Discuss and Rate the Last Film You Watched

[Gordon_4]

Yet they have no problem with "theoretical" stories like time travel. Fuck off Chinese government, you limp dick biatch censoring, know nothing assholes.

The cultural thing about skeletons is older than the CCP, it goes back many centuries. Has to do with the reverence or respect for the dead. Now how much the average Chinese person gives a flying fuck about that is another story and if the country was run by a sane government it would warrant naught but a content warning the same way sex or violence does, but its not something they've pulled completely out of their arse.

Still dumb, though.

 

[Asita]

The Thin Man (1934)
After the Thin Man (1936)
Another Thin Man (1939)
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)

Ok, so this is a series of movies starring William Powell as acclaimed former detective Nick Charles. Why former? Well, now he's married to a wealthy socialite heiress (played by Myrna Loy) and quite content to live the life of leisure that enables. Problem is that he keeps on finding himself dragged into cases despite his best efforts. His wife, on the other hand, finds it quite exciting to see her husband in his old element.

Now, I'm being very sparing with the narrative for a reason: There's not much to them. These are old movies. And by old I mean that the first film was released just before the Hays Code, and Shadow of the Thin Man came out the same year as Citizen Kane. By all accounts, these films predate modern cinema, and it shows. You never really get enough information to make sense of the murders until the summation at the end wherein Nick identifies the culprit in the room full of suspects he gathered, and that's after he spends most of the movie trying to ignore the murder. They err much more towards Clueless Mysteries than Fair-Play Whodunits.

The good news, however, is that you really aren't watching these for the plot, you're watching them for the characters. Powell and Loy's characters spend most of their screentime ribbing each other to great effect. And amusingly enough, while Nick keeps on finding himself reluctantly drawn into new murder cases, he's much more thrilled to keep running into crooks that he caught and sent to jail during his career...who all treat him like their best friend. Is it weird? Absolutely. Is it amusing? Also yes.
Now the final question: Do I recommend them? ...Iffy. If you're looking for a good detective story, look somewhere else. If you just want to see some characters bounce off each other under the pretext of a detective story, maybe give the first two films a shot. After the Thin Man is the best of the lot, but it helps to have the context of the first film.

 

[Gordon_4]

The Thin Man (1934)
After the Thin Man (1936)
Another Thin Man (1939)
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)

Ok, so this is a series of movies starring William Powell as acclaimed former detective Nick Charles. Why former? Well, now he's married to a wealthy socialite heiress (played by Myrna Loy) and quite content to live the life of leisure that enables. Problem is that he keeps on finding himself dragged into cases despite his best efforts. His wife, on the other hand, finds it quite exciting to see her husband in his old element.

Now, I'm being very sparing with the narrative for a reason: There's not much to them. These are old movies. And by old I mean that the first film was released just before the Hays Code, and Shadow of the Thin Man came out the same year as Citizen Kane. By all accounts, these films predate modern cinema, and it shows. You never really get enough information to make sense of the murders until the summation at the end wherein Nick identifies the culprit in the room full of suspects he gathered, and that's after he spends most of the movie trying to ignore the murder. They err much more towards Clueless Mysteries than Fair-Play Whodunits.

The good news, however, is that you really aren't watching these for the plot, you're watching them for the characters. Powell and Loy's characters spend most of their screentime ribbing each other to great effect. And amusingly enough, while Nick keeps on finding himself reluctantly drawn into new murder cases, he's much more thrilled to keep running into crooks that he caught and sent to jail during his career...who all treat him like their best friend. Is it weird? Absolutely. Is it amusing? Also yes.
Now the final question: Do I recommend them? ...Iffy. If you're looking for a good detective story, look somewhere else. If you just want to see some characters bounce off each other under the pretext of a detective story, maybe give the first two films a shot. After the Thin Man is the best of the lot, but it helps to have the context of the first film.

I saw The Thin Man reviewed on MovieBob’s channel as a GEM (Good Enough Movie) and ever since I’ve been trying to track it down. Do a brother a solid and tell me where you watched it.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

The Menu.

it was slightly better than I thought it would be. Going for a dark comedy angle worked well here, as the ludicrousness of it all shines brightest as twisted satire than something that doubles down on dramatics. It also does the “how far can rich people go up their own arses” thing better than Glass Onion did, but that wasn’t Norton’s fault.

