Mister TV Posted January 21 Posted January 21 Days of Thunder is one of the funniest unintentional comedies ever made, Robert Duvall talks to a car in it! 3
Curt McGirt Posted January 21 Posted January 21 Street Trash was just on TV and I found out that Anthony Borgese AKA Tony Darrow, the guy who played Larry Barese in The Sopranos and the guy who gets his restaurant busted out in Goodfellas, was found by Martin Scorcese after he had a role in this. So, Marty Scorcese watched Street Trash. Back in the '80s. Yep. 2
Curt McGirt Posted January 21 Posted January 21 2 hours ago, Andrew POE! said: I may decide to seek out Tony Scott's filmography and watch them all The Last Boy Scout is solid too if you're willing to suspend all disbelief and jump headfirst into an insanely vulgar '90s action movie world. I mean, it's the same for True Romance, but True Romance is Tarantino to a tee so it kind of has its own little universe.
odessasteps Posted January 21 Posted January 21 I do wish we could see the timeline where QT directs True Romance and NBK and FroM dusk to dawn. 3
(BP) Posted January 21 Posted January 21 If Rodriguez hadn’t been on From Dusk til Dawn to spray Quentin with a hose while shooting the Salma Hayek dance, he would’ve choked to death on her foot and we wouldn’t have gotten Jackie Brown or anything since. 1 7
elizium Posted January 22 Posted January 22 Seconding The Last Boy Scout, that movie kicks all kinds of ass. I also love The Hunger, otherwise I'm low voter on a lot of Tony Scott's output 3
J.H. Posted January 22 Posted January 22 (edited) The Last Boy Scout is over the top nuts from its opening shot onward! It's just so damn nuts from the getgo and doesn't stop until the end credits. It might be the most Bruce Willis movie Bruce Willis has ever been in! James Edited January 22 by J.H. 2
Andrew POE! Posted January 22 Posted January 22 Well, I got my work cut out for me on Tony Scott-athon. Movies today.... Experiment In Terror (Criterion Channel, leaving on 1/31) - 3.5/5 stars Spoiler While watching this, I wondered if this movie inspired David Lynch for his show Twin Peaks (I mean, they have the main character living in Twin Peaks). There are also elements of giallo horror too (the villain wears black gloves but that doesn't mean it's giallo). Kelly Sherwood (Lee Remick) is coerced to participate in a robbery when a person arrives at her house. The way Blake Edwards filmed has the person doing shrouded in shadows and unable to be seen even by the viewer. It adds an element of mystery to who the person is and having watched a few giallo horror movies, it had me wondering if the person doing it was someone Sherwood knew or was in a position of authority. Sherwood after this attempt tries to call the FBI when the call is disconnected and the person continues his terror upon Sherwood. The FBI agent John Ripley (Glenn Ford) then spends an inordinate amount of time to track down who Sherwood is (nowadays, they would yawn, go back to complaining about sports, and cracking jokes). In some ways, this movie tries to present the hope that the FBI would be a force of good, rather than what it was used for to target private citizens who were politically active (can't win them all I guess). In some ways with how the movie was done and is typical of Blake Edwards, there is male gaze with how Lee Remick and Stefanie Powers (Toby Sherwood) is filmed. Both characters are presented as completely powerless with the perpetrator Red Lynch (Ross Martin). It did have me wonder if it would lead to either Toby or Kelly Sherwood being killed. We did see a scene where a woman with mannequins was found dead and hanging upside down (presumably naked with how it was filmed). The other aspect that's a tad annoying is there are elements of gaslighting with Lisa Soong (Anita Loo) not wanting to give up details about Red Lynch because of his paying for her son's operation. In a movie that I watched yesterday High Sierra, such an act is viewed as an act of contrition; with this, it's an act of manipulation and control. Eventually, Red Lynch is found out as the FBI close in on him. Even though I have issues with intention and character aspects, I can admire the way the movie was filmed. The movie even with the 2 hour runtime, had smart editing choices - I loved the transition from Kelly Sherwood being concerned about her sister to showing her sister screaming....if only as she diving into a swimming pool. The FBI briefing on Red Lynch had a great way to end the scene as it shows a close up of the information card about him. The movie uses a lot of great camerawork with high angle dolly shots and towards the end with helicopter overhead shots. The finale reminded me a bit of Brewster McCloud's finale where the police were chasing after McCloud inside the Astrodome. Candlestick Park is shown as Ripley guns down Lynch. Some of the scenes did drag a bit and it did become repetitive. Experiment In Terror isn't a bad movie but can be a bit long. Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (Criterion Channel, leaving on 1/31) - 2/5 stars Spoiler While I love and appreciate the message and ethos that Joe Strummer represents, this documentary seems to be just an excuse to show footage and trying to have people (none are identified unless you know who they are) talk about Strummer and his life piece together the narrative. It does go through a chronological order with the structure however. As a result, the documentary is very uninteresting to watch and a disappointment. Flaming Ears (Criterion Channel, leaving on 1/31) - 3/5 stars Spoiler This movie is either Derek Jarman doing Crimes of the Future or David Lynch teaming up with Rainer Warner Fassbinder to do a version of Akira. It's nightmarish and dream like and a menagerie of images. The story doesn't make sense at times but it makes sense to its creators. I have to admire movies that are made with zero budget and they'll figure out the story later. The Wolfman (2010) (Peacock, leaving on 1/31) - 3/5 stars Spoiler After going to the theaters and seeing the most recent Wolf Man, I figure I try this on Peacock. It's surprisingly decent and has a better atmosphere. (Helps to have a cinematographer know how lights work). Visually, it's similar to Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow meeting Guillermo Del Toro's Crimson Peak. The acting pedigree involved is of the high end - Anthony Hopkins, Benicio Del Toro, Hugo Heaving, and Emily Blunt. Yet script wise, it seems a bit lacking. Surprisingly, it trods the same ground as the 2025 Wolf Man about fathers and sons although I would give this the edge since it's a bit more compelling due to Hopkins and Del Toro's scenes together. The movie alludes to Biblical story about the prodigal son and Romani stories about werewolves; it really creates an atmosphere similar to James Whale's Frankenstein. Lawrence Talbot (Del Toro) and Gwen Conliffe (Blunt)'s relationship has elements of Renoir's La Belle Et Le Bete, especially towards the end when Lawrence confronts Gwen before he is killed. The movie is a nice no-brainer but enjoyable horror flick. Snow Canon (Criterion Channel, leaving on 1/31) - 3.5/5 stars Spoiler Incredibly well shot short film in the French Alps. Vanina and Mary Jane have palpable tension and chemistry until Mary Jane leaves to go back to the States.
odessasteps Posted January 22 Posted January 22 18 minutes ago, J.H. said: The Last Boy Scout is over the top nuts from its opening shot onward! It's just so damn nuts from the getgo and doesn't stop until the end credits. It might the most Bruce Willis movie Bruce Willis has ever been in! James Even more than Hudson Hawke? 1
Technico Support Posted January 22 Posted January 22 On 1/21/2025 at 11:29 AM, Andrew POE! said: No, not really. I've been slacking in my movie exposure. I may decide to seek out Tony Scott's filmography and watch them all lol. The Tony Scott/Denzel collaborations are all amazing (except the Pelham 123 remake, which I saw but can't remember). You already saw Deja Vu, so check out Crimson Tide (just watched it a few weeks ago), Man on Fire, and Unstoppable (the last one they did together and an amazing popcorn film that also gave us a great SNL parody). 1
HarryArchieGus Posted January 22 Posted January 22 (edited) 19 hours ago, Andrew POE! said: Well, I got my work cut out for me on Tony Scott-athon. Movies today.... Experiment In Terror (Criterion Channel, leaving on 1/31) - 3.5/5 stars Hide contents While watching this, I wondered if this movie inspired David Lynch for his show Twin Peaks (I mean, they have the main character living in Twin Peaks). There are also elements of giallo horror too (the villain wears black gloves but that doesn't mean it's giallo). Kelly Sherwood (Lee Remick) is coerced to participate in a robbery when a person arrives at her house. The way Blake Edwards filmed has the person doing shrouded in shadows and unable to be seen even by the viewer. It adds an element of mystery to who the person is and having watched a few giallo horror movies, it had me wondering if the person doing it was someone Sherwood knew or was in a position of authority. Sherwood after this attempt tries to call the FBI when the call is disconnected and the person continues his terror upon Sherwood. The FBI agent John Ripley (Glenn Ford) then spends an inordinate amount of time to track down who Sherwood is (nowadays, they would yawn, go back to complaining about sports, and cracking