The 'Recently Watched Films' Thread

[Ben Jackson]

Seconding this! They’re very good, very sad yet funny, and although they can be slow, their relative short lengths by movie standards prevents them from ever dragging.



I think it’s hilarious that Andrea Riseborough’s campaign actually worked.

And I’m thinking best picture is between EEAaO and Banshees, though Fablemans could pull an upset.

I haven't seen Banshees yet, but I watched Everything Everywhere about two weeks ago. I find the movie extremely brilliant. And I agree about The Fablemans, a movie I watched after Everything Eveywhere. It can pull an upset. In as much as I appreciate Blanchett's performance as music composer in Tar (I mean Blanchett can't go wrong), I don't think Tar is good enough. Top Gun is another good movie, but again, I find it in the same situation with Tar. Haven't seen the rest yet.

 

[Benny Profane]

I've just watched Top Gun 2: Maverick and I've been very disapointed with this film.
The producers should be lost in the 80's.

I don't know why this rubbish film was nominated for Best Movie in Oscar. By the way, Top Gun 1 was very superficial too, despite the brilliant soundtrack: Berlim - Take my Breath Away and Steve Stevens and Harold Faltermeyer - Top Gun Theme, two great classics.

It seems a "Packaged Media" Movie, principally "80's and 90's High School Films", known in my country as enlatado americano.
The premises are the same of those movies: an ugly, a rejected, a nerd or a normie guy who suffers bullying a lot, the snub cheerleader who humilated this common guy, the handsome bully, the prom, the hangman teacher, an alleatory event which makes the "normie" guy relevant and popular at the school, hence, the snub cheerleader will kiss and fall in love with the normie guy, end of the cycle and the film.
It is the same premise, but with adult members of Armed Forces who emulated finicky teenagers with an elder who wants to be a teenager again.

And I was astonished how this silly film was accusated to be chauvinist, toxic and misogynistic. I saw any reviews, for example, comparing a fighter aircraft with the phalus and, because of that, this film is dangerous for boysl!!!! LOL!
Yep, it's very dangerous, because it's a crap film. It should be nominated to Razzie Awards.

Well, guys, since the Oscar's Ceremony is close, which films do you recommend?

 

[Leseratte]

I've just watched Top Gun 2: Maverick and I've been very disapointed with this film.
The producers should be lost in the 80's.

I don't know why this rubbish film was nominated for Best Movie in Oscar. By the way, Top Gun 1 was very superficial too, despite the brilliant soundtrack: Berlim - Take my Breath Away and Steve Stevens and Harold Faltermeyer - Top Gun Theme, two great classics.

It seems a "Packaged Media" Movie, principally "80's and 90's High School Films", known in my country as enlatado americano.
The premises are the same of those movies: a ugly, a rejected, a nerd or a normie guy who suffers bullying a lot, the snub cheeleader who humilated this common guy, the handsome bully, the prom, the hangman teacher, an alleatory event which makes the "normie" guy relevant and popular at the school, hence, the snub cheeleader will kiss and fall in love with the normie guy, end of the cycle and the film.
It is the same premise, but with adult members of Armed Forces who emulated finicky teenagers with an elder who wants to be a teenager again.

And I was astonished how this silly film was accusated to be chauvinist, toxic and misogynistic. I saw any reviews, for example, comparing a fighter aircraft with the phalus and, because of that, this film is dangerous for boysl!!!! LOL!
Yep, it's very dangerous, because it's a crap film. It should be nominated to Razzie Awards.

Well, guys, since the Oscar's Ceremony is close, which films do you recommend?

The film may be boring, but I enjoyed your review, Benny!

 

[Benny Profane]

I watched the film winner of Oscar of Best Movie, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and I was wondering: What happened to Hollywood and Academy?

The film is awful, full of bad jokes and stupid easter eggs "everywhere all at once" and, in my conception, steps up the stereotypes on Asian people (an euphemism for "Racism").

 

[Leseratte]

I watched the film winner of Oscar of Best Movie, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and I was wondering: What happened to Hollywood and Academy?

