Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Chienfantome
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

Post by Chienfantome »

I'm really curious to see The Endless, it's gonna play at a film festival here next month.
Otherwise, that's a lot of Chinese films you saw john !
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numbersix
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Got a bunch more flicks to cover now that London Film Fest is finished, just to show up John

It: 5/10
Overlong and over-stuffed fantasy movie. IT sure ain't a horror, as I've seen cartoons that are scarier. Especially when it uses the same scare over and over. The "real" issues the kids face are way too soft (like the girl's abuse by a parent), and there's not enough time to develop them, so the African American kid feels like a token inclusion.

Ava: 5/10
Disappointing French drama about a 13-year old girl who learns she is going blind. There are some great momense of imagination, but they're too sparse to make the film feel distinct enough, and the ending is a major let-down.

A Fantastic Woman: 7/10
Excellent drama about a transgender woman in Chile who has to deal with the death of her lover, including being shunned by his actual family. Like Gloria, this is a portrait of a lonely soul, but told with passion and grace.

Western: 6/10
Observational drama bout a German construction worker in Bulgaria, whose melancholia leads him to befriending the local villagers, and turning against his own. It's a slow, sweet film.

A Gentle Creature: 7/10
Strange, surreal Russian film about a woman whose parcel to her incarcerated husband is returned, prompting a journey to the prison to disocver what happened. The woman passes through the lives of an array of strange, funny people, leading to a Kafkaesque story about governmental corruption.

Dean: 6/10
Watchable dramedy about an artist who can't deal with his mother's death so he takes off to Los Angeles. It's a gentle, sweet film that does just about enough to stand apart from all those other Sundance films.

Ghost Stories: 4/10
Lame attempt at adapting a stage play in which a cynic investigates three supernatural stories. It's framed by a big ol clunky twist, and the individual sequences are far from scary.

Jeunne Femme: 6/10
A mesmerising lead performance about a woman who breaks up with the man she's dependent on, forcing her to make her own life, despite being a little unhinged. Nothing special about the story, but that actress is great.

Most Beautiful Island: 5/10
A film with a great, eerie build-up, following an immigrant woman in NY trying to find work, but doesn't quite deliver on that build-up. Still pretty creepy. Like an intelligent form of torture porn.

A Prayer Before Dawn: 6/10
Almost sickening drama about a young British man who ends up in a Thai prison, barely able to speak the local language, and addicted to heroin. It charts his attempt to find sanity through kickboxing. The quality is in the details, the little moments of intensity and grime.

The Endless: 7/10
Gotta agree with John (well, not the criticism of The Wailing) - this is an exciting and surprising mystery/sci-fi about two brothers returning to the cult they escaped from. Like the directors' previous films, this is both mind-bending in narrative yet relatable in the characters and occasional light tone. Amazingly made for such a low budget.

Blade Runner 2: 5/10
Totally over-rated. And an hour too long. I actually fell asleep during one scene. The attempt to develop the story misses the point of the original, which was an attempt at a stripped down gumshoe movie that was more interested in the victims and how they were mroe human than human. This story shoves in plenty of detecting, but not much philosophy.

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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Chienfantome wrote:I'm really curious to see The Endless, it's gonna play at a film festival here next month.
Otherwise, that's a lot of Chinese films you saw john !
That wasn't the initial plan, but it worked out that way. There's such a huge Chinese population here that Chinese language films are always a big part of the festival. In retrospect, it's surprising there aren't more Bollywood films. I bought a 10-ticket pack in advance, and I missed a few films I was planning to see, so when the clock was ticking in the final days there was always a Chinese film at my neighbourhood theatre for me to take a chance on. And I highly recommend The Endless.
Six wrote:Got a bunch more flicks to cover now that London Film Fest is finished, just to show up John
How dare you.

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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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I was disappointed by Ava too when I saw it. A Fantastic Woman is a very good film indeed.
I really need to catch The Endless next month when it plays at a festival in Paris.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Professor Marston & the Wonder Women 8/10

Interesting story about what might have led to the creation of the Amazonian comic book character. What could have been cheap melodrama actually is a classy sexual drama with interesting ideas about society and gender politics (making it more relevant in the modern age than most awards bait pieces). Though Luke Evans is impressive as Marston and Bella Heathcote does well as their assistant/third sexual partner, I feel the real star of the film is Rebecca Hall as Marston's wife. This is another film that she carries on shoulders and makes you wonder why the industry cannot write more good scripts for her.