Fiennes was a perfect casting choice due to his physical demeanor and ability to convincingly play…well, a psycho chef. Although, there is a method to his madness which is slowly revealed, adding to the weight of the finale. Gotta love his masterpiece there too. The cool thing about the movie is it’s distilled down to simple logic in its conclusion, and made me want a really good cheeseburger.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Bullet Train

Had lots of fun with this one. The movie has equal commitment to comedy as it does to its action, which I feel is pretty rare these days. Usually it's 90% comedy and 10% generic action scenes with heavy CGI. I thought the action here was almost Bourne-esque without shakey cam. Pitt's character is constantly improvising, which manages to be cool, clever, and hilarious at the same time. This David Leitch guy sure loves universes with international criminal hitman/mercenary organizations.

I guess the only critiques I have would be that the dialogue can get eye-rollingly profane and the train crash in the finale is a little too stupid and too CGI for me.

All in all, great time watching this. I'm considering watching Violent Night now, which I understand to be the same vibe.

Watched it last night, and I pretty much agree with everything you've said, though I spent most of the films runtime thinking to myself, there's no WAY this much over-the-top violence could be happing in a relatively small public space without the requisite mass hysteria. I do like how it all poetically tied together in the end.

 

[Asita]

I saw The Thin Man reviewed on MovieBob’s channel as a GEM (Good Enough Movie) and ever since I’ve been trying to track it down. Do a brother a solid and tell me where you watched it.

I got it as a DVD collection: Silver Screen Icons: Thin Man Vol. 1, which seems to be going for $11.99 right now. At a glance, most of the streaming services seem to require you to pay to rent them (about $2.99 a pop), but it looks like HBO Max and Watch TCM might have them as part of their basic subscription service.

 

[Gordon_4]

I got it as a DVD collection: Silver Screen Icons: Thin Man Vol. 1, which seems to be going for $11.99 right now. At a glance, most of the streaming services seem to require you to pay to rent them (about $2.99 a pop), but it looks like HBO Max and Watch TCM might have them as part of their basic subscription service.

Honestly I'll buy them, for $12 for all of them they'd have to be awful to be a waste of money. Thanks mate

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Soul

How did Pixar get away with making a children's movie that is entirely about death, the meaninglessness of life, and unfulfilled potential?

I mean, Pixar movies usually have some adult moments, or some scenes for the parents in the audience that most kids won't really notice while they're watching, but the entire theme of this movie seems to be completely adult oriented. It's the kind of message you don't really understand until you've aged far enough that it's too late to heed it's message.

Honestly, I'm not surprised that it kind of flopped (earned $121 million at the box office on a $150 budget). It's not really a movie for adults, but it's not a movie for children either, because kids aren't going to understand any of the themes. I'm not sure who exactly this movie was aiming for as a target audience.

Curiosity spurred me to look up just who the target audience for this was and found this -

“Soul” is another instant Pixar classic - The Triangle

In its 23rd outing, Pixar throws yet another candidate into the running for best animated film of all time. “Soul” delivers on everything that Pixar…

www.thetriangle.org

That said, “Soul” is perhaps the most adult of Pixar’s films to date, forgoing any attempt at merchandising in favor of digging deep into the human experience. The movie deals with mortality in ways that, while they might be deemed kid-friendly, do not pull any punches and delve into some deep and uncomfortable themes.

Upon seeing the trailer, I was immediately reminded of the previous Pixar film directed by Pete Doctor, “Inside Out.” While it may not be accurate to call “Soul” a spiritual sequel to “Inside Out,” there are plenty of parallels that can be drawn between the two. However, while both films are based around premises that are designed to deeply examine the human experience, “Soul” deviates significantly from “Inside Out” by centering around a much older protagonist and viewing its subject matter through a more seasoned lens.


