Movies Rate and Discuss the Last Movie You Saw v.16

[revoltub]

The Hunt (2012)
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I found it an interesting psychological drama. It approaches the subject matter in a way that is at first, unassuming and sort of nonchalant. It leads you into a feeling of security for Mikkelsen's character.

As the film goes on, the reality of what is going on becomes more and more apparent. Everything that can go wrong, pretty much does. The film really makes you feel for his character, and it at times can be as infuriating as it is disturbing to watch what he goes through.

There is one scene that, although impactful, felt a little bit cheap compared to the rest of the movie. Thought they could've gotten a bit more creative but it is one of those "always works" type of tropes.

Overall, a solid film that does a lot with nothing more than good performances and a good story which leaves something to think about and evokes different emotions very well.

7.3/10 range

 

[eddymotto]

For a Few Dollars More (Italy, 1965)

Spaghetti western directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Gian Maria Volonte. It is the middle film in Leone's informal Dollars Trilogy.

Manco (Eastwood) and Colonel Douglas Mortimer (Van Cleef) are proficient gunslingers and ruthless bounty hunters (the film refers to them as "bounty killers"). Both men decide to go after the psychotic criminal "El Indio" (Volonte), who recently escaped from prison and now leads a gang of violent bank robbers. El Indio is clever and merciless, making him a formidable opponent.

For whatever reason, I always thought of this film as the weakest of the trilogy but now I don't know why I thought that. It
is absolutely spectacular in its own right.

The three main leads are perfect in their roles. Volonte is perhaps the stand out of the cast. He is chilling as the main villain. I did not even realize he was the lead in Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion until I was looking up his name. Put some face paint on him and he was the Joker before the Joker.

Leone remains the master of western cinematography. Not every shot is perfectly beautiful but a lot of them are. Plus he is unmatched when it comes to sweaty close-ups. The score is great.

The final showdown is an all timer.

Rating: 9/10

 

[the ambush]

 

[GordoBarraBJJ]

The exorcism (with rusell crowe)

3/10. It had a few creepy scenes but mostly it was just all over the place. It felt like a bunch of scenes just mashed together. There was no explanations (at all) for the possession(s). The ending was ass

In the words of homer simpson

 

[revoltub]

For a Few Dollars More (Italy, 1965)

Spaghetti western directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Gian Maria Volonte. It is the middle film in Leone's informal Dollars Trilogy.

Manco (Eastwood) and Colonel Douglas Mortimer (Van Cleef) are proficient gunslingers and ruthless bounty hunters (the film refers to them as "bounty killers"). Both men decide to go after the psychotic criminal "El Indio" (Volonte), who recently escaped from prison and now leads a gang of violent bank robbers. El Indio is clever and merciless, making him a formidable opponent.

For whatever reason, I always thought of this film as the weakest of the trilogy but now I don't know why I thought that. It
is absolutely spectacular in its own right.

The three main leads are perfect in their roles. Volonte is perhaps the stand out of the cast. He is chilling as the main villain. I did not even realize he was the lead in Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion until I was looking up his name. Put some face paint on him and he was the Joker before the Joker.

Leone remains the master of western cinematography. Not every shot is perfectly beautiful but a lot of them are. Plus he is unmatched when it comes to sweaty close-ups. The score is great.

The final showdown is an all timer.

Rating: 9/10

I think it's the best one

 

[I Am Legion]

Sunset Blvd-1950 8/10
This is a much beloved and quoted film that ranks 16th on AFIs top 100 movies of all time. Directed by Billy Wilder and starring William Holden and Gloria Swanson. It is film noir with touches of dark humor, and felt like an ode to LA the way Woody Allen does it with Manhattan. Not a lot of joy in this film as it is a story of a down on his luck writer becoming a gigolo for a past her prime suicidal and vain former silent movie star. “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up” and “I am big! It’s the pictures that got small” are both ranked on AFI’s list of the great movie quotes in cinematic history. For fans of the classics, it is a must watch.

