Discuss and Rate the Last Film You Watched

[gorfias]

A ★★★★★ review of The Living Daylights (1987)

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

letterboxd.com

You've gotten me to want to watch this again. It is on MAX. Will do this weekend.

 

[Hawki]

Actually, just using the Red Cross logo is a problem in and of itself. That's why Nurse Joy, in the Pokemon anime, doesn't have the Red Cross logo. Using it outside of military applications dilutes the meaning of the Red Cross and risks weakening the trademark, which is a problem.

Hey, Lt. Surge fought in the war you know. I'm sure at least one Nurse Joy was there.

 

[Gordon_4]

Hey, Lt. Surge fought in the war you know. I'm sure at least one Nurse Joy was there.

Why do you think they guy is so jovial all things considered?

 

[Hawki]

Why do you think they guy is so jovial all things considered?

Coping mechanism.

Really, it's disgraceful the way Kanto treats its veterans.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

Oppenheimer, 7/10

To put it in a somewhat crass three-word summary: autistic nerd machismo.

With this and Tenet I feel Christopher Nolan is heading down the same path as Wes Anderson: content to just repeat and refine his style of filmmaking, regardless of the subject matter. And for me it's starting to hit diminishing returns. This isn't quite as chock full of Nolan-isms as Tenet, but some parts of it are Nolan on overdrive. So in case you were expecting this to be anything different, bad news for you.

I feel like I'm taking him for granted, so let's say that for all my personal gripes with Nolan's style, this is still top of the line filmmaking: the editing, music, acting, production design, effects and cinematography are all stellar. The ludicrously star-studded cast is firing on all cylinders. I'm pretty sure there are like 2 scenes in the entire film where Cillian Murphy isn't present, and he carries his role effortlessly. Special attention must be paid to the soundscape, because it's what basically makes this movie. Without it it would be just a whole load of white guys in suits talking for 3 hours. The central setpiece, the atomic test, is genuinely breathtaking and knuckle-whitening. On a technical level this movie is basically flawless. The first 1,5-2 hours are genuinely fantastic.

But like I said, Nolan's style is starting to hit diminishing returns for me, and here some of the choices feel perhaps more questionable than ever. As is expected at this point, the movie takes place in multiple time periods narratively: the experiments conducted during WW2, and Oppenheimer's public disgracing in the post-war years. But it doesn't stop there: these time periods are further split into different time periods internally, so the movie's playing out on like 4 time periods. Or maybe it was all linear and I just couldn't tell, because the movie jumps between scenes, locations and time periods at such a blistering pace that it was hard to keep up. Speaking of which, if you thought Interstellar and Tenet were hard to keep up with due to the wibbly wobbly time shenanigans, wait til you see Nolan get to make a scene of top-level theoretical physicists discussing hitherto unexplored concepts. It's like he's a kid let loose in a candy store without anything to hold him back.

This will be entirely down to personal taste, but for me the amount of discussion on technical detail just went overboard. A persistent criticism of Nolan's movies is how expository dialogue is often delivered robotically and mechanically. People don't stammer, they don't "umm" or even pause between lines of dialogue, it's always like:

Scientist 1: How can we solve this [really complicated science stuff]
Scientist 2 without missing a nanosecond: Have you considered [more complicated sciency stuff]?
Scientist 3 without missing a nanosecond: But didn't you heart about scientist 4 making this breakthrough in [yet more complicated sciency stuff]?

It would be fine if it was just limited to those scientific discussions, but every significant dialogue exchange is delivered in this exact same way, whether it's Oppenheimer wrestling with his crumbling reputation, or having a heart-to-heart with his mistress. This is why I use the word "autistic", because there's no better word to summarize the feeling I get from the combination of insane focus on technical detail, and lack of genuine-feeling human emotion I get from the characters. At times I wish there was a character who was hung over in one of these scenes, and would ask the other characters to speak a little slower for the benefit of the audience. During the last third of the movie I genuinely lost the plot a couple of times, and that's where it faltered the most for me.

The "nerd machismo" comes from how this movie feels like overall. This is a story about brilliant, but awkward and often morally dubious men coming together for a cause to prove themselves in the highest stages of scientific brilliance. It's almost like making the bomb is slaying some mythical monster, and the scientists are the 300 spartans. The often furious scientific debates might as well be muscle flexing competitions for how bullheaded and heated everone is in the scenes. The characters don't come into conflict over ethical quandries or how the experiment is affecting their life, it's because they often feel like their genius is being hampered by the other geniuses in the room. It's kind of funny.

