Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Buscemi2
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

Post by Buscemi2 »

What am I missing in Rockwell's character? He's winning all these awards but I just don't get it. The character is a buffoon that just makes things worse for everyone else and outside of losing his job, there are no repercussions. And then the film goes all Prisoners on us.

It would have been far more satisfying had the chief's note to him simply said, "I know you killed her" instead of turning into a meandering ride that finishes with "let's go kill the innocent guy for no particular reason"..

And the girlfriend character was pretty bad. All her dialogue is mile-a-minute, no pauses or syntax whatsoever. It's as if McDonagh forgot to direct the character and just told the actress to wing it.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Well, the point of his story is his arc of redemption. Losing his job is his low point, the realisation that he's a dick,and he becomes an alcoholic. After saving the case file and being treated well by the guy he threw out a window he finds a way to do something to redeem himself. It's not overtly upbeat and if the tone was more even this would have worked even better.

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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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But even then, it still doesn't work as in the end, he's still a racist idiot that's about to kill an innocent man as the film ends. And what for, because he distrusts scientific method?

He's simply a bad character in a shaggy dog story. Five years from now, we're going to look back and be like, "That performance won an Oscar?"
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Well, no, he overheard the guy bragging about a rape so calls Mcdormand in order to allow her to feel some sense of justice in the universe. The fact that he does anything with someone else in mind is proof that he has progressed, even if he's far from angelic.

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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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But he's not the killer. And will killing him solve anything? The real killer is still at large and will probably strike again. Sure, he raped another girl but killing one unrelated rapist won't solve the case. There is no actual justice committed, just another killing.

If they wanted to go in that direction, they shouldn't have made the film they ended up making.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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As I said, this is the closest they can come to a sense of justice, and the characters acknowledge that. They're all obviously aware that the guy isn't a killer, but it's the outlet for all their pain and frustration considering the killer can never be found. It's also worth pointing out the last lines, in which they say they don't want to do this and will make up their minds when they get there.

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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Let's just agree to disagree because we'll just be here all day and all of the night.

Have you seen I, Tonya yet?
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Paddington 2 9/10

The Mighty Boosh meets The Wrong Trousers, more or less, in this improved sequel to the already stellar 2014 film. With the stakes raised, Paul King is able to go even more over the top and makes the family-friendly film that most filmmakers wish they could make. It's funny but it's also got heart and a positive message that isn't done in a superficial way. And Hugh Grant makes for one entertaining villain.

Why can't we get more movies like this one and less movies like The Boss Baby or Despicable Me 3?
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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I, Tonya 8/10

I had reservations about this film (based on the director's less-than-stellar filmography and marketing trying to sell it as a comedy) but thankfully, this biopic is beyond the typical Hollywood mold (by the way, no studio could have possibly made this film). There are so many different interpretations and storytellers presented that it leaves you thinking of whose side is the most truthful (my opinion: no version is the correct one but Tonya's side is more believable than Jeff's. Margot Robbie, whom I don't think I've seen give a bad performance, does justice to the real-life Harding while Sebastian Stan's portrayal of Jeff Gillooly reminded me of an even scummier James Franco. And I have to wonder where the director found the actor who played Shawn because he really knocked that role out of the park. Also, I'm not surprised by the Allison Janney buzz, though she's no Lesley Manville in Phantom Thread.

The comparisons to Goodfellas are very apt, as the film is constructed very similarly. It also seems to take a lot of nods from Fargo (the attack scene felt a lot like the kidnapping scene from that film) and another Scorsese film, Casino (the concept of multiple narrators). It also has that 90's feel without being overt about it.

In short, a better than expected, offbeat film that's better than its advertising.

Meanwhile, I saw the film at an Alamo Drafthouse (co-owners of the film's distributor) and got an excellent pre-show themed after the subject and events, including a recap of a film Harding acted in and a long reel of media impressions of Harding and the events (including the real Harding, news coverage, parodies including one with Scott Thompson of Kids in the Hall and Hannibal fame as Harding as Conan O'Brien as Gilooly, and a Campbell's Soup commercial with Nancy Kerrigan directed by the same person who did the film). I'm kind of hoping the Blu-ray includes some of this material.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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The Post: 5/10
Dull and utter propaganda, Spielberg needs to stick to blockbusters. while the story of the washington post's role in revealing details of a leaked report on Vietnam is interesting, the drama in this film lacks substance. Like in Lincoln, this film looks lack at the victors and we never see them question themselves or act like people probably would at the time, not knowing which way is the right one. Instead, we're given a bunch of lectures about the importance of investigative journalism. I of course agree with the sentiment, but not the clunky preaching.

