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Post by MrsLangdonAlger on Oct 7, 2020 19:02:36 GMT -5
The Lodge (2019) - I thought it was really good. Riley Keogh puts in a great performance as a former cult member trapped in a winter lodge during a snowstorm with her boyfriend's children. Creepy horror antics ensue. The main critiques of the film seem to be that the plot is a bit unbelievable for the level of realism the film is aiming for and that it's a bit predictable. I think that's probably true, but it's still a deeply unsettling bit of psychological horror. It's also really nicely shot, the cinematographer has worked with Lanthimos on most of his films, the architecture of the buildings (the lodge itself, but also the characters' primary homes and in one scene a church) all have a sleek modern design aesthetic which contrasts with the expected setting for this kind of movie in a visually interesting way (I also think it lends to the film's critique of the normative notion of the well-off nuclear family), and there's also a cool recurring visual motif of characters and things viewed through various semi-transparent screens and windows (probably a reference to "For now we see through a glass darkly"). Anyway, it's not like an all-time classic, but I thought it was really good. Also, apparently this is a Hammer film? It's the only one I've seen. A- I really like this one too. Also, I went to see it in the theater a year before it came out at the Chicago Critics Film Festival and during one scene at the beginning, the entire audience audibly gasped.
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ABz B👹anaz
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Post by ABz B👹anaz on Oct 7, 2020 21:35:29 GMT -5
That's on the list! I'll check it out soon. I can second the recommendation for The Endless. I'll also add The Ritual as a good Netflix horror movie. Good "creepy stuff in the woods" flick. nowimnothing and chalkdevil 😈 - I just finished The Endless. Really neat! Very creepy and bizarre.
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oppy all along
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Post by oppy all along on Oct 8, 2020 5:24:03 GMT -5
Lucky Grandma (2020): Okay, the trailer made it look like a Guy Ritchie crime comedy starring a tough old bitch effortlessly outsmarting some criminal doofuses, and instead it was a sad old lady being terrorised and shot by armed criminals. Don't get me wrong, it was great, but someone in marketing really set up audiences to be ambush bummed out. Just don't set me up like that trailer guy.
In conclusion, go in expecting a crime comedy-drama, not a crime comedy. Then you won't end up going "wait I thought this would be fun why am I watching a terrified grandma cry".
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Oct 9, 2020 12:48:59 GMT -5
Another thumbs up for The Lodge. And oh man that scene at the beginning ... whoa.
It's a great thing to look at with a decent, if predictable twist. No big scares, but plenty of creepy moments and a tortuous sense of dread throughout. Dragged at times. I like slow burns just fine, but nearly all of them, even the very best like Hereditary, reach a point with me where they keep piling on strange events without saying anything new, and I'm ready for the movie to get to the point already. I think you could chop 15 minutes here and not lose much.
A couple aggravations: 1) The cult that the main character escaped from (not a spoiler, it's central to the plot) was the most stereotypical cult of that type that I can imagine. I get the visual references, like the inspiration is obvious, but still ... boring. Gimme something with more character to it. More specificity.
2) I feel this way about every horror movie I watch late at night while trying to keep the sound down, but there's too much dynamic range. The softs are too soft, the louds are too loud. I know it plays into the overall feel, but I just want to hear what people are saying. I didn't understand a single thing Grace said for probably the last 15 minutes.
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repulsionist
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Post by repulsionist on Oct 9, 2020 20:11:57 GMT -5
The Secret Garden (1993)
Coppola produced. Directed by Agnieszka Holland (had previously done Europa Europa). Penned by Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands and A Nightmare Before Christmas). Filmed by Roger Deakins (Blade Runner 2049) and Jerzy Zieliński (Galaxy Quest). Scored by Zbigniew Preisner (scored for Kieślowski). A luscious and exotic filming of this heartening tale. The exteriors of Allerton Castle standing out in memory. And, there's a wild as Linda Ronstadt song at the end.