So yeah, it's pure, distilled Nolan through and through. IMO for his next film he ought to switch it up a bit and direct a 95-minute romantic comedy. Or a kids' cartoon about a talking dog. Or just for maximum meme value, the sequel to Barbie.

Yeah but, did you see it in 70mm?

 

[BrawlMan]

Ace Ventura, Pet Detective, 5/10

One of the most famous examples of comedy not aging well, this 90s Jim Carrey joint is definitely a product of its time. I'm not old enough to remember how this matched the zeitgeist when it came out, but it's perhaps the 90s equivalent of "lol random XD rawr" humor of the late 00s. The filmmaking here is mostly mediocre, there's nothing of note about the score, cinematography, editing or the like. The entire movie rests and relies on Jim Carrey's performance. And he certainly is giving it his all, whether it's funny these days is another question entirely. Most of the comedy relies on the assumption that saying weird things in a weird voice and massive physical overacting equals funny. And to me it's mostly not, because that's the entire gag for the vast majority of the movie. In fact, looking at it through a modern lens, Ventura comes across mostly as one of two things: 1. a sociopath, or 2. massively autistic. And I'm leaning on the latter: his weird voice inflections and movements, inability to tell when people are uncomfortable around him, his overall manner just seems off kilter. Looking at it like that it almost comes back around to being funny again, because if you tell yourself that Ventura is autistic, the film is wonderfully accepting of him.

There are some genuinely funny moments and lines, but they're few and far between in what turned out mostly as an anthropological exploration of a mid-90s time capsule. Then there's the obvious transphobia stuff, but not being trans myself nor really knowing any trans people I'll just settle for saying that it's rather uncomfortable and cringeworthy to watch.

I do have a soft spot for this film, but it has not aged well at all with the transphobic subject. When Nature Calls is actually better, but not as iconic. My favorite Jim Carrey film will always be The Mask and consider it his best from the 90s.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Never been a fan of Jim Carrey, myself.

Now, he has done some alright stuff, like The Truman Show. But I hold that one against him because we had to study that for English, which never helps at the best of times, had to watch it over and over. And it was around 2001 when reality TV was getting going, and becaus it was relevant, we have to watch a week's worth of Big Brother. A week of course, being an entire seven days.

Seven Days.

 

[BrawlMan]

Now, he has done some alright stuff, like The Truman Show. But I hold that one against him because we had to study that for English, which never helps at the best of times, had to watch it over and over.

That's not Carrey's fault. Blame it on the school system and teachers. He never had say in their decisions.

And it was around 2001 when reality TV was getting going, and because it was relevant, we have to watch a week's worth of Big Brother. A week of course, being an entire seven days.

Not the movie's fault it was ahead of the curb, and called out all that shit a near decade ahead.

 

[McElroy]

In comparison to classics like Mrs. Doubtfire, Tootsie, and "classics" like Big Momma's House or White Chicks, Einhorn passing as a Sean Young look-alike isn't treated as a joke. Which is pretty progressive in a way, given that transphobia as we currently understand it hadn't been invented yet.

 

[Thaluikhain]

That's Carrey's fault. Blame it on the school system and teachers. He never had say in their decisions.


Not the movie's fault it was ahead of the curb, and called out all that shit a near decade ahead.

Oh sure, not his fault, but everyone hates the stuff they have to study in English. Shakespeare is a lot more palatable when you are reading in when you are goofing off at work than goofing off at school.

 

[BrawlMan]

Oh sure, not his fault, but everyone hates the stuff they have to study in English. Shakespeare is a lot more palatable when you are reading in when you are goofing off at work than goofing off at school.

I would take The Truman Show (as would most of my classmates) over almost anything Shakespeare. The only Shakespeare I like is Hamlet and Taming of the Shrew. Even then, I don't feel the need to read either of them ever again.

In comparison to classics like Mrs. Doubtfire, Tootsie, and "classics" like Big Momma's House or White Chicks, Einhorn passing as a Sean Young look-alike isn't treated as a joke. Which is pretty progressive in a way, given that transphobia as we currently understand it hadn't been invented yet.

