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 »

So that's what RRR is? I just got the idea it was another one of those Indian attempts at trying to ape Hollywood films, like those Baahubali movies.

It played near me for a week but didn't think I could take all three-plus hours.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

Post by Chienfantome »

I loved the Baahubali films ! If you didn't like them, don't bother with RRR, it's the same director and same style. Mixing the grandiose of Hollywood classic style of blockbusters that are long gone in the US with that fun, musical, WTF sequences of Indian cinema.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Deep Water 3/10

Adrian Lyne's comeback was not worth the wait. Disney had every right to be embarrassed by the film, as its idiot plot (guy admits to murder and no one believes him, leading him to keep killing and still has almost no one believing him) is further enhanced by its terrible screenplay. The fact that it was based on a Patricia Highsmith story might pique some interest but The Talented Mr. Ripley or Strangers on a Train this isn't. Ben Affleck, hoping for another Gone Girl (which seems to have been the sole purpose for this one getting made), is too obvious as the killer and has zero chemistry with Ana de Armas and more of the time seems to be spent on focusing on boring rich people than the mystery while at other times, Lyne is reminding you of his older, better films. By the end, you'll be wanting those two hours back.

Stick to Unfaithful, Lyne's previous film that covered similar ground but was far better.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Fresh 3/10

What starts as a bad studio attempt at generic indie hipster rom-coms gradually turns into a bad studio attempt at indie exploitative horror films. I'm not sure what producer Adam McKay, the writer, and the director were thinking by deciding to make a film about a serial kidnapper that's also supposed to be a comedy about dating in the 21st century. It fails as a satire and as a thriller. I have to wonder if this was supposed to be inspired by films such as Martyrs, which mixed extreme violence with social dread better, but here, the mixing of genres is done haphazardly and often uneven, as one moment, you'll have the villain grooming his victim and the next moment, you'll have scenes that feel like they came from an episode of New Girl or some Fox sitcom. And it doesn't help that much of the plot is set up by the making the protagonist a moron by not seeing through the villain's creepy charms. You will be able to figure out as soon as he's introduced that he's a killer. All this leads to a third act that feels like a garbled mess due to overediting, even though they should have edited more things before then, as something like this should not run close to two hours.

In the end, though the film is called Fresh, a more fitting title would have been Rotten.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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The Automat 8/10

Likeable documentary on the history of Horn & Hardart, one of the first major restaurant chains in the United States and its impact on American culture. Between the history and interviews with those who fondly remembered the chain (most notably Mel Brooks, who also performs a song about the restaurant in the end credits), it reminded me a lot of the American Experience series on PBS. The most fascinating aspect of the documentary goes into how the logistics of the automat worked, spending much of the length on those who designed and created the coin-operated machines that brought the food to the consumer. For those who love learning about defunct businesses and how they operated, this might be a godsend. And even if you just want to watch the interviews, those are solid as well.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Benedetta 9/10

Finally got to see this after it never played anywhere near me. Paul Verhoeven's newest was very much worth the long wait, as he creates a historical epic that might also be one of the best cinematic criticisms of religion in recent memory. A more mainstream film might focus more on the stigmata or more on the relationship between the two nuns but because this is Verhoeven, we get both together in a film that is both enthralling and insane. Verhoeven does want good filmmakers should do: entice you, hook you, challenge you, and not let go. And fewer filmmakers nowadays even try to fill a big set piece with a plot that means something. Verhoeven does that and then some.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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The Duke 8/10

Jim Broadbent gives an excellent performance as an activist, while having difficulties keeping down a job and starting a campaign against television licenses in the UK, comes up with a plan to bring his causes to a national light: by stealing Goya's The Duke of Wellington, of which he is appalled that taxpayer money was spent to acquire the painting. The events lead to a funny and often heartwarming study based on actual events of a working-class humanist and his family that have to put up with his predicaments. The film reminded me a lot of the Australian film The Castle and though not as good as that one, this is an interesting comedy about a little-known event in UK history.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Petite Maman 5/10

This very short feature might have worked better if you had any sort of idea of what exactly is happening. Celina Sciamma's latest feels like a glorified TV movie, as despite running under 75 minutes, it is more or less designed to fill an empty time slot and seems to have been expanded from a 30 minute short. In addition to the padding, Sciamma makes the mistake of making the real world and the world inside the hut look the exact same, making it difficult to differentiate what is going on in reality and what is imagined. It's like the director wanted to do a realistic version of Alice in Wonderland but forgot what Wonderland is.

