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 »

Licorice Pizza 3/10

Paul Thomas Anderson, you failed me. In what amounts to nothing more than a long inside joke, this statutory rape fantasy features characters you really don't care about in a plot that cannot sustain its overlong 133 minute length. It's not funny and much of it feels like a Best of P.T. Anderson compilation but with no understanding as to why those moments were good the first time. And it's awfully misogynistic at times, as I cannot recall a single female character who isn't reduced to a cliche or turns into mush when confronted by a male character who takes advantage of them.

I guess that Anderson wanted to make a film that recreated his childhood. But did you have to make it so unintentionally creepy and make to where its opportunist asshole main character doesn't learn anything? In short, the year's most overrated film.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

Post by JohnErle »

With the end of the year on the horizon, it seemed like a good time to look at my IMDB ratings and whip up a list of every film I watched for the first time this year. One of the undeniable benefits of a pandemic is more time to stay at home and dive into classic movies I've always been meaning to watch, so these are mostly older titles, but I did venture forth into theatres on rare occasions this year. A few of these movies are ones I probably had seen before, but it had been so long that I barely remembered them, so it was like watching them for the first time all over again.

9
The Sparks Brothers (2021)

8
First Cow (2019)
Another Round (2020)
Irezumi (1966)
The Train (1964)
High And Low (1963)
The Anderson Tapes (1971)
Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter (1970)
The Blue Dahlia (1946)
Tess (1979)
Memories Of Murder (2003)

7
Events Transpiring Before, During, and After a High School Basketball Game (2020)
The Go-Go's (2020)
Point Blank (1967)
When A Stranger Calls (1979)
Once Upon A Time In America (1984)
Harold And Maude (1971)
He Walked By Night (1948)
Smithereens (1982)
Walkabout (1971)
The American Friend (1977)
The Long Good Friday (1980)
Jules And Jim (1962)
Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
Manchester By The Sea (2016)
Heartworn Highways (1976)
The Parallax View (1974)
Breathless (1960)
The Night Porter (1974)
Chungking Express (1994)
A Ghost Story (2017)
Pale Flower (1964)

6
The French Dispatch (2021)
Annette (2021)
The Night House (2020)
The Stylist (2020)
Nomadland (2020)
Let Him Go (2020)
Promising Young Woman (2020)
Bacarau (2019)
A Christmas Tale (2008)
To Live And Die In L.A. (1985)
Stray Cat Rock: Beat '71 (1971)
Stray Cat Rock: Machine Animal (1970)
Stray Cat Rock: Wild Jumbo (1970)
Stray Cat Rock: Delinquent Girl Boss (1970)
Night Of The Demon (1957)
The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970)
The Naked Kiss (1964)
Short Term 12 (2013)
The Day Of The Beast (1995)
The Outlaw (1943)
Ministry Of Fear (1944)
The Drop (2014)
The Big Sleep (1978)
Farewell, My Lovely (1975)
Pet Sematary (2019)
Cuba (1979)

5
No Time To Die (2021)
Epicentro (2020)
Dark Passage (1947)
The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg (1964)
Stan & Ollie (2018)
Strangerland (2015)
Irma Vep (1996)
Zigeunerweisen (1980)
In The Mood For Love (2000)
Suspiria (2018)

4
Censor (2021)
The Eiger Sanction (1975)
Murder On The Orient Express (2017)
The Cat O' Nine Tails (1971)
Switchblade Sisters (1975)

3
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
The Woman In Black 2: Angel Of Death (2014)
It (2017)
Dead Of Winter (1987)
Saturn 3 (1980)
Mandy (2018)

2
Jigsaw (1949)
The Brotherhood Of Satan (1971)
Midsommar (2019)

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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

Post by transformers2 »

This certainly shouldn't be my first thought after reading that list, but my brain works in such a dumb way that it just is: What the hell possessed you to watch The Woman in Black 2 :lol:
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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In my defense, I waited seven years before watching that crap.

I watched it mainly to see just how badly they fucked it up. The Woman In Black is a great book that inspired two great adaptations, and a long running stage play which I haven't seen, so I downloaded a torrent ages ago but never got past the first 20 minutes. With ample time on my hands this year, I decided to plow through it before freeing up the space on my hard drive.

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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

Post by transformers2 »

JohnErle wrote:
December 31st, 2021, 4:15 pm
In my defense, I waited seven years before watching that crap.

