Ice Cream Planet
AV Clubber 
I get glimpses of the horror of normalcy.
Posts: 3,833 
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Post by Ice Cream Planet on Apr 30, 2016 16:57:32 GMT -5
Deep End An alternatively hilarious and deeply creepy coming-of-age satire/drama/nightmare from early 70s Britain, it's easy to see why David Lynch was a big fan of this film. The tonal unease is so extreme, it often feels like the film will easily tip toward being too campy or too grotesque, but it is a testament to Jerzy Skolimowski's excellent direction that the film works so well. Visually, the film is stunning; the rich reds and chilly blues deftly illustrate the film's portrait of sexual repression. Of all the performances, Jane Asher (who is absurdly beautifully in this feature), is the most vibrant and impressive. If only she had received an Oscar nomination. All and all, an excellent, underrated gem. I can't wait to watch it again. Thank you usernametoolong for inviting me tonight to the screening and thank you to repulsionist for putting this film on my radar all those months back!
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Post by ganews on Apr 30, 2016 18:06:18 GMT -5
Iron Man II
Certainly one of the least of the MCU, but I came here because something struck me: Sam Rockwell sounds exactly like the CEO of a defense contractor, in my experience.
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Post by ganews on Apr 30, 2016 20:38:41 GMT -5
Iron Man IICertainly one of the least of the MCU, but I came here because something struck me: Sam Rockwell sounds exactly like the CEO of a defense contractor, in my experience. He's easily the best thing in the movie. It amazing how often " Iron Man II" became shorthand for "terrible Marvel Movie." I seem to remember saying it a lot during Age of Ultron. I'm kinder to it on re-watch. It's got some great features introduced to the MCU for the first time: Scarlet Johannson as Black Widow, Don Cheadle as Rhodey, Gary Shandling as the asshole senator who turned out to be a traitor, the most screen time yet for Sam Jackson as Nick Fury. |
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Post by The Thanksgiving Goblin. on Apr 30, 2016 23:47:09 GMT -5
Minions Well, I have children Do their parents know? |
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on May 1, 2016 7:28:23 GMT -5
It amazing how often " Iron Man II" became shorthand for "terrible Marvel Movie." I seem to remember saying it a lot during Age of Ultron. Poor Incredible Hulk, not even remembered in the igonimy it richly deserves. |
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Post by pairesta on May 1, 2016 10:13:16 GMT -5
Everybody Wants Some
I loved Boyhood, and Dazed and Confused is one of my favorite movies ever. But this "spiritual sequel" really left me cold. It's like if they made a sequel centering around Wooderson and Don Dawson from D&C; the whole movie is about jocks trying to get laid and pulling pranks on each other, punctuated with Linklater-an digressions about music and philosophy. There's no sweetness to it like Dazed and Confused or Boyhood; no shifting perspectives or different characters that stick around long enough; it stays centered almost entirely on this core baseball team. He's basically made an intellectual 80s Boob Comedy. And I'm not sure why.
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Post by Ben Grimm on May 1, 2016 14:00:33 GMT -5
Keanu
We saw it this morning. We both enjoyed it a lot; it had a lot of good gags, didn't overstay its welcome, and proved that Key and Peele can translate to movies well. It wasn't earth-shattering or anything, and - while it could have probably been called code-switching, the movie - it didn't overly depend on the fish-out of water jokes but set up some good absurdist stuff as well. My biggest complaint is probably that it was almost too conventional, like they were trying to prove they could keep things from getting too ridiculous, but we were both laughing throughout, which is really the best gauge of a comedy.
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Dellarigg
AV Clubber
This is a public service announcement - with guitars
Posts: 7,634
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Post by Dellarigg on May 1, 2016 15:39:22 GMT -5
Withnail & I
First rewatch in a few years, which has served to confirm this as my favourite British comedy. One of the best written films you could find, with even the scenes that exist to move things from A - B having a polish and a killer line in them somewhere. The moments of pathos are also handled devastatingly, and get more chillingly so as the years go by and things are left behind. Not a single thing I'd change about this one.
