Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

2023 MOVIE DISCUSSION THREAD


RIPPA

Recommended Posts

Finished Valentino and it does not get any better. It's just such a paint by numbers biopic that it could have been directed by anyone. It does get less chaste as it goes along, but the horrendous lead performance and complete lack of interesting storytelling absolutely sink it. I wish Ken Russell had been less concerned about showing a chronological retelling of events in his life and instead made a movie more concerned with visuals and exploring the image of Valentino. Ken Russell absolutely has that film in him. There are brief moments where we get that like a scene were Valentino and his wife are having a seance to ask the spirits if they are destined to continue on together, meanwhile it will cut to outside his house where thousands upon thousands of women are standing. One stands above them and yells "YOU!" and in unison the rest yell lines like "are the mystery of the night!" "YOU!" "Are the power of religion!" "YOU!" "Are the thrill of surrender!" Its one of the few times the movie seems to be trying to be something more than he did this and then he did that and so on.

The movie is also just kind of flat and ugly, an absolute crime for a Ken Russell film. Scenes like this, where Alla Nazimova bursts into the church to lay flowers on his casket are an oasis in the desert. I also popped for Nazimova being an important character, because she was a large part of the Val Lewton podcast I listened to. And the movie acknowledged that she was an out lesbian without making a big thing out of it, good for you 1977.

YaUZRh7.png

Edited by elizium
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We're rewatching Everything Everywhere All At Once and goddamn, this movie is just wonderfully bonkers and had us wondering - was there ever a year before where The Academy actually got it so right? I mean, yeah there's the pressure to be a little less stodgy, a little more woke, but seeing a man jump ass-first unlubricated onto a buttplug-shaped item to gain fighting abilities and this won BEST PICTURE?! It's like the voters all had their own Raconcoonies...

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought John Wick 4 was the weakest of the series, but was still a fun and fitting finale. Some of the gun-fu stuff, especially at the beginning was a little same-y and this was the most egregious of the series as far as Stormtrooper level marksmanship for the villains. But it is still John Wick and it still rules. The standout scenes to me were German nightclub scene and the Hotline Miami-esque overhead scene.

Spoiler of the ending for those that haven't watched yet.

Spoiler

It's fitting that he died, as getting back to his wife is all he ever wanted, but part of my thought that maybe he'd survive and retire to become Winston's new concierge.

I'm hoping that The Continental does well and we get more stories from the Wick universe in the future.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Been on a real Disney+ kick lately, so I popped on a childhood favorite. The 1993 version of The Three Musketeers. Is this movie particularly good? No. Is it faithful to the source material? Not even a little bit. The only way it could've veered further from the Dumas novel is if Porthos was portrayed by an animated cat. Should they have probably just called it Young Muskets?  Certainly. Does the entire cast appear to having the absolute time of their lives while on screen? Undoubtedly. For as basic as the script is, the acting in this is actually pretty fantastic. Tim Curry is in full "scenery chewing" mode as Cardinal Richileu, and he milks every single second of his screen time. Seriously. He's fucking fantastic in this. Because he's Tim Curry. This was directed by journeyman Disney studio writer/director Stephen Herek, so I wouldn't be shocked if Curry just showed up and said "don't fuck with me. I'm Pennywise, motherfucker." Or something. He's over the top in the best possible way, and Michael Wincott is an excellent contrast as Captain Rochefort. Come to think of it, for the myriad issues this movie had, Disney casted the living shit out of this movie. Just a 90's all-star team of competence. Kiefer Sutherland, Oliver Platt and Charlie Sheen play the Musketeers, and Sheen and Platt in particular are borderline going into business for themselves for much of the picture. Oliver Platt's greatest gift as an actor is elevating dogshit writing with his commitment to his character. This is my favorite performance of his, just edging out Jimmy The King from Ready to Rumble. He arrived on set with no fucks to give, and his portrayal of Porthos is absolute madness. I've established in the wrestling thread that I love goofy shit done earnestly, and Platt & Sheen are serving it up on a silver platter. Sutherland's sullen Athos adds some weight to the narrative, and Chris O'Donnell plays d'Artagnan with boyish energy, even though I'm pretty sure he was almost thirty when this was flimed. It's not a cinematic classic, and your kid will absolutely fail their book report if they watch this instead of reading the book, but I smiled the entire time, and my buckles felt thoroughly swashed at the end. Check it out if you have 100 minutes to kill.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/30/2023 at 4:32 PM, elizium said:

I thought John Wick 4 was the weakest of the series, but was still a fun and fitting finale. Some of the gun-fu stuff, especially at the beginning was a little same-y and this was the most egregious of the series as far as Stormtrooper level marksmanship for the villains. But it is still John Wick and it still rules. The standout scenes to me were German nightclub scene and the Hotline Miami-esque overhead scene.

Spoiler of the ending for those that haven't watched yet.

  Hide contents

It's fitting that he died, as getting back to his wife is all he ever wanted, but part of my thought that maybe he'd survive and retire to become Winston's new concierge.

I'm hoping that The Continental does well and we get more stories from the Wick universe in the future.

I hate to break this to you, but...

Spoiler

There's going to be a John Wick 5.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Craig H said:

I hate to break this to you, but...

  Hide contents

There's going to be a John Wick 5.

 

I ain’t gonna be mad about it. I think it’s nice his story ended, but will 100% watch anything they want to put out.

The High Table uses arcane magic to reanimate its greatest assassin? Let’s fucking do it

  • Like 3
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Perhaps a bit of a random question, but how do you keep track of films you want to watch? That could be either in terms of upcoming films, or even just in terms of films you come across and want to watch eventually.

In particular at the moment, I'm seeing films come up on Metacritic with high scores from the Cannes Film Festival, but I feel that I'm largely going to 'forget' about them as they come from the festival circuit into cinemas/streaming outside of the odd one here or there. That is what has sparked this question.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/2/2023 at 12:14 PM, Liam said:

Perhaps a bit of a random question, but how do you keep track of films you want to watch? That could be either in terms of upcoming films, or even just in terms of films you come across and want to watch eventually.

In particular at the moment, I'm seeing films come up on Metacritic with high scores from the Cannes Film Festival, but I feel that I'm largely going to 'forget' about them as they come from the festival circuit into cinemas/streaming outside of the odd one here or there. That is what has sparked this question.

During my peak movie-watching years I kept a list, and the list was my signature on a message board (not this one) so that I'd constantly be seeing it, as opposed to sticking it in a Notepad file and forgetting it existed.

With festival movies, it's going to be months or even years until the general public can see them. So sometimes I'd forget what some of the movies on my list were, and why I wanted to see them. But rediscovering what the titles were was part of the fun!

Can you keep a list like that on Letterboxd?  It seems like you should be able to do it on Letterboxd.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/2/2023 at 9:14 AM, Liam said:

Perhaps a bit of a random question, but how do you keep track of films you want to watch? That could be either in terms of upcoming films, or even just in terms of films you come across and want to watch eventually.

In particular at the moment, I'm seeing films come up on Metacritic with high scores from the Cannes Film Festival, but I feel that I'm largely going to 'forget' about them as they come from the festival circuit into cinemas/streaming outside of the odd one here or there. That is what has sparked this question.

I use "OurGroceries" on my phone. It's a shopping list app so I just added a list for movies. Super handy. 

Edited by Tabe
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, S.K.o.S. said:

During my peak movie-watching years I kept a list, and the list was my signature on a message board (not this one) so that I'd constantly be seeing it, as opposed to sticking it in a Notepad file and forgetting it existed.

With festival movies, it's going to be months or even years until the general public can see them. So sometimes I'd forget what some of the movies on my list were, and why I wanted to see them. But rediscovering what the titles were was part of the fun!

Can you keep a list like that on Letterboxd?  It seems like you should be able to do it on Letterboxd.