I watched it mainly to see just how badly they fucked it up. The Woman In Black is a great book that inspired two great adaptations, and a long running stage play which I haven't seen, so I downloaded a torrent ages ago but never got past the first 20 minutes. With ample time on my hands this year, I decided to plow through it before freeing up the space on my hard drive.
That's precisely why I was so confused :lol: "Why now?" was the 1st thought after the initial shock over its inclusion. Well anyways, I admire your dedication to finishing that painful task after all this time.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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The Woman in Black 2 is on a bunch of streaming services (in the US, that is) which was my first thought.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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I take it you haven't seen Brotherhood Of Satan which came out 50 years ago and is even worse than WIB2. Considering the ratio of time elapsed to suckage, that was my most questionable movie watching decision of 2021.

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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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You're 100% correct :lol:
BRING BRENDAN FRASER BACK TO THE BIG SCREEN DAMN IT
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

Post by Buscemi2 »

The Tragedy of Macbeth 5/10

Joel Coen, please bring Ethan back for your next one. This visually stunning but ultimately unnecessary adaptation of Shakespeare's work wants be like Orson Welles but the fatal flaw lays in the fact that Welles already adapted Macbeth in the 40's. So what ensues is more or less the conundrum that befell the 1998 version of Psycho: why do the same thing again but bloodier? Without Ethan to help out, Joel ends up with a film that ends up feeling flat despite having a good eye for style, good performances (despite a miscast Denzel Washington), and The Bard's words.

But at least it's shorter than most of the recently-released movies and less insufferable in the process. 2021 was such a weak year for cinema.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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A Hero 9/10

A prisoner on furlough finds a lost handbag containing thousands of dollars in gold and becomes a hero to the people in his village. Or was it all an elaborate con designed to change his fortunes? Asghar Farhadi's latest film, certain to get another Oscar nomination for him, shows why he is one of the most intriguing filmmakers working today, eschewing typical formulas to focus on people and the decisions that they make, sometimes good, sometimes bad, when given a life-altering dilemma. He makes movies about people and the more we get to know and understand them, the better. You aren't seeing too many American films like the ones Farhadi makes and that's too bad. The name of the game is story, not spectacle, and Farhadi is one of the few major filmmakers today seemingly following that rule. He makes us care with one of the more exceptional crime films in recent memory.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Poupelle of Chimney Town 8/10

A mysterious creature known only as Garbage Man comes to a dystopian town and befriends a lonely chimney sweep who dreams of seeing the stars. A cross between The BFG and V for Vendetta, this is an exciting anime with lots of adventure and a pair of very likeable leads. In a way, it's kind of Miyazaki Lite but that doesn't detract from the enjoyability factor and manages to be a cut above a lot of today's animated features by focusing more on story than stars and pandering.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

Post by Buscemi2 »

Belle 4/10

From the director of Summer Wars comes...a movie that's pretty much that but this time it's Beauty and the Beast with online avatars. And the end result is your typical overly chaotic 30 minute episode of a TV show stretched out to over two hours. The final product has little to say and seems to justify the subculture that is way too obsessive of a certain online figure (a comparison right now could be Instagram users trying to make their own version of the Beyhive with Billie Eilish). It also makes the mistake of taking itself far too seriously, attempting to take stand on things such as social networks and monopolies but doesn't actually do anything. This needed some comedy to balance out its serious tone.

But it does look nice and I did find it more watchable than the similar Ready Player One. However, I just don't care much for this director.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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The Power of the Dog 5/10

Stunning but ultimately empty Western that when you think about it, is nothing more than a slightly-better Taylor Sheridan film. Jane Campion, a director who often disappoints as much as she does scores, gives pedestrian direction that can't muster much enthusiasm with the thin plot. Dunst and Plemons are serviceable but have done better work while Cumberbatch is miscast as yet another period-based character while Smit-McPhee is just awful as the son. If the script had given these characters any sort of motivation, the proceedings might have been more interesting. The cinematography and production design are top-notch but those things alone can't save it from mediocrity.

If this wins the Oscar for Best Picture, and it probably does as 2021 was one of the worst years in film in some time, it will go down as one of the most forgettable winners. They might as well skip this ceremony and combine it with the forthcoming ceremony.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

Post by Chienfantome »

Haven't been here in a while !

Belle was a disappointment indeed Boosch.

And John, only a 5 to In The Mood For Love ?! You broke my heart !!!
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Sundown 3/10

Well, it was slightly better than New Order. But from now on, I should avoid Michel Franco, even if the reviews are great.
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