Movies you've just watched

[NYN]

New to me, if not new anymore:

The Final Girls


Meta-commentary on a slasher movie which is modeled closely after the Camp Crystal Lake Killer, to the point where even the acustic whisper FX (hu-hu huh-huh) is replicated. No, not quoting meta like Scream. With notes of spoof. No, not like Scary Movie. With an fan-oriented plot with ironic overtones. No, not like The Cabin in the Woods. More like entering a fantasy and confronting the un-artistic half-life of the heroes. More The Last Action Hero, Pleasantville, and maybe The Truman Show. It operates hard to transplant a heart to the genre Tin Man. Does it balance the dues? Yes, I'd say. It's mostly a fantasy that people are not cattle. Even if we prefer to think in stereotypes. A holy virgin to save them all! And star in the sequel, too.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Netflix plans to stream the Director's Cut of Rebel Moon sometime down the road in 2024 -- they weren't sure how it'd be received by the general public, hence they released the trimmed down version to be modest about it. Lots of Zack Snyder's stylized slo-mo action scenes (that a Star Wars film would benefit from if done right to further enhance such a scene). Sure packs a punch, especially towards the end.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[NYN]

Hey. Everybody back from getting smashed and mating with (seemingly) beautiful strangers coming midnight?
Awriiight, pardner! Now have a movie or many and drop more than just a single line. Please?

I recently saw:


Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

A first. Name change from the book approved! Only knew the Burton one, don't care for it. A few gripes: it takes unbelievable fuck-ing 40 of some 90 minutes to get to Wonka and the creamy caramel center of the whole thing! I knows it was all different in 1970, though really that is painful. The bratty kids are horrible stereotypes of misbehaviour: the fat kid, who "loves to eat" and gets flushed for his greed, a Tv-obsessed young'un from Arizona who will get his real six-shooter when he turns 12, the Daddy promises (someone admonishes that he should read a good book instead ), Veruca Salt wants everthing bought what she deems hers, throwing a fit if she doesn't, etc. etc. The presentation of the poverty of young Charles is that of virtue and groundness, yet is, like the others, horribly overdone, even being the worst since he is the central character. Yeah, you might say, Dude! You know. FOR KIDS!!. All right, then. For MORONIC kids. I can't believe this part wasn't tacky even then. Anyway, the movie becomes art with the apperance of Gene Wilder. Every frame with him is worth all the camp before. With the same manic energy he found later for his part as Freddy Fronkensteen, he alone is a thing to behold and delight in. Some production design is fairly crafty, all adding to the fun part. Watch it for Wilder. Cue Wonka meme: Soooo. You watched the movie for the first time, did you. How nice!

[Lander]

I've been quietly doing a marathon of the Asterix animated films, after having some fond memories of the comics resurface.

Asterix the Gaul - Simple, rough edged fun; establishes the setting and characters. Bit of a Hanna Barbera vibe.
Though it renames the supporting cast for some reason. Tonabrix? Stopthemusix? Panoramix? Pah! It's Vitalstatistix, Cacofonix, and Getafix, thankyouverymuch.

Asterix and Cleopatra - Uh oh. Poor comedic timing, noticeably off lip-sync, and *ulp* frequent musical numbers all my childhood bugbears realized!
Surprisingly not the worst in the series, but misinterprets much of the comics' appeal. Wouldn't blame anyone for falling off here.

The Twelve Trials of Asterix - A return to form! Good pace, good animation, good voices, good jokes - parodying the trials of Hercules is a great setup for lighthearted adventure.
My personal favourite. Asterix and Obelix Smash the System is the best gag in the series by a tidy margin

Asterix in Britain - What ho old chap, how about a spot of tea before we *PAF* these romans? Spiffing.
Giving Asterix and Obelix authentic french accents so they stand out amidst all the Stereotypical Brit What was a little odd, and Obelix was cast with a Big Ol' Dummy voice rather than letting his oafishness come across naturally, but still fun on the whole.

Asterix and Caesar - Probably the second-best of the set, with presentation on par with Twelve Trials; Asterix and Obelix set off to rescue Budget He-Man and his girl from Roman clutches, shenanigans ensue.
Features some good punch-up gladiating toward the climax in the Circus Maximus. You can take the Gauls out of Gaul, but you can't take Gaul out of the Gauls!

