Discuss and Rate the Last Film You Watched

[Xprimentyl]

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: Great / Great

Finally was able to finish the movie Friday, and it did NOT disappoint.

Barbarian: WTF? / Great

Young woman rents a house for a business trip only to show up and find the home had been double-booked and is occupied by someone else. The two reach an accord and the following day discover "something" in a hidden chamber in the basement.

Really dumb movie about 40 years past its prime.

The Silent Twins: Okay / Great

Based on the lives of twins June and Jennifer Gibbons who, for whatever reason, refuse to speak in front of other people. They're subjected to a number of different schools and therapies to no avail. Adulthood proves challenging.

Weird. Told from the perspective of those looking in, and not so much from the perspective of the twins. I knew a bit about these girls going in, and the film did little to flesh out what I didn't.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Amsterdam: Good / Great

I honestly don't know how to give a synopsis of the movie save two war veterans, one white and one black, find themselves embroiled in a 1930s grander conspiracy for world domination.

Really hard to explain. The movie is nigh impossible to follow as new characters and angles are introduced every 5 minutes, but the overall experience is really fun. You almost enjoy getting lost in the convolution of everything. Star-studded cast and a worthy watch even if you don't know what you're watching. Christian Bale yet again proves he can act more American than most grizzled Americans.

 

[thebobmaster]

A ★★★★★ review of The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

Oh, yes. You saw that star rating right. This film follows the titular character, Basil (voiced by Barrie Ingham) as a young mouse by the name of Olivia Flaversham (Susanne Pollatschek) requests his help investigating the disappearance of her father Hiram (Alan Young, who was THE voice of...

letterboxd.com

 

[Xprimentyl]

Black Adam: Good / Great

The Rock in his most "The Rock" performance to date. It spent more time twisting itself in knots than being coherent, but it was fun.

 

[Dwarvenhobble]

Vesper

(Paid for copy)

Rating: 6 / 10 above average that could have done far better


Review summary / Tagline: Less YA novel more The Green Knight of Sci-Fi

Brief plot: Vesper is the daughter (yes daughter) of a former soldier in a dystopian future where to try and combat resource shortages and food shortages genetic engineering was turned to only for species and viruses to escape the labs and ravage the world making most animals extinct and also killing most food plants off too. From this chaos came the citadels, hyper advanced colonies able to undo the genetic issues stopping seeds being fertile and replicate basically any animal with cloning technology but due to their desire to create immortality and push the boundaries further the fertile (under special conditions) seeds aren't being distributed freely and the fruit of said seeds is still infertile. The Citadels instead trade these with people struggling to existing in the wastelands. Vesper's father was seriously injured fighting in the army of one of the citadels and has basically been cast aside by them now being only able to leave his bed being neural connected into an advanced drone. Vesper dreams of becoming a genetic engineer to be able to go live in the Citadels and work for them doing more genetic engineering work.

Vesper also has to deal with the interest of her Uncle whose way of surviving is trading with the Citadel for human blood he harvests from his large number of children which come from what's implied to be a number of women he has in a sort of harem and he's looking to add Vesper to that harem.

Live of somewhat turned upside down when Vesper finds a girl in the crashed wreckage of a citadel glider and sees an opportunity to escape her present life and go to the citadel.


Thoughts: Vesper is a strange film in that in spends almost half it's run time just with world building elements yet at no point does it fully explain much of what's going on. It carefully shows Vesper dodging some stabby plant things coming up from the ground but never explains their danger. It sets up some mystery of a group called "The Pilgrims" but then the revelation at the end just brings up even more questions.

It's amazing how much the film differs from what you'd likely think based on the trailer as this really is a slow burn film about setting up a world that left me with more questions and wanting to know far more about the world rather than fleshing it out that much and very much isn't the YA adventure film the trailer seems to make it out to be.

For what I think is a fairly low budget film though some of it's visuals give Disney a run for their money in terms of effect and ow beautiful some of the stuff looks..