Though it is a nice-looking film and the performances of the child actors are solid, I can't find much to recommend with this minor footnote in Sciamma's filmography.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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After Yang 3/10

In the future, no one will have a properly-working lighting fixture, apparently. This sci-fi released by A24 is yet another example of "Just A24 Things", as it is more interested in style and suggests that it will be an intelligent study of human/android relations but is really just a third act stretched up to 96 underlit and overly wordy minutes. Not much happens here as more time seems to be spent on talking about tea instead of the relationship between the family and their pet robot. In the end, this would have worked better as a short and it's unsurprising that it was dumped onto Showtime with little fanfare.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Turning Red 8/10

The film Everything Everywhere All at Once should have been. Pixar's newest is an improvement from Luca as despite covering similar themes to other recent films from the stable, it's actually a fun mix of teen comedy, cultural family drama, and even kaiju that is never obnoxious and is the bright and fun movie that isn't coming out from a major studio nowadays. It's also a rare case of a film being much better than its trailer, as I'm convinced Disney wanted the film to fail and cut the trailer to make it look as lame as possible and not the mature but colorful story that it truly is. You'd think they would have been all over a movie with giant red pandas and Billie Eilish songs. That's a blockbuster in 2022 and Disney failed to recognize it.

If this had gotten a decent push back in March, we wouldn't be talking about multiverses right now. But maybe this finds an audience now as it's now more widely available than just Disney+ and the single Los Angeles theatre that showed it for Oscar qualifying.
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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Men

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :o :o :o :o :o

I'm not sure I can actually give this a grade.
It's not destroying. It's making something new.

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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

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Screen203 wrote:
May 20th, 2022, 8:53 pm
Men

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :o :o :o :o :o

I'm not sure I can actually give this a grade.
So excited to see this tomorrow.
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 Screen203 »

transformers2 wrote:
May 20th, 2022, 9:26 pm
Screen203 wrote:
May 20th, 2022, 8:53 pm
Men

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :o :o :o :o :o

I'm not sure I can actually give this a grade.
So excited to see this tomorrow.
I thought a day would be enough for me to come up with a coherent review, but I still don't know what to say about it.

What did you think of it?
It's not destroying. It's making something new.

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Re: Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

Post by transformers2 »

Screen203 wrote:
May 22nd, 2022, 12:34 am
transformers2 wrote:
May 20th, 2022, 9:26 pm
Screen203 wrote:
May 20th, 2022, 8:53 pm
Men

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :o :o :o :o :o

I'm not sure I can actually give this a grade.
So excited to see this tomorrow.
I thought a day would be enough for me to come up with a coherent review, but I still don't know what to say about it.

What did you think of it?
A clear step down from Garland's past directorial efforts, but still really good. The atmosphere was really unsettling, Jessie Buckley and Rory Kinnear were terrific and underneath all the surreal brutality of the final act, is a really moving message about the catharsis of learning to live with trauma.
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 Screen203 »

transformers2 wrote:
May 22nd, 2022, 6:05 pm
A clear step down from Garland's past directorial efforts, but still really good. The atmosphere was really unsettling, Jessie Buckley and Rory Kinnear were terrific and underneath all the surreal brutality of the final act, is a really moving message about the catharsis of learning to live with trauma.
I have to agree for the most part, now that I've had more time to think about it. I can understand the very mixed reception from audiences and critics (to a lesser extent), but I still thought it was great for the most part. The first act was kind of slow, though the scenes ultimately tie into the themes of the film. Otherwise, I loved most things about it. I definitely think it's the weakest film Alex Garland directed, though.

I would say it's probably in my top 5 of the year so far - this year has been really good in terms of quality so far. I can't think of any truly awful movie I've seen in theaters this year.

Anyways, I also saw Downton Abbey: A New Era tonight. I enjoyed it, even though I'm not familiar with the show (I've seen the first movie, though). The second half really drags, though.
It's not destroying. It's making something new.

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