1. Still has not aged all that well, nor really progressive, even by comparison. A lot of "ooofffhhh" with the Finkle/Einhorn disaster.
2. "Classics" like BMH and White Chicks you won't find too many defenders around the 2010s. Even more so by today standards. BMH was just a combination and rip-off of Mrs. Doubtfire and one Martin Lawrence's prior movies, Blue Streak. Only except he's an undercover cops, instead of a thief pretending to be a cop. A 5/10 movie at best. We don't talk about those shitty and unnecessary sequels no one asked for.
3. Mrs. Doubtfire is about a father crossdressing (not trans), because he just want to spends time with his kids, and has to deal with a shitty ex-wife and mother trying to push him away from them. He's not perfect and made several mistakes, but I find the mother so much worse. Yes, I am biased to an extent, but most people I've met or known, either hate the mother, or find her unintentionally unsympathetic. My mom hates her more than my brother or father. But I can see where you're coming from in this regard.
4. As for Tootsie, I've never seen it.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I would take The Truman Show (as would most of my classmates) over almost anything Shakespeare. The only Shakespeare I like is Hamlet and Taming of the Shrew. Even then, I don't feel the need to read either of them ever again.

Ah, but would you take The Truman Show over and over and over for months over a Shakespeare play which you can read once and then not be tested on?

Personally, I find Shakespeare to be hard going, due to the language changes, but regarded as a classic author for a reason.

 

[BrawlMan]

Ah, but would you take The Truman Show over and over and over for months over a Shakespeare play which you can read once and then not be tested on?

Jesus, what kind learning program they were doing at your school? At most in my high school, we would focus on this movie for about a week or two weeks at best, then move on to something else.

Personally, I find Shakespeare to be hard going, due to the language changes, but regarded as a classic author for a reason.

I can see where you're coming from, but still no for me. With that said, I'll take Edgar Allan Poe any day of the week over Truman and Shakespeare.

 

[McElroy]

1. Still has not aged all that well, nor really progressive, even by comparison. A lot of "ooofffhhh" with the Finkle/Einhorn disaster.

I'd say the marked difference comes from what people probably thought about the matter at the time. If a dude can pass as Sean Young, he's still just crossdressing, only doing it really well. The movie is set in a contemporary world, yet an astounding transformation had taken place. It required insane motivation... which isn't too far from the real world if you think about it. (An ugly person regardless of sex has to be nuts to go through everything that it takes to gain model looks).

 

[Thaluikhain]

Jesus, what kind learning program they were doing at your school? At most in my high school, we would focus on this movie for about a week or two weeks at best, then move on to something else.

Actually, this was in 2001, I might be remembering all sorts of things wrong. But I remember not liking having to repeatedly watch it.

 

[BrawlMan]

Actually, this was in 2001, I might be remembering all sorts of things wrong. But I remember not liking having to repeatedly watch it.

For the record, I was in middle school around that time.

I'd say the marked difference comes from what people probably thought about the matter at the time. If a dude can pass as Sean Young, he's still just crossdressing, only doing it really well. The movie is set in a contemporary world, yet an astounding transformation had taken place. It required insane motivation... which isn't too far from the real world if you think about it. (An ugly person regardless of sex has to be nuts to go through everything that it takes to gain model looks).

I get what you're saying, but still not all that progressives even by comparison, nor all that helpful for those actually trans nor non-trans. Keep in mind, you're talking a big Ace Ventura fan here. My brother and I watched the first movie especially; a lot.

 

[thebobmaster]

I do have a soft spot for this film, but it has not aged well at all with the transphobic subject. When Nature Calls is actually better, but not as iconic. My favorite Jim Carrey film will always be The Mask and consider it his best from the 90s.

I agree with most of this, except my personal favorite of his comedies would be Liar Liar.

 

[BrawlMan]

I agree with most of this, except my personal favorite of his comedies would be Liar Liar.

Liar Liar is a great film but not my personal favorite. It is in the top 5 though of Jim Carrey films.

 

[McElroy]

Transformers: Beast Mode
Total trash. Some of the presentation is alright, but even that gets bogged down, because we need to see all the different funny faces the one-dimensional Mary sue female lead makes, and also any time we see a human moving along with a transformer the editing becomes janky as hell. 2/10

 

[Absent]

Really not sure where to put that ("non-movies?" but about movies, "news?" but it's about old films, "hot takes?" but it's often consensual opinions).

I just happen to adore that whole series of videos. So, let's put it as rated films they've watched, lately or not :



etc...