into that, it's fine, but there were parts of the movie that gave me hope that I was going to get something more. All in all it's ok. I'm glad black kids have a cool superhero movie to see. Maybe when they grow up they can jump into the real shit, know what I'm sayin'?

[GaijinPunch]

Sure Did!

We just barely made it. Glad that it got such a huge turnout... but the film stock being so aged kinda killed it (kinda). It was an interesting experience. Will defo check out something else at their next 70mm fest. Hopefully they do something in the shitty ass cold winter which is coming up soon.

And no, the hot barista's never ask for rides. They're all set, unfortunately.

[dan76]

The guy who did the excellent Star Wars Despecialized editions has posted this uber rare doc on The Empire Strikes Back from 1980. Lots of cool behind the scenes stuff and interviews which I've never seen before. Watch it before Disney takes it down.

https://youtu.be/YeB-uXGGaEU

[GaijinPunch]

Wish I looked here earlier... 1AM here on a school night.

[theclaw]

Watched Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla. Nice setup, I wasn't expecting the battle to end that way.

[Mischief Maker]

Deadpool 2

I think I liked the idea of Deadpool 1, specifically Ryan Reynolds going around some asshole executive at Fox by leaking test footage directly to the fans, more than the movie itself. The first was just a nonstop stream of jokes at the same intensity level the entire running time, and since I'm not a comicbook reader most of them went over my head.

Deadpool 2 I legitimately enjoyed. Part 2 has a new director. At the price of a crappier-looking Colossus effect, you now have a film that puts some space between the jokes so they land harder.