Discuss and Rate the Last Film You Watched

Is this the first poll?


  • Total voters
    45

Johnny Novgorod

Bebop Man
Legacy
Feb 9, 2012
18,981
3,555
118
Kinds of Kindness

If I was getting graded for it, I'd describe Kinds of Kindness as an absurdist anthology movie about power structures that prey on people's need for love and approval, as depicted across three separate short movies:

1) About a man whose whole life and routine - everything from what time he goes to bed and what he has for breakfast to whom he marries and whether he's allowed to have children - is puppeted by his employer, up until he refuses to follow through with commiting vehicular homicide,

2) About a man whose wife was lost at sea and when she's miraculously returned he becomes convinced that's not really her, so he starts ordering her acts of self-mutilation to prove a point,

3) About a woman who's been alienated from her husband and daughter by a cult who orders its members to have sex with its leaders and only drink from water blessed by their tears, while looking for a prophesied messiah who can raise the dead,

So you have all these perverse codependent dynamics between employers and employees, husbands and wives, leaders and followers, where one person always asks everything of another, withholding affection and approval while bribing them with "love". Making it all the more icky is the fact that it's the same 5 or 6 actors playing different characters in every story, so father and daughter in one story are lovers in another, husband and wife can be strangers, etc.

If I had to sell it to boomers I'd mention Twilight Zone and a throwaway of the above.

Reading comprehension aside... no, I didn't like the movie. Not because I found out about Yorgos Lanthimos with his steampunk remake of Eat Pray Love and came back for seconds, or because I liked The Lobster or Sacred Deer better. I was just kinda disgusted by the whole thing, and the stop-and-start structure of an anthology doesn't benefit something so dark and unrewarding. And I say that as someone who enjoyed Longlegs.
 

Dirty Hipsters

This is how we praise the sun!
Legacy
Feb 7, 2011
8,647
3,207
118
Country
'Merica
Gender
3 children in a trench coat
I often write of the difference between humor, which I love, and silliness, which takes me out of the story. When 007, chased thru the jungle by people that want to murder him in Octopussy, he does a Tarzan yell. Stupid. Silly. People want to kill him requiring stealth. Maybe it can be explained but I'd have to work too hard to try to make it serious. "You've got me? Whose got you?" is a totally credible thing to ask under the circumstances and cracked me up. More of that please.
It's the difference between a "joke" and "lol so random" humor that was popular in the early 2000s.

One makes sense in context and gets a laugh because it's clever, the other doesn't make sense in context and gets a laugh because of absurdity.

Both can work. The Deadpool movies are basically a masterclass in the "lol so random" style humor, but it definitely doesn't fit every type of movie, and doesn't fit at all in any movie attempting to be serious. In real life though, laughter and humor can often be a reaction to serious and even deadly situations.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gorfias

Dirty Hipsters

This is how we praise the sun!
Legacy
Feb 7, 2011
8,647
3,207
118
Country
'Merica
Gender
3 children in a trench coat
I'm honestly shocked that you rate this higher than Phantom Menace. I consider Attack of the Clones to be the worst of the mainline Star Wars movies, other than The Rise of Skywalker.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

thebobmaster

Elite Member
Legacy
Apr 5, 2020
2,645
2,575
118
Country
United States
I'm honestly shocked that you rate this higher than Phantom Menace. I consider Attack of the Clones to be the worst of the mainline Star Wars movies, other than The Rise of Skywalker.
It was more because the Obi-Wan Kenobi investigation was actually pretty interesting stuff, and this had at least some good fight scenes and some solid stuff from Ewan McGregor and Christopher Lee. Episode 1 didn't really have anything going for it, other than some OK stuff by Liam Neeson, and it bored me a lot more.
 

Dirty Hipsters

This is how we praise the sun!
Legacy
Feb 7, 2011
8,647
3,207
118
Country
'Merica
Gender
3 children in a trench coat
It was more because the Obi-Wan Kenobi investigation was actually pretty interesting stuff, and this had at least some good fight scenes and some solid stuff from Ewan McGregor and Christopher Lee. Episode 1 didn't really have anything going for it, other than some OK stuff by Liam Neeson, and it bored me a lot more.
Episode 1 has the better fight choreography, better music, and the pod racing CGI was extremely impressive when the movie was released in 1999.

Everything about Christopher Lee's character in episode 2 feels nonsensical (motivations, plan, etc) without the additional backstory provided later by various star wars side content. Ewan McGregor is basically the only good part of Episode 2 and he can't carry the entire movie by himself.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

Old_Hunter_77

Elite Member
Dec 29, 2021
2,197
2,032
118
Country
United States
Love Lies Bleeding 5-9/10

The reason I'm putting a range is because one's enjoyment of the film is going to be totally dependent on one's interest in exploitative schlock. I watched it with my wife and she'd prob give it a 5 while I'm giving it a 9, because we were in different moods.