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oppy all along
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Post by oppy all along on Oct 9, 2020 20:45:13 GMT -5
Force Majeure (2014): A ruthless, delightful display. The movie gleefully breaks down the husband and his compromised masculinity. You can the failure running around and around in his head even as he steadfastly denies it ever happened, because he simply cannot process how calamitously he fucked up in the moment. If a man protects his family, and he is a man, why in the moment of potential disaster did he abandon his family to save himself? And you feel bad for the guy because he's clearly fucking crumbling but, like, dude. You grabbed your phone and gloves and abandoned your wife and kids. Come on now.
If I were in that scenario, I would beat back the avalanche with my bare hands and then win a Nobel Prize for being awesome. Just saying.
Enola Holmes (2020): It's fine. Millie Bobby Brown's Enola Holmes is perfectly charming, enough so that you almost go "oh no this sheltered rich girl is going to have to attend a prestigious finishing school what could possibly be worse". You know damn well all the poors in this movie would have killed to attend Miss Harrison's Finishing School.
But what really pisses me off is that this movie establishes a shadowy sect of radical feminist revolutionaries with explosives, and then does nothing with it! At all! We just move on to oh no will the rich toff get to vote on the 1884 reform bill extending voting rights to some agricultural workers. Netflix, I want my movie about Helena Bonham Carter and her band of word game loving terrorists.
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Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Oct 9, 2020 22:55:15 GMT -5
Another thumbs up for The Lodge.
A couple aggravations: 1) The cult that the main character escaped from (not a spoiler, it's central to the plot) was the most stereotypical cult of that type that I can imagine. I get the visual references, like the inspiration is obvious, but still ... boring. Gimme something with more character to it. More specificity.
OK, yeah, this is probably my biggest problem with the film. The twist being predictable is fine; that's not what you're typically watching an atmospheric horror film like this for; it's just the most bland non-specific cult devoid of anything apart from generic cult stuff in a way that doesn't feel true to life. Still a very good movie, and this element of the film hardly ruins it, but yeah, it felt very uninspired.
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Trurl
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Post by Trurl on Oct 10, 2020 7:53:11 GMT -5
My daughter is doing a course on vampire literature so we watched Interview with the Vampire last night. First time for me since it came out.
Honestly Campy Tom Cruise was better than I remembered, and Brad Pitt's block-of-wood performance was worse. And tiny Kirsten Dunst was actually great, especially considering everything she was given to work with. Also, I liked the lighting and costume design and most of the cinematography. And Antonio Banderas is a snack.
It's interesting to me how beholden fan fiction is to Anne Rice.
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Post by haysoos on Oct 11, 2020 22:21:58 GMT -5
I finally got around to watching Rise of Skywalker. It was better than I had been led to expect.
There weren't any scenes or plot points that I absolutely hated, as there were in both Force Awakens and Last Jedi. Or maybe I've just been overwhelmed with apathy regarding my previous unwilling suspension of disbelief regarding the First Order.
But there also wasn't really anything inspiring or awesome like there was in the previous films.
I'm not sure how they spent however many millions on all those action scenes, and managed to make all of them less interesting than what appears in almost each episode of the Mandalorian.
