Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

[Buscemi2]

Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of Movie Palaces 8/10

A sequel to a documentary I've never seen, this interesting little film focuses on the rise, fall, and re-rise of the movie palace. Told from the views of various preservationists along with Leonard Maltin, this goes into detail on these types of theatres and how they served to unite all sorts of people through the power of movies. It's a simple documentary and might be better served for the small screen but you learn a lot from it that you might not from the various misinformation and online fighting on Cinema Treasures.

Cat Video Fest 2020 8/10

Sure, you might be able to see all this on YouTube in segments but watching cat videos with a full house was one of the most active audience experiences I've had in quite some time. You get all sorts of cat videos in different genres, with different concepts, some documentary-style, some narrative, all with cats and with many relatable experiences. The highlights for me might have been an animated short about a cat having to take a bath and a documentary parody involving cats and engineering. Can't wait for Cat Video Fest 2021, which was promised at the end credits.

[Buscemi2]

The Photograph 7/10

A slight cut above the typical romantic film, told from the perspective of a museum curator in present day and her deceased mother from letters written in the 80's, linked together by the former's love interest, a journalist interviewing the latter's old flame for a story about Louisiana. Universal might have made a mistake in marketing the film as the black Notebook, as the story is much more modern and less cliche than the Nicholas Sparks formula. In fact, the approach writer/director Stella Maglie goes for is more that of films such as Roman Holiday. Though it is no masterpiece, it has some appeal thanks to a number of good performances and a final third that allows the film to rise above something you'd watch when nothing else is on.

Extra Ordinary 2/10

A one-joke premise that is stretched way too thin by the directors being more interested in being quirky than putting in some substance. The idea of a retired ghost hunter having to return to her old trade to save the daughter of a man haunted by his wife's ghost is interesting but it might have worked better as a short. At feature-length, it's pure tedium. Will Forte is miscast as the villain, a one-hit wonder who sells his soul for a new hit, while many of the supporting characters are underdeveloped. Also, a lot of the humor misses as the filmmakers have gags run way too long, seemingly to pad things out to a marketable length. I can't wait to read Six's opinion on this one, it being an Irish film and all.

And before this one, a dreadful short called Place showed, which seemed to have no idea of what it was. Cliche-ridden and played too straight for its own good, I had to wonder how anyone could enjoy the company of these characters. The whole thing felt like an inside joke only the director and cast actually found funny.

[numbersix]

Boosch, I saw the film last year for its Irish premiere. I had similar issues with the one-note side characters and Will Forte's OTT character and performance, which was too much of a cartoon. I did like Barry Ward's performance, particularly when he became possessed by his wife and perfected Ireland's most hated accent, the dreaded Dundalk.

[numbersix]

Latest batch

First Love: 6/10
Takeshi Miike's latest is a thrilling love story about an angry young boxer who bumps into a young woman in the middle of gang warfare. While the plot isn't exactly original, there's fun in the ridiculous details, such as a crazed lover of one of the gangsters who gets offed in the process. It's the dashes of weirdness that keep this entertaining.

Mickey and the Bear: 5/10
This SXSW winner was an above-average drama about a teen girl who has to take care of her father, who is suffering from PTSD. The usual highs and lows are charted ans there's nothing here we haven't already seen (Leave No Trace was way more subtle and empathetic). Performances are strong which are what make it watchable.

AI Rising: 4/10
Not worth mentioning this well-produced but tiring sci-fi about a sex robot in space who finds autonomy.

True History of the Kelly Gang: 5/10
A misfire from Justin Kurzel (is that all he does now?). It looks great and has great moments, but it can't decide whether it's a more traditional biopic of Ned Kelly, or an acid western that revels in the mania. So it tries to do both, and fails at both.

First Cow: 7/10
Kelly Reichart sacrifices a bit of character nuance to make a gentle buddy movie, about a young cook and a Chinese man living in a small town during the gold rush, who decide to make money using the town's only cow. It's a lovely, careful, caring movie, with moments of wit and tension throughout.

