Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

[transformers2]

Agreed. If Snyder worked from other people's scripts more often, his filmography would be significantly more consistent in quality.

[StarLord123]

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom 6/10
This is serviceable entertainment. It's not the worst DCEU film by any means, and not the unwatchable mess that pre-release rumors indicated, but it's still a rather disposable affair, and not as good as the first Aquaman film.

Jason Momoa remains fun and likable in the lead role, and his dynamic with Patrick Wilson in the middle section of the movie is pretty good. The action scenes for the most part are solid, there's no shortage of unique and cool visuals much like the first film. Although there's some funky looking bits (maybe due to late stage reshoots), the CGI overall looks nice. James Wan's directorial skill shines through on plenty of occasions. The film however is quite choppy and disjointed, particularly in the first half. Black Manta is okay as a villain, his motivation is clear, but the stuff with the trident and the "Lost Kingdom" feels very random and not developed. The humor is hit-or-miss, there are quite a few funny one-liners but there are also quite a few bad ones, and there's an abundance of very cheesy dialogue. The pacing is off so the film feels longer than it actually is, and there's some jarring tonal shifts. Most of the other characters serve no purpose except popping up to help Aquaman occasionally. Although the ending is pulled straight from Black Panther, I guess it's still a fine enough end for these characters since we won't be seeing them again with the reboot.

The film is better made and doesn't waste so much potential like how Ant-Man: Quantumania did, it's not quite as generic and nondescript as Shazam!: FOTG was, and it's not so mind-numbing and visually ugly compared to The Flash. So I don't think this is the worst comic book film this year, but it wasn't exactly a stellar year for the genre.

[Ron Burgundy]

Its been too long since i posted here.

But why the heck not.

So, unfortunately ive only seen 2 movies in cinema, with 1 more possibly tomorrow night being Poor Things

Oppenheimer
Nolan is back to his uh semi best. Resisting the urge to pack in a montage of action and going for a nice non linear piece. After being influenced left right and center about how i should feel about this, i pretty much sit where i did upon just finishing the film 6 months ago. Its not bad but im a bit of Nolan fan. Some good performances, namely Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. It probably lacked some more punch in the last third but this is a biopic that sticks close to the original story. I've said it once and ill say it again, Nolan is the most ambitious director today.
7/10

Killers of the Flower Moon
What starts off in the same vein as Wolf of Wall Street, with super fast editing and some banging sounds soon cools into what this movie really is; a dark and slow spiral into the real history America loves to cover up and forget about. I love that Scorsese made this movie, at his age you could forgive him to stick to producing niche interests. Leo and De Niro give top notch performances, with the newcomer Lily Gladstone holding her own against these two mega-stars. A good movie to see on the big screen.
7.5/10

and heres some others i watched recently at home on my own little 'bigscreen'

The Killer
Had super high hopes for this, and it didn't totally disappoint just needed a better final third (more story, meaning and action)
6.5/10

Saltburn
Surprising good, Barry Keoghan keeps on the up and up while Jacob Elordi (from Euphoria) makes a good start to his big screen career. Theres something about dark stories involving the upper class that makes me sit up and listen. Could have ended a bit better but not complaining.
6.5/10

Barbie
All i can really say is that Ken stole the show. You could almost call the movie: Ken.
6/10

A Haunting in Venice
Im a sucker for a whodunnit. No matter how ridiculous the plot is, how predictable the story is, i don't have nor care for foresight. Nope, i couldnt guess whodunnit, Did you? As maximus once said- are you not entertained!?
6/10

Dumb Money
This was a tad disappointing, given the talent and interesting plot involved. Paul Dano is everywhere these days isnt he? I kind of dappled into the wallstreetbets myself albeit too late to gain anything. I'd say there will be a bit more on this kind of topic in the future.
5/10

The Creator
Fairly ambitious project for Gareth Edwards but i think its fair to say this Sci-fi could have been so much more. Too much focus on the child, not enough backstory for any characters except the main. The whole 'human or robot' tone got a bit nagging towards the end.
5.5/10

Sound of Freedom
I just had to watch this AFTER learning about Jim Caviezel and his political stance. Also after i heard this is basically only a half true story, all the good action is pretty much not true. Still, it wasn't bad, i can see why it made a killing at the BO.
6/10

Guardians of Galaxy Vol 3
Oh boy, talk about a lukewarm ending. I have pretty much given up on Marvel these days. I know Vol 2 wasnt great but i thought given James Gunn's involvement, maybe this would be good. Its not, just super average despite the excellent visuals. (7.9 on imdb? ridiculous!)
5.5/10

Sisu
Finally, an original if slightly derivative sick action adventure movie. If you like action, one man army style, go watch this. Unheralded but very much worth seeing. Cant wait to see whats next from this writer or director.
7/10

Five Nights at Freddies
Didnt really understand the huge BO take for this one, can someone fill me in please? Was it the online advertising? Not a bad movie but it wasn't really scary or something ill prob even watch again.
5/10

[Buscemi2]

Five Nights at Freddy's was an incredibly popular video game series in the 2010's and the movie had been in the works for years. Also, it was a PG-13 horror movie released on Halloween.

