Movies you've just watched

[soprano1]

Opera (1987)
Agree with Skykid, the movie is just right, and those POV shots!
Two things I didn't like were how you could spot the murderer a mile away, and that strange final scene with the lizard. I thought she was going to do the opposite of what she did, actually.

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)
More of a murder mystery than giallo, but very enjoyable to watch. The scene with the double doors in the museum is great, and seeing it being repeated in Sam's head was a nice touch. Quite a debut for Dario Argento.

[dan76]

Deep Red (1975)

Pretty great still. I hadn't seen it for over ten years. The good bits were better but there's some stuff that could be cut, namely the flirtations between Marc and whatever Daria Nicolodi's character is called.

We watched a restored version and it's must've been uncut because it was brutal! Goblins music is bonkers - the bit where Marc is slowly climbing down...

I'm guessing David Hemmings was fairly well known in Italy because of Blow Up? I can see why he was cast because it's almost a companion piece to Blow Up in one sense. Take Blow Up, add Hitchcock with 70's girls and gore and you have a Giallo. I still think It has one if the best "killer being revealed" scenes in any film. Marc figuring out what he has seen is fantastic.

Suspiria is next.

We also ended up watching Rocky because it was on TV straight after. My gf hadn't seen it before and she really liked it. It's a great little move. Stallone and Talia Shire's relationship is really what holds the film together. There's not much boxing in it, it's more of a character study. How I miss the 70's.

[Zen]

Jesus!
I must be missing some Argento receptors!
Never managed more than a few minutes of any of his films. Are these films generally enjoyed as "B-movies"?
Is it meant to be satire? Are they intentionally awful? Are they straight comedy?
The "acting", the Dubbing, the "music". Surely this is an inside joke?

[BIL]

Are these films generally enjoyed as "B-movies"?

That's how I like 'em - nuclear stabby kitsch set to inappropriately bombastic italo-disco. I don't enjoy vanilla slasher flicks much (never find them scary or conceptually interesting, gore does zip for me, and I dislike excessive cruelty), with archetypal giallo even more offputting. But I make an occasional exception for uber-swaggering Argento stuff like Tenebre and its batshit plot (and its protagonist, the very jammiest of jammy cunts). Not films I watch often, but sometimes it's fun to bust loose with his appalling sadism, even more appalling coloured gels and dem pumpin' choons.

Spoiler

^^^ my brain when Argento, basically.

[soprano1]

the "music".

Goblin does great music, what are you on about?

[Zen]

nuclear stabby kitsch set to inappropriately bombastic italo-disco.

Yeah, there certainly seems to be a need to contextualise these films, for flavour.

Goblin does great music, what are you on about?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAXzzHM8zLw

[soprano1]

Goblin does great music, what are you on about?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAXzzHM8zLw

[iconoclast]

A Quiet Place (2018) - John Krasinski

IMDb - 8.0
Metacsore - Critic Reviews -82
Rotten Tomatoes - Critic Scores - 95%

This is a post apocalyptic horror, in the vein of the vastly superior It Comes at Night (2017) - Trey Edward Shults.
I leave this "review" here, as a "warning". The reviews above are are a scam. The film, an infuriating trope-fest.

The major insult to any sane viewer, male or female, must be the unfolding fate of the only adult male in the story.
Savvy, compassionate and enterprising, this noble fool is committed to the protection of the brood. Within minutes, female "feels" gets one of his sons eviscerated.
Believe me, when I say that this is only the beginning of his suffering.

The ending . . . having destroyed their only means of survival, the "fierce females", give a (literal) pump-shotgun reload, final frame moment, that will leave you in despair.

Leading man - John Krasinski, does a remarkable Shia LaBeouf impersonation but nonetheless, is quite effective here.
Emily Blunt - is competent.

From the above, one should be easily able to decipher the critic scores.
This shit is getting ridiculous.

