2024 MOVIES DISCUSSION THREAD

[HarryArchieGus]

9 hours ago, Andrew POE! said:

Saw two more today:

Jackie Brown (leaving Netflix at the end of the month) - One of the more story driven Quentin Tarantino movies that doesn't go over the top with 'shocking' material and told a competently well done story while keeping Tarantino's worst impulses in check.

Amsterdam (leaving Max on March 19) - Beautifully shot and at times competently directed but such a waste of time for everyone involved.

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The movie spends much of its time making a mockery of war wounds and play it up as a farce rather than focusing on the central plot about the committee to install a general as president. If you don't like Taylor Swift (somehow), you'll be happy to see her get killed in the first 20 minutes. The setup of the movie would lead you to believe that everyone would potentially be out to get the three main characters but undoes that half way through the movie.

I enjoyed American Hustle because it literally copied/pasted Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas and left me with those vibes to want to see Goodfellas again. This, it made me want to watch better movies that exist.

From reading critical reaction to Amstedam, I understand the distaste. That said, I really liked that movie. There’s some farcical elements to be sure, and especially surrounding Bale’s plastic surgeon, but it’s pretty reductive to suggest it’s some sort of mockery of war wounds. I wonder what you found so insensitive to conclude that? I get the impression you liked the cast as I did, but we surely differ on them applying their craft to this intricate tale. I especially liked the red herring, so to speak, of the star you mentioned. I especially love Bale's work with David O Russell. Amsterdam is a story overstuffed with details – many of which I missed on first viewing. I deeply love Russell’s sensibilities, and for that always find more things to like than not. I was a high voter on Joy too, which was essentially a well constructed TV movie. American Hustle’s connection to Goodfellas is how you personally interpret it. I thought he paid great homage. To call it a copy/paste seems more than a little extreme. The laughs and tears feel wholly original, and the performances are far too good to write-off as some sort of forgettable placeholder. Hustle isn't far from my favorite of his work, but I lean to Silver Linings Playbook and The Fighter. Maybe Huckabees too. I file it somewhere in there with the excellent Flirting with Disaster and Three Kings. 

[Andrew POE!]

55 minutes ago, HarryArchieGus said:

From reading critical reaction to Amstedam, I understand the distaste. That said, I really liked that movie. There’s some farcical elements to be sure, and especially surrounding Bale’s plastic surgeon, but it’s pretty reductive to suggest it’s some sort of mockery of war wounds. I wonder what you found so insensitive to conclude that? I get the impression you liked the cast as I did, but we surely differ on them applying their craft to this intricate tale. I especially liked the red herring, so to speak, of the star you mentioned. I especially love Bale's work with David O Russell. Amsterdam is a story overstuffed with details – many of which I missed on first viewing. I deeply love Russell’s sensibilities, and for that always find more things to like than not. I was a high voter on Joy too, which was essentially a well constructed TV movie. American Hustle’s connection to Goodfellas is how you personally interpret it. I thought he paid great homage. To call it a copy/paste seems more than a little extreme. The laughs and tears feel wholly original, and the performances are far too good to write-off as some sort of forgettable placeholder. Hustle isn't far from my favorite of his work, but I lean to Silver Linings Playbook and The Fighter. Maybe Huckabees too. I file it somewhere in there with the excellent Flirting with Disaster and Three Kings. 

I think it was for me what was done in the first 30 minutes or so where Christian Bale and John David Washington are in the hospital dealing with something pretty serious with they nearly dying and Margot Robbie's character insisted on keeping sharpnel to turn into art projects. Bale and Washington's characters were seemingly fine with it despite....you know, getting seriously injured and almost killed in a war.

I somewhat wished they trimmed Amsterdam down a bit for the movie's length and just focus on the main story.

I probably was too harsh on American Hustle / Goodfellas 'copy and paste' comments - American Hustle worked so well for me because it reminded me of Goodfellas. It's like video games made with overt influences of other games (how games like Enslaved: Odyssey to the West were influenced by Naughty Dog's Uncharted 2 for example).

