Doomsday
Administrator 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 23,307 
Likes: 6,775
Location:
Last Online Nov 26, 2024 10:05:44 GMT -5
|
Post by Doomsday on Mar 18, 2022 9:35:53 GMT -5
I watched To Die For last round, it’s a good pick.
|
|
PhantomKnight
CS! Gold
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 20,532
Likes: 3,135
Location:
Last Online Nov 26, 2024 0:22:29 GMT -5
|
Post by PhantomKnight on Mar 18, 2022 13:07:45 GMT -5
Yeah, after seeing it for the first time back in January, it's one I made a mental note of to recommend in here. I really dug it.
|
|
Dracula
CS! Gold
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 26,106
Likes: 5,732
Location:
Last Online Nov 26, 2024 10:19:17 GMT -5
|
Post by Dracula on Apr 2, 2022 22:51:48 GMT -5
Flesh+Blood (1985)
I’ve been wanting to watch this movie for a while and had especially wished I’d seen it when reviewing Benedetta recently as I knew it covered some similar ground involving sex and faith in plague-ridden medieval Europe. It was a pretty important film in the filmography of Paul Verhoeven which serves as a clear transition work between his Dutch films and his Hollywood phase as it was a fairly expensive English language film produced largely in Europe. This is an odd piece of work as it’s clearly trying to work in the language of Hollywood filmmaking and isn’t trying to challenge the viewer structurally like an arthouse movie but it’s also noticeably more extreme than Hollywood movies usually are in terms of content and tone. I guess you could say that about movies Robocop as well but that movie had more of a humorous satirical tone that takes the edge off but this, while not exactly devoid of a certain kind of humor is a bit more relentless in its dark outlook. The film, set in 1501 Europe, is aggressively trying to subvert the romantic notion of the early modern world by making everything brutal and plague-ridden to the point of almost feeling a bit edgelord about it all. The film is also really violent and sexual in a way that you don’t generally associate with 1980s Hollywood and kind of employs this things like a Roger Corman exploitation movie or and Italian genre flick from the 70s but the production values are better even if they’re being used to make everything look grimy. At the center of it all is a love triangle of sorts between some broken and unpleasant people who are both varying degrees of possessive, which is interesting to some degree but is ultimately kind of blunt. There are some cheesy moments in it and some cool moments. I get why it didn’t find a mass audience at the time but also dig that it existed and went both with and against the currents of its time.
***1/2 out of Five
|
|
PG Cooper
CS! Silver
Join Date: Feb 2009
And those who tasted the bite of his sword named him...The DOOM Slayer
Posts: 16,650
Likes: 4,067
Location:
Last Online Nov 26, 2024 9:14:27 GMT -5
|
Post by PG Cooper on Apr 3, 2022 7:36:17 GMT -5
Glad you mostly liked it. I quite like Jennifer Jason Leigh's performance. She navigates some very tricky material and makes the character a bit of a mystery.
|
|
Doomsday
Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 23,307
Likes: 6,775
Location:
Last Online Nov 26, 2024 10:05:44 GMT -5
|
Post by Doomsday on Apr 4, 2022 10:59:40 GMT -5
One week left.
|
|
Doomsday
Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 23,307
Likes: 6,775
Location:
Last Online Nov 26, 2024 10:05:44 GMT -5
|
Post by Doomsday on Apr 8, 2022 19:51:22 GMT -5
Hope everyone has a great weekend! A weekend filled with relaxation. And watching movies.
And writing something about them.
|
|
PG Cooper
CS! Silver
Join Date: Feb 2009
And those who tasted the bite of his sword named him...The DOOM Slayer
Posts: 16,650
Likes: 4,067
Location:
Last Online Nov 26, 2024 9:14:27 GMT -5
|
Post by PG Cooper on Apr 8, 2022 20:45:17 GMT -5
Hope everyone has a great weekend! A weekend filled with relaxation. And watching movies. And writing something about them. Yeah man I'm watching Planet of the Apes  |
|
Doomsday
Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 23,307
Likes: 6,775
Location:
Last Online Nov 26, 2024 10:05:44 GMT -5
|
Post by Doomsday on Apr 8, 2022 22:27:48 GMT -5
Sonofa...