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Post by DangOlJimmyITellYouWhat on Oct 11, 2020 22:35:13 GMT -5
Solo: A Star Wars Story About a Guy Name Han Solo, A Character From Star Wars, The Movie Franchise You Are Watching Right Now! (2018) - Saw Solo again today. My daughter who is now approximately the age I was when I saw the first Star Wars watched it with me and is now drawing pictures of “that bear...Chewbacca,” so thanks Solo for getting my child into movies about bullshit robots and space wizards. John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch (2019) - John Mulaney and a bunch of kids do a parody of a 1980s PBS show for kids in which they do science with David Byrne and talk about death...mostly talk about death. I absolutely love that Netflix allows for completely bonkers bullshit like this to exist. Each and every segment gets wilder and wilder until we get Jake Gyllenhaal dressed in a xylophone jacket manically threatening you swing a cat around by its tail in order to teach children about how there’s music everywhere. More of this please. Here's the Chewbacca drawing that my daughter did for me. The thing with "I love you Mom" written near it is apparently one of the cats from Cats: The Musical: The Movie which she also recently watched. 1. That is goddamn adorable. 2. Your kid should go into business drawing "children's art" for TV shows
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Post by DangOlJimmyITellYouWhat on Oct 11, 2020 22:38:47 GMT -5
The Lodge (2019) - I thought it was really good. Riley Keogh puts in a great performance as a former cult member trapped in a winter lodge during a snowstorm with her boyfriend's children. Creepy horror antics ensue. The main critiques of the film seem to be that the plot is a bit unbelievable for the level of realism the film is aiming for and that it's a bit predictable. I think that's probably true, but it's still a deeply unsettling bit of psychological horror. It's also really nicely shot, the cinematographer has worked with Lanthimos on most of his films, the architecture of the buildings (the lodge itself, but also the characters' primary homes and in one scene a church) all have a sleek modern design aesthetic which contrasts with the expected setting for this kind of movie in a visually interesting way (I also think it lends to the film's critique of the normative notion of the well-off nuclear family), and there's also a cool recurring visual motif of characters and things viewed through various semi-transparent screens and windows (probably a reference to "For now we see through a glass darkly"). Anyway, it's not like an all-time classic, but I thought it was really good. Also, apparently this is a Hammer film? It's the only one I've seen. A- I really like this one too. Also, I went to see it in the theater a year before it came out at the Chicago Critics Film Festival and during one scene at the beginning, the entire audience audibly gasped. Is this supernatural horror, or People Are The Real Monsters horror? I've considering watching it but I can't tell from the description, and generally speaking, I flat do not watch People Are The Real Monsters movies.
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Post by MrsLangdonAlger on Oct 11, 2020 22:50:46 GMT -5
I really like this one too. Also, I went to see it in the theater a year before it came out at the Chicago Critics Film Festival and during one scene at the beginning, the entire audience audibly gasped. Is this supernatural horror, or People Are The Real Monsters horror? I've considering watching it but I can't tell from the description, and generally speaking, I flat do not watch People Are The Real Monsters movies. I can't answer without giving things away!
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Oct 12, 2020 9:14:36 GMT -5
Continuing to seek late night horror movies.
Get Out - It was fine. I liked it. I wasn't bowled over. Perhaps I butted my head up against the disadvantage of expectations, but even if I'd seen it completely fresh I don't think I'd come away from it saying it's the best horror movie of the decade and the mark of a true visionary in Jordan Peele. There are some killer moments: the hypnosis scene, the auction (I adore how this scene was blocked). And I really appreciate that it does not overstay its welcome. No fat. No weirdness for weirdness' sake. Everything felt thought through and purposeful.
My problem is not even the movie's fault. It's entirely mine. For me, I wanted a more overt horror movie. More violence, more carnage. This was more of a psychological thriller. A great one, too. A very upsetting story, exceptionally well told, but it didn't scratch the itch.
I haven't seen Us yet, but I'm really looking forward to it.
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oppy all along
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Post by oppy all along on Oct 13, 2020 5:47:07 GMT -5
Hellboy (2004): Find someone who looks at you the way Guillermo del Toro looks at monsters. Is it any surprise that dude won his Best Picture for a movie where a human and a monster fall in love?
Ron Perlman's great, the movie has that early 00s del Toro aesthetic, the practical and special effects hold up surprisingly well, and the redshirts die reliably and violently. It's a bunch of fun. The movie is also extremely caucasian and male, which I know represents 90% of 00s cinema (and 85% of 10s cinema) but still really stood out to me watching it in the 2020s, where only 80% of cinema is extremely caucasian and male.
And it's not surprising John Myers gets dropped for the sequel. Sorry bud, you're the white bread audience surrogate, you're bland and dull by design.
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Post by chalkdevil 😈 on Oct 13, 2020 10:16:09 GMT -5
Find someone who looks at you the way Guillermo del Toro looks at monsters. This is no joke. I went to del Toro's At Home with Monsters exhibit when it was in Minneapolis and it was amazing. All the props and art work was just amazing. Dude loves himself some monsters.