I'll probably check out the other films you mentioned, although I've seen Three Kings years ago and have a DVD copy of Huckabees somewhere.

[HarryArchieGus]

48 minutes ago, Andrew POE! said:

I think it was for me what was done in the first 30 minutes or so where Christian Bale and John David Washington are in the hospital dealing with something pretty serious with they nearly dying and Margot Robbie's character insisted on keeping sharpnel to turn into art projects. Bale and Washington's characters were seemingly fine with it despite....you know, getting seriously injured and almost killed in a war.

I somewhat wished they trimmed Amsterdam down a bit for the movie's length and just focus on the main story.

I probably was too harsh on American Hustle / Goodfellas 'copy and paste' comments - American Hustle worked so well for me because it reminded me of Goodfellas. It's like video games made with overt influences of other games (how games like Enslaved: Odyssey to the West were influenced by Naughty Dog's Uncharted 2 for example).

I'll probably check out the other films you mentioned, although I've seen Three Kings years ago and have a DVD copy of Huckabees somewhere.

Robbie’s characters art seemed in tribute to me. That said, I wont further try and sell on Amsterdam - I know it was more of an acquired taste so to speak.

Thanks for sharing on Problemista. I saw the trailer before out of the blue on Saturday, and was intrigued. As I always am with anything Ma-Tilda Swinton. Few actors, if any, have better taste. Which is pretty remarkable considering the chances she takes. I know noting of Torres, his face is familiar. I read he was on snl, but I avoid it like the plague. Tho, my lady friend likes to check in on that tired corporate sketch comedy franchise. She felt similarly to you, maybe even stronger negatively, towards Am-Hustle.

[Andrew POE!]

1 hour ago, HarryArchieGus said:

Robbie’s characters art seemed in tribute to me. That said, I wont further try and sell on Amsterdam - I know it was more of an acquired taste so to speak.

Thanks for sharing on Problemista. I saw the trailer before out of the blue on Saturday, and was intrigued. As I always am with anything Ma-Tilda Swinton. Few actors, if any, have better taste. Which is pretty remarkable considering the chances she takes. I know noting of Torres, his face is familiar. I read he was on snl, but I avoid it like the plague. Tho, my lady friend likes to check in on that tired corporate sketch comedy franchise. She felt similarly to you, maybe even stronger negatively, towards Am-Hustle.

Oh no problem (no pun intended) on Problemista. I wasn't expecting to like it, but found myself enjoying it. We'll see where it ends up (if at all) with the Oscars next year. It was supposed to have come out last year but the SAG/AFTA strike delayed it.

Interesting that David O. Russell provokes wildly different reactions to his movies.

I also finished watching this:

Late August, Early September (leaving Max at the end of the month):

Deadly boring at times and an hour and half movie that feels longer. How these people in this movie all aren't dead I don't know. Anne (Virginie Ledoyen) is allergic to paying bills apparently while looking hot and Gabriel (Mathieu Amatric) can't decide if he wants her or not. Dude is moody as hell and probably needs to have someone shake him.

Spoiler

Then he tries to convince himself that Adrien (Francois Cluzet) is a great writer and great person to be around, while he is insufferable and is fine with dating a 15 or 16 year old girl (Mia Hansen-Love). Why none of Adrien's friends were like "Bro, dating a 15 or 16 year old girl could get your ass to jail or get you killed by her parents" or got him on a watch list, I don't know. If he's courting a 15 or 16 year old girl, you better hope moody writer guy isn't trying to go after girls younger than that.

Instead, writer douchebag dies and people are upset about it and talk in vague generalities about their feelings or why they are leaving this person without their being actual emotional investment involved. The film manages to reach a destination without really leaving. Their time and your time are wasted.

