Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

[Buscemi]

A Monster Calls 9/10

Everything that Fantastic Beasts wasn't. A skillfully made fantasy film that mixes a world beyond our imagination with the harsh truths of reality (one could say it's as if Ken Loach tackled the genre) that manages to wow the viewer as well as make them cry. J.A. Bayona's direction shows why he is one of the most exciting directors right now but Hollywood is too blind to see that (considering the awful domestic distribution this one got) while the script by Patrick Ness (adapting his novel) is definitely not a case of someone doing it for the money. Bayona and Ness do not pander to a wider audience and go for a bigger, louder, dumber style to bring in the "only see one movie a year" crowd. The film basks in letting things develop and is not afraid to go deeper, creating a great (as well as timeless) beauty in its somber tone.

The lead performance by Lewis MacDougall is impressive for a young actor and it takes a lot to play a character that young who is endlessly suffering. Liam Neeson, as the titular monster, gives one of his best performances and is definitely here for more than just a paycheck. And Sigourney Weaver does really well as the boy's grandmother (her English accent's not too bad either). Fernando Velazquez does another quality score that thankfully avoids the typical James Newton Howard-esque cliches now heard in every fantasy film nowadays and the CGI is really well done (animation buffs will love the fact that The Monster's tales are told through a watercolor-like look).

I would take forever explaining everything but this is a film that cannot be explained in just a few paragraphs. You have to see it to really understand its effect.

[Chienfantome]

I saw "A monster calls" yesterday too, and I have to say it's a beautiful film. I think the first act is a bit weak, annaratively, but once the monster starts telling his tales, something clicks. It put tears in my eyes.

[Chienfantome]

Every year in January, one of my New Year resolutions is to write more reviews in this thread because every year I go see more than 200 films in theater but I rarely post anything about them here. I'm too lazy to write proper reviews in English for them all, but I'll try to write at least a line or two about them. Let's start with the first films I've since in 2017.

Born to be Blue
Ethan Hawke is really good as Chet Baker. I don’t like biopics and this isn’t really one as it focuses on a specific time in Baker’s life. Pretty good. 6.5/10

The Final Master
If you like martial arts films, watch this. The best wu xia pan I’ve seen in a long time, set in China in the 20’s or 30’s. The direction, the writing, the acting are quite remarkable. The rhythm of the film, and of the action sequences, short and simple, is really remarkable. 8.5/10

A Monster Calls
A good surprise, the first act is a bit weak but when the story and characters are well defined begins a film gorgeous style-wise and emotional. 8/10

American Pastoral
It isn’t bad. It isn’t particularly good either. The film is well done but it lacks character. 5/10

The Great Wall
A fun B movie, not particularly strong in the writing, but extravagant enough in its atmosphere and visuals, as often with Yimou, to make it enjoyable. 6/10

The Fits
It’s short and impactful. The rhythm is almost hypnotic. It’s a film about a teen girl who leaves boxing for dancing. You never really leave the center in which boxers and dancers both train, you never really see adults, or so few. And there is a mystery growing. Very interesting film. 7/10

Neruda
Pabo Larrain loves to tell a story the way you don’t expect him too. Filled with fantasy, his tale of Pablo Neruda takes you on strange paths, very cinematic ones. The last act is marvelous. 7.5/10

Your name
An ambitious animated film, that uses too much J-pop for its own good but manages to create a fascinating universe. 7/10

The Founder
Michael Keaton as the founder (sort of) of McDonald’s. The man and his journey are quite fascinating, even you don’t feel empathy for him. It’s nothing remarkable but quite interesting. 6.5/10

Sweet Dreams
An Italian drama by Marco Bellocchio, it’s a beautiful film about a man who lost his mother when he was a kid, and his loss still haunts him in adulthood. 7.5/10

[Buscemi]

Annoyingly, The Founder is playing nowhere near me (and Silence is getting dumped into one late show a night here tomorrow) but Hacksaw Ridge is still going. I'm going to keep continuing my mantra: can't wait for the Drafthouse to open.

[W]

Annoyingly, The Founder is playing nowhere near me (and Silence is getting dumped into one late show a night here tomorrow) but Hacksaw Ridge is still going. I'm going to keep continuing my mantra: can't wait for the Drafthouse to open.

My brother is moving by there, but not close enough. Still two and a half hours away from that Alamo. We may go to the Kansas City one next year some time to watch a Chiefs game, though.

[undeadmonkey]

Glad to hear about The Great Wall, makes me look forward to it a little more. Neruda sounds very interesting too.

[Buscemi]

Annoyingly, The Founder is playing nowhere near me (and Silence is getting dumped into one late show a night here tomorrow) but Hacksaw Ridge is still going. I'm going to keep continuing my mantra: can't wait for the Drafthouse to open.

My brother is moving by there, but not close enough. Still two and a half hours away from that Alamo. We may go to the Kansas City one next year some time to watch a Chiefs game, though.

You won't be disappointed. Best sound system I've ever heard in a theatre.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

The Founder - B

Routine biopic, the story itself is way more interesting than the way it's told. I can see why Keaton was passed over for awards, they've made Ray Kroc a very boring person, in spite of his history.

I'm not surprised this is from the director of The Blind Side and Saving Mr. Banks. Two other true stories that are cleansed of most moral ambiguity.

[Ron Burgundy]

Awesome Chien, looking forward to reading what you think about all the movies you see, since i hardly watch anything near to your amount...

Im very much looking forward to The Final Master and to a lesser extent Neruda. And to an even lesser extent; The Founder

[numbersix]

Buncha recent flicks:

Silence: 5/10
Scorsese's account of priests tracking down one of their own in feudal Japan is... well... uninspired. It's an interesting film about faith, but it drags for so long, taking nearly an hour to get started and even then it feels slow. The Last Temptation of Christ this ain't.