Shirley: 7/10
Josephine Decker's latest is a psychosexual biopic of Shirley Jackson, and is innovative in how it takes the style of her writing and merges it with her life story, particularly the point in which a young couple stay with her and her husband to run the household while Shirley deals with her depression. Fantasy and reality merge, as characters face attractions they never knew. At times it risks being hysterical, particularly with the performances, but again that fits into Jackson's style. An excellent, imaginative, kaleidoscopic film.

[Buscemi2]

Onward 7/10

Pixar is treading familiar ground at this point, between the elements of loss taken from Up and Coco and the premise of conquering your fears from The Good Dinosaur, in this fantasy comedy about two brothers racing against time to finish the spell of bringing back their deceased father for one more day after the younger turns sixteen. Styled like a buddy comedy, the film doesn't break any new ground but it's amusing enough in a 90's Disney kind of way. The film is more interesting in the scenes with the brothers' mother and the minotaur and in a way, I kind of wish it had been about those two. But of course, studio brass tend not to like female-led animated movies nowadays, even if they do better (see Frozen II).

The short film before it, Playdate with Destiny, is The Simpsons' welcoming party to Disney and might have more laughs in its short run time than all of Onward. As a TV show, The Simpsons has become stale and old hat. But in a theatrical form, the creative team brings their A-game in this short where Maggie develops a crush on a young boy at the park for children under 8. However, they get driven apart as Homer keeps taking Maggie to the park for older kids. Maggie takes it onto herself to break the barrier between them. With no dialogue and lots of visual gags, this is a very fitting companion to Pixar's films. I give it a 9/10.

[Buscemi2]

Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson & The Band 8/10

Fascinating documentary on the rise and fall of The Band, told from the perspective of one of the two surviving members (the other surviving member, Garth Hudson, was not interviewed, possibly by choice). Using archive footage, Robertson, along with archival interviews from other members along with people who worked with The Band and fans such as Bruce Springsteen and Martin Scorsese (who produced the doc with Ron Howard), we learn about their origins through rockabilly before honing their skills through folk music before branching out on their own as the legends they became.

There has been some criticism that it's too Robbie-focused but after all, this is his story and he has so much to tell. He also looks great at 76.

[Buscemi2]

Portrait of a Lady on Fire 4/10

As the world found out about Tom Hanks and Rudy Gobert's health, I was mostly left cold by this well-made but ultimately empty drama about about a painter who falls in love with her model and the relationships they forge between each other and a young chambermaid. I liked the director's previous films but this historical tale basically felt like a lesser version of Call Me by Your Name. Though the last third builds up steam, the first two-thirds hurt the film for me. Maybe it was a victim of overhype but I can't see myself giving it another chance, not even if I wanted to complete The Criterion Collection (of which this has been announced be joining).

[Chienfantome]

Portrait is the film that made me cry the most in theater last year.

[Buscemi2]

Big Time Adolescence 3/10

It's not hard to see why Neon chose to dump this one onto a day-and-date platform. If I were a teenager, I would have possibly found a reason to like this film. But I'm not and the end result is basically some go-nowhere twenty-somethings and their teenage pet dealing to find themselves. It's an overly simple plot that thinks it's being profound but instead it's uninteresting and with little point. And I do not see the big deal about Pete Davidson. After I confused him with Pete Holmes for the longest time, all I got from Davidson is a try-hard who wants to be an edgier Adam Sandler but ends up being an edgier Jimmy Fallon with the tattoos of Machine Gun Kelly or Ninja from Die Antwoord. I'm not sure how anyone's going to be able to sit through his Judd Apatow movie this summer when he makes so little of a presence here. He's just annoying.

[Buscemi2]

The Invisible Man 3/10

Exactly what I thought it would be, a forgettable Lifetime-styled thriller about a woman trying to get away from her abusive boyfriend but with a high-tech twist that really isn't all that original. But what I don't get is why this was so popular with critics. The original with Claude Rains is a much superior film, with a villain who is chaotic evil rampaging old England. It's also much shorter than this one, which runs 30 minutes too long. Sure, the concept of focusing on the victim this time is a good idea but it ends up making it like most other horror films of its type.

