I think the idea is that it's a terrible movie that everyone should have, and people like it. I feel this way about most of the highest grossing films, TBH.
Discuss and Rate the Last Film You Watched
- Thread starter Th3Ch33s3Cak3
- Start date
Except The Flash wasn't a high grossing film. Just the opposite, it was one of the biggest flops of the year.
I guess Michael Keaton clouded everyone's views of The Flash. It was better than Batman v Superman or the 1st Suicide Squad but that's not saying much.
Primal
Nic Cage is a big-game hunter looking to Pokemon a legendary white jaguar off the Amazon. Before you get excited, that's the first 5 minutes of the movie. The other 92 minutes are spent on a "container ship", which might as well be three warehouse sets, watching anonymous goons with Kevlar and toy M16s getting decimated by the animals from 1995's Jumanji and the psycho that broke them out. Cage shows up now and then to yell at either about how they're all fucked.
Nic Cage is a big-game hunter looking to Pokemon a legendary white jaguar off the Amazon. Before you get excited, that's the first 5 minutes of the movie. The other 92 minutes are spent on a "container ship", which might as well be three warehouse sets, watching anonymous goons with Kevlar and toy M16s getting decimated by the animals from 1995's Jumanji and the psycho that broke them out. Cage shows up now and then to yell at either about how they're all fucked.
Megalopolis
Destined to be ridiculed or admired (or both), I'll give this to Coppola: he made a movie.
Sometimes I'll watch a movie and think it could've been a show, or a show that could've been three movies, or I'll watch something that was better - or would be better - as a play or a book or a comic, or listen to a 4 minute voicemail from my sister that could've been a thumbs up emoji. Megalopolis could only ever be a movie. Not just a Francis Ford Coppola movie, but a movie at all. And this is more than I can say of other much better actual movies: Megalopolis exists in one form alone. There's value in that kind of purity.
Which isn't to say I wasn't bored out of my mind at times. I forget the quote but employ Tenet's "go with the flow", if you find anything flows at all. It doesn't have a plot so much as a manifesto, and that's where the move lives and dies.
It's basically a protracted stalemate between a young visionary architect and the conservative mayor of "New Rome", who wants nothing to do with the sci-fi utopia of Megalopolis. The architect is Cesar (Adam Driver), the mayor is Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito as Himself). And that's pretty much it. Analogies to America's decadence come and go in the form of a dozen stunted subplots, as do characters with ridiculous names that sound like they were cribbed from The Crying of Lot 49, like "Wow Platinum" and "Vesta Sweetwater".
So it's bloated and excessive and kitsch and baroque and it looks like a perfume commercial and everyone's having scenery for their three square meals. Well, I dunno. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but guess I enjoyed myself when I wasn't bored and thinking of dinner.
Destined to be ridiculed or admired (or both), I'll give this to Coppola: he made a movie.
Sometimes I'll watch a movie and think it could've been a show, or a show that could've been three movies, or I'll watch something that was better - or would be better - as a play or a book or a comic, or listen to a 4 minute voicemail from my sister that could've been a thumbs up emoji. Megalopolis could only ever be a movie. Not just a Francis Ford Coppola movie, but a movie at all. And this is more than I can say of other much better actual movies: Megalopolis exists in one form alone. There's value in that kind of purity.
Which isn't to say I wasn't bored out of my mind at times. I forget the quote but employ Tenet's "go with the flow", if you find anything flows at all. It doesn't have a plot so much as a manifesto, and that's where the move lives and dies.
It's basically a protracted stalemate between a young visionary architect and the conservative mayor of "New Rome", who wants nothing to do with the sci-fi utopia of Megalopolis. The architect is Cesar (Adam Driver), the mayor is Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito as Himself). And that's pretty much it. Analogies to America's decadence come and go in the form of a dozen stunted subplots, as do characters with ridiculous names that sound like they were cribbed from The Crying of Lot 49, like "Wow Platinum" and "Vesta Sweetwater".
So it's bloated and excessive and kitsch and baroque and it looks like a perfume commercial and everyone's having scenery for their three square meals. Well, I dunno. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but guess I enjoyed myself when I wasn't bored and thinking of dinner.
