Discuss and Rate the Last Film You Watched

[Piscian]

On RLMs recommendation I watched "Dinner In America" on Hulu

It's reminiscent of late 90s-2000s indie punk comedies like clerks, but tonally it feels a bit more John waters. Overall a pretty wholesome outcast comedy/love story. 8/10

I think the consensus was that if you liked Ghost World you'll like this. I can get behind that.

 

[thebobmaster]

A ★★½ review of Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

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

letterboxd.com

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

You Hurt My Feelings 8/10

A grown-up relationship comedy for married grown-ups, starring Julia Louis Dreyfus the greatest comedic actress of our time and Tobias Menzes who is in Outlander and a bunch of other cool stuff. She's a writer who learns her husband isn't always honest about his opinion of her work and how couples balance honesty with support for each other.
A low-stakes story with snappy dialogue and fun characters. Good cast, good script, under two hours... good stuff.

 

[thebobmaster]

A ★★★★½ review of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

"There can be only one Lord of the Rings, only one who can bend them to his will. And he does not share power!" The film follows a hobbit named Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) as he takes on a quest at the behest of a wizard named Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) to destroy a ring in the possession of his...

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[Thaluikhain]

The extended editions are cut into 2 2hr sections, instead of one 4 hour slog.

It's interesting to see some of the behind the scenes stuff. They didn't have drones to film with, so some shots required a giant curved rig they could slide a camera around. Also, that bit with Arwen carrying Frodo on her horse is her attached to a truck on a wobbly horse thingy, carrying a doll, with someone whose job it was to occasionally wave trees branches between Liv Tyler and the camera.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Strays: Stupid Fun / Great

A loving-but-naïve dog is abandoned by his neglectful and abusive owner in what he believes to be an extreme game of fetch. As he tries to find his way home (again,) he encounters a pack of stray dogs who clue him into the reality of his situation, that he is actually unwanted, and is now a stray too. Fueled by anger, he embarks on a quest to return home and bite his owner's dick off. Yes, literally.

Absolutely ridiculous, raunchy, and vulgar, but also really funny if you're in the right state of mind. I recommend watching while intoxicated to bring yourself down to the level of humor this film goes for, which is basically adult dumb fun. If you liked Sausage Party, this is basically the same level of immaturity, i.e.: exists for the cheap laughs as opposed to Oscar nominations.

 

[thebobmaster]

A ★★★★★ review of Crimson Peak (2015)

"A ghost story. Your father didn't tell me it was a ghost story." "Oh it's... it's not. It's more a story with a ghost in it. The ghost is just a metaphor." The plot of the film is focused on one Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) as she is pursued romantically by an aristocrat named Thomas Sharpe...

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[hanselthecaretaker2]

A ★★★★★ review of Crimson Peak (2015)

"A ghost story. Your father didn't tell me it was a ghost story." "Oh it's... it's not. It's more a story with a ghost in it. The ghost is just a metaphor." The plot of the film is focused on one Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) as she is pursued romantically by an aristocrat named Thomas Sharpe...

letterboxd.com

I think it’s one of those movies that grows on viewers with repeated viewings. At least, it had that effect on me the second and third time. True, much of it hinges on the mystery, but once that is resolved it leaves more room to appreciate everything else you mentioned. It could have even done without the supernatural twist because the setting was exquisitely haunting in itself.

 

[thebobmaster]

An interesting tidbit about Crimson Peak. Originally, it was meant to star Emma Stone as Edith and Benedict Cumberbatch as Thomas, but they dropped out. When Tom Hiddleston was cast in place of Benedict Cumberbatch (which Cumberbatch approved of, for the record), they rewrote Thomas' character to be more charming and awkward, rather than the rather cold take that would have been Benedict Cumberbatch's version.

 

[Phoenixmgs]

American Fiction - 9/10

Really good drama about a writer and his family. The movie seems like it flies by especially early on as there's some many plot threads and character threads that get initiated. I recall pausing the movie at like the 40 min mark and thinking that it's only been 40 mins because so much shit already happened. The movie is also about how America (mainly white people) views diversity in a sense. I say this movie is also about that because the movie is mainly a family drama/character study of Jeffrey Wright's character and the social commentary of black stereotypes in art is more of a subplot. The main theme is still in the family drama parts. I would've preferred more focus on the social commentary but it's still a really good movie. Jeffrey Wright gives a great performance. And the ending that Jeffrey Wright's character comes up with is hilarious because white people would totally not understand the joke if it was actually a serious movie and think it was required viewing, something that "everyone must see".

 

[thebobmaster]

Happy Valentine's Day. I reviewed a romance. And no, not an ironic one, an actual romance.

A ★★★★★ review of Casablanca (1942)

"Here's looking at you kid." This film follows a club owner named Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart). One night, as he is running the club, a man named Signor Ugarte (Peter Lorre) entrusts him with two letters of transit before he is arrested by the police, headed up by one Captain Louis Renault...

letterboxd.com

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

The Holdovers

Lovely movie. It's tropey and cliche as fuck but it worked for me. Alexander Payne joked about finally setting one of his movies in the 70s after having spent his whole career making "70s movies", which I totally see (except for Election). As cozy and relaxed as his plots tend to be the word itself always feels kitchen sink dirty. It's realistic in that it's always bigger and uncaring, and does not accommodate conceits perfectly. When it does they feel honest and earned. Even the emotional or sentimental moments are rough around their edges, undercut by whatever immediately follows. And the characters are always essentially pathetic, it's just that they're so damn likable.