But thanks for letting me watch it, W. I appreciate you doing that for me. Maybe I can make it up to you some time.

[silversurfer19]

I don't know. I enjoyed it, reminded me of an updated Sleeping With The Enemy, and Elisabeth Moss was great in it, as she always is. Only a matter of time before she wins an Oscar, I think.

[numbersix]

Last few movies...

Knives and Skin: 6/10
A weird, trippy film about a teen who disappeared and the effect on this around them. It's a deliberate response to Twin Peaks, with a dash of Strange Things thrown in as the film contains a few musical numbers of 80s hits. It doesn't tie together particularly well, but you gotta commend the dedication of this fangirl flick.

Colour out of Space: 6/10
It's somewhere between Mandy and the Wicker Man remake. This HP Lovecraft adaptation doesn't quite capture the unsetlling sensations of the source material, and instead opts for trippy visuals and scholcky horror. Fortunately, the poor characterisation and cheesy dialogue is saved when Nicholas goes full-Cage, and the silly over-rides the serious.

Possessor: 6/10
Brandon Cronenberg's latest is a step up. It's a sci-fi horror about a woman who can access the brain of a person and get them to assassinate their target. But she gets trapped in one of her targets and has to fight to stay in control. It's a film that doesn't have much of a narrative but engages on a purely visual level.

A Bump Along the Way: 5/10
A low budget Northern Irish dramedy about a mid 40s single mother who is just about making ends meet, only to realise she is pregnant after a one night stand. It's very Hallmark in its style and approach, although the lead performance (Bronagh Gallagher) and the support (Lola Pettigrew who plays her teen daughter) are decent.

Bacurau: 7/10
Kleber Mendonça Filho returns with a new film that is nothing like his previous two, yet is still excellent. What a dexteruous director (although he co-directs this film with writer Juliano Dornelles). This is a tale about a tiny Brazilian village whose only fame is a bandit in hiding, who realise that a group of Westerners are planning something deadly. It's social commentary told through the lens of a John Carpenter b-movie. It's unweildy in some ways, but manages to pull it off.

Dogs Don't Wear Pants: 6/10
This Finnish film tells the story of a single father still struggling with the loss of his wife, who ends up meeting a dominatrix and loves being tortured and choked by her. Boundaries get blurred as he becomes obsessed with her, and the service becomes a potential relationship. It's a cheeky and at times uncomfortable film, but manages to charm by the end. It's just a pity there was no room to develop the dominatrix character.

[Buscemi2]

I saw my local arthouse was partnering with Kino Lorber to do a premium VOD rental for Bacurau starting Friday. Should I take the offer or wait until it hits regular VOD?

[Chienfantome]

I loved Bacurau, but I hated Knives and skin.

[Buscemi2]

Dolemite is My Name 8/10

This never played near me (despite trailers playing in the theatre) so I had to do a watch in my home theatre/garage. I didn't like this one as much as the other Alexander/Karaszewski biopics but I still found plenty to enjoy in this story about how Rudy Ray Moore defied the odds in getting Dolemite made. It might lack the skill of Ed Wood or Man on the Moon but it more than makes up for it with strong performances from most of the cast and a steady stream of funny situations in the world of low-budget filmmaking. It should have fared a bit better in the awards race last year as it was better than some of the films that did win Oscars.

The Platform 2/10

This was my first experience with Netflix Party and it made a dreadful Spanish film dubbed into English much more tolerable. There's not much of a premise in this sci-fi film about prisoners in a vertical prison (think Cube but higher) but what begins as a commentary on class divide and hunger quickly goes astray and becomes something that's hard to figure out. My group had more fun laughing at it and trying to make sense of the plot. I don't think watching it in the original Spanish. The person in charge of the watch party apologized afterwards.