I got to see Sound of Metal in theaters this afternoon. This is one that I have actually been anticipating for the last two years. I thought it was a really beautiful film and Riz Ahmed gives one of the finer performances of the year. The film is directed by Darius Marder, who is making his directorial debut, and I have to say it's a thoroughly enjoyable first effort.
I watched The Clovehitch Killer again. Definitely one you all should check out. It's a real nice and unique slow-burn type of film. Dylan McDermott is great in it.
Watched Antebellum over the weekend and loved it. One of my favorites of the year. Great acting, score, suspense, and tension. Keeps you guessing throughout and never a dull moment. I would've liked a little more development of the antagonist (and I can see why some didn't like the twist), but overall incredibly well done and highly recommended. I would've loved to have seen this on the big screen.
Watched Antebellum over the weekend and loved it. One of my favorites of the year. Great acting, score, suspense, and tension. Keeps you guessing throughout and never a dull moment. I would've liked a little more development of the antagonist (and I can see why some didn't like the twist), but overall incredibly well done and highly recommended. I would've loved to have seen this on the big screen.
I'm currently watching Billy Madison, only about 25 minutes in (watching bit by bit, recorded on DVR).
First, let me say: I like Sandler, I really like Happy Gilmore and The Waterboy, and I worship The Wedding Singer...
...now let me say: so far, Billy Madison is fucking atrocious - it is like a Sandler caricature made by someone who hates Sandler, except Sandler actually made this. I'm sticking with it basically so that I can say I gave it a chance (I still have to get around to Little Nicky and Mr. Deeds - man, I hope they're better than this).
I think this was his first starring role - maybe it is terrible because it was an initial attempt to generate something from the shitty bits he used to force into Weekend Update? (I really liked Sandler on SNL but, as with every other cast member, they can't be great 100% of the time, and Billy Madison's opening bit with the tanning lotion was like something shoddy Sandler would've shoehorned into SNL).
Eastasia has always taught college students to feel pride or shame according to their race.
I'm currently watching Billy Madison, only about 25 minutes in (watching bit by bit, recorded on DVR).
First, let me say: I like Sandler, I really like Happy Gilmore and The Waterboy, and I worship The Wedding Singer...
...now let me say: so far, Billy Madison is fucking atrocious - it is like a Sandler caricature made by someone who hates Sander, except Sandler actually made this. I'm sticking with it basically so that I can say I gave it a chance (I still have to get around to Little Nicky and Mr. Deeds - man, I hope they're better than this).
I think this was his first starring role - maybe it is terrible because it was an initial attempt to generate something from the shitty bits he used to force into Weekend Update? (I really liked Sandler on SNL but, as with every other cast member, they can't be great 100% of the time, and Billy Madison's opening bit with the tanning lotion was like something shoddy Sandler would've shoehorned into SNL).
Billy Madison surely doesn't hold up. It has it's moments, sure, but it's pretty bad. Waterboy and Happy Gilmore are still solid dumb comedies, and The Wedding Singer is just a good comedy.
In rewatching a lot of comedies from The 90s, I realized that the 90s were filled with totally obnoxious, self-centered douchebag, man children that were somehow heroes and ended up being rewarded for their behavior without really changing all that much. They were usually paired up with attractive and out of their league career women who, in real life, wouldn't even be able to tolerate sharing a bus with these men, let alone falling in love with them. I wrote about this phenomenon when I rewatched Big Daddy, which too is pretty bad on a rewatch.
Fatman
Mel Gibson is Santa, Chance Hurstfield is a spoiled rich kid that got coal for Christmas, and he hires a hitman to take him out, and this is Walter Goggins. You will be surprised to hear that I enjoyed this film. It took the folklore mystic of Santa and added realism with a human aspect to his character. Goggins is obsessed with his childhood and blames Santa, so it the perfect contract for him to take. The realism and lifelike story was surprising, when there was violence it was surprising, and the overall story was direct and yet surprising. The dialogue tended to make it feel like a dark comedy, well sort of. I actually like this film and it is perfect for the holidays . 4/5
Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality. Edgar Allan Poe
I liked Host currently on Shudder. A clever quarantine film that utilizes Zoom very well and for being under an hour, we get character development and some pretty good scares. 3/4
Tenet
It was amazing and crafted very deceitfully. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I will be honest, there were storylines I quite didn't understand but I pressed onward. Afterwards, I watched some information about the movie to get a better understanding and appreciation for the film. Regardless of not being fully aware of what I was initially viewing, I still loved it. 4/5.
Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality. Edgar Allan Poe
Watched Antebellum over the weekend and loved it. One of my favorites of the year. Great acting, score, suspense, and tension. Keeps you guessing throughout and never a dull moment. I would've liked a little more development of the antagonist (and I can see why some didn't like the twist), but overall incredibly well done and highly recommended. I would've loved to have seen this on the big screen.
When I saw the first trailer for Antebellum, it instantly became one of my most anticipated films of the year. Unfortunately, Antebellum is the kind of film that really bothers me. It had tons of potential and a really clever premise that was executed so poorly. First, before I get to spoilers, Antebellum has maybe the most misleading trailers you will ever see. They billed it as some kind of supernatural horror film and let it be known it is NOT a horror film. It's a thriller - barely.
The film we should have gotten
Spoiler:
was a film about a modern, educated, successful black woman who is forced to be a slave and stripped of her humanity. That's an interesting film. Seeing someone come to terms with that and then overcome it.
We never see that. When we meet Veronica, she's already been at the plantation for months and has already acclimated to life as a slave. Not seeing that character arc left me feeling cheated. That's a better movie. Then the film grinds to a screeching halt in the second act. We linger far too long in her "present" day life. When the film picks back up in the 3rd act, it has trouble finding its bearings. On top of that, the twist falls flat for me. It's too basic and it's been done before. The Village anyone?
In the end, we get a beautiful looking film derailed by poor plotting, a generic twist and a trailer that did the film no favors. A waste of potential in my book.
Your spoiler is EXACTLY the kind of film I was expecting when I first saw the trailer. The trailer showed a lot of plane shots + people looking to the sky, and I kept thinking it would be
Spoiler:
Veronica (or the whole plane) somehow traveling back in time and becoming enslaved by the white planation owners. Then it would be how it happened, convincing some of the plantation people or other enslaved peoples what happened, and how they're going to get home.
One on level, I wish we would've gotten that film, especially since me thinking that that's what the film would be about was what got me excited about it to begin with. One another level, I was pleasantly surprised it subverted my expectations with the twist. Could it have been executed better, though? Yeah, for sure.
Although I really liked the humor and the different time period
Spoiler:
(though not really)
of the second act, I do agree it was a clumsy shift and a tad too long. I kept thinking that the film would've played better
Spoiler:
linearly (Veronica as successful/with her friends, then getting kidnapped, then the plantation stuff). It would eliminate the twist, but I don't think that would break the film.
Fatman
Mel Gibson is Santa, Chance Hurstfield is a spoiled rich kid that got coal for Christmas, and he hires a hitman to take him out, and this is Walter Goggins. You will be surprised to hear that I enjoyed this film. It took the folklore mystic of Santa and added realism with a human aspect to his character. Goggins is obsessed with his childhood and blames Santa, so it the perfect contract for him to take. The realism and lifelike story was surprising, when there was violence it was surprising, and the overall story was direct and yet surprising. The dialogue tended to make it feel like a dark comedy, well sort of. I actually like this film and it is perfect for the holidays . 4/5
I agree 100% on this review. Fun, shocking, entertaining and just twisted story telling. I may replace It's a Wonderful Life with Fatman as the go to Xmas movie.
Wish List:
Any of the following flatsigned or inscribed-
It, Shining, Salem’s Lot, Mr. Mercedes, The Stand
Brother ARC, Seed ARC
Ricky, I'm responding to your Antebellum post. The quoting keeps getting F'd up.
I'm surprised you still enjoyed it so much even though you didn't get what you were expecting. That's good though. I always come away disappointed when that happens.
Mank
This pains me. I got to see Mank at the theater yesterday. I'm a huge Fincher fan and have been since I saw The Game when it came out. I've enjoyed all of his films including Alien 3. Like many of the folks here, I love film and film history, so it's natural to think that Mank is going to be an easy like for me. Unfortunately, I'm kind of lukewarm on it.