Asterix and the Big Fight - Bleh. Gorgeous painterly backgrounds mixed with animation cels, but wasted on a plot that drives a wedge between the gauls, trashes the charm, and is far too focused on Getafix doing weird science during a bout of temporary insanity.
Also suffers from a lack of definitive version; you have to pick between the original VHS release which has terrible image quality and traditional VO (feat. national treasure Brian Blessed ), or the Blu-Ray with sharp picture and a less charismatic american redub.
I went with the latter since it's an animated film, and casting all of the romans with mama-mia italian accents was entertaining, but it just falls flat. The cute owl is probably the best part.

A distinctly mixed bag on the whole, with a couple of genuine gems to be had. Might check out the CG ones next; I recall seeing the live-action growing up, but a few glimpses of it here and there in thumbnails has me thinking that is best left to hazy memories

[RGC]

Anyway, the movie becomes art with the apperance of Gene Wilder. Every frame with him is worth all the camp before.

Truly glorious isn't he! LSD boat ride scene aside, he offers a pretty restrained performance when compared with just about all his other memorable characters (perhaps the reason they were so memorable!), but you can always feel that idiosyncratic Wilder brand of mania bubbling away just beneath the surface, waiting to explode). Ironically, I believe an American portraying what was supposed to be a quintessentially British eccentric was the central reason Dahl disowned the project. Oi Roald, you wonker! The film holds up well IMO, though it's true that the first half has aged less well than the second. And yeah, the stereotypes are just that. Also, the Cheer up, Charlie number always dragged for a fucking eternity. Regardless, still pure magic for this rosy specced old duffer.

[Lord British]

Cue Wonka meme: Soooo. You watched the movie for the first time, did you. How nice!

Not your first great review though. Keep em coming!

[NYN]

0h, thank you kindly! I have to say that I don't think of the posts as reviews, though. It's only my feelings (and maybe half-thoughts) articulated. And loosly written, with hitting some riffs on the content. I aim not to bore others with it, is all. (that would include some confusing bits, at times)


We saw again, after some space....


The Breakfast Club

Some movies are so much relished, that to write about them extensivly gets a big Duh, dummy! We knows. from anybody who is in on it. So I cannot say much more about this piece, save what I noticed this round. It's about stereotypes and the act of stereotyping (Duh! I know you know), breaking down barriers and rules, have drugs and dance-dance-dance, maybe having a breakthrough at the end and pumping your fist to an empty sports field. We will never know what will happen in the hallways on Monday, if they all pull through, yet that is still the cool thing about it.
A lot of laughs, a lot of hurt and release. The goofy stuff is really pumping my nads. I think Hughes went free-for-all in editing the first half, having reaction shots mixed to show off the cast and keep it light. Carl, the janitorial wise man is a real trick to give and to receive. Vernon easy to dislike and dismiss. I feel this movie was produced with shoestrings, all the more succeeding over the decades since with what it is: a kindly gift, received with deep thanks. Don't you forget about me. Don't-don't-don't you.

[cj iwakura]

The only real hangup I have about the film, which Diablo Cody pointed out in the Criterion supplement, is that the "weird" girl has to get a makeover and become a pretty pretty princess by the end, but I still love it. (It's even more fun if you consider St. Elmo's Fire a sequel, which it basically is, since half the cast and a Short Circuit cast member is in it, making my headcanon that it's all in the same universe.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckXTytGOGv4



Also, I saw Anyone But You yesterday because I guess I was in a romcom mood.

It's cute, and the main leads are absurdly attractive, which helps(and it also makes you wonder if that's the prerequisite to attracting someone that gorgeous). Some of the side characters feel like they're just there to prop up the leads, but hey, maybe that's not a bad thing(and they're at least fun to watch).

[NYN]

Fair point about Ally. Though in my mind it's to show there's a whole different side to her. The way Sheedy plays it is very cat-like, ready to claw Brian after her transformation, though he approves "Cool." and she relents in posture. She's still weird, only she can look nice, too. It doesn't make her prom queen.

Hot take about St. Elmo being a sequel. Last time I've seen it it felt very clunky with the in and outs of relations. Hughes is very much a smooth criminal with his teen movies. Stark contrast. And Judd Nelson being a yuppie after immortalizing John Bender? That's just not pumping my nads...