 

[BrawlMan]

I decided to pop in Triple Threat after not seeing it in a while. A great action movie and the best Expendables movie ever made!

 

[Xprimentyl]

Bob Marley: One Love: Decent / Great

A semi-biopic of the reggae pioneer Bob Marley and the influence he had on Jamaican culture and politics.

I say "semi-biopic" because the film doesn't really cover the details of his life, his journey from start to finish. Rather, it picks up at that start of his prolific professional rise through the eyes of a nation at war, and occasionally flashes back to bits of his early life for context of his "current" mental state. It's less about him, and more about what he did. We don't see much of the struggle despite it being alluded to more than once. We don't see the lessons learned that put Marley in the position to be the influencer he would become despite it being the ostensible whole point of the film. His personal life is only tacitly addressed while the trajectory of his career takes the fore. That said, it was perfectly serviceable as a vehicle to inform just how influential he was. The whole movie served as mostly a reason to delve into his Wikipedia page. Also, the thick Jamaican accents made me wish it had subtitles; I only understood about 80-90% of what was said, and relied on context to suss out the rest. This is something they even nod to at one point in the film. Wasn't a deal-breaker by any means, just a niggling complaint that the audience might be mostly non-Rastafarian/Jamaican, yet they committed to the authenticity that will leave a lot of people squinting at the screen trying to better follow what they're hearing with their eyes.

Recommended, if I'm being honest, but won't blame anyone without any interest in the subject for passing on it.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

An interesting tidbit about Crimson Peak. Originally, it was meant to star Emma Stone as Edith and Benedict Cumberbatch as Thomas, but they dropped out. When Tom Hiddleston was cast in place of Benedict Cumberbatch (which Cumberbatch approved of, for the record), they rewrote Thomas' character to be more charming and awkward, rather than the rather cold take that would have been Benedict Cumberbatch's version.

Would love to have seen that version. Stone has range and Cumberbatch can be an imposing presence. They also both have a steely gaze that could have added a whole new layer of dread to keep viewers guessing.

 

[thebobmaster]

A ★★★ review of Friday the 13th Part III (1982)

"Look upon this omen, and go back from whence you came! I warned thee! I warned thee." This film is focused primarily on a group of young adults spending a weekend at the old home of female lead Chris (Dana Kimmell) at Crystal Lake. The friends consist of her boyfriend Rick (Paul Kratka, whose...

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[thebobmaster]

A ★★ review of Alligator (1980)

“We got a big toe in the morgue once. Nothing else; just a big toe. Never found the rest of him. But, we figured out who it was. Had a funeral and everything.” “Must have been a pretty small casket.” This film follows a policeman named David Madison (Robert Forster) as he investigates several...

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[Thaluikhain]

A ★★ review of Alligator (1980)

“We got a big toe in the morgue once. Nothing else; just a big toe. Never found the rest of him. But, we figured out who it was. Had a funeral and everything.” “Must have been a pretty small casket.” This film follows a policeman named David Madison (Robert Forster) as he investigates several...

letterboxd.com

Is there a bit where the hero cop and the scientist go to the mayor and say they have to cancel the big event because of the monster? But the mayor says no, the big event will go ahead and the monster attacks it?

I think there's a law saying that should be in there.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I watched Pearl and it was alright. Not as solid a movie as X was, Ti West feels more comfortable as a horror director than as a psychological drama director. It's worth it just for the end monologue at the kitchen table by Pearl though. That was some wonderfully frank outpouring of a lonely psychopath, incredibly acted by Mia Goth. There's also a dismemberment scene that might be the best one I've ever seen in a live-action movie. There's obviously some compositing going on since we are seeing someone's actual arm and head before it's removed, but the way it blends that into prosthetic is utterly seemless.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Bob Marley: One Love: Decent / Great

A semi-biopic of the reggae pioneer Bob Marley and the influence he had on Jamaican culture and politics.

I say "semi-biopic" because the film doesn't really cover the details of his life, his journey from start to finish. Rather, it picks up at that start of his prolific professional rise through the eyes of a nation at war, and occasionally flashes back to bits of his early life for context of his "current" mental state. It's less about him, and more about what he did. We don't see much of the struggle despite it being alluded to more than once. We don't see the lessons learned that put Marley in the position to be the influencer he would become despite it being the ostensible whole point of the film. His personal life is only tacitly addressed while the trajectory of his career takes the fore. That said, it was perfectly serviceable as a vehicle to inform just how influential he was. The whole movie served as mostly a reason to delve into his Wikipedia page. Also, the thick Jamaican accents made me wish it had subtitles; I only understood about 80-90% of what was said, and relied on context to suss out the rest. This is something they even nod to at one point in the film. Wasn't a deal-breaker by any means, just a niggling complaint that the audience might be mostly non-Rastafarian/Jamaican, yet they committed to the authenticity that will leave a lot of people squinting at the screen trying to better follow what they're hearing with their eyes.

Recommended, if I'm being honest, but won't blame anyone without any interest in the subject for passing on it.

Does the film offer anything to those familiar with the subject matter? Like interesting or illuminating footage?
Music docs can be... iffy