From the same director as indie horror darling St. Maude- which I did watch with my wife as she likes those quirky horrors even more than me- this is an action sex thriller romance about a bodybuilder and gym manager (Kristen Stewart) getting themselves caught up in some crimes due to their rash and bad decisions.
It is set in the late 80's and feels like a movie from that time except it's two women being sexy morons instead of guy/girl. I think it's set in that time both to echo movies of the time and also to allow the plot to have steroids and smoking and domestic abuse be treated by everybody as more "normal."

For most of the first half the movie is pretty conventional but then, as with St. Maude, it gets a bit more surreal and the film sacrifices coherence for style, and that's where one's tastes will effect the reception. The ending was particularly silly.

I was interested in the film when I first saw the trailer then, as I tend to do, completely forgot about it until it came up on a Second Wind stream where Jack Packard called it a "bad time," in a fun way, and that is accurate. It's a really good-bad movie.
 

FakeSympathy

Elite Member
Legacy
Jun 8, 2015
3,550
3,302
118
Seattle, WA
Country
US
Patch Adams

I REALLY don't want to disrespect the late Robin Williams, as the actor himself was an amazing individual. But I feel this movie is terrible. It's categorized as a comedy/drama, and a medical drama, and while I don't have issues with movies in this genre, this particular movie has one glaring issue; It's based on a true story.

And the movies that are "based on a true story" tend to dramatize the actual events, or downright tell the wrong story. And I feel this movie is one of them.

The character (again, not the actual Robin Willams) Hunter Adams being annoying in classroom, during exams, or to everyone in the school? I can get by. Having a fictional romantic partner, I can maybe understand. But the depiction of so many medical malpractices for the sake of comedy is where I have to draw the line.

I mean seriously? Going to a meat convention to win a gown to make himself look like a doctor? Opening and running his own clinic without a license? STEALING MEDICAL SUPPLIES from the hospital to keep his clinic/carehouse running? "Treating" patients with laughter instead of actual proper treatment?

It's an insult to the actual guy. Who btw, opened his clinc AFTER getting his license, got a second job (and the nurses as well iirc) to fund the medical supplies, and never have facked being a doctor. He does try to keep the humor going, but does get serious with treatment when necessary.

The movie also tries to depict the professors and Mitch (the roommate) as the bad guys here, when in reality they are just doing ethical things.

I feel some of the the heartwarming and wholesome moments are forced and probably never happened because of how dramatized this movie is. Some moments probably are 1:1 retelling of what actually happened, but given this movie's nature it's making me doubt.

It just might be the second most dramatized based-on-true-story movie I've ever watched, only being beaten by Balto.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

PsychedelicDiamond

Wild at Heart and weird on top
Legacy
Jan 30, 2011
2,084
946
118
The Swimmer (1968)

The Swimmer, based on a short story by John Cheever and directed by Frank Perry is one of those movies that are a bit hard to decisively put into any particular genre. It's probably best described as a psychological character study with just a hint of surrealism.

The Swimmer, you see, is about a man named Ned Merrill. Ned is introduced to us seemingly out of nowhere on a late summer day, showing up for a visit with some acquaintances in a wealthy Connecticut residential area, wearing nothing but a pair of swimming trunks. There, he proclaims his intention to get home by swimming through every swimming pool between their house and his house. This whimsical little adventure ends up taking a rather existential turn as he's confronted with some uncomfortable realizations along the way.

The Swimmer is a flawed but compelling little deconstruction of the ideal successful male in 60's America. When we're introduced to Ned, played by Burt Lancaster, he's the very image of success, confidence and physical fitness. We learn that he's married, we learn that he's a father to two daughters and that he lives in an affluent neighbourhood. We see that, despite being on the upper end of middle aged, he's in top shape. He has a healthy complexion and a winning smile. Every single pool he crosses and person he meets on his way home will chip away at this image until nothing remains.

The Swimmer starts of feeling about as whimsical and light hearted as its premise suggests, with Ned enthusiastically jogging through the surprisingly natural woods and meadows between people properties, being invited for drinks whereever he stops and playfully flirting with every woman he meets. But as he gets closer to his house, people are getting colder and more hostile, more and more cracks are starting to show until nothing but the sad truth remains.