Though there are a few faults (such as the dreadful score, which sounds like public domain library tracks you'd put in a YouTube video), this film deserved a much better fate than it got.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Marshall 8/10

I can see why some people would be disappointed by this one, being that it focuses on an earlier case of Thurgood Marshall's rather than his time in the Supreme Court. But that is the trend for biopics right now and I'd say this is one of the better ones (it's no Selma though). Chadwick Boseman, who's made a career out of playing historical figures, does a pretty strong Denzel Washington impression but who really surprises is Josh Gad as his colleague. He's actually a good serious actor. Reginald Hudlin's direction looks not too bad for someone who hadn't directed in 15 years (it definitely has the look of a different era in filmmaking) while Newton Thomas Sigel's cinematography is very striking.

The film does leave you wanting more but luckily we have plenty of books and stories about Marshall and his battles.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Suburbicon - D

George Clooney went rummaging into the Coen Brothers trash, found Suburbicon, and still managed to mess it up.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Jigsaw - 7/10

Yeah, I know, but I tend to be rather generous with my Ratings. If I was entertained, and the film kept me guessing till the end, then it earns a seven. It held true to the Saw norm and it wasn't horrendously gratuitous like the last one was (FUCKING EVERYONE DIED... HORRIBLY!). Whether this marks the start of a new slew of movies, we'll see. But though the bloom is off the rose, it was a reminder why I liked these films in the first place.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Only the Brave 8/10

This was an entertaining film that you really don't see anymore: the ensemble historical drama based around a name actor (Josh Brolin, in this case) and a young cast of relatively fresh faces, surrounding by other familiar actors in support. Had a studio made this, you know they would have cast Disney Channel/Nickelodeon actors to surround Miles Teller (who's actually decent as a recovering addict who gets his life back on track by joining the team). In a way, it's a lot like Ron Howard's Backdraft but in Arizona rather than Chicago (I was also reminded of Ridley Scott's White Squall, which also had Jeff Bridges in a mentor character). But the best performance in the film is Jennifer Connelly as Brolin's character's wife. This may be her best performance in a long time (and I could see an Oscar push for her). I also noticed that Joseph Kosinski has really matured as a director. Better known for big sci-fi blockbusters, this is a more intimate film (despite the big set pieces) for him and he focuses on the actors more than the action. Maybe he could make a good career as Tony Scott reborn.

You think this would be more high-profile than it is but I guess the downer ending might have done it in. But it sure beats how you'd often see such a story done in the industry today.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Thor: Ragnarok 9/10
My favorite Marvel film since at least Iron Man, if not ever. Ragnarok beats Guardians of the Galaxy at its own game with a goofy sense of humor, an outstanding ensemble cast at the top of their respective game's (Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson and Jeff motherfuckin' Goldblum are especially great), terrific action sequences and a vibrant color pallet that actually resembles a comic book. If Marvel can keep pumping out weird, whacky and endlessly entertaining movies like this, I'll have a much easier time forgiving them when they put out a Age of Ultron or GotG Vol.2.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Happy Death Day 1/10

If Groundhog Day were made by a bunch of hacks, filled with unlikeable characters, and given a ridiculous and unsatisfying twist (it reminded me of what Lionel Twain had to say about twist endings). This teen-friendly slasher desperately wants to be like the post-modern slashers of the 90's (hell, Bear McCreary's score is rather derivative of Marco Beltrami's work on the Scream series) but ends up feeling more like if Freeform redid Legally Blonde. The screenplay (obviously written by a man) is filled with cliches and seems as if the writer had never met a woman or anyone who was a teenager or college student in this decade. Everyone is a stereotype. And there's a subplot involving a serial killer that goes nowhere (except to rip off both Vertigo and Sixteen Candles and to set up said dumb twist).