Last edited:
A ★★★★½ review of The Wolf Man (1941)
“Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.” This film follows a man named Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.), returning to his home of Talbot Castle after his brother dies to support his father Sir John...
letterboxd.com
Keeping Up With The Joneses: Fun / Great
A young couple (Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher) are living an idyllic, suburban life in their cul-de-sac along with their friendly and familiar neighbors when one day, a new couple moves in who ratchet "idyllic" up to 11. The wife (Gal Gadot) is unnaturally beautiful and exotic, the husband (Jon Hamm) is ruggedly handsome and cultured, and their near perfection brings out the insecurities of the neighbors, none more so than Fisher who immediately begins to suspect there's such a thing as "too" perfect, and starts spying on the new couple. She soon finds reason to believe her suspicions are correct, that the Joneses are NOT who they appear to be.
It's a movie; it made me laugh. Was weird seeing Galifianakis portraying a character that isn't basically Alan from The Hangover (i.e.: completely aloof and confident in his ineptitude,) but he still manages several legit funny, Alan-esque moments.
A young couple (Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher) are living an idyllic, suburban life in their cul-de-sac along with their friendly and familiar neighbors when one day, a new couple moves in who ratchet "idyllic" up to 11. The wife (Gal Gadot) is unnaturally beautiful and exotic, the husband (Jon Hamm) is ruggedly handsome and cultured, and their near perfection brings out the insecurities of the neighbors, none more so than Fisher who immediately begins to suspect there's such a thing as "too" perfect, and starts spying on the new couple. She soon finds reason to believe her suspicions are correct, that the Joneses are NOT who they appear to be.
It's a movie; it made me laugh. Was weird seeing Galifianakis portraying a character that isn't basically Alan from The Hangover (i.e.: completely aloof and confident in his ineptitude,) but he still manages several legit funny, Alan-esque moments.
A ★★★★½ review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
“Amazing. Every word that you just said was wrong.” Like pretty much every Star Wars film (seriously, this is one of the most cursed franchises ever in terms of consistent production issues), this film did not have a completely smooth time. For one thing, it was planned from the start that JJ...
letterboxd.com
Last Voyage of the Demeter, 6/10
Nosferatu got me on a bit of a vampire kick, and this was on Amazon Prime so I decided to check it out. This is a movie about the ship voyage from Dracula that brings him to London. You could consider this a sort of companion piece to Nosferatu. It's alright. It's got a solid cast: Aisling Franciosi from The Nightingale, David Dastmalchian of "hey it's that guy!" fame, and Liam Cunningham aka Davos Seaworth. It's basically a closed setting thriller where people are getting picked off one by one, and it's a pretty good one. It's got solid production values, the acting's pretty good, and has some nice atmosphere to it. The ship setting is well realized and the design of Dracula himself is really good, if a bit CG-heavy towards the end.
Its issues include pacing, which can be a bit slow and repetitive in the first half. Some of the dialogue can be a bit clunky at times, but it gets better as the movie goes on. It's not the most subtle or original in its horror, it's all fairly predictable and familiar, but at least it's not overly dependent on jump scares. There could also be a fair bit more justification for the question of "why don't they just leave?" You can build the argument in your head, but it'd be nice if the movie addressed it.
It doesn't necessarily do anything revolutionary, but that's fine.
Nosferatu got me on a bit of a vampire kick, and this was on Amazon Prime so I decided to check it out. This is a movie about the ship voyage from Dracula that brings him to London. You could consider this a sort of companion piece to Nosferatu. It's alright. It's got a solid cast: Aisling Franciosi from The Nightingale, David Dastmalchian of "hey it's that guy!" fame, and Liam Cunningham aka Davos Seaworth. It's basically a closed setting thriller where people are getting picked off one by one, and it's a pretty good one. It's got solid production values, the acting's pretty good, and has some nice atmosphere to it. The ship setting is well realized and the design of Dracula himself is really good, if a bit CG-heavy towards the end.
Its issues include pacing, which can be a bit slow and repetitive in the first half. Some of the dialogue can be a bit clunky at times, but it gets better as the movie goes on. It's not the most subtle or original in its horror, it's all fairly predictable and familiar, but at least it's not overly dependent on jump scares. There could also be a fair bit more justification for the question of "why don't they just leave?" You can build the argument in your head, but it'd be nice if the movie addressed it.
It doesn't necessarily do anything revolutionary, but that's fine.
Last edited:
A ★★★ review of Spider-Man 3 (2007)
"Oh! My Spider-Sense is tingling! If you know what I'm talking about." While the second Spider-Man movie did not have many issues with production, the same definitely cannot be said for this one. While writing the script with Alvin Sargent, Sam Raimi always intended for three villains. Harry...
letterboxd.com
True, I meant that it apparently is popular according to those online metrics. Which also applies to high grossing films, even if that wasn't one, that is.