Then the ending has Gabriel eying the 15 or 16 year old girl walking out of a restaurant while talking to a woman about an actual fucking job. Which most people in this movie seem allergic to having too. My reaction was "Oh, don't tell me you want to hook up with that girl too?"

Not sure I want to watch more from Olivier Assayas after this. This is one of his earliest films so maybe he gets better. Also, keep in mind it's a French movie in the late '90s so I probably need to temper my expectations.

[Andrew POE!]

Few more movies:

The Naked Kiss (Max, leaving at the end of the month) - Introductory credits and opening of the movie are incredible. The setting for the movie is quite ahead of its time in the '60s. Creepy song half way through the movie too. Constance Towers is a great actress and rises above the pulpy material.

Brian And Charles (Peacock, leaving at the end of the month) - Rather short movie but beautifully done with Welsh landscapes and houses. Humor is a bit dry. It was described in a review online as being like "The Office but for introverted depressives."

[iamcdn12]

On 3/16/2024 at 10:18 AM, Curt McGirt said:

Over the Edge --- Heathers --- River's Edge

" " "

Dazed and Confused --- Ferris Bueller's Day Off --- Fast Times at Ridgemont High 

???

Guys, what about the Cusack movies??? Better off Dead,The Sure Thing, Say Anything?

They got to be included somewhere.

[HarryArchieGus]

On 3/18/2024 at 1:27 PM, Andrew POE! said:

Not sure I want to watch more from Olivier Assayas after this. This is one of his earliest films so maybe he gets better. Also, keep in mind it's a French movie in the late '90s so I probably need to temper my expectations.

Don't give up on Olivier. I sense from the large number of films he's released that he can hit and he can miss. I've only seen 4 of his films, but I really liked all of them - Irma Vep, Demon Lover, Personal Shopper and Non-Fiction. Maybe try Personal Shopper with Kristen Stewart. I thought it was strong and got me interested in Stewart who has been excellent in everything I've seen since - namely the underrated character study Spencer and especially opposite Lily Gladstone in Kelly Reichardt's Certain Women. My lady friend often mentions The Clouds of Sils Maria, also with Stewart, when referencing Assayas. Which I'm remembering I still need to see. I sense the mentioned Clouds along with Carlos and Cold Water - all vouched for by Criterion are probably good places to give him another try.

7 hours ago, Andrew POE! said:

Few more movies:

The Naked Kiss (Max, leaving at the end of the month) - Introductory credits and opening of the movie are incredible. The setting for the movie is quite ahead of its time in the '60s. Creepy song half way through the movie too. Constance Towers is a great actress and rises above the pulpy material.

Brian And Charles (Peacock, leaving at the end of the month) - Rather short movie but beautifully done with Welsh landscapes and houses. Humor is a bit dry. It was described in a review online as being like "The Office but for introverted depressives."

Oh neat, I was just curiously looking at that last film, reading the plot, on a streaming service last night. Naked Kiss was one of my favorite movies when I first saw it a long while ago. I have the Criterion Blu-Ray release, and have been meaning to see it again since. I totally fell for Constance Towers as well, but I don't think I've seen her in any other movies(?). Samuel Fuller is a true master craftsman. Keep on keeping on with the terrific reviews.

Edited March 19 by HarryArchieGus
Oh wow, forgot I had the Blu-Ray not the outdated DVD

[Curt McGirt]

OHHHHHH NOOOOOO

Spoiler

 

[caley]

On 3/12/2024 at 1:29 PM, Andrew POE! said:

Some more films from yesterday and this morning:

Savages - Movie from Oliver Stone with Blake Lively and Benicio Del Toro. Basically a drug trade movie. The movie practically peaks in the first 10 minutes. "I get orgasms and he gets wargasms" (an actual line). Blake Lively can't act.