I watched this a couple days ago and didn't like it much either. I don't really care about the male/female dynamics, it was just badly written and full of logic holes. The creature design is also pretty lame.
(lots of story spoilers)

Spoiler

Why weren't they always in the safe area under the house or behind the waterfall where they were free to make noise? And if the area was safe, how did a creature get down there so easily? Why were these people stupid enough to conceive a child in these conditions? Am I supposed to have sympathy for the kid who should be fully aware that any sound will get him killed, yet snuck a noisy toy out of a store? He was either dumb and got what he deserved, or his family did an incredibly poor job explaining what the deal was. How am I supposed to believe that these creatures took over the planet when all it takes a shotgun blast to their exposed head to kill them? The military couldn't do anything? Nobody else figured out that all it took was a high pitch beep to cripple them? Why didn't the wife check the steps to see what the bag got caught on, instead of just yanking it and continuing on? How did she give birth, unassisted, in about 5 minutes? And everything about the whiteboard is just comical.

I didn't hate it, but I can't say it was a good movie.

[soprano1]

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Another movie to place in the "why the fuck didn't I saw this before" category. Just funny and brilliant.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Jesus!
I must be missing some Argento receptors!
Never managed more than a few minutes of any of his films. Are these films generally enjoyed as "B-movies"?
Is it meant to be satire? Are they intentionally awful? Are they straight comedy?
The "acting", the Dubbing, the "music". Surely this is an inside joke?

I view them as long music videos. Goes to show how ready world was for MTV. Not everybody can be Bob Fosse.

[Skykid]

Opera (987)
Agree with Skykid, the movie is just right, and those POV shots!
Two things I didn't like were how you could spot the murderer a mile away, and that strange final scene with the lizard. I thought she was going to do the opposite of what she did, actually.

I also didn't care much for the finale, but the camera work is outstanding. I think the peep hole murder is absolutely spectacular. The delay on the way that phone takes the bullet is beautiful.

[BrianC]

Opera (987)

Wow. I didn't know movies were around for so long!

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Another movie to place in the "why the fuck didn't I saw this before" category. Just funny and brilliant.

Predator fits that category for me, which I just saw recently. Awesome movie! Classic Arnold! Carl Weathers was great too. That predator is one ugly "beast".

[Ji-L87]

Rogue One (And I won't bother with resurrecting the old thread because it doesn't really warrant continued discussion)

I've been sitting on this one for a while, thinking it would be fun to see with some mates perhaps, but I felt oddly compelled yesterday to sit down with it - perhaps feeling slightly stressed out since I haven't seen the Last Jedi (but have it in my shelf) and the recent Solo movie and it was piling up.

At any rate, I remember reading a lot of negative comments in one of the two Solo-threads as well as in the old Rogue One-thread and resigned myself to be annoyed with it or bored to tears.

Turns out I actually liked it. Characters were flat and not super likeable like I remember reading, but I thought it was entertaining none the less. Several of the actions scenes felt properly entertaining and seeing the classic ships whizz around always puts a smile on my face.

The design in general felt pretty Star Wars-y, some ship designs not withstanding like the T-3c shuttle which is atrocious and the U-Wing which I didn't hate, just felt that the swinging wings made even less sense than in the case of the X-Wing.

The only real problem I had was the CGI actors which felt like unnecessary pandering and only gov. Tarkin looked obviously fake to my eyes. Leia's line about "hope" felt out of place and weirdly contrasting to all the preceding horror.

In the end, it was far from a perfect movie but I've come to realize that I think no Star Wars movie is perfect, and the things I like about them seems sometimes different from what others like about them. As it stands right now, I feel that these Stories-movies are potentially much more interesting than the main saga and with some hope restored, I look really forward to seeing Solo now.

[Steamflogger Boss]

Red Beard

9/10

One of Kurosawa's best. Also has Mifune at his best, with a stunning performance. It's 3 hours, that's going to turn some people off but honestly it never feels slow or dragging. This is one of Kurosawa's films with a fairly idealistic character, which he pretty much scrapped going forward. Kurosawa was still hopeful for humanity at this point.

[soprano1]

Opera (987)

Wow. I didn't know movies were around for so long!

Dammit!

[Mischief Maker]

Opera (987)

Wow. I didn't know movies were around for so long!

I didn't know Opera was around for that long!

[Zen]

Unsane (2018) - Steven Soderbergh

Starts of well. By the time we get to the main premise, I was a happy and interested viewer.
It's all downhill from there though.

Performances are strong all round. Its nothing that we have not seen before but its well done.
Best way to describe it would be, a Mark Duplass film, with higher overall production values.