[Lord British]

Detour - 1945 - Edgar G. Ulmer



Pure venom all the way. This is a low-budget film-noir that sticks out mainly because of the over-the-top performance of Ann Savage's Vera. Al, a bar room pianist, decides to hitchhike out to L.A. in hopes to reconnect with his aspiring-actress girlfriend. He's picked up by Haskell, a shady man w/ a terrible cough who is also headed towards L.A. to place a horse bet. After finishing a turn behind the wheel, Al notices Haskell is slumped over. He open the passenger door and Haskell rolls out dead. Thinking the police will incriminate him in the death, and also penniless, Al decides to put on Haskell's clothes and assume his identity completely: keeping his ID, his money, and his car. A few a stops later he picks up Vera, and that's when things go bonkers. Definitely a good cult-classic but not amazing. It's hard to pass up though if you're a fan of classic noir because it runs under 70min. Watched on Criterion

[Lord British]

L’Âge d’Or (aka The Golden Age or Age Of Gold) - 1930 - Luis Buñuel (France)



The second film Buñuel began making w/ Salvador Dalí after Un Chien Andalou, but the partnership broke up in the middle of it due to a falling out. This one is equally bonkers as Un Chien Andalou and maybe even more so. You'll see a couple trying to make love in public a couple times, and afterwards the man of this couple kicking a dog, then a violin, then a blind person, and then slapping an old lady who slightly spills something on him. Then another man showing a boy a card trick where the boy knocks the cards out of his hands and starts running away giggling. The man responds to shooting him before he leaves his sight. And yet it all makes sense! I guess. Yeah, with Buñuel it's often about the hypocrisy of the Catholic church, or the bourgeois, or fascism yadda yadda. But I buy into his thing more often than not, he just seems to pull it off in a way that i can appreciate, and that's why he's one of my favorite directors. Watched on YouTube

[NYN]

We watched Knives Out, er, for the veteran faces, and, uh, can't confirm that the Murder-Mistery, uhm, is re-invented in the 21st century. Or maybe it is? While production is all right, it's way overblown in run-time, hum, making me look for the watch every 10 minutes. Having 20 of them to the constipated final 'lifting of the veil' it's more concerned to the old and tacky genre of noticing minimal stuff and constructing big, hollow things out of it. And OF COURSE, there is a social message, erected right into it: just WOW. Subtlety is not for this age. And why should it? There is a sequel, that makes it a franchise. Wha?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Checked out the 1973 whodunit flick by the name of "Wicked, Wicked" with it's highly novel & innovative "Duo Vision" format with two 4:3 screens playing together simultaneously in widescreen format. It's playing on TCM via DirecTV right now. Another cool film, Timecode, expanded on this concept with four screens playing simultaneously -- it was shot "on the fly" improvised & without a script whatsoever.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[neorichieb1971]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0vasFkjODk

Did a stint of overtime over Xmas and found BMX bandits on youtube. Was a childhood favourite as I had a BMX back in the day.

Mind you I didn't realize the movie was Australian until watching it on youtube I always thought it was American. Makes sense it has a 16 year old Nicole Kidman doing stunts - https://youtu.be/D0vasFkjODk?t=2289

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Yeah, I recall watching BMX Bandits on cable back in the 1980s -- awesome for it's time! Watching the end credits does mention it being filmed in Australia indeed.

Back in 1984, at Montgomery Wards, I saw an unusual 2-speed BMX bike that was about $350-$400. It looked quite cool but very expensive and had to pass up on it.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[neorichieb1971]

Yeah, I recall watching BMX Bandits on cable back in the 1980s -- awesome for it's time! Watching the end credits does mention it being filmed in Australia indeed.

Back in 1984, at Montgomery Wards, I saw an unusual 2-speed BMX bike that was about $350-$400. It looked quite cool but very expensive and had to pass up on it.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Those bikes in the 80's costs 2 or 3 weeks wages in the UK. I only knew one kid who had one. The rest of us had knock off look alikes like the Raleigh Burner which was a quarter of the price.

[GaijinPunch]

The Breakfast Club

Some movies are so much relished, that to write about them extensivly gets a big Duh, dummy! We knows. from anybody who is in on it. So I cannot say much more about this piece, save what I noticed this round. It's about stereotypes and the act of stereotyping (Duh! I know you know), breaking down barriers and rules, have drugs and dance-dance-dance, maybe having a breakthrough at the end and pumping your fist to an empty sports field. We will never know what will happen in the hallways on Monday, if they all pull through, yet that is still the cool thing about it.
A lot of laughs, a lot of hurt and release. The goofy stuff is really pumping my nads. I think Hughes went free-for-all in editing the first half, having reaction shots mixed to show off the cast and keep it light. Carl, the janitorial wise man is a real trick to give and to receive. Vernon easy to dislike and dismiss. I feel this movie was produced with shoestrings, all the more succeeding over the decades since with what it is: a kindly gift, received with deep thanks. Don't you forget about me. Don't-don't-don't you.

John Hughes high school flicks are absolute gems, and this is arguably the best one. Was this your first viewing? This is like the bible to Gen X. Great soundtrack. Still funny as fuck. I load it up every now and again.