jokes). In some ways, this movie tries to present the hope that the FBI would be a force of good, rather than what it was used for to target private citizens who were politically active (can't win them all I guess). In some ways with how the movie was done and is typical of Blake Edwards, there is male gaze with how Lee Remick and Stefanie Powers (Toby Sherwood) is filmed. Both characters are presented as completely powerless with the perpetrator Red Lynch (Ross Martin). It did have me wonder if it would lead to either Toby or Kelly Sherwood being killed. We did see a scene where a woman with mannequins was found dead and hanging upside down (presumably naked with how it was filmed). The other aspect that's a tad annoying is there are elements of gaslighting with Lisa Soong (Anita Loo) not wanting to give up details about Red Lynch because of his paying for her son's operation. In a movie that I watched yesterday High Sierra, such an act is viewed as an act of contrition; with this, it's an act of manipulation and control. Eventually, Red Lynch is found out as the FBI close in on him. Even though I have issues with intention and character aspects, I can admire the way the movie was filmed. The movie even with the 2 hour runtime, had smart editing choices - I loved the transition from Kelly Sherwood being concerned about her sister to showing her sister screaming....if only as she diving into a swimming pool. The FBI briefing on Red Lynch had a great way to end the scene as it shows a close up of the information card about him. The movie uses a lot of great camerawork with high angle dolly shots and towards the end with helicopter overhead shots. The finale reminded me a bit of Brewster McCloud's finale where the police were chasing after McCloud inside the Astrodome. Candlestick Park is shown as Ripley guns down Lynch. Some of the scenes did drag a bit and it did become repetitive. Experiment In Terror isn't a bad movie but can be a bit long. To each their own, I loved Experiment in Terror. Bought the pricey Indicator edition after watching it on CC. I'm also a huge fan of that Mancini soundtrack. The title cut in particular is a total killer. And I LOVE Lee Remick. This movie made me want to see more Blake Edwards. I knew his name, but I'd not seen anything prior to this. I followed this up with his excellent Days of Wine and Roses. More Remick gold, and yet another perfect performance from Jack Lemmon. It's hard not to think Terror was an influence on Twin Peaks with the coincidences. If not an influence on Lynch than probably Frost. And... RIP beautiful David Lynch - my favorite filmmaker and artist of any discpline of my entire lifetime. I watched 'Premonitions Following an Evil Deed' as a tribute on the night of his passing. If you haven't seen it take a 'minute' on the CC and fall in love. I'm gonna wait on the features as I assume they'll be playing all over Toronto in the weeks and months to come. Hoping to see, in particular, Inland Empire. I saw it twice when it was first released and was totally captivated. I think it loses something at home without being isolated in the Cinema with it's expansive soundtrack. I haven't checked in on the thread in awhile - did you happen to see Nickel Boys, Room Next Door and/or Soundtrack to Coup D'etat. I saw one a day Thursday to Saturday last week and was completely blown away. I also really liked Babygirl and the Brutalist. Hoping to see Flow and All We Imagine is Light this week before they leave theatres. Also, sorta curious of the Count of Monte Cristo. Ha, I assume I've waited long enough on the line-ups to disperse that I can go see Barry Jenkins' Mufasa and Eggers' Nosferatu (I'm gonna see it this or next week on IMAX). Priority to Mike Leigh's Hard Truths which opens this weekend - very, very, very excited. I'll skim thru your posts to see what your thoughts and feelings have been on some of these titles. Edited January 22 by HarryArchieGus
HarryArchieGus Posted January 22 Posted January 22 On 1/20/2025 at 10:26 PM, Andrew POE! said: Maestro (2003) (Criterion Channel, leaving on 1/31) - 2/5 stars Reveal hidden contents Documentary at times isn't very interesting and consists of interviews with people involved in the NYC club scene at Paradise Garage and The Loft. It doesn't do a very good job at explaining to outsiders of the scene why they should notice the subject or find out about the subject. C'mon, you were just in a bad mood here. Ha, no, okay, it's not a tightly edited nice looking documentary, but as an enthusiast of that NYC scene and especially Larry Levan/Paradise Garage, I was kinda blown away that this even existed. This is aesthetically a fair 2/5, but the information brings it up at least a point and a half.