I tried playing the game once but the download was buggy and ended up being unplayable as a result.

[Buscemi2]

I gave the Wes Anderson Roald Dahl shorts a watch over a couple days and wow, I'm amazed someone at Netflix thought these were a good idea. Everything that worked about Fantastic Mr. Fox isn't seen in these, as Anderson decided it was a good idea to not show any action whatsoever. Instead, it's the actors telling the stories to the audience, talking incredibly fast and monotone to the point where it's hard to understand half of what they are saying. Most of the few actors (five known actors and some extras) in the shorts are just there to sell the stories to Netflix subscribers and largely phone it in. The four shorts feel the same, causing what was theatrically released as an anthology to feel like an endurance test of how long you take the nothingness. And Anderson, long known as a director of style and getting the biggest names to appear in his projects, seems to have been replaced with a robot as it feels like it was directed by AI.

This is an example of how not to adapt stories to the screen.

Final grades:
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar 2/10
Poison 3/10 (the one story where things actually seem to happen)
The Rat Catcher 2/10
The Swan 2/10

[StarLord123]

Sound of Freedom 7/10
I viewed this film purely on its own merits, ignoring all the hoopla surrounding it. I thought this was a good enough, competently made thriller with a solid lead performance from Jim Caviezel and good performances from the child actors as well. I was invested for a lot of the movie, but I do think the pacing is too slow and meandering at times. It's also depressing (although that's understandable considering the subject matter) to the point where I probably won't watch it again, but I think it's worth a one-time watch. Although it's not the masterpiece that many have hailed it as.

Leave the World Behind 6.5/10
This is a decent thriller. The premise is interesting, it's tense, it's atmospheric, it's well shot and directed, good sound design, good performances from big name actors. However, it sort of just abruptly ends in a way that's not very fulfilling and leaves more questions than answers. Though since I was engaged and on edge for the majority of the lengthy runtime I suppose it's still a net positive ultimately. This is very reminiscent of Shyamalan movies in that it's great at building intrigue but not so great at payoff.

[JohnErle]

With the new year looming, and since I haven't seen enough 2023 films to participate in the annual RS Awards show, I thought I'd whip up a quick list of the 10 best older films I saw in 2023.

I finally signed up for the Criterion Channel when they offered a Black Friday sale, so I'll have lots of access to classics in the coming year, and there's a decent streaming service as part of the cable package I inherited from my dad, so I'll be able to catch up on some of 2023's big releases next year, but I'm still at a stage in my life where I seem to be drawn more to classics and foreign films than anything coming out of the Hollywood studio system.

That being said, I'm as surprised as anyone by the #10 pick on my list.

Top 10 (sorted chronologically)

Gaslight (1944, US)
The Suspect (1944, UK)
Between Midnight & Dawn (1950, US)
Giants & Toys (1958, Japan)
Don't Torture A Duckling (1970, Italy)
Shock (1977, Italy)
The Worst Person In The World (2021, Norway)
Drive My Car (2021, Japan)
Lamb (2021, Iceland)
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021, US)

[Buscemi2]

I did not get the buzz over The Worst Person in the World. I found it nothing more than another ego trip from Trier and I really didn't get why we were supposed to dislike the protagonist when the obvious director stand-in written to be her boyfriend but is simply there to tell us how great Joachim Trier is as an artist is clearly the hateable one but we're supposed to feel sorry for him because he has cancer.

It seems like it was made for filmbros and only filmbros, to be watched when they'd tired of Oppenheimer or the director's cut of Nymphomaniac.

[transformers2]

With the new year looming, and since I haven't seen enough 2023 films to participate in the annual RS Awards show, I thought I'd whip up a quick list of the 10 best older films I saw in 2023.

I finally signed up for the Criterion Channel when they offered a Black Friday sale, so I'll have lots of access to classics in the coming year, and there's a decent streaming service as part of the cable package I inherited from my dad, so I'll be able to catch up on some of 2023's big releases next year, but I'm still at a stage in my life where I seem to be drawn more to classics and foreign films than anything coming out of the Hollywood studio system.

That being said, I'm as surprised as anyone by the #10 pick on my list.

Top 10 (sorted chronologically)

Gaslight (1944, US)
The Suspect (1944, UK)
Between Midnight & Dawn (1950, US)
Giants & Toys (1958, Japan)
Don't Torture A Duckling (1970, Italy)
Shock (1977, Italy)
The Worst Person In The World (2021, Norway)
Drive My Car (2021, Japan)
Lamb (2021, Iceland)
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021, US)

Thank you for helping me discover that I have a concussion!