The Unknown Soldier: 7/10
Finland's biggest film of all time (it made 3 times more than the last Star Wars film, and twice as much as Skyfall) is a 3-hour epic about a group of Finnish soldiers battling the russians (for the Nazis) during WWII. It's deserved of being called epic, as it jumps between several characters and their fears, their memories, and even their deaths. While there's not a whole lot of new material here (besides a focus on desertion and how soldiers are dealt with), it plays like a mix of Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line. Sadly, the international version is only 2 hours instead of the original 3-hour version.

Downsizing: 4/10
Woah, what was Alex Payne thinking? What starts off as a light satire becomes a film that doens't know what it is. Once Damon gets shrunk and tries to live his life, it becomes a film about moral obligation to the poor, and has absolutely zero to do with being shrunk. Payne is not suited to this type of film, and it really shows. There are some nice moments (Payne films people staring out at nothing very well, and Hong Chau is great), but it's a mess.

Phantom Thread: 6/10
PTA has a penchant for assholes. Which is a problem. This is a rich, interesting film about an obsessive dress designer who finds his next muse. She is a nobody who becaomes a somebody, forever terrified that he'll lose interest in her. And so she resorts to extremes. The film is quite witty at times, and perceptive about the myopia of so-called geniuses, but it made the mistake of making the girl devoid of warmth, and so despite the clever ending it's actually a very cold film.

Roman Israel Esq: 5/10
An awful title. Denzel is great as a sort of autistic lawyer whose partner gets a heart attack, forcing Roman to be the front-facing lawyer, which leads to disaster. It's an interesting world Gilroy creates but he loses focus, not sure whether to make this a dark satire or a sort of Oscar-baity film about the injustices of the legal system. So it gets a bit lost.

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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

Post by W »

15:17 to Paris 4/10: No real spoilers considering the subject matter, but just in case...

two really bad acts and one really good one. The first feels like a low budget Christuan movie focusing on the power of God vs ADD.

The second is them playing themselves rather poorly. So much cardboard acting and dialogue that is forced. They’re uncomfortable in their own skin, literally. The second act is, in a word, unnatural.

The third act is the action and is excellent. Slightly Hollywood-ized, it seems like it was probably pretty close to what actually happened. The five people that were actually from the incident recreated a traumatic event and n their lives pretty well.


All in all, it was pretty uneven and (surprise) people that aren’t actors can’t act, even when they play themselves. Great on Clint for trying something like this, but it didn’t turn out well.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

Post by Buscemi2 »

Early Man 7/10

This might be a strong contender for the weakest Aardman film though it still has its moments (such as a scene-stealing rabbit who is the target of the cave people's hunt). Nick Park's pet project in a way feels like Cars (the pet project of former Pixar head John Lassiter) in that both films are basically about simple characters in a sports premise. However, this one is influenced more by the feel-good English-produced comedies of the 90's such as Brassed Off or The Commitments and has a lot to say about the business end of association football (of course, a lot of this is going to go over the heads of the few Americans who have actually seen the film).

In short, not great but better than a lot of the material that gets sold to children. At least the Shaun the Sheep Movie sequel looks like it will deliver when it comes next year.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Black Panther 9/10
Ryan Coogler made a fantastic MCU-set political saga. It's a beautifully-shot, incredibly self-contained Marvel movie with well-realized characters that have clear motivations for their actions, great action scenes and a narrative that has real weight behind it. Only real complaint is that Michael B. Jordan's Erik Killmonger is slightly underutilzied. Not exactly sure where it ranks within the Marvel canon quite yet, but it's without question in the top-tier.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

Post by Shrykespeare »

Samson - 3/10

My wife loves Biblical epics, so I forced myself to sit through this.

Bland, tepid, horribly acted. The script felt like it was written by a 12-year-old who read the Bible once.

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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Black Panther 9/10

This might be the anti-Marvel movie. Instead of snide wisecracks, unnecessary fanservice, and excessive product placement (though I do congratulate the people of Wakanda driving Lexuses instead of Audis), we get an entertaining cross between Star Wars and James Bond ( with superheroes (speaking of which, why can't Ryan Coogler direct Star Wars instead of J.J. Abrams, Ron Howard, and whatever overpraised hack Lucasfilm can find?) and a message. Coogler focuses on his characters and the world created while putting equal attention to the action instead of the typical Marvel "throw it all on screen as quickly as possible" formula. Another thing I admired that it plays as its own film instead of being about "you're going to see this random character in Infinity War Part I" every 20 minutes. As for the character development of Killmonger, I'm convinced that it was supposed to be a surprise to make him the villain as the first half sets up Klaue as the villain (Wonder Woman uses a similar device).

Lastly, I want a Shuri spinoff. She's Q and Moneypenny put together to create an even more brilliant character.
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