|
|
thebtskink
CS! Silver
Join Date: Jul 2000
It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
Posts: 19,462
Likes: 4,984
Location:
Last Online Nov 25, 2024 23:36:50 GMT -5
|
Post by thebtskink on Apr 9, 2022 8:59:21 GMT -5
Gonna try and watch tonight or tomorrow.
|
|
PG Cooper
CS! Silver
Join Date: Feb 2009
And those who tasted the bite of his sword named him...The DOOM Slayer
Posts: 16,650
Likes: 4,067
Location:
Last Online Nov 26, 2024 9:14:27 GMT -5
|
Post by PG Cooper on Apr 9, 2022 10:22:50 GMT -5
Have you seen this shit? Twist ending is craaaaazy. |
|
Doomsday
Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 23,307
Likes: 6,775
Location:
Last Online Nov 26, 2024 10:05:44 GMT -5
|
Post by Doomsday on Apr 9, 2022 10:51:54 GMT -5
Have you seen this shit? Twist ending is craaaaazy.  |
|
PG Cooper
CS! Silver
Join Date: Feb 2009
And those who tasted the bite of his sword named him...The DOOM Slayer
Posts: 16,650
Likes: 4,067
Location:
Last Online Nov 26, 2024 9:14:27 GMT -5
|
Post by PG Cooper on Apr 10, 2022 8:02:39 GMT -5
Just finished Quo vadis, Aida? Um, holy shit. Had I seen it earlier, it almost certainly would have made my top ten list. Harrowing story anchored by a fantastic lead performance. The epilogue hit me like a ton of bricks.
|
|
PG Cooper
CS! Silver
Join Date: Feb 2009
And those who tasted the bite of his sword named him...The DOOM Slayer
Posts: 16,650
Likes: 4,067
Location:
Last Online Nov 26, 2024 9:14:27 GMT -5
|
Post by PG Cooper on Apr 10, 2022 10:16:11 GMT -5
Hope everyone has a great weekend! A weekend filled with relaxation. And watching movies. And writing something about them. Yeah man I'm watching Planet of the Apes Just finished Quo vadis, Aida? Um, holy shit. Had I seen it earlier, it almost certainly would have made my top ten list. Harrowing story anchored by a fantastic lead performance. The epilogue hit me like a ton of bricks. Should also mention the original Planet of the Apes holds up like gangbusters. Was worried it might feel dated or quaint, but it still rules. |
|
IanTheCool
CS! Gold
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 21,497
Likes: 2,865
Location:
Last Online Nov 26, 2024 7:52:08 GMT -5
|
Post by IanTheCool on Apr 10, 2022 10:28:01 GMT -5
Yeah man I'm watching Planet of the Apes  Just finished Quo vadis, Aida? Um, holy shit. Had I seen it earlier, it almost certainly would have made my top ten list. Harrowing story anchored by a fantastic lead performance. The epilogue hit me like a ton of bricks. Should also mention the original Planet of the Apes holds up like gangbusters. Was worried it might feel dated or quaint, but it still rules. Damn right |
|
Doomsday
Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 23,307
Likes: 6,775
Location:
Last Online Nov 26, 2024 10:05:44 GMT -5
|
Post by Doomsday on Apr 10, 2022 10:59:46 GMT -5
It's still one of my favorite 'nothing good happens in the movie, only bad things happen' movies.
|
|
donny
CS! Bronze
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 10,632
Likes: 1,332
Location:
Last Online Nov 24, 2024 23:13:53 GMT -5
|
Post by donny on Apr 11, 2022 8:07:39 GMT -5
Movie watched, review coming later today.
|
|
thebtskink
CS! Silver
Join Date: Jul 2000
It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
Posts: 19,462
Likes: 4,984
Location:
Last Online Nov 25, 2024 23:36:50 GMT -5
|
Post by thebtskink on Apr 11, 2022 8:40:43 GMT -5
Same, trying for my review tonight
|
|
Nilade
Director
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,687
Likes: 426
Location:
Last Online Nov 18, 2024 0:05:59 GMT -5
|
Post by Nilade on Apr 11, 2022 9:58:03 GMT -5
Watched my film last night as well. Will review tonight after the kids go to bed.