What costs it the points other than not explaining (even by info dumbs left alone showing things) is the films plot holes and kind of terrible open ending that's not sequel bait but leaves so much open it feels like they ran out of budget and just decided to stop at that point rather than carrying on to give a more substantive ending.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

Skinamarink (2022)

Experimental horror film about a pair of very young siblings trapped in a house haunted by some nebulous sinister entity.

Indredibly interesting stylistically,filmed as a series of dark, grainy lo-fi, mostly static shots where none of it's characters are ever visible in the frame, leaving the actual locations as the de facto star of the production.

Recent horror media, sort of starting with the short, Hideo Kojima directed video game demo P.T. but having become omnipresent in both independent games and independent film productions, has been obsessed with architecture for quite a while by now. Which is understandable, as architecture has always been one of the great unsung heroes of horror. Skinamarink is probably the most significant achievement in architecturally focussed horror yet. You know. For what that's worth.

While I appreciate what it does in terms of direction and atmosphere and while I do think it makes some very compelling contributions to the language of horror cinema , I also feel that everything it accomplished in 100 minutes, it could have accomplished in 30 minutes. 10 minutes, arguably.

Skinamarink deserves a lot of respect as a formalist achievement, straight up, nothing else is directed like this. But 100 minutes are a lot of time to wallow in aesthetics when narrative and characters only barely exist.

I'm sure a lot of people will consider Skinamarink as an innovative piece of film making, maybe a groundbreaking one, but I would like to see the things it does being done in something that works as more than just a mood piece.

 

[Piscian]

black adam

wow. Its so bad. On so many levels. The only way I can really describe it is if someone gave one of those YouTube fanfiction studios 200 million dollars and gave them two weeks to shit out of a movie.

Its not even that difficult to explain the plot. kahndaq is ruled by intergang, good guys vs mercenaries wake up black adam. After blowing up some bad guys, the implacable justice society shows up and fights black adam for an hour or so "cause reasons" then they team up against a bad guy who wants to rule kahndaq.

Black Adam then "doesn't" become ruler because Americans are squeamish about that sort of thing.

/end

Its more akin to a music video than a movie. Even the justice societys reasons for fighting him, let alone even being aware of his existence are never clarified. He doesn't immediately take over kahndaq or anything. They show up to fight him about 5 minutes after he wakes up. The movie leaves the viewer with so...so many questions.

This is inarguably DC at their worst. They wanted to make black adam so they threw some shit on screen haphazardly, hoping it would break even.

Im not exaggerating the vapidity of this film. This is not fun garbage like Demolition Man. This is shallow haphazard nonsense. "unfinished".

Whats the biggest bummer here is that the justice society probably has more screen time than black adam. "but Piscian, how did they handle Black Adam being an antihero or a dictator?" YOURE NOT LISTENING! The movie spans literally an hour and a half, in real time. In fact the only reason its 2 hours run time is that it flips back and forth between black Adam killing mercenaries and the justice society being useless assholes.

here is the movie in pictograph
*back adam wakes up*
*fight fight fight*
*end"

Im not fucking with you. Thats the entire 2 hours.

1/10 I was thoroughly bored and wished I was somewhere and took a break to clean the kitchen an hour in.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

black adam


1/10 I was thoroughly bored and wished I was somewhere and took a break to clean the kitchen an hour in.

Well at least your kitchen is now clean.

 

[Piscian]

Black Panther 2

I finally went out and caught BP2 tonight while it was still in XD. Man, what a thoroughly depressing movie. I dont recall a single "fun" moment in the film. I suppose you could make the argument that the dorm stuff with iron heart was cute, but in an almost 3 hour movie Im shocked at how dower the whole affair was.