[JBC]

Christ knows what the remake of Suspiria is going to be like.

Garbage

I thought so but then I watched the teaser earlier. It has an authentic quality about it that looks like a lot of love has gone into recreating the vibe. I honestly wonder if it's shot on film rather than digital, but maybe it was my internet.

[Mischief Maker]

Christ knows what the remake of Suspiria is going to be like.

Garbage

I thought so but then I watched the teaser earlier. It has an authentic quality about it that looks like a lot of love has gone into recreating the vibe. I honestly wonder if it's shot on film rather than digital, but maybe it was my internet.

Looks drab, brown, and generic to me, with a completely uninspired score.

Who the fuck wanted a grounded and realistic Suspiria?

[NYN]

Isle of Dogs.

Got the invite to see it at the cinema, and being familiar with the brand Wes Anderson I was happy to follow.
Loosely informed about the premise I was only slightly concerned what it would mean to depict "Japanese" whathaveyou by a non-native group of filmmakers. And after a deliberate stern opening with blunt cat propaganda, I was at ease with the sensibilities. There are no Disney-isms. It's so deep from the minds of Anderson and his cronies that it's their own animal. Pet. Wait. Let's vote on this.
The name Atari for a boy, haiku, noh, sushi, sumo are not trite here. They are the beads in a quirky beard. Aye.
Man, the works on this thing. Stop-motion animation for canine fur on an island. Even with everything paused circulation of wind must be shown. Dreamy to look at but surely a pain to convey.
I dug it like a dog.

I'd be interested to know how bilinguals like Mr GP gather from the overall setup. Please do tell.

Gotta say I enjoyed all the productions from Laika I've seen so far. Coraline, ParaNorman (my fave) and The Boxtrolls. Kubo is up next. No false sentimentalities I could detect and I'm a stickler for this. Just fun and funny.

[GaijinPunch]

I'd be interested to know how bilinguals like Mr GP gather from the overall setup. Please do tell.
.

Having a hard time convincing my GF to go... but also not having a ton of time to make it to the cinema these days. I am quite keen to see it though. It's Wes Anderon after all. It's at least different. I am not familiar w/ this tale if it is a famous one. The fact that they got the title right in Japanese, was a huge turn on for me. FWIW, Japanese people name their dogs after such things (probably a million dogs named Mochi in Japan) so it's definitely not out of palce. (Noh and Haiku might be stretches though).

[NYN]

Ah! I misled.
Right. Atari is the name of the young Japanese boy. The pack of dogs have names like King, Spots, Boss and Chief.
I meant to say that things like sushi, sumo etc. are thematically too worn out in a fantasy story that takes place on these shores.
As if these things were not included it wouldn't be authentic or conclusive for a foreign audience. And I think it's well handled. It's neat, not kitsch. But maybe you would think differently? Once you see it.

( I had the opposite to you actually. The gal wanted to see it and would have went without me. She confuses names of people behind the curtains. Wes Craven, John Carpenter, whatever. Wes Carpenter for all she cares. I mean how many darling partners adore The Thing because it has disgusting sfx? I am very fortunate in that department.)

[GaijinPunch]

You are fortunate. Mine can't remember shit about any movie about 30 minutes after walking out. Aisle of the Dog right now is "The Dog Movie".

[Ixmucane2]

Jesus!
I must be missing some Argento receptors!
Never managed more than a few minutes of any of his films. Are these films generally enjoyed as "B-movies"?
Is it meant to be satire? Are they intentionally awful? Are they straight comedy?
The "acting", the Dubbing, the "music". Surely this is an inside joke?

While the quality of Dario Argento's work has mostly declined after his best period, his classics are simply very well made and very original fun genre cinema, coming from a more creative time and made at the low end of medium budget.

• Good acting has never been a priority for Argento; but intense feelings for characters who are future murder victims, or evil, or ridiculously stupid, or comic relief, or not important in any way, would be an hindrance.
• I'm not sure about dubbing, I stick to Italian.
• If you don't like Goblin and Keith Emerson, we can only feel sorry. Music was a strong point of Dario Argento's films at the time.