Andrew POE! Posted January 23 Posted January 23 3 hours ago, HarryArchieGus said: To each their own, I loved Experiment in Terror. Bought the pricey Indicator edition after watching it on CC. I'm also a huge fan of that Mancini soundtrack. The title cut in particular is a total killer. And I LOVE Lee Remick. This movie made me want to see more Blake Edwards. I knew his name, but I'd not seen anything prior to this. I followed this up with his excellent Days of Wine and Roses. More Remick gold, and yet another perfect performance from Jack Lemmon. It's hard not to think Terror was an influence on Twin Peaks with the coincidences. If not an influence on Lynch than probably Frost. And... RIP beautiful David Lynch - my favorite filmmaker and artist of any discpline of my entire lifetime. I watched 'Premonitions Following an Evil Deed' as a tribute on the night of his passing. If you haven't seen it take a 'minute' on the CC and fall in love. I'm gonna wait on the features as I assume they'll be playing all over Toronto in the weeks and months to come. Hoping to see, in particular, Inland Empire. I saw it twice when it was first released and was totally captivated. I think it loses something at home without being isolated in the Cinema with it's expansive soundtrack. I haven't checked in on the thread in awhile - did you happen to see Nickel Boys, Room Next Door and/or Soundtrack to Coup D'etat. I saw one a day Thursday to Saturday last week and was completely blown away. I also really liked Babygirl and the Brutalist. Hoping to see Flow and All We Imagine is Light this week before they leave theatres. Also, sorta curious of the Count of Monte Cristo. Ha, I assume I've waited long enough on the line-ups to disperse that I can go see Barry Jenkins' Mufasa and Eggers' Nosferatu (I'm gonna see it this or next week on IMAX). Priority to Mike Leigh's Hard Truths which opens this weekend - very, very, very excited. I'll skim thru your posts to see what your thoughts and feelings have been on some of these titles. Compared to Micki + Maude, Experiment In Terror is probably my favorite Blake Edwards movie I've seen. Like Tony Scott, I need to drown myself in cinema with Blake Edwards' films. I've seen: * Nickel Boys * The Room Next Door *Babygirl * The Brutalist * Flow *All We Imagine Is Light *Mufasa *Nosferatu *Hard Truths Some of them are in the 2024 thread but Nickel Boys, The Room Next Door, and Hard Truths are in 2025 movies thread. I haven't seen The Count of Monte Cristo yet (stupid snow/ice in Atlanta prevents me and Count's run may be running out soon) or Soundtrack To A Coup D'Etat (it is on Kanopy so I may see it this weekend). 1
Andrew POE! Posted January 23 Posted January 23 2 hours ago, HarryArchieGus said: C'mon, you were just in a bad mood here. Ha, no, okay, it's not a tightly edited nice looking documentary, but as an enthusiast of that NYC scene and especially Larry Levan/Paradise Garage, I was kinda blown away that this even existed. This is aesthetically a fair 2/5, but the information brings it up at least a point and a half. Probably or I just watched it at the wrong time. Some documentaries make me mad and just feel like "I'm running out the clock" instead of actively engaging me. Maestro (2013) was that for me. There's been a few documentaries that go beyond the format that I loved (Grizzly Man, A Night of Knowing Nothing and Jiro Dreams Of Sushi) because they remember they are movies first, documentaries second. Really great documentary filmmakers are also great narrative filmmakers too. 1
Andrew POE! Posted January 23 Posted January 23 Movies today....it ended up being a Christian Bale-athon. Goodnight Mommy (2014) (Mubi, leaving on 1/31) - 4/5 stars Spoiler Excellent psychological horror movie in the vein of Hitchcock, Kubrick and Haneke. Throughout the movie, I wondered if it would be explained what made the mother (Susanne Wuest) act the way she does or how she got to be that way. Since most of the movie is told from the POV of Elias (Elias Schwarz) and since he is a child, it is natural to presume that the narrative is reliable. It wasn't until the last 20 minutes of the movie that I realized that something was 'off' with Elias. The movie tells the clues that Lukas (Lukas Schwarz) was dead the entire time. The start of the movie had Lukas and Elias chasing after each other then Elias calling after Lukas while floating in the water. We never see Lukas reappear until after the title card. The mother doesn't feed or give Lukas anything to drink - at the start, it is presumed because the mother decided to be cruel and manipulative. Looking back, it's because Lukas wasn't really there. Other characters' interactions (the sexton, the priest, the Red Cross volunteers) are with Elias. We never see any of them interact with Lukas. Elias talks to them the entire time with Lukas whispering in Elias' ear for him to say things. It could be chalked up to Lukas being a shy kid, but the actuality is much different. The game the kids and the mother play is an interesting sequence; the mother can't guess what is written on the post-it note. There is a change in her from before the surgery and after the surgery and it made me wonder as well if she were the same person as before. It also made me wonder if the