Discuss and Rate the Last Film You Watched

[Dalisclock]

The Addams Family(1991)

I haven't seen this film since I was a kid so that means it's been at least 20 years since the last time I viewed it and Wensday made me want to check this out again. It holds up very well, but man I forgot how much dark humor is in this film. Lot of really dark humor. Also, I guess at the time I totally missed just how fucking Horny Gomez and Morticia are like all the fucking time. THey pretty much do not turn off except for the part where Gomez is depressed in the hotel room in the 2nd half of the film and honestly it's wonder they only have 3 kids as much as they're probably doing it offscreen(maybe they have some really good birth control or something).

So yeah, a fun movie and Raul Julia seems like he's just having a blast the entire time.

 

[Xprimentyl]

The Addams Family(1991)

I haven't seen this film since I was a kid so that means it's been at least 20 years since the last time I viewed it and Wensday made me want to check this out again. It holds up very well, but man I forgot how much dark humor is in this film. Lot of really dark humor. Also, I guess at the time I totally missed just how fucking Horny Gomez and Morticia are like all the fucking time. THey pretty much do not turn off except for the part where Gomez is depressed in the hotel room in the 2nd half of the film and honestly it's wonder they only have 3 kids as much as they're probably doing it offscreen(maybe they have some really good birth control or something).

So yeah, a fun movie and Raul Julia seems like he's just having a blast the entire time.

The Addams Family pretty much encapsulates dark humor by design in an intentionally ironic and light-hearted way. I think the film itself jumped the shark in the context of the tv series, but it should have; you don't make a feature-length movie filled with 20-minute, family-friendly sitcom vibes. I think it's one of the better transitions from tv to big screen we've seen. I haven't started it yet, but Wednesday is on my radar in a way I didn't really expect. A part of me wouldn't mind an adaptation that goes full-on dark/horror and eschews the humor altogether, a family with morbid predilections sans the fish out of water schtick. That'd be a very specific film, I get it, but with the deluge of remakes and reimaginings these days, someone go balls out and make it worth our while.

 

[Phoenixmgs]

Avatar: The Way of Water - 4/10

It was entertaining enough to see one time in full-on 3D, but the movie lacks substance very majorly. So much of this movie is basically like watching a 3D undersea movie at like the Shedd Aquarium. Sure, it's very nice to look at but it's not a movie. You can probably cut out like 90 minutes of the movie easily. I like the 1st Avatar decently (6/10) and that at least had a plot pushing the movie forward mostly, this does not at all. The plot that is there doesn't even make much coherent sense. The movie starts out with the premise the Earth is dying and humanity needs a new planet (I forget if that was a thing in the 1st movie or they just wanted the resources), and that's an interesting concept in taking over a planet (or at least co-existing with an alien population) for your own race to survive. But the movie never delves into that at all, the main plot is just the main baddie wanting revenge for what happened in the 1st movie and that's it. Then the movie gives the planet another basically "unobtanium" resource for really no reason (and it makes no sense either) other than to have this whaling scene. I didn't even find much of the action too entertaining and I recall being more immersed with the action from the 1st movie. The movie not being at 24 FPS is rather jarring and the movie feels rather "video game-y" at times, it's even worse that the dramatic scenes are adjusted to look like 24 FPS (looked that up to make sure my head was playing tricks on me) so the change in framerate is jarring when it happens and things feel sped up at times. There's a very stupid reason for the extension of the action scene at the end (in the spoilers down below).

Spoilers
-So I guess all the movies are just gonna have the same fucking villain for every single one...
-The one action scene at the end where they go into the ship to avoid the fire is dumb as fuck, you can just swim under the water because fire doesn't go under the water...

Avatar: The Way of Water
IMAX screening. 3 hours is too long, Weaver is too old to play a kid, the human machinery and contraptions lack weight most of the time... Yeah, it's not a perfect immersive experience.

I thought it was just me with that as I couldn't tell if that was due to the increased framerate or the 3D (as I haven't see anything in 3D in fucking forever). That blowing up the train? track sequence looked so video game-y to me, the weight and physics seemed quite a bit off. But I was like Cameron spent like billions on this so they had to get the physics right, right?

 

[Piscian]

Avatar: The Way of Water - 4/10

It was entertaining enough to see one time in full-on 3D

I haven't seen it yet, purely for the fact that my local theater is "only" doing XD 3D.