Are you disoriented by the boldness and strangeness? Italian cinema from the '70s and '80s is generally much more creative and original than what's usual today, and Dario Argento proudly occupied the weirdest end of the spectrum.
Deep Red, in particular, is extremely unpredictable in its swings between murder mystery, physical comedy, violence, running jokes, creepy atmosphere, and WTF.

[Zen]

Good acting has never been a priority for Argento; but intense feelings for characters who are future murder victims, or evil, or ridiculously stupid, or comic relief, or not important in any way, would be an hindrance.

This would be my idea of a "real life" horror film.

I'm not sure about dubbing, I stick to Italian.

Briefly watching Anthony Franciosa speaking English, in a stilted dub, is an OCD nightmare.

If you don't like Goblin and Keith Emerson, we can only feel sorry. Music was a strong point of Dario Argento's films at the time.

Stay your pity, sir! My aural sophistication is beyond question.

Are you disoriented by the boldness and strangeness?

Neither.
Not to put too fine a point on it; it is the cheese, sir - il formaggio!

Am I to understand, that you appreciate these films . . . unironically?

[EmperorIng]

Next Zen will tell us he can't enjoy a good Godzilla movie.

[Zen]

Next Zen will tell us he can't enjoy a good Godzilla movie.

Well, I have not seen any, so I couldnt say. They were meant to be B-Movies, though? Whereas Argento is discussed seriously, it seems.

Hold on; I did see Godzilla (1998) - Roland Emmerich
Seen under duress and remembered for being both an awful film and for the raping of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir, by the talentless chancer, Sean John Combs, (aka Puff Daddy, aka Puffy, aka P. Diddy, aka Diddy).
The lyrics of which, for the first 32 seconds, went as follows;

Uh-huh, yeeah.
Uh-huh, yeeah. Uh.
Uh-huh, yeeah. Uh.
Uh-huh, yeeah.
Uh-huh, yeeah. Uh.
Uh-huh, yeeah, yeeah.


(Burnt into my brain, forever )

Which is my point, I guess; "Shit In. Shit Out."

[Mischief Maker]

The original Godzilla was a serious horror movie that was the first major Japanese movie to address the horrors of the nuclear attacks through the medium of a giant unstoppable monster. And I'm talking about the Japanese cut, not the sanitized American version with Raymond Burr. The film was never meant to have sequels and the unnecessary continuation turned it into a joke franchise.

Godzilla '98 wasn't a shit because it was a Godzilla movie, it was shit because it was a Roland Emmerich movie.

Suspiria is supposed to be a nightmare on film. Nitpicking plot elements is missing the point entirely.

[Steamflogger Boss]

Yeah the original Godzilla is a very important movie tbh. The Criterion BD is worth owning.

[EmperorIng]

Next Zen will tell us he can't enjoy a good Godzilla movie.

Well, I have not seen any, so I couldnt say. They were meant to be B-Movies, though?

I'll reiterate what Mischief and Steamflogger said that the first at least was meant to be taken seriously and is a very well-done movie. Forgive the dated rubber suit and the melodramatic love triangle (characteristic in films of the time I feel) and you'll see some real emotion, melancholy, and despair on film. It's worth it.

Apparently about the only other Godzilla movies that tried to be taken seriously was the Godzilla 1984 reboot (fun, but also silly) and Anno's Shin Godzilla, which I haven't seen (and doesn't seem to be well-loved on this forum). There's also the 2014 American Godzilla... as an expiation of the sins of Roland Emmerich's Godzilla*, I can appreciate it, but as its own movie it's rather dull and doesn't have a strong enough cast to propel its non-monster moments (95% of the movie). The American hoo-rah feel of the movie also rubs me the wrong way, but maybe I crave more cynicism in my serious movies.

*here's something fun I recently read, speaking of this awful movie. I saw an article in which one of the producers of 1998 Godzilla explained why audiences didn't like the movie: it's because it was TOO SMART for them. Yes, because that Godzilla was "morally ambiguous" audiences couldn't latch on to it as villain (1954 original) or a good guy (2014 version). The confusion was reflected in poor box office sales. The way these boys can spin their own crap into a four-course meal never ceases to amuse! SECOND EDIT: I found a better article which includes in that same quote the writer admitting that Roland Emmerich didn't give a shit about Godzilla or its story either, lol.