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20-10s General Pimping Thread


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Scratched two more of my 'To-Watch' list

A Star is Born: It was okay.  I'm not a big Gaga fan, so the songs didn't do much for me.  I hated when this was up for all the awards and she would do this fake hyperventilating thing like she could NOT believe she won a Golden Globe and could barely stand, and, really, a big portion of this movie was just Gaga being in disbelief that people liked her or thought she had talent.  I also got a kick out of her struggling in the studio because she's not used to singing along to taped track, even though when Bradley Cooper discovers her in the drag bar, she is singing along to a taped track.  I also had a very specific problem with the movie in that Bradley Cooper's alcoholic country singer sounded A LOT like Rocket Raccoon.  Now, I just watched 'The Mule' recently and at no point did I hear Rocket in Cooper's police officer performance.  But, between the often-drunk state and drawl of his character, I kept hearing Rocket  So when Jack says "If you don't dig deep into your fuckin' soul you won't have legs. I'm just telling you that. If you don't tell the truth out there you're fucked." and all I can see in my head is a raccoon giving her career advice, it loses me.  Dave Chappelle was awesome, though.

Hobbs and Shaw: I liked this stupid movie a lot.  I actually preferred it to most (All?) of the Fast and the Furious movies because there was less car-porn and more stupid massive action sequences.  From a wrestling fan point of view, it was cool to see Roman Reigns (who has a great look!) onscreen (Even though it was a little comical just how HARD they tried to eep him from saying any dialogue) but it would have been even better if they had gotten the first choice -Jason Momoa- for that sequence.  Anyways, Statham and Rock are funny, Elba is a good baddie, and all the cameos pretty much hit perfect.  I don't know if it's quite transcendant enough of an action movie (Like, say, The Raid or John Wick) to make my list but I had a good time watching it.  One of the dumbest things in the movie, though. was pointed out to me by my sister, but in the film Statham has a sister whom in flashbacks is shown to be about the same age (IMDB trivia says 2 year age difference), yet in the present the actress cast to play his sister is almost 21(!!) years younger than him.  It's so icky and Hollywood-y that at no point does anyone cast this movie and go "You realize there is a 21 year age difference between these 2 now!" and she has to be that young because

they can't possibly do romantic chemistry between The Rock and someone his own age, she needs to be at least 16 years younger than him!

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19 hours ago, J.T. said:

Critics can eat a bag of shit.  I will find a way to get Dredd (2012) onto my ballot.

 

Well said, my friend. Dredd (2012) is a lock for mine.

Edited by The Natural
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9 hours ago, caley said:

Both of those are nuts in very different ways.  Not sure if either will make my list but fully support anyone who does vote for them.

I need to see Sorry to Bother You as I hear it's pretty wild, but the narrative around it being very pro socialist makes my Libertarian brain hesitant haha.

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Brad’s Status (2017) - At first this appears to be thoroughly in the Baumbachiverse of movies that dare to ask the question, “Did you know that privileged white people can have problems?” But like how Brokeback Mountain took a very specific story and revealed universal truths about human nature, so goes this story of a middle aged man taking his teenage son on a tour of Ivy League schools over several days. He’s been eaten alive by insecurity stemming from being the least rich and superficially successful of his college friends, and we live inside his head and see how he projects this onto every moment of his day and it effects his way of relating to others. It’s anchored by a really wonderful performance from Ben Stiller as Brad. He’s petty, bitter, spiteful, envious, and he lives on a constant pendulum between existential dread and gratitude for his life and family. He’s all of us at our most human. 

We spend so much time trapped in Brad’s thoughts that it isn’t until the end we realize we hardly know anything concrete about those in his orbit, aside from his son, who is a brilliant piano prodigy but also one of the most realistic portraits of a normal teenager I’ve ever seen. We learn almost nothing about his wife or his frienemies beyond the judgements he’s passed on them and the characters he’s decided they play in the story of his life. A lesser movie would have been filled with repetitive teachable moments where Brad discovers that the people he compares himself to aren’t all that happy or great, but  the film is not concerned with being that conventional and pulls the rug out from under us any time it seems to be. 

