Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Apr 3, 2020 13:48:31 GMT -5
Hollywoodland (2006) Hollywoodland is a movie that is mostly thought about in terms of its placement in Ben Affleck’s career as it was seen as something of a comeback attempt after the twin bombs of Gigli and Jersey Girl. The movie didn’t really bring him back but it did build up some goodwill going into his span working as a director, which is what really made people warm to him. Given that it’s also an interesting project for him as it’s essentially a movie all about how playing a superhero sucks and will ruin your life, so maybe he should have taken its message more to heart. In it he plays George Reeves, the man who played Superman on 1950s television and eventually died under suspicious circumstances. I mostly knew that show from a crossover episode of I Love Lucy that Reeves appeared on and have also seen a few episodes of it and it does not hold up and is mostly remembered for establishing a pattern where bad stuff ends up happening to people who play Superman (pray for Routh and Cavill). The movie is not a straightforward biopic however. There’s sort of a framing story/flashback structure where half of the movie is about the life of Reeves and the other half is about a private investigator played by Adrian Brody who is trying to get to the bottom of whether Reeves simply killed himself or if there was some conspiracy to murder him, and this is where the film started to kind of fall apart for me. This section of the movie is heavily fictionalized and kind of comes off like a second rate L.A. Confidential ripoff and Brody’s character just felt like a boring cliché. I did like the Affleck sections though and would be tempted to wish they had just stuck with that but I don’t think that would have sustained a feature so maybe they should have kept the structure but dialed the investigation parts down a bit to feel more like a down to earth investigation than an overblown neonoir. Still, half a good movie is better than no good movie at all.
**1/2 out of Five
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Apr 3, 2020 18:49:05 GMT -5
The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)Yorgos Lanthimos is one weird-ass dude, and he wants you to know that while watching one of his movies. And neither is he interested in making any apologies for that. On some level, I have to respect that mentality. If only that mentality led to better films. It's kind of hard to know where to start with this movie, so I'll just dive right in: Yorgos Lanthimos isn't for me. Look, I appreciate movies that challenge you and make you think as much as the next guy, but they still have to feel relatable in some way or in the case of The Killing of a Sacred Deer, like they take place in a believable reality. One of the first things you notice not five minutes into this film is that the characters speak in a very...odd, idiosyncratic way. I'm not exactly sure how to describe this dialogue. It's like there's simultaneously no filter between the characters' mouths and brains and that they're speaking only in...subtext? Or just talking about the most obvious, on-the-nose things? I don't know WHAT the hell was going on with the dialogue. It's obviously some sort of stylistic/storytelling device on the part of the director, but because it was so strange, it created a barrier between me and the movie. I understood the flow of conversation, but not WHY the conversations were playing out that way. Now, I'm sure people much smarter than me can provide an explanation here and that's great, but to me, it kind of felt like Lanthimos was trolling in that regard. And it got annoying pretty quick. Aggravating the situation even more is that the core story of this movie -- involving a young boy's insidious insinuation into a family and the resulting consequences -- is honestly rather interesting and has really dark, twisted potential. There are even a number of scenes that tap into that potential. But like I said, there was a constant barrier between the film and my investment in it. Once the story really started to kick in, I genuinely wanted to be more caught up in it. But the pretensions of Lanthimos were getting in the way. However, I will say that the performances from Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman and Barry Keoghan are very strong and shine through the stilted, unnatural dialogue. But it's really Yorgos Lanthimos that's at the core of this film's problems for me. I'm just not a fan of is style. If this same story had been in the hands of someone like Ari Aster, then I could see this movie working for me. Too bad it wasn't.
*1/2 /****
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Apr 3, 2020 18:55:53 GMT -5
The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)Yorgos Lanthimos is one weird-ass dude, and he wants you to know that while watching one of his movies. And neither is he interested in making any apologies for that. On some level, I have to respect that mentality. If only that mentality led to better films. It's kind of hard to know where to start with this movie, so I'll just dive right in: Yorgos Lanthimos isn't for me. Look, I appreciate movies that challenge you and make you think as much as the next guy, but they still have to feel relatable in some way or in the case of The Killing of a Sacred Deer, like they take place in a believable reality. One of the first things you notice not five minutes into this film is that the characters speak in a very...odd, idiosyncratic way. I'm not exactly sure how to describe this dialogue. It's like there's simultaneously no filter between the characters' mouths and brains and that they're speaking only in...subtext? Or just talking about the most obvious, on-the-nose things? I don't know WHAT the hell was going on with the dialogue. It's obviously some sort of stylistic/storytelling device on the part of the director, but because it was so strange, it created a barrier between me and the movie. I understood the flow of conversation, but not WHY the conversations were playing out that way. Now, I'm sure people much smarter than me can provide an explanation here and that's great, but to me, it kind of felt like Lanthimos was trolling in that regard. And it got annoying pretty quick. Aggravating the situation even more is that the core story of this movie -- involving a young boy's insidious insinuation into a family and the resulting consequences -- is honestly rather interesting and has really dark, twisted potential. There are even a number of scenes that tap into that potential. But like I said, there was a constant barrier between the film and my investment in it. Once the story really started to kick in, I genuinely wanted to be more caught up in it. But the pretensions of Lanthimos were getting in the way. However, I will say that the performances from Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman and Barry Keoghan are very strong and shine through the stilted, unnatural dialogue. But it's really Yorgos Lanthimos that's at the core of this film's problems for me. I'm just not a fan of is style. If this same story had been in the hands of someone like Ari Aster, then I could see this movie working for me. Too bad it wasn't.