The film is awful, full of bad jokes and stupid easter eggs "everywhere all at once" and, in my conception, steps up the stereotypes on Asian people (an euphemism for "Racism").

Haven´t watched it yet.

 

[Benny Profane]

Haven´t watched it yet.

Well, many critics are saying that Tár and The Whale are both great films, but I haven't seen them yet.

 

[Benny Profane]

I haven't seen Banshees yet, but I watched Everything Everywhere about two weeks ago. I find the movie extremely brilliant. And I agree about The Fablemans, a movie I watched after Everything Eveywhere. It can pull an upset. In as much as I appreciate Blanchett's performance as music composer in Tar (I mean Blanchett can't go wrong), I don't think Tar is good enough. Top Gun is another good movie, but again, I find it in the same situation with Tar. Haven't seen the rest yet.

Well, I've seen yor post, Ben, right now. I haven't read it before.
Apparently, Everything Everywhere All at Once has been arousing warm reviews of love/hate and, consequently, there isn't such a half term about it. There isn't a concensus.
Or you love it, or you hate it. LOL!

 

[childeroland]

Enjoyed the heck out of Buster Keaton's The General. Great action comedy, a genre I usually avoid.

 

[Liam]

Year after year, I remain disappointed by most (not all) Oscar selections, so I am no longer surprised when they make an incredibly bad choice. That said, I haven't seen any of the films listed for best picture yet (except Avatar), so I'll reserve my judgement until I do so.

 

[Ben Jackson]

Well, many critics are saying that Tár and The Whale are both great films, but I haven't seen them yet.

Haven't seen The Whale, but Tar is a beautiful movie. It's about eponymous character Lydia Tar played by Cate Blanchett, a music conductor and her fall from grace to grass.

 

[Ben Jackson]

Year after year, I remain disappointed by most (not all) Oscar selections, so I am no longer surprised when they make an incredibly bad choice. That said, I haven't seen any of the films listed for best picture yet (except Avatar), so I'll reserve my judgement until I do so.

I'm not a movie expert, but I'm not really surprised at your disappointments at the Oscars. It's everywhere, even in the major categories for the Grammys.

I don't really watch movies in other Oscar categories except in Best Picture, but I can say that the last time I really felt impressed with the quality of Best Picture nominees was in 2014: Birdman, Boyhood, Theory of Everything, Whiplash e.t.c Since then, it's just average list of nominees.

 

[MichaelHW]

Enjoyed the heck out of Buster Keaton's The General. Great action comedy, a genre I usually avoid.

Some silent movies are actually quite enjoyable, and when they are restored you can see that they have great cinematography as well. Everyone knows about the German expressionists, Murnau and Lang, etc, and Chaplin and Keaton. And perhaps Fairbanks, Pickford and Swanson. But before the camility of WWI, Europe dominated over the US in the industry. Sweden and Denmark had top directors like Sjøstrøm and Benjamin Christensen, the Italians already had a tradition for making epics. And Max Linder was a major French comedian. Then the Americans relocated their industry to Hollywood in order to exploit lighting conditions, Chaplin emmigrated, joined forces with people like D.W. Griffith. Europe collapsed. Then later there was a second world war, and by then the US predominant. Their studio system was established.

Still, if you look at what Europe has managed to produce in spite of the wars, it quite impressive. We all know about the so-called serious directors, but the influence of italian peplum, spagetti-western and eurospy-traditions, the British hammer productions, the many brilliant French comedies that have been remade by Hollywood, you will see that even the commercial industry - when taken as whole - have done quite well. Is there a more perfect war movie today than Der Untergang?

 

[Leemo]

I watched the film winner of Oscar of Best Movie, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and I was wondering: What happened to Hollywood and Academy?

The film is awful, full of bad jokes and stupid easter eggs "everywhere all at once" and, in my conception, steps up the stereotypes on Asian people (an euphemism for "Racism").

To the contrary, I really liked the film. The humor was definitely very wacky and not always to my inclination either, but I thought it was a sincere emotive exploration of family dynamics and nihilism. I'm also quite pleased to see a film that weird win Best Picture.