You can make lists on Letterboxd, yes. They're kept on your profile.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/2/2023 at 5:14 PM, Liam said:

Perhaps a bit of a random question, but how do you keep track of films you want to watch? That could be either in terms of upcoming films, or even just in terms of films you come across and want to watch eventually.

In particular at the moment, I'm seeing films come up on Metacritic with high scores from the Cannes Film Festival, but I feel that I'm largely going to 'forget' about them as they come from the festival circuit into cinemas/streaming outside of the odd one here or there. That is what has sparked this question.

I use flickchart to keep track of movies I've seen and a notepad file or phone memo with list of new releases on. Then at end of year I can see how many I'm missing from said list and cry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Whew, talk about disparate films.

It would be a weird double bill, for sure.


It’s a decent list, I think. Top 10:

1. SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE*

2. COME AND SEE

3. PARASITE

4. A DOG’S WILL*

5. HARAKIRI

6. THE GODFATHER 2

7. THE GODFATHER

8. THE HUMAN CONDITION 3*

9. 12 ANGRY MEN

10. SEVEN SAMURAI

I put an asterisk on the ones I haven’t seen. I’d never even heard of A DOG’S WILL (Arraes, 2000). 
 

The first Spiderverse film is at #17, which suggests to me, at least, that the sequel ain’t gonna dip too much.
 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, ah, yeah Sisu fucking RULES. It's about a mean as fuck old Finnish dude who kills a bunch of Nazis. 

That's it, that's the review. I mean, what more do you need?

I also watched John Wick 4. It was John Wick but 3 hours long with repetitive boring fight scenes and completely po-faced and weirdly dull.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’m rewatching Deadpool for the first time in years and holy fuck is Gina Carano a bad actor.  Most of her lines are ADR’d and there’s even a scene where she’s in the background, out of focus, and her lines are ADR while they CG her lips moving.  Fuuuuck.

Edited by Technico Support
  • Haha 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember seeing her in Haywire and hearing afterwards that they had dubbed her voice because it was "too soft". Not a bad movie at all, just thought it was odd(at the time) that they tossed that fact into the review.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/2/2023 at 11:14 AM, Liam said:

Perhaps a bit of a random question, but how do you keep track of films you want to watch? That could be either in terms of upcoming films, or even just in terms of films you come across and want to watch eventually.

In particular at the moment, I'm seeing films come up on Metacritic with high scores from the Cannes Film Festival, but I feel that I'm largely going to 'forget' about them as they come from the festival circuit into cinemas/streaming outside of the odd one here or there. That is what has sparked this question.

I use Letterboxd, where I log every movie I watch the day I watch it.

I also use icheckmovies.com which keeps up with my progress on special lists of movies. For example, if I wanted to see every movie that won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, it has that list and I can see my progress. It even has a shelf for trophies that you gain the more you complete any particular list - if you're into the whole valueless but emotionally gratifying carrot on a stick thing.

They also organize it so you can see how many "official" lists a movie appears on, so you can target movies you haven't seen that seem to appear across many lists. That's my go to spot for figuring out my blindspots. For example I have some how never seen Chaplin's City Lights, and it's on like 34 lists, which is the most of any movie I haven't seen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watched Creed III the other day, it was fine but the training montage was pretty weak and those should be the highlight of any Rocky universe flick. They supposedly want to do more but I'm not sure where they could go, part of me wishes they'd go the animated route with a movie built around past their primes Drago and Clubber Lang fighting at Foxwoods in the mid-90's.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

F.A.R.T. The Movie. Shot on video obscurity from the early 90s that I heard about on a podcast(Zac Amico's Spook Show). Extremely low budget but very well done. IF you enjoy movie podcasts check out this episode of ZAMSS because there is a section where Fart Cornette goes on about how Farters never Fart anymore. It's more succinct than that, but I digress. It's one of the funniest bits I've ever heard on a pod that was wrestling related.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...