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Post by The Sensational She-Hulk on Oct 13, 2020 14:29:39 GMT -5
My daughter is doing a course on vampire literature so we watched Interview with the Vampire last night. First time for me since it came out. Honestly Campy Tom Cruise was better than I remembered, and Brad Pitt's block-of-wood performance was worse. And tiny Kirsten Dunst was actually great, especially considering everything she was given to work with. Also, I liked the lighting and costume design and most of the cinematography. And Antonio Banderas is a snack. It's interesting to me how beholden fan fiction is to Anne Rice. Tom Cruise actually read all the books to prepare for the role of Lestat, and his thoughtfulness shows - as does Brad Pitt's clear projection of "I don't want to be here." It certainly is the best Anne Rice adaptation. Which, uh, isn't saying much. (My friends still dunk on me nearly 20 years later for dragging them to Queen of the Damned, and they are right to do so.) I still listen to the soundtrack occasionally.
"Fun" fact: I was once on a Vampire Chronicles roleplay message board that got one of her famous cease and desist letters!
She's such a shithead.
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ABz B👹anaz
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Post by ABz B👹anaz on Oct 13, 2020 14:32:30 GMT -5
My daughter is doing a course on vampire literature so we watched Interview with the Vampire last night. First time for me since it came out. Honestly Campy Tom Cruise was better than I remembered, and Brad Pitt's block-of-wood performance was worse. And tiny Kirsten Dunst was actually great, especially considering everything she was given to work with. Also, I liked the lighting and costume design and most of the cinematography. And Antonio Banderas is a snack. It's interesting to me how beholden fan fiction is to Anne Rice. Tom Cruise actually read all the books to prepare for the role of Lestat, and his thoughtfulness shows - as does Brad Pitt's clear projection of "I don't want to be here." It certainly is the best Anne Rice adaptation. Which, uh, isn't saying much. (My friends still dunk on me nearly 20 years later for dragging them to Queen of the Damned, and they are right to do so.) I still listen to the soundtrack occasionally.
"Fun" fact: I was once on a Vampire Chronicles roleplay message board that got one of her famous cease and desist letters!
She's such a shithead. Reminded me of THIS gem from Penny Arcade:
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Post by Mrs David Tennant on Oct 13, 2020 18:53:27 GMT -5
I'm watching The Man who Fell to Earth - I've never seen it before. It's weird and very, very 70s. And the cars! Man I forgot how ridiculously large the cars were!
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Floyd D Barber
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Post by Floyd D Barber on Oct 13, 2020 23:32:40 GMT -5
I'm watching The Man who Fell to Earth - I've never seen it before. It's weird and very, very 70s. And the cars! Man I forgot how ridiculously large the cars were! When I had the satellite system it had a dvr, and I once set it up to record "The Man Who Fell To Earth". When I went to watch it, however, it wasn't the David Bowie/Rip Torn/Buck Henry classic, but some cheesy, cheap 80's remake featuring nobody I'd ever heard of.* It was not good.
* No Torn genitals, either. This will make sense after you finish watching the movie.
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Post by Nudeviking on Oct 14, 2020 0:29:16 GMT -5
My daughter is doing a course on vampire literature so we watched Interview with the Vampire last night. First time for me since it came out. Honestly Campy Tom Cruise was better than I remembered, and Brad Pitt's block-of-wood performance was worse. And tiny Kirsten Dunst was actually great, especially considering everything she was given to work with. Also, I liked the lighting and costume design and most of the cinematography. And Antonio Banderas is a snack. It's interesting to me how beholden fan fiction is to Anne Rice. Tom Cruise actually read all the books to prepare for the role of Lestat, and his thoughtfulness shows - as does Brad Pitt's clear projection of "I don't want to be here." It certainly is the best Anne Rice adaptation. Which, uh, isn't saying much. (My friends still dunk on me nearly 20 years later for dragging them to Queen of the Damned, and they are right to do so.) I still listen to the soundtrack occasionally.