The film is a mess and exists as nothing more than for Blumhouse to cover every concept of the horror genre. I have no idea how this has done well.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Thor: Ragnarok - B

Another Marvel movie, made more tolerable with Taiki's humor involved. I don't know, outside of the Cap movie (Winter Soldier and Civil War), I've been losing my zest for MCU movies. Dr. Strange was a little better, with its visuals and mysticism.

The Florida Project - A

My favorite movie of the year.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Civil War was unwatchable. I can only stand the films that set their universe a bit apart inside the Marvel Universe. The Civil War and Avengers type of films are such a pain to watch for me now.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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The Nile Hilton Incident: 6/10
Watchable noir-esque detective story set in Cairo on the eve of the Arab Spring riots. Like any good noir, it's a cynical look at power play.

The Death of Stalin: 7/10
Biting comedy about the struggle to fill the power gap after the death of the Russian leader. It's really just another type of In the Loop/Thick of It, told with the energy of naturalistic dialogue and plenty of insults. IT gets pretty grim towards the end, but what do you expect for a film about Russian history.

The Meyerowitz Stories: 5/10
A lesser Baumbach affair. It's really just a dull version of the Royal Tenenbaums, with tree middle-aged children dealing with their hospital-bound father, who is a struggling yeet vain artist. There's smoe sweetness and humour, but not enough of either to make it memorable.

Killing Ground: 5/10
Nasty Austrailain killer flick about a couple who go camping in the wilderness. There's some trickery with the narrative but it's obvious and doesn't mean much, and the violence is pretty sickening. There's a nice reversal of roles towards the end, but that doesn't do much to help the film stand out.

Loveless: 6/10
Strangely compelling story of a Russian couple in the midst of a divorce, only to realise their son has gone missing. Like Leviathan, the domestic story is more about larger Russian society, but the characterisations are strong, showing both love and hatred on each side as they struggle to find out what happened to their kid.

I Am Not A Witch: 6/10
Surprisingly entertaining, for a film about the abuse of a child in rural Zimbabwe. What makes it stand out is the use of satire as it mocks the way a young girl accused of being a witch is used by a local government representative to further his own career. There are some brilliant moments and it's very well shot, but the story doesn't quite come together.

The Fury of A Patient Man: 6/10
Subdued and occasionally tense Spanish thriller about a mysterious man who starts having a relationship with the wife of a con who is about to come out of prison. So far so familiar, but then the film twists into something entirely different. The ending lets it down, but foir the most part it's well made.

Jupiter's Moon: 5/10
The follow up to White God furthers the director's ability to craft compelling, exciting scenes. Particularly in the opening as we follow a Syrian immigrant trying to escape into Hungarian land through lakes and forests. But the actual story, in which that immigrant can float, and is adopted by a desperate doctor to make some money, is both narrativey contrived and thematically heavy-handed.

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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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I also watched The Meyerowitz Stories recently and felt it was nothing more than a bland retread of every midlife crisis/dysfunctional family movie from the 2000's (I also agree that Baumbach lifted from Wes Anderson). Sandler was surprisingly decent though.

Back to the reviews...

The Killing of a Sacred Deer 8/10

The movie that Prisoners desperately wanted to be. Yorgos Lanthimos, Greece's best-known cinematic provocateur, enters the psyche of the American family and mental instability with this drama that isn't afraid to be disturbing or make the audience think about its mysterious teenage figure. It also avoids being like a typical American film by taking sides. Nearly all of the main characters have some sort of skeleton in their closet. The performances are very strong, with Colin Farrell doing some of his best work in some time and the younger actors giving very naturalistic performances. I also admired the use of long takes for the majority of the film (but thankfully not overdoing it like Birdman did). If I did have a problem with anything, it may be that a few films have covered some of these topics better (mainly the climax). But it does get you to wondering.

For those who have seen the film: Who do you think Martin really is? I came up with four possibilities. 1. He is the Angel of Death or maybe even Death himself, taking the appearance of an unassuming teenager while his mother was another fallen angel or avatar. 2. He is a demon and so is his mother. 3. Martin was an alter ego of Kim and only the family could see the surviving Langs. However, the father was real. 4. They're ghosts that died in the car accident that killed Martin's father.
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