 

[Liam]

Is there a more perfect war movie today than Der Untergang?

It all depends on what the film is trying to do as a work of art.

I love the dry, documentary-style quality of Der Untergang but artistically/cinematically speaking, it is nowhere near as ambitious a film as, say, Sam Mendes' 1917.

I haven't seen last year's All Quiet on Western Front but I have heard very good things about it.

Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life is also a war film, but of a different caliber.

It all boils down to: what does the genre of "war film" mean to you, how do you define it and what do you expect from it?

For me a war film is always-already inherently an anti-war film.

 

[MichaelHW]

It all depends on what the film is trying to do as a work of art.

I love the dry, documentary-style quality of Der Untergang but artistically/cinematically speaking, it is nowhere near as ambitious a film as, say, Sam Mendes' 1917.

I haven't seen last year's All Quiet on Western Front but I have heard very good things about it.

Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life is also a war film, but of a different caliber.

It all boils down to: what does the genre of "war film" mean to you, how do you define it and what do you expect from it?

For me a war film is always-already inherently an anti-war film.

Some films have huge budgets, thousands of extras, but they do not become as enjoyable as The Glas Menegerie by Tennesse Williams. Smaller films are not per definition better than big films, but it is how well you succeed. Some big war films, especially those from the united states, have a tendency beat all emotion to death with vast and overwhelming orchestral scores, sappy sentimental monologues which hammer the point of the film into your skull with a sledgehammer and endings that serve like moral orgasms in which everyone throws their hats in the air, the music peaks as they embrace and the credits appear.

One of the best "big" films I have ever seen is Ghandi by Attenburough, not because Ghandi was such a great person, but it just succeeds at every step. A Passage to India is also one of the greatest in the genre. (Have you noticed the similarity between the miss quested on the witness stand scene and the pivotal court scene in To Kill a Mockingbird ?)

I have always felt that The French Connection by Friedkin was an almost perfect thriller.

I must admit i do not like Terrence Mallick movies. He is the king of weird and annoying voice overs. But his cinematography is often stunning!

 

[Liam]

Plenty of films with huge budgets turn out crappy, and some turn out to be masterpieces. Conversely, plenty of films with small budgets turn out crappy, and some turn out to be masterpieces.

The issue at hand is not how much money was at the filmmaker's disposal but how the filmmaker handled the material.

Additionally, I don't think it should be either/or. You can enjoy both Der Untergang and 1917 equally because they exist in different aesthetic registers and thereby induce different emotional states in you, the viewer.

Your need to look for a "perfect" (i.e. best) war film says more about you than the films themselves.

 

[MichaelHW]

Plenty of films with huge budgets turn out crappy, and some turn out to be masterpieces. Conversely, plenty of films with small budgets turn out crappy, and some turn out to be masterpieces.

The issue at hand is not how much money was at the filmmaker's disposal but how the filmmaker handled the material.

Additionally, I don't think it should be either/or. You can enjoy both Der Untergang and 1917 equally because they exist in different aesthetic registers and thereby induce different emotional states in you, the viewer.

Your need to look for a "perfect" (i.e. best) war film says more about you than the films themselves.

When I say perfect, it is a subjective thing. It appears perfect to me. I am not claiming philosophical objectivity. But I am well read and i have seen a lot of movies in the past. At least I have a basis on which to compare.

I must admit something, and you will probably laugh, I have NOT SEEN 1917

I can say nothing about the qualities of the movie. It appeared after I was burnt out as a movie blogger. And these days I never watch any movies at all.

I am not a snob. I used to watch van damme movies with great pleasure. Simple and uncomplicated. I am not so fond of his rival Seagal because i think the aikido finger breaking and poking the index finger in the eye appear like very dirty fighting. No fair play. (at least this is what i thought when i used to watch movies). There is a Kurt Russel movie in which Stephen Seagal appears as a officer. But just before he has time to demonstrate his evil fighting techniques, he falls off a plane and saves the movie!!