It ends with a confrontational dinner scene between Brad and one of his old cohorts that is so perfectly written that we don’t quite know when things really go off the rails and who is actually at fault. And then there’s a moment of reflection, and the acceptance that the value judgements we put on ourselves and others, and the desire to possess everything that attracts us, prevents us from having a fulfilling relationship with our world or the people around us. 

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Man, I watched PRISONERS tonight and loved it.  Not sure how I managed to make it 7 years without having it spoiled, but I’m glad I did.  Absolutely gripping the whole way through.  An expertly plotted whodunnit.

Was this the beginning of the Gyllenhaal-aissance?  He was fantastic as the preposterously named “Detective Loki.”  Hugh Jackman goes Full Wolverine at times with his RRRAAAARGHiness, but the escalation of the story (or descent into madness, as it were) makes it feel earned.

To me, this movie blew away SICARIO, which seems likely to end up on a lot of people’s lists.  (Of course, I think SICARIO is pretty dumb, which is an outside-the-norm opinion in most corners.) See it, if you haven’t.

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It might put your opinion in a poor light for other people, but I 100% agree.

Prisoners = VERY good.

Sicario = Kinda blah. Especially after the build-up some people gave it. 

Prisoners probably ends up in the top half of my list. 

Also, I'm SHOCKED that one was seven years ago. Where does it go? 

Edited by West Newbury Bad Boy
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I’ve been waiting to do this poll for quite some time. Besides a few more films on my to watch list, my list is pretty much concrete. Just have to put stuff in order and rewatch others.

 

A few that will definitely be high on my list:

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS

I know this is a bit controversial as some see this as 2 movies but the blu ray version I have had it as one film. Batman is best when animated in my opinion besides the Tim Burton films. This is a nice dark and brooding film. Will be high on my list.

 

COLD IN JULY

The atmosphere and acting is incredible in this. This doesn’t feel slavish to the 1980s aesthetic other films do but it does feel very immersive of that time period. Michael C. Hall is fantastic in this, Sam Shepard is great and Don Johnson is a blast. This made me think of the Night Ranger song Sister Christian in a whole different light.

 

DRIVE

While a lot of the talk about this has disappeared over the years, this is still very much a #1 contender for me. The mood, cinematography, soundtrack and the sudden bursts of violence is what keeps this in my head.

 

ENEMY

I really want to revisit this but holy hell hasn’t Jake Gyllenhaal been awesome this decade?!  Denis Villeneuvre has really made a great set of films throughout the decade. The ending to this is still seared into my brain.

 

THE GREY

I remember seeing this in the theater when it first came out and 9 years later, I can still remember all of the details for the most part without seeing it again since. A great melancholic survival film. 

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Here's a few I think deserve some eyeballs that might have flown under the radar.

Support the Girls: This shouldn't work.  It's a comedy/drama about a day in the life of a manager at a Hooters-esque sports bar.  There was two ways I expected it to go: a raunchy, "sexy" comedy that was fairly insulting or as a ham-fisted pseudo-feminist rant of a film.  And it goes neither of those directions.  There's funny moments, there's dramatic moments, there's feminism, but not hit-you-over-the-head way.  This is Regina Hall's show, she's in the majority of the film, and it succeeds off of her incredible performance as a woman trying to keep it all together, while supporting her workers in a Mothering-type of role while also trying to preserve her own job.  Haley Lu Richardson is also incredible as a terminally perky co-worker who never seems to have a bad day.  It's just one of those movies that never steps wrong, hitting all the right notes along the way.

Colossal: This is a hard one to write up because the less you know, the more fun it is.  I hadn't even watched the trailer when I saw it and I'm glad I didn't.  Anne Hathaway is a party girl who wears out the patience of her boyfriend and returns to her smalltown to get her life in order but ends up just drinking more and hanging out more.  Shortly after her return, the world sees the sudden attack of a giant Godzilla-esque monster.  That's as much as I really want to tell, but it's really fun, really imaginative and left me guessing right up the end.

Marjorie Prime: This is a weird one.  I  remember seeing it at Wal-Mart with a photo of Jon Hamm on the cover and wondering what the hell it was.  And what it actually is, is a fascinating little slice of sci-fi about a woman with Alzheimer's (Lois Smith) whose family hires a service that employs holographic representations of family members.  It's really weird, really neat and just this interesting compact vehicle full of great performances.  I'm not sure if it will make my list, but I do like it.