I too was reminded of Inside Out watching this (also Up now that I think of it, which arguably has an even darker, weightier feel thematically), but found Soul a far more pleasant visual/audible experience. Seeing as a lot of Pixar movies are watched by adults by extension, it’s not necessarily a bad thing that one focuses on deeper existential kinda stuff once in a while. Plus the added benefit of kids finding more meaning to the pretty pictures if they watch when they’re older too.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Argentina, 1985

Courtroom drama about putting the last military dictatorship on trial. It's good enough - well acted, well intentioned, some powerful true to life scenes, does a decent job as a period piece - but conventional as fuck. They got the Pixar dude to score the movie somehow, or produce the score, so everything sounds weirdly like Up or Ratatouille even though most of the movie is about rape and torture victims giving testimonies from hell. Anyway, here's our Oscar bait for this year's noms.

 

[Asita]

Honestly I'll buy them, for $12 for all of them they'd have to be awful to be a waste of money. Thanks mate

No problem. As a final bit of clarification: That collection was Thin Man Vol 1. There are six movies total, and that DVD collection only has the first four. It's missing the last two (The Thin Man Goes Home, and Song of the Thin Man). Not to belabor the point, as $3 per movie is a pretty good deal, but I'd be remiss if I'd misled you into believing that it had the entire franchise in it.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Coach Carter: Good / Great

A high school basketball team formed by a bunch of rowdy, delinquent thugs gets a new coach (Samuel L. Jackson) who steps in with his strict brand of order and discipline and turns the program around to resounding success.

This is nothing new. In fact, I've seen it before, and still noted how formulaic it was. What I didn't know is that it's based on a the true story of coach Ken Carter. Had no idea. Recommended, but the movie came out in 2005, and it's a Samuel L. Jackson joint, so you've probably seen it.

Nanny: Decent / Great

A young Senegalese woman works as they nanny for the small child of a young, white couple whose chaotic lives find the nanny working long hours, often for inconsistent pay. But the nanny is determined to keep the job as she's saving to bring her 7-year-old son from Senegal to live with her in New York. However, the unstable working conditions and the couple's tumultuous relationship start to wear on her, and she begins having telling nightmares that spill over into her reality.

Decent film. Really slow boil, but if you're paying attention to the details, the reveal at the end is pretty satisfying. Recommended if you've an hour and a half to spare.

A House on the Bayou: Good / Great

A woman plans a family vacation after it's revealed her husband has been having an affair. She is determined to keep the family together and plans a trip to a large, remote home in the Louisiana Bayou. Not long after their arrival, a young, ostensibly kindly stranger knocks on the door, and a series of convenient circumstances finds the family hosting the stranger and his grandfather for dinner. Things immediately go from uncomfortable, to strange, to fucking crazy.

This one is pretty nuts. It wastes no time getting to the good stuff, so for the bulk of its runtime, you're in the thick of things asking yourself "WTF?!" There's a really unexpected twist in the middle the pays off fairly well with another not-completely-unexpected twist towards the end, but they balance well. Recommended... just recommended.

 

[Phoenixmgs]

The Menu - 8/10

I really liked how the movie exposes all the pretentious crap with regards to cooking. One of the characters is a shoe-in for a friend's brother that went to culinary school. Ralph Fiennes is great as the head chef telling the customers that they shouldn't eat but taste. There's a ton of good lines like “You will get less than you desire and more than you deserve.” That's basically the movie in a nutshell and it's pretty awesome.

 

[Ag3ma]

Men (2022)

British folk horror. Jessie Buckley plays a wife who decides to recover from a recent domestic trauma by escaping to a remote rural village where she meets a load of men, all played by Rory Kinnear. Things do not pan out as she hoped.

I gather this film really, really annoyed and upset a lot of people. It undeniably has a certain message about the male gender that will go down very poorly with the MRA sympathisers of this world, not least because it is neither subtle nor ameliorated. But it's not without a point to be made. Leaving aside whatever feelings you may have about that, it's a pretty good folk horror. The horror element is sufficiently creepy (it's not "jump scare" horror), with that right tinge of rural, supernatural weirdness, helped by super-saturated colour. The actors do a good job... all 5 of them (unless you count voice only and body motion). The plot is thin - but it is a horror movie and consistent with much of the genre. It's not great, but it did the job and I liked it.