 

My brother saw this in theaters and just HATED it (I was pretty meh on it myself) but he did come away with a great story, he was sitting there, contemplating walking out but his friend didn't seem to want to leave so they get 2/3 through the movie and when
[spoiler]Salma Hayek takes off her wig to reveal her short-ish hair, IIRC suggesting or outright telling us she has cancer[/spoiler]

some guy behind them just goes "UGH! SICK!" (or posssible "GROSS!") and my brother said it was so random and stupid that it almost made the entire experience worth it. And now whenever I am reminded of this movie, this is the only thing I can think of.

[Andrew POE!]

Yeah, Savages was just an impossibly bad movie. Oliver Stone seemingly does movies for money then does a wacked out conspiracy theory movie that he wants to do (JFK, Nixon, Snowden, etc).

Another one I saw today:

The Promise (Max, leaving at the end of the month) - Great movie with great acting and superb location shots. Shame it didn't make more money at the box office. If it came out 10 years earlier, it would have made gangbusters. It belongs in the same class of historical 2000's era big budget movies like Troy and Gladiator. Movie is a bit long, but nothing is ever boring in this movie and it holds a person's interest throughout.

If there weren't a love triangle story, it would have been 10x times better.

I just subscribed to The Criterion Channel so yay more movies. I started on Xanadu and....it's an experience.

[odessasteps]

I’ve been meaning to do Xanadu on the podcast.

Edited March 20 by odessasteps

[Curt McGirt]

The Untold History of the United States (series and book) wasn't a compendium of conspiracy theories fortunately, and both were rather good. I've given the series a revisit because it's a standard on this documentary streaming channel Dish has now and it stands up. Depressing as hell, but still. 

[Andrew POE!]

Just finished Xanadu.

Either the greatest musical movie ever or the worst. There is no in-between.

Spoiler

First off, the movie makes zero sense. It's not supposed to. Michael Beck is a bit of an ass. That's fine. The scene transitions are annoying and feel like they were done on Final Cut Pro. The story, if you think about it, doesn't hold up. Questions like "How were Sonny and Danny supposed to make money?" Or "What happened to Sonny's boss? His co-workers?" None of that matters.

It's the overall composition, makeup and vibe of the movie that matter. Also, ELO/Jeff Lynne could make songs about a cake recipe and it would be the most emotional cake recipe ever. Olivia Newton John is absolutely gorgeous and could stand there and smile and I'd be okay with that. Gene Kelly was great in the movie too.

Edited March 20 by Andrew POE!

[Curt McGirt]

My mom has that soundtrack on vinyl (and I have her vinyl, so technically I have it)

[Mister TV]

The final song/dance/roller skating number is mind blowing! When I worked at Blockbuster we'd always respond with "Ahhh yes Xanadu, the movie that killed Gene Kelly" even though it have nothing to do with his death, when asked if we had it.

[Log]

34 minutes ago, Mister TV said:

The final song/dance/roller skating number is mind blowing! When I worked at Blockbuster we'd always respond with "Ahhh yes Xanadu, the movie that killed Gene Kelly" even though it have nothing to do with his death, when asked if we had it.

I worked at a local video rental store. Still the best job I've ever had.

After the store was closed, it wasn't unusual for those of us closing up to have a drink or smoke while shutting down. One night, the owner (a pretty eccentric dude) pulls up as we're closing. He drags in this big cooler full of beer. "You guys want this? I've been out on the lake all day and have a bunch left." We're all like, "Uh, we're not 21." He says, "Yeah, I know. I sign your paychecks. I know how old you all are. Do you want it or not?" Got hammered that night on him.

[EVA]

Finally saw THE IRON CLAW. Enjoyed it, but DEWEY COX so thoroughly deconstructed the biopic genre, I couldn’t help but think of the Tim Meadows/drug bit every time Kevin had a heart to heart with his brothers prior to them meeting their fate.  DON’T GO TO JAPAN, DAVID! BE CAREFUL ON YOUR BIKE, KERRY!

[Curt McGirt]

Von Erichs, psssshhh. They never invented hardcore punk from doing coke...

[Andrew POE!]