On a principal level, The Swimmer is a movie very much up my alley. It's effectively a road movie that only spans a single neighbourhood. Instead of seeing the world, Ned sees himself. Lancaster beautifully embodies a sort of All American Übermensch, a man who has it all and can do it all, whose confidence turns out to be based on deep seated denial. To the viewer it becomes obvious quite early on that his aging sunnyboy persona hides some rather unwholesome qualities, even by the standards of the time and Lancaster does a wonderful job playing off all the people confronting him with them.

There is something vaguely otherwordly to the Swimmer's late summer purgatory, its warm greens, browns and yellows contrasted with the cool blue of the pools Ned ends up crossing, the airy camera work (some of its more romantic scenes having that vaseline look), the somewhat excessively used slow motion, it all feels like a false paradise that Ned, despite (... probably) not being dead, seems to have practically materialized in spontaneously only to face his demons.

It's not that the movie is perfect, to a large part because I felt it overplayed its ending a bit. You'll have a pretty good idea of more or less what it's gonna be well before it gets there and once it does the way it wallows in the tragedy of it takes away some of the impact it could have had, had it restrained itself a bit more. A bit more more restraint would have also helped the music, which has a very overpowering, melodramatic orchestral tone. There's some awkward dialogue, here and there. Nothing that would kill the movie, but it somewhat falls short of living up to the potential of its premise.

That said, it's still quite good. It feels like the perfect movie to have watched on what seems to have been the last day of summer. An introspective journey into the suburban WASP lifestyle that so many still idolize and how fragile it can be and how toxic some of it was. It never quite hits the emotional notes as strongly as it could have but it still comes together quite well.
 

thebobmaster

Elite Member
Legacy
Apr 5, 2020
2,645
2,575
118
Country
United States
Patch Adams

I REALLY don't want to disrespect the late Robin Williams, as the actor himself was an amazing individual. But I feel this movie is terrible. It's categorized as a comedy/drama, and a medical drama, and while I don't have issues with movies in this genre, this particular movie has one glaring issue; It's based on a true story.

And the movies that are "based on a true story" tend to dramatize the actual events, or downright tell the wrong story. And I feel this movie is one of them.

The character (again, not the actual Robin Willams) Hunter Adams being annoying in classroom, during exams, or to everyone in the school? I can get by. Having a fictional romantic partner, I can maybe understand. But the depiction of so many medical malpractices for the sake of comedy is where I have to draw the line.

I mean seriously? Going to a meat convention to win a gown to make himself look like a doctor? Opening and running his on clinic without a license? STEALING MEDICAL SUPPLIES from the hospital to keep his clinic/carehouse running? "Treating" patients with laughter instead of actual proper treatment?

It's an insult to the actual guy. Who btw, opened his clinc AFTER getting his license, got a second job (and the nurses as well iirc) to fund the medical supplies, and never have facked being a doctor. He does try to keep the humor going, but does get serious with treatment when necessary.

The movie also tries to depict the professors and Mitch (the roommate) as the bad guys here, when in reality they are just doing ethical things.

I feel some of the the heartwarming and wholesome moments are forced and probably never happened because of how dramatized this movie is. Some moments probably are 1:1 retelling of what actually happened, but given this movie's nature it's making me doubt.

It just might be the second most dramatized based-on-true-story movie I've ever watched, only being beaten by Balto.
But don't you see? The professors are just THE MAN, trying to keep entrepreneurs like Patch Adams down!

Yeah, I don't say "this movie is an insult to X" very often, but this movie really is an insult to what Patch Adams actually did. And you forgot one thing, the romantic partner wasn't entirely fictional. You see, she was based off of a MALE friend of Patch's who suffered the same fate, but didn't have a romantic connection to Patch Adams. That's worse to me than just flat-out making up a romantic interest.
 

thebobmaster

Elite Member
Legacy
Apr 5, 2020
2,645
2,575
118
Country
United States
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

Johnny Novgorod

Bebop Man
Legacy
Feb 9, 2012
18,981
3,555
118
The Missouri Breaks (1976)

A weirdo Western starring Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando. Jack is the leader of a gang of rustlers (Harry Dean Stanton, Randy Quaid, Frederic Forrest), Brando is the "regulator" (bounty hunter) who gets hired to pick them out after the local land baron gets sick of them.

Brando is completely unhinged. I'm not sure if this is good or bad for the movie but man he's fascinating to watch. I know the stories about the cue cards but I also refuse to believe that most of his performance wasn't improvised. Sometimes he's wearing Marty McFly's duds, sometimes he's in a dress; he'll pop his head into frame like a Looney Tune, make out with horses, eat a live cricket, hunt wabbits with morning stars (I think for real, there was some controversy about animal abuse), make up a poem or a song on the spot... he's Merry Melodies' Judge Holden.