[StarLord123]

The Holdovers 9/10
This is the first new release I've seen since the summer that I can confidently say I adored all-around. I haven't seen any other movies from Alexander Payne, and normally these types of dramadies aren't on my wavelength with how schmaltzy they tend to be. However, it turns out that this type of movie can be pretty damn great with a proper script, direction, and casting. This is a potent and powerful film with some of the strongest performances I've seen all year from the 3 leads, including possibly a career-best turn for Paul Giamatti. It can be very funny at times without the comedy being in-your-face, it's dramatic when necessary without overdoing it, and it's genuinely heartfelt and thoughtful. The film manages to balance the comedy and the emotion almost perfectly without coming across as tone deaf. Despite being shot digitally it nails the early 70s aesthetic and tone. It took me back to the days of watching TCM airings as a 8-10 year old. I honestly don't have many gripes other than that the premise isn't super original or crazy, but the formula is handled very well. All in all this is a gem that more people should see and a strong top 5 of 2023 candidate.

[JohnErle]

Thank you for helping me discover that I have a concussion!

I may have had one the night I watched it.

[Buscemi2]

Fallen Leaves 9/10

A delightful romantic comedy that only needs 81 minutes and no gimmicks to tell its story. Focused on the trials and tribulations of two ordinary people who meet by chance, fall in love, lose touch, date, break up, and get reunited by an unfortunate train accident, Aki Kaurismaki's newest is the kind of movie rarely seen in Western cinema today: the film about people you can relate to. These characters, eccentric as they are, don't feel like characters. They feel like the kind of people you would see on the street, at the grocery store, even in a movie theatre while you are watching this movie. Kaurismaki shows here that you don't need to have people with superpowers or extreme violence or some moment with a bathtub to entertain. You just need good characters and a good script to make a movie work.

[StarLord123]

Wonka 7/10
I honestly thought the trailers for this looked kind of bad, so I was not in a rush to see this one, but a few people I know recommended this movie, so I went and checked it out, especially since almost nothing else is out this month.

I thought this movie was alright and better than the trailers made it look. I'm not quite in love with it like some folks are, but it was a pleasant, enjoyable enough experience. The songs are generally fine, it has a decent story, a decent message, and decent villains that aren't super memorable but they serve their purpose within the story. The movie is elevated by Timothée Chalamet's committed lead performance, I initially felt that he was miscast, but he does solid work here portraying a naive, hopeful version of Wonka. There's some genuinely imaginative visuals, good side characters that actually get some fair development, and quite a bit of heart at the center.

Still, there's a few bumps along the way, the humor is of the hit-or-miss variety, when it works, it does work, but when it doesn't, it's very groan-inducing. The characters break into song a few too many times for my liking, and some of those scenes can drag on. It feels quite sanitized and safe, it lacks much of the cynical edge from the original films, though maybe that'll come into play in potential sequels. Also, the story tries to juggle a bit too much when it comes to worldbuilding and it can feel a little convoluted. All in all, I still had a decent time with this movie.

[StarLord123]

Saltburn 3/10
Not for me. This was quite the endurance test in all honesty. I pretty much hated all of the characters, they're walking stereotypes who are aggressively unlikable and have very shallow character development and depth. I also found it to unbelievably pretentious and boring throughout, despite the occasional gratuitous "look how edgy we are" moments, there were not enough of those moments to keep me from being bored out of my damn mind and wanting this film to end already. The scenes not being necessary to the plot doesn't matter much when there's barely any plot to get invested in to begin with. Apparently this was supposed to be comedic, but I laughed zero times, and I almost never felt tense. Outside of the gross-out scenes I didn't feel anything beyond pure boredom. The ending plot twist is so predictable that I hesitate to actually call it a plot twist. The pacing is also wildly uneven, scenes are either too quick or drag out too long with no in-between.

All the movie has going for it is that the cinematography looks pretty good, and the actors' performances are fine given the material they have to work with. It's possible that something like this was never going to be my cup of tea, but due to the buzz surrounding it, I gave it a chance to entertain me and it most definitely did not.

[StarLord123]

Polite Society 7/10
Decent, overlooked movie. It's definitely different and original. For a feature film directorial debut it's quite well made with a unique style and rhythm. It's paced nicely, the main characters are charismatic, it's generally funny, and the fight sequences are amusing. Although the twist reveal is too bizarre and doesn't fit that well with the rest of the movie, there are a few uncomfortable and awkward scenes (I'm a tad surprised that this managed a PG-13), and the fight sequences while decent can overindulge with the slow motion. Also, this is probably one of the worst examples in recent years of a trailer spoiling the entire film.

The Boogeyman 6/10
It's competent enough but generic horror fare. It's nicely directed, nothing too scary or frightening but there's some decent tension. Good performances from Sophie Thatcher and Vivien Lyra Blair who do stronger work here than they did in their respective Disney+ Star Wars shows. David Dastmalchian leaves a lasting impression even with just a few minutes of screen-time. It has just the right runtime so it doesn't overstay its welcome. Although basically every plot development is very predictable and familiar, nearly every horror cliche one can think of is on display.