Its such a strange "blockbuster" to sit through, where the villains are pretty empathetic and they really didnt hold their punches here, lotta people die, often on screen. Normally you hoot and squeal when hulk smashes a bunch of monster army goons or robots, but here youre watching two armies kill each other, each with good reason, so its all just kinda sad and pointless death.

Death is so prevalent throughout the film little of it feels cathartic and the moments meant to be emotional lose a bit of weight in the process. This is not a movie I have any interest in watching twice.

Ive heard its a mess, but Id say its less messy and more bloated. If I got ahold of the editing table I think I coulda chopped off thirty minutes easy and made it a tighter, more functional film -

1. I did not need an extended origin story or attend a lecture on how Namors peoples anatomy works. I coulda chopped all that down to 2 minutes and still made it impactful.
2. The fbi subplot served no purpose whatsoever and its insulting that Marvel would shove in reference character crap for other shows in a movie meant to be a memorial to Chadwick.
3. Theres an additional major death in the film that takes up a lot of space and Im not quite sure its serves the film. I think it kinda distracted from the films focus on Chadwick and the emotional beats work without it. I assume that actor just wanted out.
4. Too many main characters. Theres at least 5 or 6 that get significant screen time, but a lot of it feels unnecessary. Lupita Nyong'o has a prominent returning role, but it feels like they made space for her so she could get a full acting credit or something. You fit her in between the 6 other main characters and its just too much. Id bite down and cut somebody part down or out altogether. Maybe they are assuming this may be the last one and wanted to give every character a send off, but it didnt work for me.

All that said it was a solid film. I never got bored or tired despite the late showing. I found everybody pretty compelling over all. Namor is great. Loved the hot wheel color change stuff. 7.5/10

 

[Bob_McMillan]

There's an additional major death in the film that takes up a lot of space and Im not quite sure its serves the film. I think it kinda distracted from the films focus on Chadwick and the emotional beats work without it. I assume that actor just wanted out.

Speaking of wanting out... I'm kind of getting the feeling that both Shuri and her actor aren't particularly interested in being Black Panther. Which makes me wonder what role both the Black Panther and Wakanda will serve in the future of the MCU. I can kind of see them being replaced by the Tallokan as the MCU's futuristic, superhuman nation until a new Black Panther comes around.

 

[thebobmaster]

A ★★★★ review of Oliver & Company (1988)

While not quite as good as The Great Mouse Detective, this film was still a fine time to watch, with only one or two things dragging down the star rating. The film follows a cat named Oliver (voiced by Joey Lawrence) as he ends up adopted by a gang of dogs led by Dodger (Billy Joel, yes the...

letterboxd.com

 

[Hawki]

Well, it's got Illumination's usual style of comedy (such as it is), but:

-Mario gets a character arc?

-Peach isn't a useless doormat?

-Integration of game mechanics/references that doesn't feel forced?

...alright, you've got my attention.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Barbarian 2022



Jesus Fucking Christ... 8/10

Just saw this; you actually liked this movie? It's filled with the '80s horror trope of people making incredibly stupid decisions to their own demise; I just couldn't respect it. I mean, without spoiling much (and it's not as if we haven't seen it a thousand times before,) but who finds a completely pitch black hidden tunnel where a hidden tunnel SHOULDN'T be,, and decides to explore it alone? Maybe I should watch it again, or maybe you could expound on what merited your own 8/10, but the stupid outweighed any fear I experienced.

 

[Phoenixmgs]

Well, it's got Illumination's usual style of comedy (such as it is), but:

-Mario gets a character arc?

-Peach isn't a useless doormat?

-Integration of game mechanics/references that doesn't feel forced?

...alright, you've got my attention.

Yeah, I really dug the trailer as well and loved the integration of all the stuff from the games (like falling donuts).

 

[thebobmaster]

A ★★★★½ review of The Little Mermaid (1989)

Another fantastic film by Disney, this film marked the beginning of what was called the Renaissance Era, where Disney got their groove back in true Stella fashion. The film follows Ariel (voiced by Jodi Benson, who would go on to voice Barbie in Toy Story 2 and 3), a mermaid who has a...

letterboxd.com

 

[Casual Shinji]

-Peach isn't a useless doormat?