kids were being spoiled and hypercritical because they weren't being given their way less than they were used to. What makes the movie work is a lot of usage of midrange shots and muted coloring. It adds to an uneasy sense of tension. The scenes where the mother is tied up, has tape on her mouth, and superglued with scissors being used to cut her mouth is pure Haneke. That ending left me a lot to think about as well and if all three were now dead or only two. The three disappear into the air as if they were ashes, which tells me that all three are now dead but reunited. Even though it doesn't do anything new, Goodnight Mommy is superb. Out Of The Furnace (Max, leaving on 1/31) - 3/5 stars Spoiler Rural neo-noir that has a bit of a disjointed approach - the family drama in the first half is compelling but the revenge investigation/hunt isn't as much. It somewhat felt 'sped up' in the second half and when Russell Baze (Christian Bale) catches up with Harlan (Woody Harrelson) it felt like a letdown. For whatever reason, every actor involved (Woody Harrelson, Christian Bale, Forrest Whitaker, Willem DaFoe, Casey Affleck, Zoe Saldana, Sam Shepard) seems to speak with a low mumble through most of their scenes. It makes it difficult to have an attachment towards the characters in the story since they are barely audible. I will say I loved the cinematography throughout the movie and the usage of anamorphic format - it made the small town look downtrodden but barely alive. The scene where DaFoe and Affleck's characters get killed had great lighting even for a night time scene. What bugged me is Christian Bale's character having to go to prison for vehicular manslaughter - it feels like his attorney gave up and didn't put much of a fight (from watching it, the driver backing up was clearly at fault because they didn't look when they were backing up). My guess is that story decision was made to show the character really having everything against him. Out of the Furnace is a decent noir/thriller. Rescue Dawn (Max, leaving on 1/31) - 3.5/5 stars Spoiler For the most part, a great biopic about Dieter Dengler played by Christian Bale. Most of Herzog's themes - man vs. nature, endurance of man under adverse conditions, sane vs. insanity - are apparent in the movie but it is a bit more dialed back compared to how Herzog usually does it. Christian Bale won't turn into Klaus Kinski and completely lose his mind. With it being a mixture of Herzog's style and Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking, Rescue Dawn is an interesting portrayal and much more subdued versus usual. In some ways, the movie is similar to Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence minus the connection between the guards and the prisoners. The POW experience is much more focused on Dengler trying to escape and using whatever means that are available for him to do so. Dengler's eventual rescue and return is triumphant albeit a bit formulaic. I had wished there had more of a commentary on Dengler trying one cell (POW camp) for another (CIA detention) that the movie briefly dwells on. The themes surrounding that weren't really mentioned as much. I did enjoy the earlier scenes where Dengler got captured - it did recall a lot of Herzog's work with Fitzcarraldo. I found the training video that Dengler watched on the aircraft carrier to be hilarious with the adlibbed wise cracks - it's similar to Tony Scott's Top Gun in some ways. Rescue Dawn is a great albeit standard war movie. Gods Of Egypt (Max, leaving on 1/31) - 1/5 star Spoiler Alex Proyas, when talking about criticism of this movie, said "We have a pack of diseased vultures pecking at the bones of a dying carcass,” Proyas went on to write. “Trying to peck to the rhythm of the consensus. I applaud any film-goer who values their own opinion enough to not base it on what the pack-mentality says is good or bad." I watched this movie for 2 hours and I felt like I was watching a PS3 or Xbox 360 video game. It's not good. Having every actor in front of green screen makes this feel like a video game. Granted, there are some video games with tremendous acting. The Last of Us on PlayStation has a great scene of actual acting between Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson where Johnson's character Ellie has run away and Joel played by Baker tracked her down to a ranch. "Is this really all they had to worry about? Boys? movies? Deciding which shirt goes with which skirt?" The point is, there's real palpable emotions even beyond the green screens and computer graphics being used. Gods of Egypt strives for these real, palpable emotions but just fails at it. The writing for the characters is downright terrible. I found myself running out the clock until the movie was done. There's a few scenes that make it worthwhile like Bek (Brenton Thwaites) finding out that Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) was using him and couldn't get his Vanessa Hudgens looking girlfriend Zaya (Courtney Eaton) back. And the obvious Lawrence of Arabia musical lift when Horus and Bek were traveling through the desert. But so much of the movie is a waste of every actor's time and their talent. If Alex Proyas wants someone to get mad at, it shouldn't be the critics, it should be himself.