Hunt For the Wilderpeople: This is the Taika Waititi film that came out between 'What We Do in the Shadows' and 'Thor:Ragnarok" and, as such, kinda flies under the radar even though it set a box office record for a domestic film in New Zealand.  It's about a sullen young offender who gets placed with a foster family where, just as he begins to open up and trust, the wife dies, leaving him with the husband who didn't really want him.  So he decides to run away, and when child protective services become involved, the manhunt is on.  It's a really funny little adventure flick with a great score and great performances.

They Came Together: When this came out, I thought it was just an oddly-titled random romantic comedy like so many others out there.  It wasn't until I caught it on TV one day that I realized it was more of a Naked Gun-esque send-up of the romantic comedy.  The plot is a takeoff of 'You've Got Mail' with Amy Poehler as the owner operator of a small candy store who falls in love with Paul Rudd, an executive at a big corporate candy company while having exchanges like "How do you sleep at night?" to which Rudd says "I usually jerk off and then sleep pretty soundly"  It's funny, it's cheesy and has a  great random cameo in the last stretch that really cracked me up.

Win Win: I'll probably have this higher than anyone, think Top 10, maybe Top 5.  Mike (Paul Giamatti) is a struggling lawyer and high school wrestling coach who, in a desperate bid to keep his practice afloat, lies about being the guardian for a client with dementia (Burt Young) in order to use a stipend for being his guardian, which goes fine until his grandson shows up.  Said grandson is a wrestling prodigy and a godsend for Mike's undertalented team, as Mike struggles to keep his deception quiet.  This is so perfectly acted with an extraordinary cast (Giamatti, Melane Lynskey, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, Jeffrey Tambor).  I've watched it a few times and, this might sound silly, but I sometimes stop it halfway because I love all the characters so much as people that I don't want to see things go bad for them.  This also has one of the most letter-perfect endings I've ever seen.  I adore this film.

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On 3/31/2020 at 11:29 PM, The Natural said:

Two first time watches for this project over the past two days I've wanted to see for a while: 

Nightcrawler (2014) will make my final ballot, a film that looks at the media from how grisly news footage is acquired to ethics, and lack thereof. I was taken aback at how sinewy Gyllenhaal is, unlikeable too. Surprised he didn't pick up an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Snowpiercer (2013) .You know when you invest in something and then the last third/ending feels flat to you, more so as you've invested that time leading up to it? That's how I felt about the third act of Snowpiercer.  Did it undo what came before it? Can you still vote for something on the last 75% and not the last part? Hmmm. There's an eerie start to it seeing "The Weinstein Company". Never liked Harvey and even less now for what he was found guilty of this year. The bastard.

I'm inclined to agree with you on 'Snowpiercer'.  I know it gets thrown around a lot on 'Best of' lists and I love it up to a certain point, but I found the last 1/3 -1/4 left me with a rather flat feeling, I thought maybe it was because I was distracted at the time, but I'm glad to see someone else feels the same

There's a handful of universally beloved movies from this decade that leave me underwhelmed: 12 Years A Slave; The Social Network; Force Majeure; Get Out and Gone Girl to name a few.

On 4/1/2020 at 1:05 PM, Chaos said:

A couple of lesser seen or forgotten films that all will probably have strong contention of making my ballot. Also, I probably should rewatch Upstream Color to see if that really deserves consideration.
 

 

 

 

This is on my to-watch list for the past so many years.  I've checked it out of the library three times and never got around to it.

On 4/1/2020 at 3:50 PM, West Newbury Bad Boy said:

Just watched The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Greeks are twisted, y'all. Pretty sure all three of Yorgos' English-language films will make my list. 

Re: David Fincher, when a bunch of best of the decade lists were coming out, most people seemed to rank The Social Network pretty high. I probably owe it a re-watch where I put my feelings about Zuckerberg (and Sorkin) aside, but right now I'm inclined to rank both Gone Girl and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo higher. 