|
|
PG Cooper
CS! Silver
Join Date: Feb 2009
And those who tasted the bite of his sword named him...The DOOM Slayer
Posts: 16,650
Likes: 4,067
Location:
Last Online Nov 26, 2024 9:14:27 GMT -5
|
Post by PG Cooper on Apr 11, 2022 11:53:33 GMT -5
Don't know when I'll get a full review up. Very behind on Letterboxd again and have a shitload of marking ahead of me. But I loved the film. A-level stuff.
|
|
Doomsday
Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 23,307
Likes: 6,775
Location:
Last Online Nov 26, 2024 10:05:44 GMT -5
|
Post by Doomsday on Apr 11, 2022 16:03:58 GMT -5
Don't know when I'll get a full review up. Very behind on Letterboxd again and have a shitload of marking ahead of me. But I loved the film. A-level stuff. It's been on a lot of film club lists but just saw it's on Hulu. I'll have to watch after I catch up on 90 Day Fiance. |
|
thebtskink
CS! Silver
Join Date: Jul 2000
It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
Posts: 19,462
Likes: 4,984
Location:
Last Online Nov 25, 2024 23:36:50 GMT -5
|
Post by thebtskink on Apr 11, 2022 16:33:21 GMT -5
Don't know when I'll get a full review up. Very behind on Letterboxd again and have a shitload of marking ahead of me. But I loved the film. A-level stuff. It's been on a lot of film club lists but just saw it's on Hulu. I'll have to watch after I catch up on 90 Day Fiance. Drac got me to watch it, and we were both trying to get folks to watch for their top 10s. |
|
donny
CS! Bronze
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 10,632
Likes: 1,332
Location:
Last Online Nov 24, 2024 23:13:53 GMT -5
|
Post by donny on Apr 11, 2022 17:37:53 GMT -5
13 Assassins
My initial thoughts upon completing 13 Assassins, a 2010 Samurai picture from legendary director Takashi Miike, were ones of disappointment. Disappointment in myself for not discovering this more recently, because had I done so, it would have made for a nice entry in my 'Best Action Movies of the Decade' thread. Quite the shame, really.
Set in 1844 during Japans Edo period, we learn through the opening title card that with the Edo Shogunate in fast decline, that Lord Naritsugu, he of the Akashi clan, is reeking havoc across the land, killing commoners and noble folks without hesitation. As we are quickly told, Naritsugu is quickly gaining power within the ranks, and because his half-brother is the Shōgun, he is more or less protected. When one of the other feudal lords commits seppuku after his family was murdered by Naritsugu, the Shogun's minister, Sir Doi Toshitsura, enlists the help of Shimada Shinzaemon an older Samurai, to, you guessed it, take out Naritsugu and prevent further chance of war.
From there, the film really moves at a nice pace, introducing us to the cast of characters we'll get to follow, including the remaining 12 Assassins, and some of the men protecting Naritsugu. For example, to me, one of my favorite aspects was the conflict between Shimada and Hanbei, Naritsugu's right hand man. The two have a bit of a shared history and used to train together, and now, here they are on opposite sides of the fence, figuratively speaking. I found Hanbei to be an interesting character, who I think on one hand, can grasp and understand the atrocities committed by the man he is protecting, but at the same time, follows the code of the Samurai very seriously. No matter what, he has to protect Naritsugu, even if it means death. That sort of mentality really ties into some of the major themes of 13 Assassins as well, which openly questions the importance of being a Samurai, even when having to defend the actions of a psychopath.
I can be a sucker for Samurai movies, primarily because of the potential of non-stop sword fights, and 13 Assassins is no different, and it delivers a wonderful spectacle of ass kicking and blood for the final hour or so. There is a ton of build-up and exposition in the beginning, but by the time we get to the final location, which is the town of Ochiai, hoo boy. That town essentially plays role to one giant set piece as we watch trap after trap go off, followed by explosions every which way. The body count is high, and I must say, anytime a hoard of bad guys came around the corner to face off one our heroes, I was smiling end to end. The choreography for these sequences is great, and the violence, while albeit being a bit over the top work.