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Post by Lord Lucan on May 1, 2016 18:54:04 GMT -5
I've watched a lot of movies this past 3-4 days, starting with Kung Fu Panda 3. I liked it a great deal because I just love that cuddly panda and his martial arts geekery. Visually stunning, but lacking in plot and that energy the previous movies had. Mockingjay Part 2. I guess I watched this because I'm a crazy completist, but it was a complete waste of time. Dull, by the numbers and so preachy. It had a thousand arousing speeches. I'm not watching an YA adaptation ever again. Urgh. Deadpool. I found it enjoyable, and I admit the profanity and the jokes made me laugh a couple of times, but as others have said, we could've done without a very offensive joke. Ryan Reynolds found some vestiges of charm and Morena Baccarin was there only as the token nerd fantasy girl thanks to her Firefly days.
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). I thought I should check out some of this vampire stuff that's based somewhat on my culture, so I started with this. Tons of fun, I haven't laughed with such glee at a movie in a while. I loved the operatic craziness, the lavish use of blood and gore, the gorgeous shots, the amazing directing and those deliciously over-the-top performances (Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder in particular were so atrocious it was just stunning). Gary Oldman was so good and so tragic (that scene with the razor was something else), and he spoke Romanian so delightfully and so badly. A riot of a movie. I have to finish that book, but it's a pity there's no great, doomed romance at the center of it. At 4 in the morning, bleary eyed from insomnia, I decided it was a good idea to watch a horror movie. So I watched The Thing, the original. Of course, it ended up with me hiding under my blankets, like a little kid. Terrific movie, outstandingly directed, the tension just doesn't diminish for one second and you can't get your eyes off the screen. Great special effects, it's amazing how well they stand the test of time. These practical effects have a realism and an immediacy to them that CGI lacks. That's what made this movie so effective for me. Escape from New York. That patch over the eye was a thing of beauty, I don't care what anyone says. Beautiful score, so minimalist compared to what I'm used to from 80s movies. Pulpy, futuristic, stylish fun. Adrienne Barbeau's very generous decolletage was well, very generous. Labyrinth. The craft and artistry that went in those puppets was staggering, and the movie itself was a lovely, joyous fantasy movie, which I'm sure I'll rewatch. David Bowie and his songs added some much needed spice, all in all, very charming and sweet. Starship Troopers. It boggles the mind people took this movie at face value when it first appeared. It's obviously satire; if it works completely I'm not sure. I laughed a lot and enjoyed it more than I should have. I like to think your avatar is approximately how you looked after Dracula. |
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Post by Stuffed Salvador on May 2, 2016 0:39:05 GMT -5
I'm watching Queen of the Damned and it's bad but I think I'm enjoying it? Stuart Townsend is no Tom Cruise though and I hate the lack of homoeroticism that made up like 80% of Interview with the Vampire.
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Post by ComradePig on May 2, 2016 2:54:10 GMT -5
Cartel Land: Stark, fascinating documentary featuring two main points of focus, an American militia group that conducts patrols on the U.S Border and non-state local defense organizations in Central Mexico. The stuff in the United States I could largely take or leave as the folks largely come across as just playing soldier in the desert with a rather vastly overstated characterization of the danger of their efforts, but the much more significant bulk of the film's running time covers events South of the border and is riveting. For anyone interested in issues related to state failure, fragmentation of authority and so on, you've got a superb case study in the 'narrative' so to speak here.
The manner in which the defense organizations (autodefensas) variously usurp the authority of the state, are challenged by it or are accommodated into its structure (coopting various personal networks and clans within the movement while isolating others) is fascinating. I was pretty bowled over by the degree of access given to the filmmaker's throughout the picture, capturing among other things the autodefensas leader ordering a summary execution, and a late film visit to an autodefensas detention center (non-state entities running off the grid prisons, what could go wrong!) leave no questions about the brutality of the struggle in which the country is engaged. The rise and fall of the autodefensas leader makes for a pretty interesting personal story all its own as well, whatever one's final opinion of the man, there's no question that the circumstances of the country more broadly shaped what became of both him and his movement.