'Sacred Deer' is one that I was sorta into when I watched it, but thought about quite a bit after it was over.  And then I saw a preview of it the other day that motivated me to throw it back on my 150 list (That keeps getting bigger, rather than being whittled down...).  I'm thinking of a rewatch, if it's still on Netflix

On 3/30/2020 at 11:48 PM, West Newbury Bad Boy said:

I'm pretty sure I'm incapable of watching a Baumbach movie at this point. I made it maybe ten minutes into Meyerowitz stories before I turned it off. I've tried Marriage Story three times, and the furthest I've made it is maybe halfway. I remember enjoying Squid and the Whale, but that was 15 years ago and I have no desire to revisit it. Everything I've seen since has made me want to slap the privilege out of someone, and I have a low tolerance for people like me talking about privilege. I know I should watch both of these movies to have an informed list, but I literally don't think I can without wanting to punch a wall. 

The Sandler hatred is unjust, but even I have my limits. 

I didn't mean to ignore this as if you'd hurt my feelings, btw, by DARING to sully the exalted name of Noah Baumbach, I honestly thought I'd answered.  And I totally understand the Baumbach dislike.  I loved 'Squid and the Whale', hated 'Margot at the Wedding' with the  passion of a thousand suns, was rather indifferent on 'Greenberg', loved 'Frances Ha' and 'While We're Young', disliked 'Mistress America' and pretty much had written him off when I enjoyed 'Meyerowitz' and 'Marriage Story' so much.  He's probably the most pretentious filmmaker going, but sometimes he just gets it right in my wheelhouse.  My sister's review of 'Marriage Story' was "Just know going in that she's an actress and he's a theater director so...you know..." and that actually prepared me better for it than any review or words of praise ever could.

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Guest The Magnificent 7
2 hours ago, caley said:

There's a handful of universally beloved movies from this decade that leave me underwhelmed: 12 Years A Slave; The Social Network; Force Majeure; Get Out and Gone Girl to name a few.

If it makes you feel any better I thought The Social Network was largely garbage. I was also surprised Her was listed as #1 on that list someone posted earlier. Big WTF moment seeing that #1. That movie would make my worst of the decade list. 

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I whittled my to watch list down to films I have a strong feeling could end up on my ballot and a few others I really want to watch:

12 Years a Slave

All the Colors of Giallo

Amour

Beyond the Black Rainbow

Biutiful

Blue is the Warmest Color

City of Ghosts

A Ghost Story

Gone Girl

The Great Beauty

The Handmaiden

Hard to be a God

The Hunt

John Dies at the End

Kill List

Lesson of the Evil

Let the Corpses Tan

The Lobster

The Look of Silence

Love

Meek’s Cutoff

OJ: Made In America

 Only Lovers Left Alive

Parasite

Raw

Red White and Blue

A Separation

Silence

Slow West

Snowtown Murders

Suspiria

The Turin Horse

 What We Do in the Shadows

Why Don’t You Play In Hell?[

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God I watched a lot of bad movies this decade.

At this moment in time I don't think I could submit a full 100 without going "Well this was bad but I did enjoy it" for like 20 of them.

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Watched THE DEATH OF STALIN today and found it...moderately amusing.  I feel like Iannucci has been losing his fastball in recent years.  What I’ve watched of AVENUE 5 has been really unfunny, and the previews for his David Copperfield movie look dire.

Still, this was a decent chuckler.  Felt like it peaked really early.  It actually felt kinda similar to JOJO RABBIT.  Although the tones of those movies are very, very different, both are trying to mine laughs at the expense of some of history’s greatest war criminals, but neither really earn it, in the end.

Both could sneak into the bottom of my list.  The craft is good, even if they don’t stick the landing.

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Count me in the not a big fan of Get Out club (it won't make my ballot). 
 

From Letterboxd:
 

As a directorial debut, Get Out is a well made piece of craft that has carefully thought out its world, it's vision, and it's visual style. The opening scene has some fantastic camera work in it, and the credits sequence eerily plays out like both a director paying tribute to his inspirations and the eerie opening credits to MIchael Haneke's Funny Games. I also understand and get what this film is going for both in commentary on Race and broader politics, but I feel that Get Out both ends up being too on the nose to the point of surpassing provocation towards something bordering on broader hyperbole.

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5 hours ago, Control said:

Honestly, Steve Buscemi as Nikita Khrushchev is the casting of the decade. 
 

I love that fucking movie.