Hot take about St. Elmo being a sequel. Last time I've seen it it felt very clunky with the in and outs of relations

In real life none of them would be friends. St. Elmo's is fucking weird. Kirby is a stalker. It's in the "so bad it's good" category now.

[GaijinPunch]

The Conformist / Il Conformista [1970]

My first outing with Bernado Bertolucci. A fascist flunky is recruited to carry out an assassination in Paris, and chooses to do so using his honeymoon as a cover. Quite a bit going on in this, so definitely need to pay attention. It's quite easy to get lost on the sets as well as they camera work. Some really interesting panning. I prefer this in color which is rather rare for me.



Will definitely check out more.

[RGC]

John Hughes high school flicks are absolute gems, and this is arguably the best one.

Another contender (and my absolute go to):

I heard that you were feeling ill.
Headache, fever, and a chill.
I came to help restore your pluck,
'cause I’m the nurse who likes to <door slam>

Probably far more widely appreciated than BC though. In fact, wasn't there a TV spinoff? I daren't look! Again, phenomenal soundtrack.

[NYN]

John Hughes high school flicks are absolute gems, and this is arguably the best one. Was this your first viewing?

No:

We saw again, after some space....

Though to give the due, I was a Breakfast Virgin until maybe 2009, where I taped (!) it. Don't explain it to the kids, wasted time. And it had the wrong times, so I either missed the beginning or the ending, I dunno anymore. Next day I bought the DVD and since then just slide it in whenever it's breakfast time. I got impregnated like the prom queen with it. Bender is so incorrect, that most jokes and abuses wouldn't fly today. Whooha.

Did I hear Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Watched that one again, too. Have some feelings about that, want me to jot it down? Anyone? Anyone?

[RGC]

Did I hear Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Watched that one again, too. Have some feelings about that, want me to jot it down? Anyone? Anyone?

Just please don't undermine Ferris' coolness, which (in my mind), is eternal. Unlike, say, Police Academy's Mahoney, who becomes increasingly insufferable with each passing decade. I used to think he was cool, but these days (i.e since adulthood), I'd root for Captain Harris over that bellend.

FBDO and Police Academy in the same thread.

[NYN]

No worry. Ferris is untouchable, just as he was conceived and immortalized. I couldn't do a dent with a sledgehammer. That's a legacy.

And about the Academy: what a personality pool to pick from. Been ages, though top of my head I'd go with Zed. If only for the disgrace to see him sully a law uniform. Wow, that went deep. Who Are You in Police Academy Characters...

[GaijinPunch]

Mad props to Ferris. Everyone wanted to be him in the summer of 1986 (including me) and it is very rewatachable. I watch it all the time. LIving in Chicago for 5 years, it is part of the DNA of the city. More than a few drinks / sandwiches named after characters - The Abe Frohman, for starters. Also, I'm the dinosaur on my team which is understandable as I work in tech, but when people 20 years younger than me do, "Bueller.... Bueller...?" I get the tingles.

But Breakffast Club always holds a place in my heart. And yes, Bender is so wrong. They recently covered it in Hard on the 80's (a podcast where a famous [?] burner goes over warped flicks from the 80s w/ his brother and another friend - it's entertaining). They are definitely on the liberal side of things so went as far as to say they'd recommend it to anyone, but if you're a parent, you should probably talk to your kids about the things that are not okay - and they pretty much start and stop w/ Bender in the movie. Dunno, we seem to only get Super Heroes or anti-heroes these days. Barry killed people, as did Walter White, and they were hailed. Not sure anyone had talks w/ their children about them.

[GaijinPunch]

The Boy and the Herron / Kimitachi ha Dou Ikiruka

I blew this off until I could go see it w/ the woman, for which she was grateful. Caught it in the BFI theater of all places - one of the few places in London that actually had it subtitled. The cast of the English version lineup looks solid, but I'm a default whore - subtitles all the way. Also, devoted my life to that fucking language, might as well use it.

The internet is raving about it, and I doubt there's anything much I can add that you've not read already - perhaps written by some young hipster. However, I will say that it didn't hit me as hard as some of his others. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and perhaps partly due to his previous works raising the bar so high, but I could still walk out and claim that it didn't quite move me like watching Spirited Away or Totoro (at a comic book convention on VHS, with a 25" TV) did decades prior. Everyone should go see it - and in the cinema at that. It's a solid 7.5 or maybe 8, but Miyazaki has at least 3 9's in his back catalogue, if not more.