I wont do it. I fucking refuse and honestly Im kinda incensed. I can not do 3D. I have no problem with the concept but it makes my fuckin eyes water and anytime theres action going on I literally can't see whats going on because my eyes can still see the stupid image overlay even with the glasses. I have 20-15 vision, I had lasik, my eyes are fine, its a terrible implementation of 3D. I recall the last one I watched was that 3rd transformers movie and I could not for the life of me tell what was going on in the entirety of that film.

I dont care if James Cameron hand crafted every scene for 3D, if you wanna hit 2 billion dollars you can't force everyone to do this shit. Fuck him and Nolan with their "auteur experiences" bullshit.

 

[gorfias]

500 Days of Summer (2009) HBOMAX

I always thought this a special movie. Long story short, ended up watching with my wife and daughter tonight. They saw it with me in the theater in 2009 but only remembered not being impressed. Something changed and they were amazed by it now.

A+

 

[Dalisclock]

Where the Wild things Are(2009)

This is 90 minute adaption of a 20 page children's book about a kid going to a distant island full of Monsters and becoming their king and...it's surprisingly good considering. Like way better than it has any right to be. Yeah, it's arguably a big allegory for coming of age, but it also has some really good CGI/Animatronic practical work done for the monsters. Like the whole thing feels like a Live Action children's story(I mean, it is) but like all the weirdness on monster island(?) feels like it makes sense because's its about Max the human. It's hard to describe and better seen than described due to the surrealism inherent with some of the monster stuff. For example, Max getting eaten by one of the monsters and he ends up in a large cavity that takes up most of her body interior rather then a stomach and/or actual organs and he's totally fine in there until she reaches in and pulls him back out and it's never remarked upon at all. The author of the book helped produce the movie and apparently was quite happy with it.

My 5 year old enjoyed it, so it was worth watching with her. I think part of it is that the Wild things are basically like big furry childern. They may look scary and play rough but there's a genuine vibe of kids playing a game and using their imagination a lot. Especially when Max proclaims himself king and everyone just kind of goes along with it like a group of children might.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Where the Wild things Are(2009)

This is 90 minute adaption of a 20 page children's book about a kid going to a distant island full of Monsters and becoming their king and...it's surprisingly good considering. Like way better than it has any right to be. Yeah, it's arguably a big allegory for coming of age, but it also has some really good CGI/Animatronic practical work done for the monsters. Like the whole thing feels like a Live Action children's story(I mean, it is) but like all the weirdness on monster island(?) feels like it makes sense because's its about Max the human. It's hard to describe and better seen than described due to the surrealism inherent with some of the monster stuff. For example, Max getting eaten by one of the monsters and he ends up in a large cavity that takes up most of her body interior rather then a stomach and/or actual organs and he's totally fine in there until she reaches in and pulls him back out and it's never remarked upon at all. The author of the book helped produce the movie and apparently was quite happy with it.

My 5 year old enjoyed it, so it was worth watching with her.

I agree that it was very well done, but it was so depressing, though.

 

[Dalisclock]

I agree that it was very well done, but it was so depressing, though.

It kinda is, yeah. There's a weird juxtaposition of lighthearted child play among the wild things but also a lot of dysfunction as well. The fact they really don't seem to like each other for the most part which is one of the reasons I think they go along with Max proclaiming himself King and then getting mad when he can't fix their inability to really get along with each other. THere's a definite undertone of him unknowingly volunteering to be their Dad and then realizing he can't really parent them.

Honestly, it feels like there's a hell of a lot more going on in that movie then you'd think you'd get out of a 20 page children's book whose plot is basically "Kid goes to monster island, parties and then goes home"

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Avatar 2 (in Imax).

It's more Avatar. If you liked the first one you'll like this one, it's the same thing, but water this time.

I came away once again very impressed with the visuals and remembering zero character names. The humans are somehow even less interesting this time around.

I basically think of it as a really long ride at Universal studios. Visually interesting and fun but ultimately pretty vapid. At least I wasn't bored during the 3-hour runtime, and didn't feel like the movie was overly long, so I guess the pacing was pretty good.

I did find the 3D felt less impressive this time around, but I chalk that up to the mass market over-saturation of 3D movies that took place after the first Avatar, even though I haven't seen a 3D movie in probably 8 years.