While watching 13 Assassins, I couldn't help but notice some similarities to another classic of the genre, Kuroaswas Seven Samurai, which I'm sure isn't a coincidence, as I'm pretty sure Miike is fond of Mr. Kurosawa and his work. Most notably, I felt said similarities in the building of the Assassins, and then again during the climactic battle at Ochiai. To me, having that reference point throughout really helped.
8/10
In for next round.
|
|
Doomsday
Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 23,307
Likes: 6,775
Location:
Last Online Nov 26, 2024 10:05:44 GMT -5
|
Post by Doomsday on Apr 11, 2022 18:14:36 GMT -5
I love 13 Assassins, super fun movie.
|
|
thebtskink
CS! Silver
Join Date: Jul 2000
It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
Posts: 19,462
Likes: 4,984
Location:
Last Online Nov 25, 2024 23:36:50 GMT -5
|
Post by thebtskink on Apr 11, 2022 21:17:45 GMT -5
To Die For (1995)
A few weeks late, and in a bad mood, I finally sat down with this film and man it kinda blew me away.
Directed by Gus Van Sant, this satire has it's finger on the pulse of a certain moment in American media consumption, yet still feels relevant today. Opening with tabloid stories of the plot's murder case as well as a direct confessional to the camera from Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman), To Die For feels as if a direct shot at the "Hard Copy", and "Inside Edition"s of the day. Growing up in Massachusetts, I was old enough to remember the Pamela Smart case this story was based on being local news before it broke to the national tabloids. Van Sant shoots the film as a series of interviews with the story subjects, expertly deploying flashbacks to the "real" events but somehow skipping key moments in them when cutting back to the present day interviews. This technique allows for the side cast to shine through - Dan Hedaya, Kurtwood Smith, Illeana Douglas, and Joaquin Phoneix all get to play with how their characters would react to the interviewers in real time.
Kidman is magnetic in the role, playing Stone as always aware of her next path to fame and glory, but also extremely judgmental of those she views as beneath her. As much as the other characters may show discomfort with the camera, she is drawn to it. Where the film cracks me up is in throwing all these horribly judgmental biases around in confessionals, occasionally showing some of those accusations as true. It's an expertly wound tale, maybe a tad too long in the third act but definitely worth anyone's time.
Kidman is legit fantastic here, makes me want to rewatch The Others and finally get around to watching Destroyer.
8/10.
|
|
Nilade
Director
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,687
Likes: 426
Location:
Last Online Nov 18, 2024 0:05:59 GMT -5
|
Post by Nilade on Apr 12, 2022 1:33:40 GMT -5
The Lighthouse
Two men, one a salty old veteran of the sea and the other a reserved young man, find themselves stationed together at an old lighthouse for what’s to be only four weeks in the late 19th century. While they clash at first, they soon begin to bond and form a relationship that has its ups and downs. When a storm prevents them from leaving the island the lighthouse is on, indefinitely prolonging their stay, they pass the time by sinking into drunken stupors. With rations running low, water in short supply, and revelations of each man coming to the surface amidst the intoxication, both men soon begin to descend into their own madness.
With both The Witch, and now The Lighthouse, under his belt, Robert Eggers has proven that he’s a director that we need to pay attention to. In both films, he’s able to take a period of time and draw out its darkest essence while still managing to frame it beautifully on screen. There’s a lot to see here, and much of it very disturbing, but Eggers manages to immerse the viewer so deeply in the narrative that by the time you realize what you’ve just witnessed, whether it’s the brutal killing of a seagull or the animalistic sex between man and mermaid, the next scene has already begun, leaving us to question and reflect on these moments long after the film ends.
On to the actors. Both William Dafoe and Robert Pattinson are simply amazing in this film. I find it hard to believe neither were nominated for a Golden Globe or an Oscar in 2019 for their work in this film. A monologue by Dafoe in which he curses Pattinson for not liking his cooking is such a great moment and worth mentioning. And Robert Pattinson proves in this film that his future as one of the great character actors has only just begun.
Keep up the good work Eggers. Looking forward to The Northman and will be first in line for Nosferatu.
9/10
|
|