I think the movie could've made up its mind about Nicholson, whether he wants to go straight or to what extent he gives a shit about the land baron's daughter (the courtship is actually kinda sweet, by Jack standards). It's all very loose, kinda ridiculous, underscored by John Williams' hillbilly banjo. I'll give the movie points for never being Boeing and only getting more bizarre with every minute. The final half hour is well worth the wait.
 

thebobmaster

Elite Member
Legacy
Apr 5, 2020
2,645
2,575
118
Country
United States

Bring on the flames.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

thebobmaster

Elite Member
Legacy
Apr 5, 2020
2,645
2,575
118
Country
United States
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

Johnny Novgorod

Bebop Man
Legacy
Feb 9, 2012
18,981
3,555
118
Heaven's Gate

The movie that killed Michael Cimino, bankrupted United Artists and ended the director-is-king run of 1970s Hollywood. All of that for $44 million, $175 million adjusted today.

The Acolyte cost $180 million. Take the extra $5 mill and maybe you can bother RDJ to cough into a mic. Call it a cameo!

Heaven's Gate is actually a fantastic movie that was clearly butchered in post, or at least so was the version I watched. But the craft in this is unbelievable. That Panaflex scenery looks like its loading Red Dead Redemption 2. And people were complaining about the lack of primaries and that the movie was too sepia? I give you that the story skips confusingly and seems allergic to introduce anyone and anything properly. Watch the movie from the beginning, try taking notes and sometimes it'll still feel like you've just walked into the room. It's a bit slow, and yet if anything this would benefit massively from being even longer. As it is it's such a strange, bizarre epic, really unlike any fiilm I've seen.

Also somebody should call Guiness, ask them to check if Isabelle Huppert doesnt have the record for number of times she's been raped on screen. I swear this lady gets brutally raped in everything. This is movie #5, off the top of my head.
 

Gordon_4

The Big Engine
Legacy
Apr 3, 2020
6,504
5,761
118
Australia
Heaven's Gate

The movie that killed Michael Cimino, bankrupted United Artists and ended the director-is-king run of 1970s Hollywood. All of that for $44 million, $175 million adjusted today.

The Acolyte cost $180 million. Take the extra $5 mill and maybe you can bother RDJ to cough into a mic. Call it a cameo!

Heaven's Gate is actually a fantastic movie that was clearly butchered in post, or at least so was the version I watched. But the craft in this is unbelievable. That Panaflex scenery looks like its loading Red Dead Redemption 2. And people were complaining about the lack of primaries and that the movie was too sepia? I give you that the story skips confusingly and seems allergic to introduce anyone and anything properly. Watch the movie from the beginning, try taking notes and sometimes it'll still feel like you've just walked into the room. It's a bit slow, and yet if anything this would benefit massively from being even longer. As it is it's such a strange, bizarre epic, really unlike any fiilm I've seen.

Also somebody should call Guiness, ask them to check if Isabelle Huppert doesnt have the record for number of times she's been raped on screen. I swear this lady gets brutally raped in everything. This is movie #5, off the top of my head.
As much as it must be nice for the people who worked on this film to receive accolades after a few decades of reconsideration, it doesn’t change the fact that it was a financial disaster of (to my knowledge) unequalled magnitude. Like whatever craft was on display clearly didn’t matter to its audience.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
Legacy
Jul 18, 2009
20,226
5,008
118
As much as it must be nice for the people who worked on this film to receive scolded after a few decades of reconsideration, it doesn’t change the fact that it was a financial disaster of (to my knowledge) unequalled magnitude. Like whatever craft was on display clearly didn’t matter to its audience.
Also, didn't the dude blow up an actual horse for this movie?
 

Gordon_4

The Big Engine
Legacy
Apr 3, 2020
6,504
5,761
118
Australia
Also, didn't the dude blow up an actual horse for this movie?
I don't know, but animal cruelty was probably a lot more common back then that it is now. I loved the movie Milo and Otis as a child but I cannot watch it in good conscience any more because of what was probably going on behind the scenes with the cats and dogs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
Legacy
Jul 18, 2009
20,226
5,008
118
I don't know, but animal cruelty was probably a lot more common back then that it is now. I loved the movie Milo and Otis as a child but I cannot watch it in good conscience any more because of what was probably going on behind the scenes with the cats and dogs.
In Friday the 13th they kill a live snake on screen. Just chop it in two. What's worse is it was apparently the snake of a crew member who didn't know they were going to kill it.