"Fun" fact: I was once on a Vampire Chronicles roleplay message board that got one of her famous cease and desist letters!
She's such a shithead. That soundtrack is the one the dude from Korn did right? That was another one of those classic late-90s early-00s movie soundtracks that's 5000% better than the movie they are soundtracking.
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Post by The Sensational She-Hulk on Oct 14, 2020 8:29:31 GMT -5
Tom Cruise actually read all the books to prepare for the role of Lestat, and his thoughtfulness shows - as does Brad Pitt's clear projection of "I don't want to be here." It certainly is the best Anne Rice adaptation. Which, uh, isn't saying much. (My friends still dunk on me nearly 20 years later for dragging them to Queen of the Damned, and they are right to do so.) I still listen to the soundtrack occasionally.
That soundtrack is the one the dude from Korn did right? That was another one of those classic late-90s early-00s movie soundtracks that's 5000% better than the movie they are soundtracking. Yeah, it is! I was talking about the IWTV soundtrack, which I do listen to occasionally, though. I also own the QOTD soundtrack, but I don't think I've listened to that since 2008, maybe? But I absolutely agree with you. I was so disappointed in that damn movie. I didn't expect a 100% faithful adaptation, but it was like they actively tried to make as shitty movie out of the book as humanly possible.
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Post by Hachiman on Oct 15, 2020 1:52:22 GMT -5
That soundtrack is the one the dude from Korn did right? That was another one of those classic late-90s early-00s movie soundtracks that's 5000% better than the movie they are soundtracking. Yeah, it is! I was talking about the IWTV soundtrack, which I do listen to occasionally, though. I also own the QOTD soundtrack, but I don't think I've listened to that since 2008, maybe? But I absolutely agree with you. I was so disappointed in that damn movie. I didn't expect a 100% faithful adaptation, but it was like they actively tried to make as shitty movie out of the book as humanly possible. I'm just here to say that Aaliyah deserved better than Queen of the Damned.
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Post by Nudeviking on Oct 15, 2020 2:01:54 GMT -5
Yeah, it is! I was talking about the IWTV soundtrack, which I do listen to occasionally, though. I also own the QOTD soundtrack, but I don't think I've listened to that since 2008, maybe? But I absolutely agree with you. I was so disappointed in that damn movie. I didn't expect a 100% faithful adaptation, but it was like they actively tried to make as shitty movie out of the book as humanly possible. I'm just here to say that Aaliyah deserved better than Queen of the Damned. Aaliyah deserved better than pretty much everything she got in life.
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Post by The Sensational She-Hulk on Oct 15, 2020 8:32:21 GMT -5
Yeah, it is! I was talking about the IWTV soundtrack, which I do listen to occasionally, though. I also own the QOTD soundtrack, but I don't think I've listened to that since 2008, maybe? But I absolutely agree with you. I was so disappointed in that damn movie. I didn't expect a 100% faithful adaptation, but it was like they actively tried to make as shitty movie out of the book as humanly possible. I'm just here to say that Aaliyah deserved better than Queen of the Damned. She did, and she really was the best part of that movie. I'd have loved to see what she could have done with Akasha in a proper adaptation.
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ABz B👹anaz
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Post by ABz B👹anaz on Oct 15, 2020 9:07:56 GMT -5
The Lodge - Okay, MrsLangdonAlger, LazBro and Roy Batty's Pet Dove - I watched this last night. Not bad, definitely good creepy atmosphere. Moral of the story, don't fuck with someone you know used to be a mentally ill whackjob.
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Post by sarapen on Oct 16, 2020 11:48:09 GMT -5
Tom Cruise actually read all the books to prepare for the role of Lestat, and his thoughtfulness shows - as does Brad Pitt's clear projection of "I don't want to be here." It certainly is the best Anne Rice adaptation. Which, uh, isn't saying much. (My friends still dunk on me nearly 20 years later for dragging them to Queen of the Damned, and they are right to do so.) I still listen to the soundtrack occasionally.