 

[revoltub]

Everest (2015)
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I have a thing for survival films and this one satisfied the need. Has a stacked cast including Jason Clarke, Jake Gylenhaal, Sam Worthington, Josh Brolin, Emily Watson and Kiera Knightly.

The film is based on the 1996 Mt. Everest disaster. It really brings the feeling of being on the mountain to life, even if it used movie magic to make it happen. If you told me it was completely filmed at Everest I'd believe you.

It does a good job of giving each character the right amount of time while keeping the story moving. As well as good moments of drama and of course, some edge of your seat thrilling moments involving heights and mother nature's wrath.

It's at times tragic, uplifting and a lot of fun. If you are in the mood for a well produced and acted survival film I definitely recommend it.

7.5/10 range

 

[revoltub]

Monkey Man (2024)
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Another genre I enjoy, and this one was worth the watch although I feel it is missing a bit of something. Filmed on a very small budget which is impressive, and Patel shows promise as a director.

Follows the formula for this type of film well, and Patel really put effort into trying to make it more than a brainless Wick Clone. There is even a Wick reference in the beginning.

Overall It is definitely a good amount of fun and worth it if you still havent run into lone martial arts badass fatigue. I thought some of the camera work left a bit to be desired but I'm not the biggest fan of shakey cam in most cases. It does have a good amount of the neo-noir style done well though.

Maybe it tries a little too hard to stand out. But I guess time will tell if it ends up growing on me more.

6.7/10 range

 

[eddymotto]

I think it's the best one

I have always thought that The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly was the best of the three

Will test that hypothesis as it is next in my queue. Maybe I will see it differently now

 

[revoltub]

I have always thought that The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly was the best of the three

Will test that hypothesis as it is next in my queue. Maybe I will see it differently now

It's close with TGBU. Both are genuine 10/10s imo but I've found FAFDM to be easier to go back and rewatch.

Toss up either way

 

[HenryFlower]

Midnight Run (USA, 1988) - 4/5
Beverly Hills Cop (USA, 1984) - 3/5
a pod i listen to is doing a mini series on the filmography of Martin Brest & i realized i've never seen any of his movies. to remedy this i watched Midnight Run & Beverly Hills Cop b2b. i am so hot&cold when it comes to comedies because i'm a miserable cunt, but i wouldn't hesitate to agree that this has been a massive blindspot considering these two are often heralded among the greatest comedies of all time (some will even drop the genre & proclaim Midnight Run as one of the greatest films of all time). in the end, i felt very differently about each. hot&cold stays true.

Midnight Run is fucking fantastic. Charles Grodin only recently imprinted on my brain beyond just a face in some movies i've seen before (my childhood Beethoven vhs tape had a lot of miles on it) when i watched Real Life a few weeks ago & was like, "holy shit this rando might be the greatest comedic actor ever, Albert Brooks hit the jackpot w/ this guy who prob disappeared into the shadows of obscurity after this." turns out i'm a fucking moron; i can wrest the name of almost any actor from the deepest recesses of my brain box, yet had no clue who Charles Grodin was. now i know & my life has improved greatly as a result. literally the entire cast is owning bones rocking the shit, & De Niro is out here giving his all time best comedic performance (his versatility is also on full display, best example of which is in the scene when Jack Walsh sees his daughter for the first time in 9 years), but Charles Grodin as the Duke stands heads & shoulders above everyone imo. his comedic instincts feel so sharp & effortless, dropping his deadpan deliveries like bombs.