*1/2 /****
Do you at least get why we were calling The Favourite accessible now?
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1godzillafan
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Post by 1godzillafan on Apr 3, 2020 18:58:49 GMT -5
I tried to get him to watch Desert Heat, but he fell straight for your trap.
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Apr 3, 2020 20:05:53 GMT -5
Do you at least get why we were calling The Favourite accessible now? You sure weren't kidding.
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Apr 3, 2020 20:20:43 GMT -5
Do you at least get why we were calling The Favourite accessible now? You sure weren't kidding. So, for the record, Killing of a Sacred Deer is not my favorite Lanthimos film and I do find the dialog in it to be a bit much. I mostly recommended it because it was available for streaming and it was a bit more of a contrast to The Favourite than The Lobster was. I think PG Cooper is actually a bigger fan than me. But don't take that to mean that I only recommended it to weird you out, I do quite like the film and think it has some really good stuff in it like the "Burn" song and the Barry Keoghan character and the ending. It also makes a little more sense if you know that it's essentially a retelling of a Greek myth where Agamemnon invoked the wrath of the goddess Artemis after he unknowingly killed a deer that was under her protection and was eventually forced to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia in order to satisfy her. The real Lanthimos movie to watch is Dogtooth, which is also strange but it's in Greek so the writing style is a bit less jarring.
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Apr 3, 2020 21:00:27 GMT -5
You sure weren't kidding. So, for the record, Killing of a Sacred Deer is not my favorite Lanthimos film and I do find the dialog in it to be a bit much. I mostly recommended it because it was available for streaming and it was a bit more of a contrast to The Favourite than The Lobster was. I think PG Cooper is actually a bigger fan than me. But don't take that to mean that I only recommended it to weird you out, I do quite like the film and think it has some really good stuff in it like the "Burn" song and the Barry Keoghan character and the ending. It also makes a little more sense if you know that it's essentially a retelling of a Greek myth where Agamemnon invoked the wrath of the goddess Artemis after he unknowingly killed a deer that was under her protection and was eventually forced to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia in order to satisfy her. The real Lanthimos movie to watch is Dogtooth, which is also strange but it's in Greek so the writing style is a bit less jarring. Well, in all honesty, I did feel like I owed Lanthimos another shot after The Favourite, which is why I picked this movie. And like I said, I thought the story itself was very interesting and unique and lent itself great to a psychological horror thriller format. And there were quite a few scenes where the horror of the whole premise was pretty well-realized. From a directorial standpoint, I think I admired this more than The Favourite. But again...I was just thrown way off by the dialogue and it reached a point where it all just got to be annnoying. Who knows, maybe I just gained more respect for the storytelling in The Favourite after this.
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Deexan
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Post by Deexan on Apr 3, 2020 21:45:32 GMT -5
Phantom can't wait to watch Dogtooth.
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Apr 3, 2020 22:18:17 GMT -5
It's kind of unfortunate that I'm not a Lanthimos supporter, seeing as my Dad's side of the family has Greek heritage. So he and I share that Mediterranean connection.
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thebtskink
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Post by thebtskink on Apr 3, 2020 22:28:26 GMT -5
It's kind of unfortunate that I'm not a Lanthimos supporter, seeing as my Dad's side of the family has Greek heritage. So he and I share that Mediterranean connection. For future film clubs, have you seen "Z"?
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Apr 3, 2020 22:30:55 GMT -5
It's kind of unfortunate that I'm not a Lanthimos supporter, seeing as my Dad's side of the family has Greek heritage. So he and I share that Mediterranean connection. For future film clubs, have you seen "Z"? Phenomenal movie.
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Deexan
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Post by Deexan on Apr 3, 2020 22:32:26 GMT -5
It's kind of unfortunate that I'm not a Lanthimos supporter, seeing as my Dad's side of the family has Greek heritage. So he and I share that Mediterranean connection. Racist motherfucker.
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Apr 3, 2020 22:44:45 GMT -5
It's kind of unfortunate that I'm not a Lanthimos supporter, seeing as my Dad's side of the family has Greek heritage. So he and I share that Mediterranean connection. For future film clubs, have you seen "Z"?
Nope.
It's kind of unfortunate that I'm not a Lanthimos supporter, seeing as my Dad's side of the family has Greek heritage. So he and I share that Mediterranean connection. Racist motherfucker.