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repulsionist
TI Forumite
actively disinterested
Posts: 3,686
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Post by repulsionist on May 2, 2016 11:18:37 GMT -5
Ferngully (1992) - Nice flick. Zak, Crysta, and Pips are fun. Hexxis is alright. A lite fare at 1:20.
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Post by Mrs David Tennant on May 2, 2016 11:54:02 GMT -5
I watched Hotel Transylvania 2 last night. I was in the mood for something undemanding and it delivered.
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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on May 2, 2016 12:12:49 GMT -5
Heathers
Landed on this on Netflix Saturday night as we were browsing movies and I said I'd never seen it. I'm sure this isn't an original hot take, but ho-ly shit would that movie not get made today. I was only anticipating 'slightly darker Mean Girls', so I was a bit surprised. Still good though.
Also, 90's kid nostalgia question: Were the Heathers the inspiration for the Ashleys on Recess? Because that is a touch disturbing.
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Post by The Thanksgiving Goblin. on May 2, 2016 12:33:30 GMT -5
Ratchet & Clank
a typical sub-disney adhd japefest where the simplest line of exposition is smothered by inane asides, half-hearted mugging and jokes where texting and hashtags are the punchline. by the time R&C actually meet it feels like 40 minutes has passed. take your kids to see green room instead.
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Post by rimjobflashmob on May 2, 2016 23:32:04 GMT -5
The SO and I went on a slight Studio Ghibli kick - she'd only ever seen Princess Mononoke before - so we ended up running through My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, Howl's Moving Castle, and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind before deciding to take a break. Of those, I hadn't seen Howl's or Nausicaä, and came away from the former a little cold, but the latter is probably now my favorite Miyazaki joint.
Anyway, we decided to simmer down with a pair of Criterion films:
My Own Private Idaho (1991)
I really think this movie would have been panned if not for River Phoenix. His presence is haunting and devastating, and the film suffers for any shot he's not in (besides maybe Udo Kier's lamp dance). I did enjoy all the Shakespeare stuff though - Keanu Reeves is oddly suited to that kind of dialogue.
Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
This one got its hooks in me deep. With minimal dialogue and soundtrack, the screen does much of the talking, supplemented by the grumble of automobile engines. The last third meanders a little bit, and as such I was unsurprised to discover that the original cut of the film was over three hours long (they slimmed it to 110ish minutes, but still, by minutes 60-70 it starts to drag). It's beautifully shot though, for what it is.
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LazBro
Prolific Poster 
Posts: 10,278
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Post by LazBro on May 3, 2016 8:21:59 GMT -5
Ferngully (1992) - Nice flick. Zak, Crysta, and Pips are fun. Hexxis is alright. A lite fare at 1:20. For some reason I've been thinking about rewatching this lately. Haven't seen it since I was a boy, but I remember really liking the music, especially Hexxis's big song. Couldn't hum a bar of it if I wanted to today, though, so that would be fun. Wait a minute. I am the proud owner of a small child. What's stopping me?! |
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LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,278
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Post by LazBro on May 3, 2016 8:25:38 GMT -5
Minions Well, I have children Coincidentally, we also watched this over the weekend. I've never seen either Despicable Me, and I more or less despise the minions as characters, but this movie did extract one laugh from me: when the minion tribe are running from the polar bear and end up on an ice flow, only to find they are inexorably approaching another bear. |
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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on May 3, 2016 8:34:22 GMT -5
Minions Well, I have children Coincidentally, we also watched this over the weekend. I've never seen either Despicable Me, and I more or less despise the minions as characters, but this movie did extract one laugh from me: when the minion tribe are running from the polar bear and end up on an ice flow, only to find they are inexorably approaching another bear. I liked the original Despicable Me and didn't find the sequel too objectionable. Those at least had Steve Carrell going for them and the first one had a concept going for it beyond "How do we leverage these stupid yellow things into more merchandise?" |
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heroboy
AV Clubber
I must succeed!