The Duke: about 6 feet?
Bartender: No, 6-5
The Duke: Dark hair?
Bartender: Light colored.
The Duke: Sounds like our man.​

so yeah, Midnight Run rules & gave me big time "imma be rewatching this a few times every year" vibes

EDGELORD HOT TAKE INCOMING: i didn't love Beverly Hills Cop. it just did not land for me as much as i would have expected/hoped. Eddie Murphy riffing was fun 'n' all, but idk, my favorite Axel Foley moment was when he interrupts Maitland's meal at the country club & Axel gets real w/ him, telling him the score about what's gonna go down w/ a brutal sincerity. that said, i never really latched onto the very 80s renegade-LEO-seeking-revenge narrative shell. i prefer my very 80s cop action flicks to be 50x more schlocky & 50x more stupid as fuck

Dune: Part Two (USA, 2024) - 4/5
undeniably impressive filmmaking & Villeneuve continues to tip the scales in his favor when it comes to the Villeneuve-versus-Nolan grappling match to determine who is the #1 p4p undisputed champ of the biggest & loudest highbrow blockbuster megafilms.

don't have much more to say that hasn't been said to death already, but i do have this two-part thing to say that is very important:
my biggest takeaway after Dune: Part One: good, but now all i can think about is how much better Blade Runner 2049 is as i grab the bluray from my shelf & pop it into the bluray tray
my biggest takeaway after Dune: Part Two: great, but now all i can think about is how much better Blade Runner 2049 is as i grab the Elvis bluray from my shelf & pop it into the bluray tray

Augure (Belgium/DR Congo, 2023) - 4.5/5

Spoiler: screenshots

"Augure is about dealing with forgiveness and empathy; reconciliation with yourself and your family ... the phantasmagoria of Africa"

to whom it may concern, Augure (aka Omen) wins the prestiguous With-A-Bullet award for Bestest Film & Highest Recommendation of this rambling movie dump post. a stunning debut feature film from Belgian rapper, artist, & filmmaker, Baloji. a vibrant & poignant dissection of the interconnected lives of four complicated characters: DRC-born Belgian expat Koffi, his mother Mama Mujila, sister Tshala, & the leader of a pink dress wearing kid gang, Paco. Koffi's mysterious father, who haunts every crevice of the story, gets honorary "fifth character" status from me despite never actually appearing on screen.

Koffi brings his pregnant white Belgian wife to his home village in the DRC to meet his family. he worries it will beget conflict but hopes to unburden himself from his past before returning to Belgium for good. then a nosebleed leads to accusations of demonic sorcery leads to an humiliating exorcism leads to the personal/interpersonal journeys of the aforementioned characters being set adrift on a winding existential/spiritual road paved by their relationships to tradition vs modernity, family, the African occult, grief, & identity. Augure is a triumph of magical realism storytelling & gorgeous aesthetics.

Samsara (Spain, 2023) - 4/5

Spoiler: screenshots

speaking of gorgeous aesthetics... i have no clue what camera Lois Patiño used to film Samsara, but i want it.

anyways, Samsara is basically a spiritual therapy session disguised as a movie, but i promise it's not as pretentious as that sounds. smack dab in the middle of the film the filmmaker invites the viewer to close their eyes as we transition from one realm to the next. what follows is a 15min sequence that uses flowing/flashing/strobing/fading color fields & auditory landscapes to take you on a sensory journey. the experience was reminiscent of the time i was in the khole watching Sleep Has Her house (experimental film dir. by Scott Barley) & it ended up sucking me through the astral plane or some shit. Samsara achieved a similar meditative experience through light & sound manipulation. it's an impressive feat of cinematic boundry pushing to be sure.