 

[gorfias]

The Menu - 8/10

I really liked how the movie exposes all the pretentious crap with regards to cooking. One of the characters is a shoe-in for a friend's brother that went to culinary school. Ralph Fiennes is great as the head chef telling the customers that they shouldn't eat but taste. There's a ton of good lines like “You will get less than you desire and more than you deserve.” That's basically the movie in a nutshell and it's pretty awesome.

Just saw this on HBO-Max and really enjoyed it. My daughter gives it an A-. She thinks it the movie Glass Onion wanted to be. Me? A B+, the missus a C.
It is very well made and acted, suspenseful, interesting and there's nothing cookie cutter about it. There are a lot of little mysteries in it that become understandable as the movie goes on and is very satisfying.

A major quibble,

Spoiler

There is some gallows humor in it that isn't really humor when things are all said and done.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Don't Worry Darling: Meh / Great

The idyllic life in a small, secluded town in the 1950s is called into question when one woman dares to question the status quo.

I'd respect this movie a lot more if it weren't simply a misogynist's version of The Matrix. I had it pegged about a third of the way in, so any cleverness went out the window along with my interest. Can't recommend in good faith.

 

[Gordon_4]

Don't Worry Darling: Meh / Great

The idyllic life in a small, secluded town in the 1950s is called into question when one woman dares to question the status quo.

I'd respect this movie a lot more if it weren't simply a misogynist's version of The Matrix. I had it pegged about a third of the way in, so any cleverness went out the window along with my interest. Can't recommend in good faith.

Isn't that just adding more sci-fi trappings to 'The Stepford Wives' anyway?

 

[gorfias]

Lucy (2014) Peacock Network

Fun sci fi action movie based upon I thought discredited concept that humans use only 5% of our brain and that if we could access more we would have super powers. Scarlett Johansson is a party girl in Japan that gets exposed to new dope that does this to her with spectacular results causing her to fight with the Yakuzza with her powers.

I 1/2 watched this and didn't remember it from years ago. I am surprised at how great it all looks and sounds. A fun popcorn movie. B+

 

[thebobmaster]

A ½ review of Chicken Little (2005)

This review may contain spoilers. Visit the page to bypass this warning and read the review.

letterboxd.com

 

[Trunkage]

Glass Onion

This was enjoyable, and I think the first half was actually better than the latter. I saw people complaining about the caricatures which is understandable. I would say that I didn't really remember many of the characters in Knives out and was VERY suprised that Toni Collette, Michael Shannon etc were even in the movie. It was a caricature of the exact same.character and they all blended together. I don't know if this archetypal approach to Glass Onion will help me remember any characters but anyway...

I dont not understand how one piece of evidence could be so critical to taking down the bad guy. And I do not understand why you would bring that piece of evidence BACK to the group so it has the chance of being destroyed. What was even the goal here? Were they trying to arrest them somehow? Sometimes, a director's push for dramatic scenes ruins any tension the movie is building up. (A similar thing happened in Knives Out but it wasn't such a dramatic shift.)

In some ways, it was better than KO but some ways worse

7/10

 

[Trunkage]

Everything, Everywhere, All At Once

I think this was good but someone needed to come in with the an edit button. Some of the scenes dragged out to the determient of the dramatic tension.

Otherwise this is utterly bonkers and I appreciate the creativity even though I didn't like all of it. I'm always going to push for creativity even if it isn't for me.

Don't know if I am going to watch it ever again but still 8/10

Jurassic World Dominion

You know what, better than Fallen Kingdom and JP3. Maybe better than Jurrasic World. Very average though. The story is just pieced together better than most. I cannot believe how many times the characters randomly ran into each other in the middle of the park

If they keep pumping out these quality of movies, I'll watch it but probably not in the cinemas. I am really against the need to rewrite mistakes in other movies like explaining how Grant was wrong about Raptors in the first movies, particularly when Raptors still don't look like Raptors in the real life. Because we are going to get a correction on Giganotosaurus, in the next movie, I can just feel it. And it's not necessary

6.5/10