Posts: 1,185
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Post by heroboy on May 3, 2016 11:48:25 GMT -5
Ferngully (1992) - Nice flick. Zak, Crysta, and Pips are fun. Hexxis is alright. A lite fare at 1:20. For some reason I've been thinking about rewatching this lately. Haven't seen it since I was a boy, but I remember really liking the music, especially Hexxis's big song. It also has a terribly great rap from Robin Williams. What a wonderful era to experience. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2016 17:22:17 GMT -5
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Post by WKRP Jimmy Drop on May 3, 2016 19:48:31 GMT -5
He's easily the best thing in the movie. It amazing how often " Iron Man II" became shorthand for "terrible Marvel Movie." I seem to remember saying it a lot during Age of Ultron. I'm kinder to it on re-watch. It's got some great features introduced to the MCU for the first time: Scarlet Johannson as Black Widow, Don Cheadle as Rhodey, Gary Shandling as the asshole senator who turned out to be a traitor, the most screen time yet for Sam Jackson as Nick Fury. Iron Man 2 Pepper Potts is the best Pepper Potts and I will fight anyone who says differently. |
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Post by Jean-Luc Lemur on May 4, 2016 19:28:40 GMT -5
Of those, I hadn't seen Howl's or Nausicaä, and came away from the former a little cold, but the latter is probably now my favorite Miyazaki joint. I think of Howl’s as basically being the Ghibli Disney movie. It doesn’t really work for me either. I still haven’t seen Nausicaä but I really should—I really like young(er) Miyazaki. The last two films I’ve seen (last weekend) were two Pixar films I hadn’t seen before: Ratatouille, which is quite good, and Up, which I found was great (and between this and Bird’s The Iron Giant I’m pretty sure everyone in the Pixar compound is a fan of Castle in the Sky). |
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Pear
TI Forumite
Posts: 619
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Post by Pear on May 6, 2016 12:55:47 GMT -5
SING STREET: Such an enjoyable movie. It's a typical story when it comes to music serving as an escape of sorts, but it's still extremely well done in that regard (especially with the relationship between Conor and Brendan). Feels a bit like a fantasy throughout, and when it actually goes into a fantasy--a Back to the Future inspired prom sequence--it's even better. "Drive It Like You Stole It" is so catchy.
THE INVITATION: Great, high tension start a bit undone by a meh third act, but it sure ends on an incredible final shot.
ZODIAC: Re-watch. Still a masterpiece.
HIGH-RISE: I don't know what the fuck is going on in this movie, but it's strangely compelling. It has the ingredients needed to be a bad movie: off-putting characters, a frequently incoherent plot, and a style that is oftentimes prioritized over substance. And yet, there’s something alluring about the film and its rampant debauchery and violence. It’s controlled chaos, but it also feels at times like Ben Wheatley and Amy Jump Mad-Libbed the entire thing (and they had a book to go off of!). Roast dog? Check. Horses? Check. Lobotomy requests? Check. Margaret Thatcher? Why the hell not? Honestly, if the ghost of Margaret Thatcher floated down from the top floor and gleefully threw herself into an orgy, it wouldn’t be so out of place in this.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR: I have to say, I wasn't expecting too much going in, even given the hype. It's a great movie, though, and it washes some of the awful taste out of my mouth after the trifecta of shit that was Age of Ultron, Deadpool, and Batman v Superman. Unlike Deadpool, which thinks it's breaking the rules but in reality is just jerking off to its own formulaic nature, Civil War actually takes things in a new and interesting direction. For one, the "Big Bad" isn't really a "Big Bad"; he's just a regular guy with believable motivations and a plan that works. What this movie understands is that raising the stakes doesn't necessarily result from some world ending/world domination plot device. Instead, the action in this doesn't feel meaningless because it's derived from character beats rather than from generic conflicts. The stakes feel higher in this than they ever did in Ultron. Also, that airport fight scene is fantastic, and Evans's biceps make me feel inadequate.