Samsara is so much more than that sequence, but the proposition to basically take drugs w/o taking drugs (or better yet, take drugs w/o taking drugs while on drugs) is about as good of a sales pitch as it gets tbh

Shredder Orpheus (USA, 1990) - 3/5
a magnificent/mystifying/maniacal low budget artifact that defies plot synopsis. there are narrative flaming curveballs thrown at you at the top of every quarter hour. the result is a surreal & [unintentionally] experimental hallucination that makes Cocteau's Orphic Trilogy feel like a Saturday morning cartoon

No Hard Feelings (USA, 2023) - 2/5
not for me. Andrew Barth Feldman's delivery for this one stupid innocuous joke got me in a chuckle fit though:

bar server asks the boy main character (Percy) what he'll have to drink,
Percy: "Pepsi, please."
Server: "Coke okay?"
Percy: (whispers) "Should we go somewhere else?"​

super dumb, but delivery can make almost any joke shine, & this one got me

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (USA, 2022) - 3/5
the covid/masking stuff is going to horribly date this movie decades from now, but i'm sure it twisted the nipples of many ornery conservative dorks so maybe it was worth it. frivolous nitpick aside, i honestly thought this was a pretty fun watch & Daniel Craig is clearly having a lot of fun playing the Benoit Blanc character

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (USA, 2023) - 2.5/5
a smashy-crashy flashy-bashy boom-blam-pow headache

 

[eddymotto]

A Fistful of Dynamite (Italy, 1971)

Often referred to as Sergio Leone's forgotten western, the film was primarily titled Duck, You Sucker! when originally released. It baffles me how somebody who presumably had a stake on the critical and commercial success of the film thought that Duck, You Sucker! was a better title than A Fistful of Dynamite.

Set during the 1910 Mexican Revolution, the film centres on Juan Miranda (Rod Steiger), a lowlife Mexican bandit, and John Mallory (John Coburn), an exiled Irish revolutionary with a penchant for blowing stuff up.

Juan is an impoverished bandit who successfully robs a fancy coach. The rich people who he steals from are uniformly terrible but Juan really just wants their money. He is not exactly Robin Hood.

Mallory wanders by the scene on his motorcycle and Juan tries to steal from him as well. Mallory is utterly contemptuous of Juan's threats and shows off his personal stockpile of dynamite. If nothing else, Juan is an opportunist and he sees the Irish man's demolition expertise as the skill he needs to fulfill his childhood dream of robbing a large bank in a nearby town.

The men start off at odds with one another but eventually get pulled into some of the major events in the Mexican Revolution.

This film is all over the place. It starts off like a classic western with a big dose of class warfare. It is not subtle. When the rich passengers first meet Juan, they are grotesquely contemptuous of him (Leone utilizes his famous close up techniques to show the rich people eating and chewing for what seems like hours. It is revolting and goes on for way too long.). Lest we think Juan is even remotely a hero, he rapes the female passenger to dissuade us of any notion that he possesses an underlying nobility.

The film, which is too long, meanders along for the first hour as the two main characters try to come to terms with each other. The pacing is off and it felt like a drag at times. Once the men become revolutionaries (in Juan's case, quite against his own intentions), the tone gets extremely dark at times. Leone puts together some stunning storytelling about the nature of honour, human weakness, revenge, and hope. There are a couple of scenes that hit hard. Leone also seems to be committed to attacking the notion of the nobleness of revolutions, and revolutionaries, as the amoral Juan finds himself being hailed over and over again as a hero. This is a very political film.

Leone is genetically incapable of making an ugly film but he never comes close to the richness of the Dollars trilogy. There are lots of great shots. There is also lots of fairly mundane stuff in between.

Juan gets an exceptional character arc and Steiger is really good... except for the ridiculous accent. He sounds like he is Tony Montana's uncle. It is bizarre. I have no idea what he was trying to do unless he thought that he was in a comedy and when he realized it was a (mostly) serious western, it was too late to re-do the voiceovers.

Spoiler

John's flashbacks to hanging out with his girlfriend (or wife) and "best friend" are too creepy. If your best friend always gets extremely close to you when you are kissing your girl and just stares at you, he is not your best friend. The creep is DTF and the only question is whether he wanted to fuck John, the girl, or both of them.

This feels like the weakest film that Leone made but it is still decent.