Because 3 of 4 Wolf Man films are also Frankenstein films, I have them in the Frankenstein film set, and would probably have to buy those ones again to get the first Wolf Man film. This also applies to Dracula.A ★★★★½ review of The Wolf Man (1941)
“Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.” This film follows a man named Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.), returning to his home of Talbot Castle after his brother dies to support his father Sir John...
A ★★★★½ review of Con Air (1997)
“Why couldn’t you put the bunny back in the box?” This film didn't have a perfect production, by any means. While there have been films that had a rougher production for sure, John Malkovich was especially frustrated that the script was changing on a near-daily basis, often leaving him in the...
letterboxd.com
A ★★ review of Ghost Rider (2007)
“Your soul is stained with the blood of the innocent. Feel their pain.” This film had a surprisingly troubled pre-production history. Plans for a Ghost Rider film go all the way back to 1992. Gale Anne Hurd was listed as a producer of the film, with Jonathan Hensleigh attached to write, in 1997...
letterboxd.com
Fall Guy, 4/5
Just a silly romp of 80s nostalgia, action-comedy, and Ryan Gosling charm. Some of the comedy gets a little too goofy/cartoonish compared to the rest of the movie but otherwise it is a real fun turn-off-your-brain time. But not in the offensively lazy dumb shows/movies that I see praised sometimes but actually made with some quality control. And of course it's ultimately a love letter to stuntmen which is nice for all of us who grew up with action and practical effects, especially from those long-ago days before actors all felt they had to do their own stunts.
Just a silly romp of 80s nostalgia, action-comedy, and Ryan Gosling charm. Some of the comedy gets a little too goofy/cartoonish compared to the rest of the movie but otherwise it is a real fun turn-off-your-brain time. But not in the offensively lazy dumb shows/movies that I see praised sometimes but actually made with some quality control. And of course it's ultimately a love letter to stuntmen which is nice for all of us who grew up with action and practical effects, especially from those long-ago days before actors all felt they had to do their own stunts.
Remind me when you get to spirit of vengeance. I like both movies. But I definitely prefer the second movie.A ★★ review of Ghost Rider (2007)
“Your soul is stained with the blood of the innocent. Feel their pain.” This film had a surprisingly troubled pre-production history. Plans for a Ghost Rider film go all the way back to 1992. Gale Anne Hurd was listed as a producer of the film, with Jonathan Hensleigh attached to write, in 1997...
A ★★★½ review of Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)
“This is tied for the most terrifying day of my life!” “Tied with what?” “Every other freaking day of my life!” This film had a pretty smooth production, being greenlit pretty much immediately after the success of the first movie. However, one little bit of trivia I do have is that long-time...
letterboxd.com
Captain America: The Winter Soldier - 10/10
Yep, this movie still fuckin' rocks.
Yep, this movie still fuckin' rocks.
Babygirl
Nicole Kidman's second May/December flick of 2024. What are the odds? Here she plays a powerful CEO who begins sexually abusing an intern (Harris Dickinson), with the catch that she's the submissive half of a BDSM relationship. So she's all about crawling on all fours lapping at milk plates and getting furiously masturbated in up-close, lengthy oners. She really sells them orgasms.
"Erotic thriller" sounds about right, although that phrase always makes me think of cheap, lurid stuff. This is closer in spirit to something like The Pianist, with Isabelle Huppert (though really fucking unsubtle about it, and nowhere near as grim) - less a melodrama, more a character study. It's essentially about a deeply repressed woman discovering (finally!) what works for her, sexually, and the importance of communicating it (Antonio Banderas plays the cuck husband).
Nicole Kidman's second May/December flick of 2024. What are the odds? Here she plays a powerful CEO who begins sexually abusing an intern (Harris Dickinson), with the catch that she's the submissive half of a BDSM relationship. So she's all about crawling on all fours lapping at milk plates and getting furiously masturbated in up-close, lengthy oners. She really sells them orgasms.
"Erotic thriller" sounds about right, although that phrase always makes me think of cheap, lurid stuff. This is closer in spirit to something like The Pianist, with Isabelle Huppert (though really fucking unsubtle about it, and nowhere near as grim) - less a melodrama, more a character study. It's essentially about a deeply repressed woman discovering (finally!) what works for her, sexually, and the importance of communicating it (Antonio Banderas plays the cuck husband).
Last edited:
A ★★★ review of Teen Wolf (1985)
“I was hoping I wouldn't have to. Sometimes it skips a generation. I was hoping it would pass you by.” “Well, dad, it didn't pass me by! It landed on my face!” This film has the distinction of being one of the early writing efforts by one Jeph Loeb, hired by the studio to basically write a quick...
letterboxd.com