 

[thebobmaster]

A ★★★★½ review of Treasure Planet (2002)

This was another overlooked Disney movie that really doesn't deserve to be as forgotten as it was for a while. The plot of the film follows a young lad by the name of Jim Hawkins (voiced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who just can't seem to stay out of trouble, much to the chagrin of his mother...

letterboxd.com

 

[Bartholen]

Brazil, not really sure/10

Terry Gilliam's bizarre dystopian satire classic is... well it's definitely bizarre. It's about an office clerk working within the bureaucracy of an unnamed and unspecified totalitarian state "somewhere in the 20th century", who starts developing an obsession with a woman he comes across on one of his jobs. I guess I'll put this in the "maybe I'll get it on a second watch" pile, because my overall thoughts on this movie are pretty scattered.

It's not an insubstantial film I'll give it that. It depicts the incompetency and inefficiency of this totalitarian state depressingly convincingly. The constant avoidance of responsibility, the petty bickering between the different departments, the small power trips anyone with a modicum of power engages in, the labyrinth of bureaucracy everybody's trapped in, but is unwilling to do anything about, and the nightmarish efficiency of the one thing that this government seems capable of, which is killing people. It's a very frantic and chaotic film, shot a lot of the time in unnerving angles, tilts and closeups, which combined with the frenetic pacing and often very loud score makes this quite a stressful and anxiety-inducing watch. It's pretty fucking depressing to boot with a major downer ending, so all in all I wouldn't really say this is a fun film to watch.

I guess this is a film I appreciate and respect more than I enjoy it. It's definitely unique, and we'll likely never see anything like it again. It's stylized and removed enough from our reality that it'll still stand the test of time 100 years from now. The visual design of its dystopia is both nightmarishly surreal yet also familiar. The acting's all great, fitting the slightly surreal, off-kilter tone and atmosphere. 40 years after release I also get a bit of a "fuck boomers" vibe from it (can't say if it's intentional), since it seems that it's mostly the younger generations that are suffering, depressed, beaten down and deprived, while the wealthy elderly reap all the benefits and couldn't give two shits about the anxieties of their children.

So I dunno. On an "objective" basis this is easily no less than an 8/10, possibly even 9/10, because I can't really point to any major flaws or failures in what it sets out to achieve. It's creative, well designed, well acted, as a piece of filmmaking it's straight up film school lesson material. But on a personal enjoyment level this is like a 6/10, because 2 h 20 minutes of anxiety-inducing weirdness and depressing dystopia is quite a lot all at once.

 

[Casual Shinji]

But on a personal enjoyment level this is like a 6/10, because 2 h 20 minutes of anxiety-inducing weirdness and depressing dystopia is quite a lot all at once.

Then don't ever watch Eraserhead. Makes Brazil look like The Wizard of Oz.

 

[Phoenixmgs]

500 Days of Summer (2009) HBOMAX

I always thought this a special movie. Long story short, ended up watching with my wife and daughter tonight. They saw it with me in the theater in 2009 but only remembered not being impressed. Something changed and they were amazed by it now.

A+

That's a real good one.

 

[SilentPony]

The Whale.

Okay so I really enjoy Brendan Fraser. Great actor, handsome, seems like a genuinely nice guy. Keep that in mind.
The Whale is an ugly movie. Not just visually, but in tone. These are bitter, mean, ugly people being mean and bitter to one another. Granted its very well acted, I genuinely hated all the characters. Charlie is a deadbeat loser dad who uses food to cope after his gay lover kills himself, and he's kinda gaslighting people through the movie. The nurse is basically his feeder who enables his food addiction because she doesn't have many friends and wants to stay in his good graces. And the daughter is basically a sociopath who only is in the movie for the money. Literally Charlie has to bribe his daughter with all his money and help her cheat on an English assignment, just to get her in the same room with him. But then the daughter just dopes him with sleeping pills so she doesn't have to actually spend time with him. Oh and Charlie lied to the nurse about not having money because he doesn't want to stop eating.
And the scenes where Charlie has an "eating episode" where he just scarfs everything in the apartment? Its played for laughs. You know what scene in the Simpsons where Homer visits the fast food district and they play Hungry Like a Wolf while Homer eats every single sandwich in town? That's the tone of this supposedly emotionally devastating scene. And it just comes off as uncomfortable and exploitative. Like there's a real carnival barker vide. Come one, come all! Come and see Charlie, God's mistake! and then the movie just kinda ends. The mean people were really mean to one another, and...and yeah.

Now its still very well acted. You do hate every single person and every single thing they say. Throw in a little casually homophobia and joking about suicide, and you've got yourself a large Oscar Bait with a side of come-back movie.

Hate/10, good to have you back Brendan.

 

[Xprimentyl]

The Whale.