odessasteps Posted January 23 Posted January 23 1 hour ago, Andrew POE! said: Like Tony Scott, I need to drown myself in cinema with Blake Edwards' films. The Great Race is calling your name. 2
Andrew POE! Posted January 24 Posted January 24 Movies today....not as many as usual. Next few days will be less of "this is leaving streaming this month" and more of "been meaning to watch this" stuff. Conviction (Max, leaving on 1/31) - 3.5/5 stars Spoiler Having seen Ezra also directed by Tony Goldwyn, I can't help but to feel that this movie has parallels to Ezra. Both are about characters undertaking impossible quests on the basis of their convictions (no pun intended) for misunderstood causes or for misunderstood people. While Ezra is mostly a comedy with dramatic elements, this is more of a standard drama. Hilary Swank plays Betty Anne Waters who is trying to free her brother Kenny played by Sam Rockwell. Swank and Rockwell give captivating performances and really capture the nuances of being 'rough and tumble kids' who became (mostly) well adjusted adults. Kenny Waters is convicted of murdering a woman that the movie doesn't definitively say he knows or doesn't know. The movie is a bit manipulative in a way and only presents one side of the story; it's not like Tim Robbins' Dead Man Walking where you wonder if the character truly is innocent and is actually guilty. In this, Kenny Waters is presented as innocent and I felt that he was. The epilogue of the movie indicates that the 'real murderer has never been found;' well, why hasn't Nancy Taylor been asked about her whereabouts during the time of the murder? She obviously had an axe to grind against Kenny Waters (as the movie depicts their misogynistic relationship), so it stands to reason that she could have possibly been the murderer and used her position as a police officer to cover it up. Some of the technical aspects is a bit dodgy with this movie; oftentimes, the movie would have closeups of an actor during a conversation where part of the other actor was out of focus and in frame. That was a bit distracting for me. There were a few times where it would do a closeup of an actor's face (mainly Swank) and the other actor (Rockwell in this case) would block the view while moving around. I will say the final scene on the picnic table at the lake has a perfect shot with the lake in view. Conviction is a great but manipulative legal drama. The Visit (Max, leaving on 1/31) - 3.5/5 stars Spoiler The movie has it's moments of subverting the "found footage" format and being a decent thriller/horror movie. The premise, two precocious young adults striving to make a 'documentary' about their visit with their grandparents, does a lot that's different versus standard narrative films. The camera is zoomed on the wrong thing, the camera is slanted with a different person in the shot, and Kathryn Hahn as the mother Loretta brings a believably warmth as the mother. Throughout the movie, my thoughts were that Loretta would undergo an issue while on a cruise that her children would be powerless to stop. The twist being the grandparents is somewhat cruel in some ways; it's similar to the twist in What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? where Blanche is held against her will by her sister Baby Jane. In this case, the two children (Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould) find out the truth slowly. The last 30 minutes are captivating as everything unravels and the two children have to escape. I haven't seen a lot of M. Night Shyamalan but he and Brian De Palma are acolytes of Hitchcock's style of filmmaking. Olympus Has Fallen (Hulu, leaving on 1/29) - 4/5 stars Spoiler Watching a movie about foreign terrorists taking over the White House feels completely different in 2025. Honestly, despite it being somewhat formulaic and somewhat predictable, it's a fun "Summertime Blockbuster" type of movie. It's really easy to get engrossed and engulfed in the plot of the movie. No, there isn't deep characterization anywhere. The villain Kang Yeonsak (Rick Yune) has a completely dumb reason for doing his attack on the White House (maybe his mother should have paid attention when she was walking or something). But Morgan Freeman as the acting President and Angela Bassett as the head of the Secret Service just makes sense. Aaron Eckhart in prime Harvey Dent mode is almost believable as President. Gerard Butler is a likeable but funny bad ass (just like Bruce Willis!) in this. The only drawback is the lighting and the cinematography isn't as good at times, most likely to cover up the low budget nature and the computer graphic usage. But Antonio Fuqua is like an American Luc Besson with how action is depicted on screen and it kept me completely engaged. White House Down (Netflix, leaving on 1/31) - 4/5 stars Spoiler Watching Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down back to back is action movie nirvana. Yes, White House Down is not deep cinema but it's a lot of fun to watch. I would say in comparison, White House Down has better plotting and better characters. Channing Tatum plays John Cale (who doesn't play viola and piano and didn't record an album called Paris 1919). Cale is a good hearted meathead that is in way over his head and wants to protect his daughter then the President in that order. Jamie Foxx plays James Sawyer, who is essentially Barack Obama but a bit more Southern. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Richard Jenkins and Lance Reddick round out the cast and bring individualistic touches to their characters. Gyllenhaal's character Carol knows John from a past relationship and passes on him for White House Secret Service detail. Jenkins is Cale's boss and seems completely inept until he is eventually made President. James Woods as Martin Walker and Jason Clarke as Emil Stenz make their threat more personal and even understandable - although I found myself still disagreeing with them even doing it. The movie seems to squarely point the finger at far right individuals becoming domestic terrorists to take over the country. (Oh, how little Roland Emmerich and James Vanderbilt knew in 2013....) Even then, White House Down is a satisfying action flick. 1