Yes and yes. When that first started airing on satellite I must've stopped and watched some of it every time I came across it in the channel guide. I think the only other time I do that is when I see Robocop listed. Which of course, is also a scathing satire... strange coincidence.

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I just happened to rewatch 'The Death of Stalin' last night.  I love, love, love that he let everyone keep their regular voices/accents (One of my biggest pet peeves is when you're watching a movie about, say Russia, and the dialogue is all in English but everyone feels the need to do poor Boris and Natasha-style Russian accents; I've already accepted the conceit that people are speaking English in the middle of Soviet Russia, the accents are superfluous!), so you've got Krushchev with a New York accent and I think Jason Isaacs steals every scene he's in.  I think the first time I was so busy trying to keep all the characters straight in my head and laughing at the jokes, that the horror of it all was minmized on me, it affected me stronger last night.  Good flick.  Will definitely be on my list.

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Gonna have to find spots on my list for PETERLOO and MR TURNER because I love Mike Leigh, hook that shit to my veins. My love of cinema was born out of B horror movies and 80s action films but now all I want is well-researched period pieces where actors really get to just make a meal out of every scene. (Give me that kitchen sink Leigh, too, where it’s just like “here’s a working class English family who have problems but they ain’t insurmountable.”)

 

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Wow, given the current political divides and the birth of alternate facts, Gone Girl (2014) now looks like it was a window into the future at the time it was made.  I was sorta hoping we'd collectively rise above the moral of the story by now ("People are stupid and naïve and will believe anything on the fucking news."), but we haven't.

Edited by J.T.
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On ‎4‎/‎4‎/‎2020 at 2:50 PM, New Blood said:

I’ve been waiting to do this poll for quite some time. Besides a few more films on my to watch list, my list is pretty much concrete. Just have to put stuff in order and rewatch others.

 

A few that will definitely be high on my list:

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS

I know this is a bit controversial as some see this as 2 movies but the blu ray version I have had it as one film. Batman is best when animated in my opinion besides the Tim Burton films. This is a nice dark and brooding film. Will be high on my list.

 

Nice to see a fellow fan of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. I'm assuming you know that it was released in two parts and then as one film? If you want more animated Batman recommendations, Batman: Under The Red Hood (2010) and Batman: Year One (2011). I liked Batman's cameos in Teen Titans Go! To The Movies as well. That series where it comes from is an acquired taste.

On ‎4‎/‎4‎/‎2020 at 9:25 PM, caley said:

I'm inclined to agree with you on 'Snowpiercer'.  I know it gets thrown around a lot on 'Best of' lists and I love it up to a certain point, but I found the last 1/3 -1/4 left me with a rather flat feeling, I thought maybe it was because I was distracted at the time, but I'm glad to see someone else feels the same

There's a handful of universally beloved movies from this decade that leave me underwhelmed: 12 Years A Slave; The Social Network; Force Majeure; Get Out and Gone Girl to name a few.

Cheers, mate, Good to know somebody else feels the same way about Snowpiercer (2013). I'm thinking it's going to miss out on my ballot.

On ‎4‎/‎6‎/‎2020 at 2:19 PM, Chaos said:

Count me in the not a big fan of Get Out club (it won't make my ballot). 
 

From Letterboxd:
 

As a directorial debut, Get Out is a well made piece of craft that has carefully thought out its world, it's vision, and it's visual style. The opening scene has some fantastic camera work in it, and the credits sequence eerily plays out like both a director paying tribute to his inspirations and the eerie opening credits to MIchael Haneke's Funny Games. I also understand and get what this film is going for both in commentary on Race and broader politics, but I feel that Get Out both ends up being too on the nose to the point of surpassing provocation towards something bordering on broader hyperbole.

I'm with you guys when it comes to Get Out (2017). I know we're in the minority compared to everyone else on Get Out.

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1 hour ago, J.T. said:

Wow, given the current political divides and the birth of alternate facts, Gone Girl (2014) now looks like it was a window into the future at the time it was made.  I was sorta hoping we'd collectively rise above the moral of the story by now ("People are stupid and naïve and will believe anything on the fucking news."), but we haven't.

It's one that I want to revisit for this. I haven't watched it since opening weekend in theaters, and I liked it, but I didn't love it. Also, if I remember it correctly in the end, you're not really rooting for either character.

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