[Lord British]

The Conformist / Il Conformista [1970]

My first outing with Bernado Bertolucci. A fascist flunky is recruited to carry out an assassination in Paris, and chooses to do so using his honeymoon as a cover. Quite a bit going on in this, so definitely need to pay attention. It's quite easy to get lost on the sets as well as they camera work. Some really interesting panning. I prefer this in color which is rather rare for me.



Will definitely check out more.

Yep, saw this a few months ago and it's my first Bertolucci. Don't remember a whole lot but the cinematography is amazing and I'm looking forward to seeing it again.

[GaijinPunch]

Yep, saw this a few months ago and it's my first Bertolucci. Don't remember a whole lot but the cinematography is amazing and I'm looking forward to seeing it again.

The first thing I said to myself when it was over was, "there's a fuck load of context I'm missing here." But agreed - cinematography was top notch.

[NYN]

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

How does he do it? Any other teen hero would sour over the decades. Any other face smiling from most frames you would want to bash in, calling names, etc. How do we still have fun with this silly teen fantasy, even with all the retrospect?

The following is not a list.

Breaking 4th wall, he makes the audience privy to his thoughts and feels, never talking down to us, treats us as one of his many friends. He's never seen in prison (translation: school). He wants to spent a day with the gal and best bud to see an art gallery, a baseball game, eat at a fancy restaraunt, participating in a parade, assisting the bud with a psychological breakthrough. All Big Fun. And the Ferrari, too. He tricks authority figures: the Elmer Fudd Dean of Students, his strange parents, his grumpy sister (No, thank you. I'm straight.).

As the Graceless puts it:

Oh, he's very popular, Ed. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore him.
They think he's a righteous dude.

Translation: Bueller could talk his way out of a room with the Breakfast 5 (but wouldn't have been cought for detention anyways). Not adhering to social circles, he can be anybody.

It's his narrative. He can add and excise anything that makes the day anything but perfect. In this sense he's an unreliable narrator. We trust him, and want him to have all this. It's all for the win. Other then, say Alex, a clockwork orange.

The only gripe I can have with it is this: the dog. It should not be in the movie. It undermines parts of it. Maybe the dog was a note to embrace from the studio, and, having already the idea for Home Alone Hughes put it to work. It's only for more of The Loony Rooney Show. None of the Buellers ever mentions the dog, to feed it or take for a walk. The dog is shown as protective-aggressive, yet never barks when the house bell is rung (to not interupt the phoney tape respond). Deliveres of flowers (SAVE FERRIS!) and fruit baskets, etc, put their stuff into the front hall, without any dog interference. Jeanie never calls for the dog, when she finds the intruder in the house. Hence: I proclaim the dog never existed, and as such is felt as most redundant.

Most remarkable credit roll: everybody stayed at the cinema, to see Rooney eat it.

You're still here? It's over. Go home. Go.

[RGC]

Haha, great observations. Now I want to see it again! His parents are weird, aren't they! Being closest to him, are they the most deceived of all Ferris' targets for deception, or do they tacitly play along with his little games, half aware of his mischief but (like us) seeing that as part and parcel of his charm? I'm in two minds. For his fakery to work would depend on them believing that their little pumpkin could do no wrong. The only alternative (to being aware of his tricks), is that they have their heads deeply up their arses, which is also possible of course. I like them, and see them as ex hippy types, probably rode their own merry prankster bus at some point, then were forced to settle down and join the rat race. His dad twisting, way up in his high rise office, his once rebellious nature now living on in his son, who at some point will likely conform like everyone else; or end up in jail. Where would Ferris be now? is an interesting one, but perhaps something we wouldn't want to know the answer to.

[NYN]

I read recently that Hughes entertained the possibility of a sequel to the Club. All in their 30s, being opposites to their teens. Glad that never happend. Same as more Bueller. And that allegedly there exists a directors cut of BC, somewhere hidden by his widow. That I would see.

[Lord British]

Clean, Shaven - 1993 - Lodge Kerrigan



Some movies are so beautiful and inviting that you just want to crawl into that world and stay forever. This is not one of those movies. We have a schizophrenic man here driving around in a crappy car looking for his long lost daughter. The movie tries to put you into the mind of a schizophrenic and it's not a pleasant experience. You can smell this movie. Ick. Actor Peter Greene is great in this, you'll recognize him from several things including Pulp Fiction as Zed ("Zed's dead, baby") and The Usual Suspects as Redfoot. I'd have to say I like this movie even though its one of the most uncomfortable watches I've had. Uggh. Ouch. Watched on Criterion