Isn't that like the most bog standard thing to do with a well known damsel character? 'Look at this previous helpless damsel. Well not anymore; now she's got MOXY!' Not that they shouldn't change her or have her be an active character, but I'm just sensing this tepid Hollywood girl power branding all over this.

 

[Hawki]

Isn't that like the most bog standard thing to do with a well known damsel character? 'Look at this previous helpless damsel. Well not anymore; now she's got MOXY!' Not that they shouldn't change her or have her be an active character, but I'm just sensing this tepid Hollywood girl power branding all over this.

-I didn't really get a sense of girl power. There's nothing that refers to Peach's gender, nor is she outshining everyone else arbitrarily.

-More importantly (to me), what irritates me about Peach is that, as far as I can tell, she started off as a damsel in distress, and as of Odyssey, is still a damsel in distress. Lots of other female characters in games have started off as damsels but developed over time (Zelda, Amy Rose), and in general writing for female characters has gotten better, but Peach has had over 30 years to alleviate her situation, yet hasn't. And I know Mario has never put much emphasis on narrative (least in the main series), nor have I played a mainline Mario game since Sunshine, but even so...

 

[BrawlMan]

Peach isn't a useless doormat?

Isn't that like the most bog standard thing to do with a well known damsel character? 'Look at this previous helpless damsel. Well not anymore; now she's got MOXY!' Not that they shouldn't change her or have her be an active character, but I'm just sensing this tepid Hollywood girl power branding all over this.

Peach already had action girl status with Super Mario Bros. 2 (yes, it does count) and Super Mario 3D World (which is a glorified remake of the former). There's also Super Princess Peach, but I know not too many people like to talk about it. I know the game is not bad, but it's just okay and meh for a lot. Back on topic, this is just the logical conclusion. It's no different how in the comics when Gwen Stacy became Spider-Gwen in some alternate dimension. Spider-Verse got the right, and I honestly have nothing to worry about here from what I'm seeing.

 

[Casual Shinji]

-I didn't really get a sense of girl power. There's nothing that refers to Peach's gender, nor is she outshining everyone else arbitrarily.

-More importantly (to me), what irritates me about Peach is that, as far as I can tell, she started off as a damsel in distress, and as of Odyssey, is still a damsel in distress. Lots of other female characters in games have started off as damsels but developed over time (Zelda, Amy Rose), and in general writing for female characters has gotten better, but Peach has had over 30 years to alleviate her situation, yet hasn't. And I know Mario has never put much emphasis on narrative (least in the main series), nor have I played a mainline Mario game since Sunshine, but even so...

Might also just be the voice for me. Anya Taylor-Joy is a very good actor, but she's just giving a generic power voice performance. She honestly sounds more like Peach in The Queen's Gambit. I mean, they're making the toads sound appropriate to their design, you'd think they'd do the same for Peach (and Mario).

 

[BrawlMan]

Black Adam - This movie is awesome. I really don't have much else to say. Everyone knocked it out of the park. Why did critics hate on this again? Oh, because it's a DCU movie and that's the most popular thing to do. I already know about the dissonance and most audiences like it anyway. I said it before and I'll say it again: say whatever you will about the DCU, but they know how to do action and actually have distinct colors for their movies. I love the use of gold and yellow in this movie without it being overbearing. It beats the usual Marvel production where the colors are safe and not that distinct from each other and generic. They're not afraid to get dirty, violent, and or graphic without going overboard. The movie is PG-13, but it borders on a hard R rating. People do get fucked up.

As far as ranking goes, I put this high up there with Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and the second Suicide Squad movie. S-rank. Can't wait for the next Shazam now.

It's great to have Henry Cavill back as Superman!