 

[TrixRabbi]

I watched the film winner of Oscar of Best Movie, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and I was wondering: What happened to Hollywood and Academy?

The film is awful, full of bad jokes and stupid easter eggs "everywhere all at once" and, in my conception, steps up the stereotypes on Asian people (an euphemism for "Racism").

Given one of the directors, Daniel Kwan, is Asian American and the broad acceptance of the movie by Asian American audiences I'm not too concerned about the movie pushing stereotypes. Kinda feels like when people were suggesting Uncut Gems was anti-Semitic.

 

[Benny Profane]

I've just watched John Wick 4: Baba Yaga after 4 years without going to a theater!!! This film is just intense, exaggerated and insane! WOW!!!
It's a kinda "crap" film I adore so much! There is nothing there (only gun-fu scenes, violence a lot and neo-noir photography), but I enjoyed even so. Not only Arthouse's films do the taste of a cinephile.

To the contrary, I really liked the film. The humor was definitely very wacky and not always to my inclination either, but I thought it was a sincere emotive exploration of family dynamics and nihilism. I'm also quite pleased to see a film that weird win Best Picture.

(Spoiler Alert!) Well, I really didn't appreciate that film. Some jokes don't make sense for me. What about the scenes about parallel universes, hot-dog's fingers and strappons and two stones dialoguing? Not even arthouse's films aren't so auspicious...
And the directors and screenwriters wanted to do some puns and jokes with underground cultures from Internet, such as MGTOW and Incel movements, subthreads on reddit about patternships of behavior, cancel culture and Twitter, etc with some exaggerated special effects and "homage" of plots of Cinema's classics (Matrix, 2001, 80's Hong Kong's Kung-Fu films, etc). It would work better if they did a raw coreography as Kung-Fu films from 80's.

By the way, Michelle Yeoh was sublime on this scene, even she isn't a Martial Artist's specialist, she rocks with Cynthia Rothrock on this scene below:

Given one of the directors, Daniel Kwan, is Asian American and the broad acceptance of the movie by Asian American audiences I'm not too concerned about the movie pushing stereotypes. Kinda feels like when people were suggesting Uncut Gems was anti-Semitic.

He wanted to have fun and to do many jokes, but this effect was to the contrary way. He portraited Asian People (principally Chinese people) being "isolated into a bubble", "bowfinger", "cheater", "filthy", etc.
The Chinese community in my country are labeled with these characteristcs and, during the pandemics, many people, including in my city, assaulted the Chinese persons with xenophobic phrases and these insults.

 

[Leseratte]

I've just watched John Wick 4: Baba Yaga after 4 years without going to a theater!!! This film is just intense, exaggerated and insane! WOW!!!
It's a kinda "crap" film I adore so much! There is nothing there (only gun-fu scenes, violence a lot and neo-noir photography), but I enjoyed even so. Not only Arthouse's films do the taste of a cinephile.




(Spoiler Alert!) Well, I really didn't appreciate that film. Some jokes don't make sense for me. What about the scenes about parallel universes, hot-dog's fingers and strappons and two stones dialoguing? Not even arthouse's films aren't so auspicious...
And the directors and screenwriters wanted to do some puns and jokes with underground cultures from Internet, such as MGTOW and Incel movements, subthreads on reddit about patternships of behavior, cancel culture and Twitter, etc with some exaggerated special effects and "homage" of plots of Cinema's classics (Matrix, 2001, 80's Hong Kong's Kung-Fu films, etc). It would work better if they did a raw coreography as Kung-Fu films from 80's.

By the way, Michelle Yeoh was sublime on this scene, even she isn't a Martial Artist's specialist, she rocks with Cynthia Rothrock on this scene below:

He wanted to have fun and to do many jokes, but this effect was to the contrary way. He portraited Asian People (principally Chinese people) being "isolated into a bubble", "bowfinger", "cheater", "filthy", etc.
The Chinese community in my country are labeled with these characteristcs and, during the pandemics, many people, including in my city, assaulted the Chinese persons with xenophobic phrases and these insults.

Well, congrats on your restart as movie theater goer.