The film is expertly made, fantastically acted, especially by Oldman and the black and white looked phenomenal on the big screen. It's just kind of dry, especially in the beginning. There's also a lot of inside baseball talk when it comes to old Hollywood that I found myself playing catchup. The same can be said for the political commentary that the film is packed with, more than I would have thought. Unless you are privy to the politics of the 1930s, you're going to be kind of lost too.
I can't quite put my finger on it, but the film is missing something.
I'm currently watching Billy Madison, only about 25 minutes in (watching bit by bit, recorded on DVR).
First, let me say: I like Sandler, I really like Happy Gilmore and The Waterboy, and I worship The Wedding Singer...
...now let me say: so far, Billy Madison is fucking atrocious - it is like a Sandler caricature made by someone who hates Sandler, except Sandler actually made this. I'm sticking with it basically so that I can say I gave it a chance (I still have to get around to Little Nicky and Mr. Deeds - man, I hope they're better than this).
I think this was his first starring role - maybe it is terrible because it was an initial attempt to generate something from the shitty bits he used to force into Weekend Update? (I really liked Sandler on SNL but, as with every other cast member, they can't be great 100% of the time, and Billy Madison's opening bit with the tanning lotion was like something shoddy Sandler would've shoehorned into SNL).
...and while it was just as terrible as it seemed when I wrote that, I'll admit there were one or two spots that amused me (Buscemi's bits, the weird subplot with the principal's crush, and Farley's mutton chops). I'm glad I didn't see this when it came out; I might have avoided his later golden stuff like the plague.
I will say that Bradley Whitford did a great job with what he was given (he's a pro); you could say that he and Sandler both played assholes (though different types of asshole), but where Sandler sucked, Whitford nailed his part.
I've always liked Norm MacDonald, but he really didn't add anything here.
It was nice (and a bit unnerving) to see Larry Hankin, who will always be faux-Kramer to me.
And then we had the character Veronica, who was one of those female characters in 90s movies where you're clearly supposed to find her attractive, and while she kinda/sorta was, she also kind of had a weird shape head like something from an old silver dollar (I struggle to name the others, but I've seen this before).
Eastasia has always taught college students to feel pride or shame according to their race.
Hell House LLC was a lot of fun with some creepy moments. 3/4
And yes, I do sometimes go a bit easy on horror flicks but it's an instinct after seeing so many bad ones, a decent one seems better than it might be.....
Watched Anna and the Apocalypse last night and really enjoyed it. What's not to love about a zombie Christmas musical? Well paced, catchy songs, likeable characters. I had some problems with the tone and some plot decisions, but overall it was a fun, easy watch.
After rewatching the final season of The Wire with the housemate, we both needed some cheering up. An appropriate movie was Shattered Glass. A key reason for this is that the media was a key focus in that final season - particularly how some reporters prefer to manufacture the news rather than cover it. Shattered Glass is the real-life story of someone who got caught doing just that, in a big way.
I was really impressed with this one. The story starts from the perspective of young journalist Stephen Glass. Played rather well by Hayden Christensen, the film begins from his perspective before gradually shifting to that of his new editor, Chuck Lane (played extremely well by Peter Sarsgaard). What impressed me most was exactly how subtle this transition was, and how necessary. It's easy to see why Glass got away with the stories he covered for so long, as he initially comes across as rather likable, especially compared to the rather humorless Chuck. But over the course of the film, you get a deeper insight into both characters, and you definitely start to sympathize with Chuck more. Especially when he starts to piece together exactly how much of a fraud Glass really is.
The other thing that surprised me was how the film remained intensely focused on breaking down just one of Glass's stories. It seems rather small scale at first, but the more the reporters pull on a loose thread, the bigger the picture you get.
I really enjoyed watching this film. It was well-cast, well made, and it avoided overdramatizing a good, solid story. I liked this one a lot.
Never be cruel and never be cowardly. And if you ever are, always make amends.
You are a walking talking Doctor Who encyclopedia to me. - Melike
Let Them All Talk (HBO Max) - very talky movie set on board the Queen Mary as a writer (Meryl Streep) sails to the UK to pick up a literary award, accompanied by two former friends (Diane Wiest and and excellent Candace Bergen), plus her nephew and, unbeknownst to her, her new agent. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, filmed in two weeks with mostly ad-libbed dialog. It's a treat to watch these three veteran actors joust with each other. Might be a bit slow for some, but we liked it.