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Post by Mrs David Tennant on May 6, 2016 13:44:10 GMT -5
Pear, I'm trying to decide whether or not to watch High-Rise. I get scared very easily and don't like uber-violent things. But I have such a crush on Tom Hiddleston. What do you think?
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Pear
TI Forumite
Posts: 619
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Post by Pear on May 6, 2016 14:51:57 GMT -5
Pear , I'm trying to decide whether or not to watch High-Rise. I get scared very easily and don't like uber-violent things. But I have such a crush on Tom Hiddleston. What do you think? I'd say there is a fair amount of violence, but most of it is very stylized. I feel like taken as a whole, the movie's more strange than scary/violent in the conventional sense, so I think you should be fine (hopefully I'm not making the wrong choice here, if so I apologize in advance). On the Hiddleston note, have you seen The Night Manager? |
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Post by Mrs David Tennant on May 6, 2016 16:16:42 GMT -5
Pear , I'm trying to decide whether or not to watch High-Rise. I get scared very easily and don't like uber-violent things. But I have such a crush on Tom Hiddleston. What do you think? I'd say there is a fair amount of violence, but most of it is very stylized. I feel like taken as a whole, the movie's more strange than scary/violent in the conventional sense, so I think you should be fine (hopefully I'm not making the wrong choice here, if so I apologize in advance). On the Hiddleston note, have you seen The Night Manager? I have it on the DVR - I'll probably watch the episodes this weekend. |
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Post by Stuffed Salvador on May 6, 2016 16:26:05 GMT -5
Pear, is it good? I tried the pilot and thought it was ok but didn't feel like continuing
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repulsionist
TI Forumite
actively disinterested
Posts: 3,686
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Post by repulsionist on May 7, 2016 8:10:01 GMT -5
If You Live, Shoot! (aka Django Kill) (1967)
Acid Western Alpha.
EDIT: More to say....Thomas Milian is not as handsome, subjective opinion, as, say, Franco Nero. It is a shame that the original title of this film received some tidying to promote its value. But, this is one of the more lurid Spaghetti Westerns. And one that, for me, sets the bar low enough for all Acid Westerns to come. Some Film Historians argue that Shane and some Western films of the late 50s set the stage for the Acid Western, and I don't wholly discount that. However, this film does have visible reference in a few of the Acid Westerns that followed (e.g., Greaser's Palace, Zachariah, El Topo).
Snippet of conversation overheard at pub lunch about this film...the words say nothing, but they do decorate the outline nicely.
I first encountered this film through Time Out London (ca. 1996). They gave out a "Pick of the Week". BBC2 had this queued for playing. I read backstory in Time Out. I also read about the film in The Independent (RIP). I get around to watching this when it aired at 10:30 or later. I made it through, but as a 20-something with little reference for mid-20th century Italian history, the allegories just felt a little loose in their violent trappings. All I saw was the violence, and as a 20-something, the text spilled about the hyperbolic violence in this film didn't really match my vision, whose preface was a multitude of gory, Italian horror fare. There's a lot going in this film that, to my eyes, has a direct equivalent to goings on in Jodorowsky's El Topo. As I am no eloquent essayist, I can't immediately draw the flow chart and PowerPoint to give you guys the "warm fuzzies" that I have some ratiocination completed when I make that comparison. Hence my three-word summary for this flick that requires some background and knowledge of the film and its history; the ultimate hipster vanity: I know, but you don't. Isn't that chic and funny!?!
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Pear
TI Forumite
Posts: 619
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Post by Pear on May 7, 2016 13:22:39 GMT -5
Pear , is it good? I tried the pilot and thought it was ok but didn't feel like continuing I enjoyed it, but it's not a must-see. I'd say Hugh Laurie is the main reason to watch it. |
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