Ace Posted January 24 Posted January 24 On 1/22/2025 at 7:14 PM, Andrew POE! said: Gods Of Egypt (Max, leaving on 1/31) - 1/5 star Reveal hidden contents Alex Proyas, when talking about criticism of this movie, said "We have a pack of diseased vultures pecking at the bones of a dying carcass,” Proyas went on to write. “Trying to peck to the rhythm of the consensus. I applaud any film-goer who values their own opinion enough to not base it on what the pack-mentality says is good or bad." I watched this movie for 2 hours and I felt like I was watching a PS3 or Xbox 360 video game. It's not good. Having every actor in front of green screen makes this feel like a video game. Granted, there are some video games with tremendous acting. The Last of Us on PlayStation has a great scene of actual acting between Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson where Johnson's character Ellie has run away and Joel played by Baker tracked her down to a ranch. "Is this really all they had to worry about? Boys? movies? Deciding which shirt goes with which skirt?" The point is, there's real palpable emotions even beyond the green screens and computer graphics being used. Gods of Egypt strives for these real, palpable emotions but just fails at it. The writing for the characters is downright terrible. I found myself running out the clock until the movie was done. There's a few scenes that make it worthwhile like Bek (Brenton Thwaites) finding out that Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) was using him and couldn't get his Vanessa Hudgens looking girlfriend Zaya (Courtney Eaton) back. And the obvious Lawrence of Arabia musical lift when Horus and Bek were traveling through the desert. But so much of the movie is a waste of every actor's time and their talent. If Alex Proyas wants someone to get mad at, it shouldn't be the critics, it should be himself. I never understood why the "Gods of Egypt" were all white. 1
odessasteps Posted January 24 Posted January 24 The same reason the big JC is usually depicted as white? 1 1
Andrew POE! Posted January 25 Posted January 25 Movies today.... I Used To Be Funny (Netflix) - 4/5 stars Spoiler I Used To Be Funny is a sadder, drier version of Shiva Baby in a lot of ways. It involves a woman who feels powerless and trapped in a situation - where Shiva Baby shows this woman trapped in a shiva observance and seeing a guy she used to see regularly for sex to where I Used To Be Funny has a woman trapped in a vicious cycle of PTSD following sexual assault charges. The same woman playing both characters is Rachel Sennott. Rachel Sennott plays Sam and is a comedienne. The experience regarding what she went through isn't clear at first but is told through flashbacks. What triggers the memories at the start is Brooke (Olga Petsa) appearing at her house and throwing a rock through the window. Sam goes to the police to file a report. From watching the movie, we find that Sam is a funny person but even comedy for her is painful. One scene that stuck out to me was Sam being introduced for an act, becoming afraid, and running to the bathroom. The painful parts are especially poignant - Sam tells her roommates that "she's not even good at contributing" and feeling terrible about herself. Towards the end, Sam resolves to go to Niagara Falls to look for Brooke. The movie takes a darker turn as Sam recalls the night where Cameron (Jason Jones) sexually assaulted her and the start of an earlier scene where Brooke and Sam escape the house. Sam rescues Brooke before a visit to Niagara Falls. What I liked throughout the movie is the usage of music for scenes - Phoebe Bridgers and Adrienne Lenker are pretty much prime for depression and for a movie about depression, it highlights it. There is a concern that it turns into 'music videos' rather than enhancing characters' thoughts and emotions in the scenes though. Most of the time, the music enhances the tone and atmosphere and the characters' thoughts. I liked the way the movie was shot - the coloring and lighting had a winter-y feel and it being set in Canada helps. For the most part, I Used to Be Funny melds the comedic and dramatic really well. Turtles All The Way Down (Max) - 3/5 stars Spoiler "Love means you're real." The movie at times didn't work for me starting out and began to be a bit too precious for it's own good. Isabella Merced (Aza) and Cree (Daisy) were too annoying and at times too unfunny for me to care for their relationship - even beyond the premise of Aza being a girl grappling with her emotions and experiencing a 'coming of age' story while having to deal with OCD. But in the last 30 minutes, the movie clicked and got to me a bit. For whatever reason, the scenes after Aza and Daisy get in a car accident is where the movie's premise comes together. The characters start to gel into better, more realistic characters and Aza starts to see the behavior patterns she does to herself (with absolutely brilliant usage of voiceover and fast cuts to scientific footage) being her