Rating: 6.5/10

The trailer uses the line "rub him the wrong way and he will explode in your face"

[/spoiler][/spoiler]

 

[eddymotto]

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (Italy, 1966)

Spaghetti western directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood ("The Good"), Lee Van Cleef ("The Bad"), and Eli Wallach ("The Ugly").

Set during the American Civil War (1860 or so), the three main characters are proficient gunslingers and amoral killers.

Angel Eyes (Van Cleef), is a part time Confederate solider and part time bounty hunter.

Blondie (Eastwood) and Tuco (Wallach) run a scam where Blondie captures Tuco and hands him over to the local sheriff for the reward money but then helps Tuco escape. They split the money and then they repeat the same con on the next town. "There is no honour among thieves" is the central tenet of their professional relationship.

The three men come into possession of the location where a fortune in stolen gold has been buried. Each man has only one piece of the information needed to find the gold, which forces them to become uneasy partners.

Leone's visual flair is everywhere in this film. He directs the hell out of this thing. His trademark wide shots juxtaposed with extreme close ups work perfectly. Leone manipulates the geography of each scene based on what is in the frame of the camera. If the camera does not see it, usually the characters don't either. This is how Blondie and Tuco walk into a war zone without noticing a major Union military camp until they are practically standing in it. There are lots of other examples, including at least 2 in the final shoot-out scene alone. Leone is such a master that this all feels normal.

Leone returns to his usual philosophy that the protagonists in westerns are amoral antiheroes, marked by a willingness to casually murder to gain the slightest advantage. In this film, he delves into anti-war ideas as well. The Union and Confederate sides are exactly the same in terms of their brutal tactics. In one great scene, Blondie and Tuco mistake Union soldiers for Confederates. The Union blue has been covered by grey dust, a rather on the nose message that there is no difference between any of them.

Leone westerns always makes me feel that he is pulling together all these western tropes and cliches and somehow blending them into something that feels absolutely unique, and often quietly subversive. Leone adds part of a war movie just because he wants to and he is such a genius that it works. The film should probably not be 3 hours long and there is lots of stuff that could be cut and it is perfect just the way that it is.

The inclusion of the military bridge battle does give me my favourite line in the film spoken by a badly injured Captain; "Please Doctor, help me live a little longer. I am expecting good news soon".

The casting is perfect. Eastwood is a star. Van Cleef excels in Leone films. Wallach is an actual actor. Tuco is a difficult character because he is one part clown, one part psychopathic killer, and one part lost little boy. The character could have gone wrong in a dozen different ways. Instead, Wallach nails the role and Tuco is the best character in the film.

The score is an all-timer.

The final confrontation is one of the most thrilling western scenes ever put on film. Leone does his flitting extreme close up thing and it goes on and on and on until I started to wonder if Leone was just fucking with the audience but he is a genius and it works, perfectly.

I love this film.

Rating: 9.5/10

 

[eddymotto]

The Invincible Armour (Hong Kong/Taiwan, 1977)

Kung fu film directed by Ng See-yuen.

The plot is convoluted, even by 70's kung fu movie standards. It does not help that no less than 3 characters look like Pai Mei.

My rule of thumb for enjoying kung fu flicks is not to worry about understanding what is happening in every scene, Just relax and be confident that it will mostly kinda make sense overall once the film is over.

General Chow is falsely accused of murdering a government official (while he is caught in a compromising position, the men who first arrive at the scene immediately conclude that Chow is guilty and that makes me think that they all secretly think he is either a total prick, the kind of guy who is probably a murderer, or both.).

Chow goes on the run from the law while he tries to track down the real killer. In pursuit is Shen Yu, who is tasked with capturing Chow and returning him for trial.

Chow and Shen Yu are both really, really good at kung fu. They fight many people.

The main villain is also a formidable fighter. In addition to the dreaded Eagle Claw technique, he has also mastered the Iron Armour. The film helpfully explains that this makes him immune from being hurt anywhere but one place on his body. Chow learns the Iron Finger technique which partially offsets the Iron Armour stance but also not really. Finding the weak spot remains the key to defeating the villain.