Operation Avalanche: 6/10
Fun found footage conspiracy thriller about a group of government spies in the 60s who realise NASA are losing the space race, so they decide to fake the moon landings. And then things get complicated. It's entertaining and tense, although the performances from the leads are somewhat unconvincing.

Hidden Figures: 6/10
Sure it's Oscar bait, but its well performed by the three main leads, and I had no idea about this little story in civil rights history. Sadly, it's lacking in tension, and the score is terrible, but it's watchable.

La La Land: 6/10
Damien Chazelle's musical isn't great to be honest. The characterisation is poor and for a musical it's very much lacking in anything camp. The need to play it straight results in some surprisingly dull music and dance sequences (unlike that amazing scene in Hail Caesar, for example). There is talent int he performances, the editing, and some of the craft, for sure, but I suspect this isn't the "classic" we're being told it is. It's just another The Artist.

Moonlight: 7/10
This is the opposite of the turgid Fences. This is a play that feels like a film, thanks to the impressive direction of Barry Jenkins. It's a moving tale of 3 defining moments in a young African-American man's life. The cast are incredible, and the director knows when the fill the frame with their expressive faces, showing us more than dialogue ever will. It's not perfect by far, there are some characters and choice that are difficult to believe, and it's a little too restrained, but it's still very well made.

[transformers2]

Split 4/10
M. Night Shymalan continues to make ruining a movie in the 3rd act an artform. Shymalyan tip-toes around the many interesting questions raised in the first 2/3 of the movie in favor of delivering a whole lot of shitty attempts at symbolism, character's making inexplicably stupid decisions that go completely against the behavior they displayed earlier in the film and a "twist"-which doesn't come until the last 90 seconds of the film-that is laughably insane, and likely to go over the head of anyone that isn't familiar with good ol' M. Night's earlier work. I left the theater confused at what the fuck I just watched and angry that I let the master of cinematic dickteases dupe me again. At least James McAvoy was great....

[undeadmonkey]

The more i hear about Split the more i want to see it.

[Buscemi]

Sleepless 6/10

Enjoyably dumb Jamie Foxx action film about a Las Vegas detective who must save his son from a drug lord (Scoot McNairy!) and a casino owner (Dermot Mulroney!) while being accused of corruption by an Internal Affairs agent (Michelle Monaghan). The film is really an excuse to show things get destroyed and the title makes little sense (maybe had I actually remembered seeing the original some years back) but is admirable for what it is. And at least Mihai Malaimare Jr. is getting work (still waiting for a reteaming with Paul Thomas Anderson).

[transformers2]

I saw a ton of movies over the past month and a half that I didn't post about here, so here's a nice cumulative post summing up my thoughts on all of them. I swear I'll get better at this shit in 2017.

Nocturnal Animals 7.5/10:
The acting is terrific all-around and the story-within-the story is an effective grimy crime thriller, but the reveal of why Jake Gyllenhaal's character was inspired to write his violent revenge novel is petty as fuck and undermines a lot of the positives that come before it.

Office Christmas Party 7.5/10:
Amusing yet disposable comedy with a top-notch cast led by Jason Bateman, T.J. Miller and Jennifer Aniston doing wild shit for 100 minutes. The perfect piece of mindless holiday entertainment that I needed to see at the end of a thoroughly depressing year.

La La Land 7/10:
A beautifully-shot, expertly-directed and well-acted film that just simply wasn't for me. I will say that I do feel this movie deserves every ounce of acclaim its received and I really hope that it ends up beating out the vastly overrated Moonlight for Best Picture.

Passengers 5/10:
One of the biggest letdowns of 2016. Despite their best efforts, Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence can't save this lifeless sci-fi romance from the bowels of mediocrity.

Rogue One 4/10
HOT TAKE ALERT: This is the worst Stars Wars movie to-date. Phantom Menace might've been cheesy as hell, but at least I didn't feel compelled to fall asleep for 3/4 of the movie. The characters are basically mannequins, the pacing is sluggish and the acting from everyone besides Riz Ahmed and Alan Tudyk is god awful. I'll be avoiding Gareth Edwards-directed films like the plague from now on.

Live by Night 8/10:
As i mentioned in the Top 100 of the 2000's thread, I was one of the 12 people in the United States that saw and enjoyed this movie. Ben Affleck is in his element directing this 20's/30's-set gangster picture about a World War I veteran (Affleck) that gets tied up in the world of organized crime upon returning from battle. The Boston-set introduction to the film is kind of dull and the narrative definitely bites off more than it can chew at times, but I still enjoyed the hell out of it and would recommend it to any fans of Affleck's previous directorial efforts.

Fences 7/10:
Unreal performances from its ensemble cast and a handful of poignant scenes keep this overly theatrical melodrama from falling flat on its face. It's basically a filmed play masquerading as a movie and there's absolutely zero reason to see it if you've seen the stage production .

Patriots Day 7.5/10
It's hard to view this from an objective manner when you know Mark Wahlberg's character isn't based on a real person (some of the pivotal scenes are hilariously contrived and distorted from reality just so Wahlberg can live out his masturbatory hero fantasy), but it was too engrossing and well-meaning to hate.

[Buscemi]

I recently watched Nocturnal Animals online and I just found it all style and unsure if it was trying to be a crime drama or a film about divorce (I can't think of a film this disjointed since Lucy). The long wait for Tom Ford's next film was not worth it and in past years, probably would have gotten a lot of criticism for trying to be two movies in one (and not like say, Grindhouse, which really was two movies in one).