"Fun" fact: I was once on a Vampire Chronicles roleplay message board that got one of her famous cease and desist letters!
She's such a shithead. Wasn't this the movie that got Brad Pitt noticed, though?
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Post by Ben Grimm on Oct 16, 2020 12:22:29 GMT -5
Tom Cruise actually read all the books to prepare for the role of Lestat, and his thoughtfulness shows - as does Brad Pitt's clear projection of "I don't want to be here." It certainly is the best Anne Rice adaptation. Which, uh, isn't saying much. (My friends still dunk on me nearly 20 years later for dragging them to Queen of the Damned, and they are right to do so.) I still listen to the soundtrack occasionally.
"Fun" fact: I was once on a Vampire Chronicles roleplay message board that got one of her famous cease and desist letters!
She's such a shithead. Wasn't this the movie that got Brad Pitt noticed, though? No, that was Thelma and Louise.
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oppy all along
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Post by oppy all along on Oct 16, 2020 23:57:32 GMT -5
Savage (2020): The tale of some shitheel New Zealand gangster. Dude lived a really sad life. That bit at the end, where you have the two brothers staring all tough guy at each other interspersed with their child actors staring at each other trying not to cry? That's my shit right there.
Black Panther (2018): *sigh* It's been so long since I saw a four quadrant blockbuster in theatres (Tenet doesn't count, it's the adult-oriented 'brainy' long-runner you put up against a four quadrant blockbuster that got miscast because Nolan was the only one willing to release his damn movie).
I do have some thoughts on the 'suffering makes you evil' trope - T'Challa becomes a wise and noble king who is persuaded to take on a more interventionist agenda because he was raised in Wakanda as a prince, N'Jadaka becomes a sadistic mass-murdering mercenary who needs to be killed because he was raised in Oakland as an orphan. That kinda bums me out. Also, the uncritical presentation of an absolute monarchy. Maybe there needs to be a better way to change government than 'you get one shot to beat up the new regent when they're taking the throne and then you're stuck with them'.
But it's still great.
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Post by Nudeviking on Oct 18, 2020 19:02:49 GMT -5
My Life (1993) - Schmaltzy “life is very precious” nonsense in which a dying ad executive guy learns to make the most of the time he has left from a magical Asian man. Zero karate. One backyard circus for a man dying of cancer.
Cats (2019) - I still don’t understand what the fuck is going on here. I mean they make a big deal via song that cats have three names: a name people gave them, a stupid cat name, and then a secret name that the cat meditates about and yet the main character cat never gets either a stupid cat name nor does the secret third name feature into the plot at all.
BLACKPINK: Light Up The Sky (2020) - My daughter is obsessed with Blackpink so I watched this with her today. Overall I think it was a pretty decently done biopic. I kind of expected it to just be a light puff piece on them; be a triumphant look at one of the most popular Korean musical acts of all time but it didn’t shy away from some of the negative aspects the Korean pop music industry (they talked about how difficult training was and how many people failed out before Blackpink’s debut and the isolation and loneliness that comes with being a pop star). The film didn’t get into the really, really dark shit that can and does happen here with K-pop groups but hopefully that’s because the Blackpink girls have avoided it.
It was a good film even if you don’t know Blackpink from Orange Caramel and offers a decent look at what goes into creating all those musical groups of beautiful Korean boys and girls the world loves so much these days. Also it was neat to see my old neighborhood on TV.
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ABz B👹anaz
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Post by ABz B👹anaz on Oct 18, 2020 23:01:37 GMT -5
Continuing my trend of randomly picking two movies in a row with major connections, we have The Lodge and Midnight Special.
The Lodge is about two kids (one of whom is a teenager played by Jaeden Martell) being stuck in a cabin with a woman who was formerly a member of a creepy religious cult. Weird stuff happens.
Midnight Special is about one kid (played by a younger Jaeden Martell) being taken away from the creepy cult that kept him captive by his father. Weird stuff happens.
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