Spoiler

turns out it is his balls.

.

The story is completely nonsensical and fairly straightforward.

I definitely want my kung fu fighters to have to master special techniques and engage is exposition to explain stuff like how many weak points the normal human body has and how the Iron Armour technique addresses them.

The film looks average at best but the fights are good and the action is plentiful. That is, you know, the most important part.

This is a second tier martial arts movie but well worth a watch if you like 70's kung fu films. If you happen to really, really like dudes who look like Pai Mei, it should be a much watch. Also, and at the risk of giving away too much, these dudes absolutely smash the shit out of a LOT of ceramic pottery water jugs. If that is your thing, this will be like porn for you.

Rating: Pretty decent kung fu flick

 

[I Am Legion]

Night Raiders (Netflix) 6/10
A bleak dystopian sci fi where children need to be registered and sent away to schools where they serve the powers that be. Interesting twist by using an "indigenous population" to fight against the new AI drones that run shit. Low on action, heavy on drama and SJW messages. But mostly a mothers love for her daughter and her quest to get her back. Not great, but decent enough. Fails a bit in execution.

 

[eddymotto]

The Last Seduction (USA, 1994)

American neo-noir erotic thriller directed by John Dahl (Red Rock West) and starring Linda Fiorentino, Peter Berg (best known for later directing Battleship), and Bill Pullman.

Bridget Gregory (Fiorentino) and her hapless, scumbag husband, Clay (Pullman) net $700,000 selling stolen pharmaceutical cocaine. Bridget never learned to share and she steals the money from Clay within minutes of him arriving home with the stash.

Bridget flees to a small town in upstate New York to hide from Clay's quite reasonable retribution. To pass the time, she starts fucking local guy, Mike Swale (Battleship director, Peter Berg). Mike is pliable and not too bright. These qualities convince Bridget to involve Mike in her new illegal money making schemes.

This film rests entirely on Fiorentino as the femme fatale. She is fantastic. She is sexy, manipulative, and completely amoral. While the movie does not take itself too seriously, it only works if every major male character is willing to make bad decisions in order to have sex with Bridgette. That part feels completely believable. Even the men realize that she is the shark in the relationship but they still cannot help themselves.

The film almost plays out like a black comedy, but without a punchline. Some of it does not make that much sense. The actors play it straight without ever making the mistake of thinking that they are in a truly gritty neo-noir. It is all a bit over the top at times but it works, and works well, because Fiorentino is so good in the role. It helps that the film completely and totally commits to Bridgette being a villain.

Rating: 6.5/10

​

 

[revoltub]

Dream Scenario (2023)

-

I thought this started out very good, nice genre mixer that I think had potential to be something special in the realm of something like Being John Malchovich.

The first half or so is very well done. The hook of the plot and the important characters are introduced very early without too much extra exposition or explanation which allowed me to get into the flow and become engaged right away.

The double edge sword for me was the social commentary. I thought it did a very good job of using the plot to also make an interesting and pretty scathing criticism of cancel culture. However, at some point it makes this the main focus of the movie. I thought the main plot and mystery behind the whole dream scenario and why it was happening was more interesting than the themes and commentary overtaking the story as it did.

Still I dont think the film completely loses itself and I wasnt taken out of it despite become less interested in the latter part. Cage is always great in these type of roles and I think perfectly cast for this character. You can buy him as somewhat of a whiney college professor type but you can also buy him as a creepy guy who enters your dreams.

Overall it was good but could've been great.

7/10

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

Beekeeper (2024)
Jason Statham is a beekeeper. Someone he likes gets killed then they shoot his beehives up.
They should have just let him make honey.
Conspiracy thriller, Jason Statham kills a bunch of people, you know exactly what you're going to watch. Watched it on a plane, 6.8/10