Last Film You Watched? VI

All non-Nolan related film, tv, and streaming discussions.
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The Portrait of a Lady on Fire was basically as good as advertised. I think the film could have used its run time more efficiently since it seems like the film drags a little and yet the romance feels a bit rushed. However, when we do get past the halfway mark, it starts clicking much better on an emotional level and the finale is just perfection. It's another film that brought a tear to my eye (granted, with me, that's not that difficult) and it's also another film with really solid cinematography (this category should be PACKED this year at the Oscars). Even excluding the LGBT angle to the film, this is this year's Call Me by Your Name, although not quite as good.

I've also seen the best movie the year and I'm shocked there's no thread for it on this forum. Finally, I found my perfect 10/10 movie and what's also great about it is that it's available for free on youtube! And that movie is...
Threat Level Midnight!
:D

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It: Chapter Two


A lot of weird shit happens in this film, but none more surprising than the fact that McAvoy gives a wildly mediocre performance.

Skarsgard is phenomenal before the third act. I was mesmerized by what he was doing here much more so than with the first one.

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LelekPL wrote:
December 28th, 2019, 4:52 pm
I've also seen the best movie the year and I'm shocked there's no thread for it on this forum. Finally, I found my perfect 10/10 movie and what's also great about it is that it's available for free on youtube! And that movie is...
Threat Level Midnight!
:D
Image
for letting me know about this existence

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Miller's Crossing
It's not the Coen brothers' best film. It's a good gangster film that has a confusing start to its plot but essentially the story is: Tom (gangster) gets in trouble for killing/not killing his lover Verna's brother Bernie in order to appease his boss Leon's rival Johnny Caspar.
It's not the Coen brother's funniest film either. It has a number of fun jokes that got a chuckle out of me but nothing major. The violence is horrific but that's par for the course. Where the movie shines is in the performances and the music.

Overall, 8/10

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1.) Dunkirk is still Nolans best movie.
2.) its so fucking alien it might as well be science fiction
3.) it's so surreal & strange it might as well be Buñuel
4.) what struck me this time is how "small" Nolan directed most of the performances. Lots of "eye acting" where you emote by carefully looking in different directions off camera. Silent movie as fuck. Lots of subtle head nods, too.

2020 has a high bar to hit.


-Vader

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ugh fuck yes Dunkirk is superb

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In the last week:

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - 3.5/5
Christmas Evil (aka You Better Watch Out) - 3/5
The Bishop's Wife - 3.5/5
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence - 4/5
Harlan County U.S.A. - 4/5
Knives Out - 4.5/5
Marriage Story - 4/5
Ford v Ferrari - 4.5/5

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Portrait de la Jeune Fille en Feu (2019)

Saw this on my birthday today and it's a excellent film that has gorgeous cinematography, great acting from all actresses involved and an engaging story with minimal use of music I might add. I like the Orpheus thematic and I would not mind this getting a bunch of Oscar nominations.

8.5/10

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Scars of Dracula: This was actually quite fun, Lee is still the best thing about these films.

Little Women (1994): A lovely but at the same time stiff adaptation. The production design, score, cinematography and costumes are beautiful for sure but it doesn't feel fully vibrant. So the drama gets a bit too dry. I mean, Bale is top notch and his scene with Ryder is really good but overall this doesn't feel like the definitive Little Women film.

Marriage Story: Wonderful, everything is so on point in this. Baumbach is so in control and perfectly balances both the leads' point of views not to alienate the audience or root for one or the other. Driver and Johansson are terrific and it all feels very real and honest. One of the best films of 2019.

Dracula A.D. 1972: I mean, it's fun to see Cushing again and that they finally decided to change the setting... But other than that lol

The Satanic Rites of Dracula: Omfg it's a good thing this was Lee's last one because lol

Nosferatu Phantom der Nacht: I had seen the 1922 Nosferatu years ago and this was the perfect time to give Herzog's film a go. It's very close to the original Nosferatu of course and I mean, you can only move so far away from Stoker's source material (then again, the Hammer films did exactly that lol) but still. This film is so eerie, so weirdly atmospheric and ominous with beautiful locations and music.
Adjani is so incredibly beautiful and Kinski is pretty terrifying as Dracula. I loved that they shot in the Netherlands as well. And I really liked the ending.

Murder Mystery: lol I have to admit it was fun

Novecento: Well this was one way to start off the 2020 movie watching year lol. I watched the 5 hour 15 minute cut and it sure is a juggernaut.
De Niro and Depardieu carry this film most of all, they are great on their own but they also have wonderful chemistry. However, I think Bertolucci got a bit too caught up in wanting too much instead of having a real tight narrative, which should still be possible with such a long runtime. I mean sure, when it works like when De Niro and Depardieu are reminiscent of the past, the long runtime really works. But it often starts again and feels like a completely different film and story overall. So starting in 1945 was a good idea but that brings me to the worst aspect of the film: Sutherland and Betti's characters. I mean sure, they do unspeakable things but they end up being portrayed as caricatures instead of merely de-humanized people.
Not to forget, the amount of animal brutality in this film is staggering. I think in the end, Bertolucci could've made something powerful of this but the poor acting of many of the peasants undermine the story he wants to tell. I don't know if I'll ever watch the shorter cuts but I do think that there's a better film in here if they had cut it down a bit and rearranged the narrative.

Bram Stoker's Dracula: This still is the definitive adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. It's such a beautiful film, from both a technical point of view as on a narrative point of view. There's not a single moment where the story drags, the opening prologue is a fantastic introduction and Coppola is in full control. The costumes are incredible, the sets haunting and the cinematography is stunning. I love that they used many miniatures and projections to tie travel scenes together. I also really love that they speak Romanian too and Oldman just aces the accent. Oldman's performance belongs to his finest work and the make-up is still incredibly convincing.
This film is so many things, it's haunting as it is sensual, erotic, romantic, adventurous, funny and touching. It's such a stunning achievement, one of my favourite films of all time.

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Nomis wrote:
January 3rd, 2020, 7:44 am
Not to forget, the amount of animal brutality in this film is staggering.
I've seen the whole damn thing and thought it was fairly remarkable at the time, but all I'm left with now, years later, is that poor cat.

Donald Sutherland really carved out a niche career playing absolute nutjobs, between this and Homer Simpson.

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