After watching Xanadu this morning....

Snowpiercer (Peacock, leaving at the end of the month) - Very different movie with Chris Evans and....he can actually act? And he's not acting like Captain America throughout? At times, it was "Hunger Games on a train," but a lot more grime than that.

Spoiler

The ending was NOT what I expected with Curtis and Walton both being dead.

Snack Shack - Just saw this in the theaters. Charming John Hughes-eque movie in a post-American Pie world. The movie says both main characters are 14 but they act like juniors in high school. The movie goes hard at the end. Worth checking out. Not sure where it'll fit in the dichotomy of high school movies though.

Edited March 21 by Andrew POE!

[Andrew POE!]

Watched two more movies today:

Belle (2013) (leaving Hulu at the end of the month) - Great movie and loved the story behind it based on a woman in a painting of Dido Elizabeth Belle. I will definitely seek out more movies from Amma Asante. She is definitely a great director.

The Favourite (leaving Hulu at the end of the month) - After watching Poor Things, The Favourite is a parallel companion piece in a lot of ways. It used some of the same shots and ideas for its story - 'fish's eye' lens in a few of the scenes, debauchery everywhere, and sending up of societal norms. The story for both are vastly different though with the relationships involved. Emma Stone is completely amazing as is Olivia Colman as Queen Anne and Rachel Weisz as Sarah Churchill.

Edited March 21 by Andrew POE!

[Contentious C]

Well.  This ought to be strange.

Starman - Probably the first John Carpenter I ever saw but one of the ones I'd seen that I remembered the least clearly (likely caught bits & pieces on HBO or something when I was maybe 7).  Not at all what I was expecting; one Letterboxd reviewer referred to it as "E.T. for adults" and I think that's about right, both good and bad.  I think it just feels a little too formulaic for me to think it's that special: of course there's comical misunderstanding with the alien, of course there's weird sex stuff with the alien who resembles the dead husband, of course they bring up the no-babies thing so it gets fixed at the earliest possible convenience.  Some of the visuals are pretty good - certainly better than some of the similar stuff that would keep coming out over the course of the decade, like Cocoon or Flight of the Navigator.  But if it has staying power, it's because it's an interesting meditation on grief; makes you wonder why Carpenter took it on.  But, I don't love it; leave me in Team They Live, I suppose.

Side Roads - Heyo!  Here's a hardcore contestant for the WOAT Title if there ever was one.  Jeff motherfucking Speakman rocking the porniest porn stache I've ever seen in a movie that (at least gauging by its poster/cover art) seems to want to be a sleazy late-night Skinemax type but instead is just the most 68-degree-bathwater of lukewarm, lame-ass neo-noirs you can imagine.  Having watched Kiss Me Deadly recently, you can picture that movie strangling this movie until it's dead and then dumping it in a lake; it's that bad.  In fact, it almost looks - in terms of the way it's shot - like the director wanted to make an actual porno, couldn't find anyone to go along with it, and then just settled for this instead.  Plus, the boom mic makes a cameo in one scene and a Life Net makes its own later on.  Is this as bad as The Crow: Wicked Prayer?  Maybe?  But when you adjust for talent, production value, and expectations, this was in a sewage ditch before it ever began.  It's probably more comparable to A Better Way to Die, which is a movie that feels like Scott Wiper saw this movie and thought he could do a better job with it (but couldn't, actually). 

Slaughterhouse Rock - Here's one for you sickos: Jeff Speakman's Best Film of 1988!  Because Side Roads was the other one, so, duh.  Is this good?  Not really.  The main actor is the son of one of the producers and is quite possibly the best non-Trump argument against nepotism any of us will ever see.  Just wooden and terrible beyond belief.  But the visual style here is a LOT better than you'd expect from something this low-budget.  Granted, they were clearly stealing from a lot of far superior horror films, since the 80s are littered with them, but at least they picked the right things to steal from.  Plus, Toni Basil, she of the Weirdest Career in Hollywood, makes an appearance, and DeVo does the soundtrack, even if it is a low water mark for them musically.  I'm sure plenty of you have already seen this and have stronger opinions than I do, but hey, it's not a total waste of 90 minutes.