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thebtskink
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Post by thebtskink on Apr 3, 2020 22:50:58 GMT -5
Noted. We are all collectively saving that for you.
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Post by 1godzillafan on Apr 3, 2020 22:58:56 GMT -5
If we're all giving Phanty incomprehensibly weird movies, my vote goes to Street Trash.
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Post by PG Cooper on Apr 3, 2020 23:01:31 GMT -5
If we're all giving Phanty incomprehensibly weird movies, my vote goes to Street Trash. According to Neverending I'm a fucking freak so I can recommend some wild stuff.
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1godzillafan
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Post by 1godzillafan on Apr 3, 2020 23:04:32 GMT -5
If we're all giving Phanty incomprehensibly weird movies, my vote goes to Street Trash. According to Neverending I'm a fucking freak so I can recommend some wild stuff. Quit masturbating to Street Trash and seek help.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Apr 3, 2020 23:05:20 GMT -5
If we're all giving Phanty incomprehensibly weird movies, my vote goes to Street Trash. According to Neverending I'm a fucking freak so I can recommend some wild stuff. You’re not a freak. You’re deranged.
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Apr 3, 2020 23:15:17 GMT -5
According to Neverending I'm a fucking freak so I can recommend some wild stuff. Quit masturbating to Street Trash and seek help. Bustin makes me feel good.
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1godzillafan
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Post by 1godzillafan on Apr 3, 2020 23:44:09 GMT -5
Quit masturbating to Street Trash and seek help. Bustin makes me feel good.
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Post by PhantomKnight on Apr 4, 2020 0:10:35 GMT -5
Noted. We are all collectively saving that for you. If we're all giving Phanty incomprehensibly weird movies, my vote goes to Street Trash. If we're all giving Phanty incomprehensibly weird movies, my vote goes to Street Trash. According to Neverending I'm a fucking freak so I can recommend some wild stuff.
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Deexan
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Post by Deexan on Apr 4, 2020 3:09:40 GMT -5
According to Neverending I'm a fucking freak so I can recommend some wild stuff. Quit masturbating to Street Trash and seek help. Always ignore this advice.
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Post by 1godzillafan on Apr 7, 2020 11:08:23 GMT -5
I finally got a quiet evening and watched Sword of Doom last night. This flick is about a sociopathic samurai exiled for killing a fellow swordsman in a joust, working as an assassin, and evading those who seek vengeance.
It's a bit of a slow burn, but what struck me about this movie was a lot of the tension was not based on dialogue or action, but in what the characters aren't saying and the viewer knows exactly what they're thinking. It's intriguingly intertwined with the swordplay, which are usually one stroke kills in this film. It's tricky to make action like that thrilling, but the movie builds these scenes up with scenes of unnerving tension between the duelists before a move is even made. It's pretty fascinating.
Our main character is not a good chap by any stretch, and it wisely doesn't try to make him likeable in his douchiness (something that bugs me about certain other non-hero narratives, such as, oh say, Italy's anti-hero character Diabolik). Instead, the film uses his rather stoney relationship with other people make him interesting. His lady companion is has an interesting relationship with him, as she was initially the wife of the man he kills in the duel at the start of the film, but he defiles her in exchange for a favor of throwing the match, but her husband catches wind and tries to kill him, which leads to the nasty conclusion of the duel. She exiles herself with him out of shame and mother's his child in what is one of the most loveless man/woman relationships one can wring out in a film. They're two people who clearly hate each other, but feel they have no choice but to rely on one another. It, like a lot of things in this movie, does not end well.
The ambiguous ending to the film was apparently meant to set up a sequel (the film is based on a 41 volume serialized novel), but while I'm somewhat intrugued where this character's journey could possibly go, the ending in the film is surprisingly not frustrating as I let it marinate in my head. Our main character just snaps and it leads to a lengthy blood bath of a finale, where he kills everyone in sight, be it friend or foe, as it randomly freeze frames in the middle of the action. It could be seen as a representation of one's life or sanity, and whether that's a valid interpretation or not, seeing the guy neck deep in men trying to kill him seems about as good an ending to his story as any.
Really solid flick. I dug it. Thanks, Coop.
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Apr 7, 2020 11:11:32 GMT -5
Really glad you dug it. And I agree that the ending works even if it was meant as a cliffhanger. I do wish some of the elements that this film clearly sets up were eventually paid off (namely a duel between Nakadai and Mifune) but's still a really awesome standalone film.
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Post by 1godzillafan on Apr 7, 2020 11:20:36 GMT -5
I am disappointed we didn't get the duel the movie was seemingly building toward, but the movie works without it as well, so I can't complain too hard.
Also, I feel like noting, we're living in a world that's self isolating and Coop gave me a movie about a dude who is pretty self isolated. Gee, thanks.
But that's okay, because I guess you can say I gave him a movie about a bunch of people dying to a virus outbreak.
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