Okay so I really enjoy Brendan Fraser. Great actor, handsome, seems like a genuinely nice guy. Keep that in mind.
The Whale is an ugly movie. Not just visually, but in tone. These are bitter, mean, ugly people being mean and bitter to one another. Granted its very well acted, I genuinely hated all the characters. Charlie is a deadbeat loser dad who uses food to cope after his gay lover kills himself, and he's kinda gaslighting people through the movie. The nurse is basically his feeder who enables his food addiction because she doesn't have many friends and wants to stay in his good graces. And the daughter is basically a sociopath who only is in the movie for the money. Literally Charlie has to bribe his daughter with all his money and help her cheat on an English assignment, just to get her in the same room with him. But then the daughter just dopes him with sleeping pills so she doesn't have to actually spend time with him. Oh and Charlie lied to the nurse about not having money because he doesn't want to stop eating.
And the scenes where Charlie has an "eating episode" where he just scarfs everything in the apartment? Its played for laughs. You know what scene in the Simpsons where Homer visits the fast food district and they play Hungry Like a Wolf while Homer eats every single sandwich in town? That's the tone of this supposedly emotionally devastating scene. And it just comes off as uncomfortable and exploitative. Like there's a real carnival barker vide. Come one, come all! Come and see Charlie, God's mistake! and then the movie just kinda ends. The mean people were really mean to one another, and...and yeah.

Now its still very well acted. You do hate every single person and every single thing they say. Throw in a little casually homophobia and joking about suicide, and you've got yourself a large Oscar Bait with a side of come-back movie.

Hate/10, good to have you back Brendan.

This might the most ambiguous review I've ever read. And that's a compliment, because it entices me to see this film, I don't know if I'm going to love it or hate it, but either way I'll be curiously satisfied. Well done.

 

[SilentPony]

This might the most ambiguous review I've ever read. And that's a compliment, because it entices me to see this film, I don't know if I'm going to love it or hate it, but either way I'll be curiously satisfied. Well done.

Its a very weirdly toned movie. Its based off a pretty recent play, The Whale. And I looked up some scenes from the play version, and the movie is a very faithful, almost one-for-one adaptation of the play. Its pretty easy. Its all but one room, and maybe 5 actors total. 6 if we count the pizza guy.
But the movie is a psychological drama/trauma movie, but the play seems to be a comedy. Scenes that were not supposed to be funny in the movie get huge laughs from the audience in the play. And I can't tell where the cruelty lies, with the authors, the characters or the audience.

 

[Piscian]

Smile 0/10

I was enticed to see this because I do enjoy horror as a genre and Id seen its well-received. I shut it off an hour in. Its just another vapid jump scare movie. The 4th or 5th jump scare in shes got her headphones in and is listening to some audio recording volume all the way up and its at this point Im just checking my phone waiting for the ghost to jump out and go OOGABOOGA in her ear. Spoiler warning it does and thats the whole movie. Theres no tension they even queue the "ooohoooo" music to let you know when to grip your seat. Its every 10 minutes or so the audience doesn't get distracted and bored I guess.

Thinking about that same scene brought me back to japanese horror like ju-on whered theyd do the same scene, but no "bughuul" zombie screaming in your ear, ruining my speakers, theyd literally just play haunting implacable noises and make your skin scrawl. Thats my kinda horror - existential dread and aversion.

I just feel like this kinda horror movie ruins the genres dignity. Its like trying to recommend sci-fi to somebody and them going "oh like those transformers movies?"

 

[Chimpzy]

Violent Night 0/10

Part Die Hard. Part Home Alone. Fully corny. Kind of makes you believe you're gonna get a Bad Santa style subversion at first, but quickly devolves into rote sentimentality, copying much better movies, and playing on that "schlubby middle-aged dude is secretly a total badass" fantasy so popular with schlubby middle-aged dudes.

 

[gorfias]

Then don't ever watch Eraserhead. Makes Brazil look like The Wizard of Oz.

Loved Brazil. I'm going to have to watch Eraserhead again as I don't remember much. Just him trying to cut into a roasted bird with strange results. These belong to a sort of gonzo cinema and I am trying to recall the name of one that had a woman with a small space ship following her around and as I recall, anyone she sleeps with dies. Another recent one has a woman fall sexually in love with a car. I certainly don't find these kinds of movies boring.

 

[gorfias]

[Whale] Hate/10, good to have you back Brendan.

He's about the best thing about HBOMax series, "Doom Patrol" now in its 4th season.