Fallen Angels (1985) - This is, uh, NOT, I repeat NOT!! the Wong Kar-Wai movie.  Much like Side Roads, you have to do some well-placed digging on the Interwebs to find this, but find it you can.  It's a very early documentary about the porn industry as it transitioned into VHS, and, hey, it's surprisingly good.  I landed on it by seeing a review of Serial Mom, forgetting that John Waters directed that and loved casting Traci Lords in things, then after looking at her filmography on Letterboxd, I realized they actually include *ALL* of her films, no matter how legal they are.  Ick. 

This, strangely enough, is one of the only ones from the era that is actually legal, because she only appears briefly for the premiere of one of her movies.  But that's not the biggest reason this might be relevant.  It's also evidently a big influence on Boogie Nights, down to lifting shots from this.  It became pretty apparent as well when Hal Freeman's case is discussed, and one of the women in his films gets threatened by the police with having her kids taken away (a direct line to Julianne Moore's character arc, you may recall).  But yeah, otherwise, it's exactly as depressing and fucked-up and wrong and ugly and horrible as you might expect.  Not much has changed in that department, or, at least, not enough.

Horrible Bosses - Hey, here's some of the usual stupid garbage as a palate cleanser, right?  Big shock that Brett Ratner produced this shambolic turd.  And why is Jason Bateman famous, again? I mean, I get it, Arrested Development, but why did he even land that gig after doing a bunch of straight garbage in the 90s?  Charlie Day and Jennifer Aniston are the only parts of this that aren't awful, mostly because it just doesn't give Colin Farrell time to really flesh out his potentially much funnier role.  No, let's spend 40% of our time with Kevin fucking Spacey; that's a decision that's held up well in retrospect.  Otherwise it's just bouncing from one stupid moment where you want to punch Jason Sudeikis in the face to the next.

[driver]

Watched Tenebrae  for the first time. It was really good.

[Curt McGirt]

Tenebrae (1b) and Inferno (1a) are the best Argento films and I'm dying on that particular island.

[HarryArchieGus]

40 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

Tenebrae (1b) and Inferno (1a) are the best Argento films and I'm dying on that particular island.

I've only ever seen his first two films which are more in the giallo tradition - Bird with the Crystal Plummage and Cat o Nine Tails. I dug both, but particularly Crystal Plummage. I'd like to see both the films you mentioned, I just so rarely find myself wanting horror.

I dare all Argento fans to watch his excellent acting turn in Gaspar Noe's underrated, and strangely compassionate, 2021 film Vortex. 

[Mike Campbell]

All the talk, both good and bad, about the Aliens 4K transfer has had me thinking about the movie for the last few days. So, with the rest of the family having gone off to bed, I saw that it was streaming on Max and turned it on. I got most of the way through (up to the pont where Vasquez and Gorman sacrifice themselves in the vent) and realized that I'd missed probably my favorite scene. When they set up the sentry guns and start blowing them away.  I thought maybe I'd just been looking at my phone or my mind had wandered and I'd missed it, so I rewound and there's no even a mention of them. The scene when they're looking at the blueprints goes from Ripley seeing the pressure door and suggesting they just weld plate steel over it and repair the barricades.  I even found the same scene on YouTube in case I was just misremembering, and nope, there it is. "There's a pressure door, can't we put one of the sentry units there?"

 

In all seriousness, is there really any good reason for this scene getting scrapped? All I can think of is something related to gun violence (which is something I take seriously, as a father and the husband of a school teacher). But look at the movie we're talking about, and it's not like every other bit of shooting and killing was taken out. And it's on HBO for fuck's sake.  I even did a google search to see if there was anything posted and I came up empty.