undoing. Aza begins to live the life she is meant to have. Although towards the end the discovery of Davis (Felix Mallard)'s dad's fate was a bit too convenient, I did love how Aza explained what happened to Davis was shot. It did excellent usage of cuts to denote passage of time (a similar trick was used earlier in the movie). The scenes in Chicago at Northwestern where Aza meets her idol Professor Abbott (J. Smith-Cameron) were brilliant scenes that were John Hughes-ian in connecting a young main character with their future. Still, Turtles All The Way Down is great all the way up. Presence (saw at the theaters) - 2.5/5 stars Spoiler Steven Soderbergh as a director is known for having a 'wild hair' about something when he sets about creating a movie. The Girlfriend Experience follows an escort through her day in the most clinical fashion possible; Full Frontal uses camcorders and has a loose relation to any conventionality; Unsane and High Flying Bird were shot on iPhones. Presence is Soderbergh chasing after a 'wild hair' again. The premise of the movie is that there is a 'presence' in the house that we see from a first-person viewpoint; the camera is the presence. We see various activity - a real estate agent (Julia Fox) doing a viewing of the house for the family that will be moving in, painters coming in and arguing about NFL teams, then one of the painters getting a premonition about a room and deciding not to paint in there. It presents the feeling that the movie will be focused on the house, not residents. It's somewhat similar to Robert Zemeckis' Here except the camera moves a bit more fleely. I will say at the early parts of the movie, the camerawork did make me a tad nauseous. With most movies, the camera movements are a bit more sensitive to motion and you don't feel the camera move. With Presence, you feel the camera move almost too much. I got used to it but it's somewhat robbing of the experience. Once the movie begins, we meet the family that will inhabit the story and the house. Lucy Liu plays Rebecca, Chris Sullivan is Chris, Callina Liang is Chloe and Eddy Maday is Tyler. Their characters are developed through their conversations - which is a bit similar to what Jonathan Glazer did in The Zone of Interest. The drawback is almost all of the interesting story threads - Rebecca's business may not be 100% scruplous, Chris asking a co-worker about a hypothetical with his wife that we read between the lines is about his wife, Tyler's fascination with a guy from school - are really dropped almost too quickly. The family's interactions feel a bit too scripted and doesn't feel like actors inhabiting characters or there being much in the way of a story to propel the movie. The movie decides to spend the majority of the focus on Chloe having a premonition about a presence in the house. At one point, she looks directly into the camera. Through most of the family's interactions, it seemed to be at one extreme in the entire movie. Chris has a tender moment with Chloe where he tells "to not every change" seemed like one of the few times where the character moments are organic. Almost out of nowhere, Ryan (West Mulholland) seems like a character from a completely different movie. He drugs Tyler and drugs Chloe then does an angry rant about how 'he gives then he takes then he gives it back' as he tries to choke Chloe with plastic. The spirit runs out of the room and goes into Tyler's ear to wake him up. Tyler groggly stands up and tackles Ryan out of a window. The final scenes were chill inducing as Rebecca stares into a mirror and sees her son (in probably the best acting from Eddy Madday because he's not saying anything). For the most part with the movie, there are few character and script issues that take the believability (and some of the horror) out of it. The reveal isn't like The Others where it took your breath away. It's not like Tobe Hopper's Poltergeist where there were a more active effort to remove the spirit. What was more shocking was Tyler tackling Ryan through the window. The other thing is the movie isn't clear what exactly is the presence in the house - was it someone before the family moved in? Was one of the two girls that died? Was it Tyler? The movie implies (rather weakly) that it was Tyler, but that really didn't make too much sense. Presence is another experimental effort from Steven Soderbergh that sometimes fulfills what it sets out to do.
odessasteps Posted January 25 Posted January 25 https://x.com/TheCinesthetic/status/1882733079699038582?t=hPYXZU4MfnIIHBS5moescA&s=19 Love thelma 1
driver Posted January 25 Posted January 25 I never knew that "Turtles All The Way Down" was more than a Sturgill Simpson song (until now). 1
Craig H Posted January 26 Posted January 26 I have liked the Sonic movies so far, but 3 is really good. Like I mentioned in the tv thread, either my taste in tv and movies is so relaxed now because I’m in 40s and I’m just completely beaten down by having a 14 year old and 3 year old, or this is actually really good. 3
Craig H Posted January 26 Posted January 26 On 1/21/2025 at 11:46 AM, Mister TV said: Days of Thunder is one of the funniest unintentional comedies ever made, Robert Duvall talks to a car in it! My friend and I talk about this movie all the time, mainly focusing on why I’ve watched it so much (I loved race car movies as a kid, like Stroker Ace, and I guess as an adult even if I don’t like actual racing) and it played all the time on TBS and movie channels. I love it even though it’s Top Gun with stock cars. It’s so dumb. RUBBIN’. IS. RACING.
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