What Movie Are You Watching?

the tomorrow war ( amazon prime)

this movie didn't get an amazing review when it came out but i thought it was ok, i would give it 7/10. it's kinda dumb but fun. if i say too much about it, it will probably spoil it.

 
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I decided to rewatch this last night for the first time since 2009. It's still a really solid film whether you enjoy wrestling or not, its really more of a story about the choices we make in life and their consequences. It's fairly humbling. Solid acting from Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei. Free on Amazon Prime Video.


I watched this overnight and it turned out better than I expected. I was expecting something foolish with no real plot or point just over the top action like the 'Crank' movies, which admittedly had a few chuckle worthy moments, but this movie actually had a bit of a plot to it and some charm. It's too short, low budget, straight to digital release and the last minute or so at the end take it down a notch in quality but overall it was worth watching once. Kate Beckinsale usually does better movies than this, but she lifts it up a bit and Stanley Tucci is a nice supporting role as usual. Free on Amazon Prime Video.
 
So I finally got around to watching Black Widow and Mortal Kombat 2021 and did not enjoy either of them. Black Widow seemed utterly generic and Mortal Kombat 2021 had great special effects, action, good cast choice overall, and fanservice but a bad story. I will start with Black Widow as my issues with it are much simpler.

Black Widow just went through the generic story beats of a family drama mixed with over-the-top action. I watched the movie because I like stoic assassin-type characters. However, I am not a fan of this constant need to humanize them. If Kozure Okami and Shurayuki-hime can tell compelling stories without having to worry about the main characters being humanized then I can not see why Black Widow could not do the same. Also, I will admit I do have a preferential bias in favor of Detective Comics over Marvel Comics so that probably skewed my bias towards this movie.

Mortal Kombat 2021 had great action, special effects, and fanservice but the story was just bad. I do not understand why they had to introduce a character like Cole Young into the canon as the everyman. Previous Mortal Kombat films used characters from the actual games as the everyman such as Liu Kang or Johnny Cage.

If there is one franchise that I could see having a successful Marvel-Esque cinematic universe, Mortal Kombat is it. There is such a rich tapestry of great narratives with these characters that you could tell for years. All you would need is a "Kevin Feige" for Mortal Kombat who is a great producer and is knowledgeable about the lore. Or have a collaborative effort by producers and writers who are huge fans of the Mortal Kombat franchise.

I honestly believe that if a video game franchise already has a great narrative, then all it needs is a great writer/s to translate that to the big screen. If Kevin Feige can do that for Marvel Comics then I do not see why it can not be done with Mortal Kombat. And yet, I believe all the movies based around Mortal Kombat are bad.
 

I didn't expect much from this movie given its source material being bad video games and anime, but a compelling trailer that may show some humanity underneath all of the roboticness of edgy crap Japanime game plots caught my attention. The movie was worth seeing once and ended up being better than anticipated, although the first half was harder to sit through simply due to the fact they had Scarlett Johansson playing stoic with no emotion, a complete waste of her natural emoting talent shes known for. A robot with a human mind can still show emotion long before discovering the truth about her past, but I guess that component goes along with the modern edginess where dark anti-hero is cooler than real emoting spiritual warrior type of personality. An awesome concept for the premise of what it is to be a Ghost in the Shell and the atmospheric delivery of a depressing cyberpunk world was mostly captured, and Johanssons acting was solid for what it was which was the script restraining it from being something much deeper, much more emotional and much more connected in her desire to be more than just the machine they turned her into. This could have had all of the great over the top betrayal plots that provoke emotion but instead went for the typical stoic heartless anime approach that seems to be increasingly popular in entertainment as the years go by. Overall, a waste of Johanssons talent but not bad for what it was, yet not a must see film. Easily the best thing I've experienced from the Ghost in the Shell franchise, which has way more potential if it were in the right hands.
 
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Haven't been watching any movie latley.
But after watching some prison escape videos on YT, felt th urge to watch Shawshank Redemption once again.
It's one of my favourites.
Recomend it to everone here. Fantastic movie
 
Tsukuyomimagi99 said:
Mortal Kombat 2021 had great action, special effects, and fanservice but the story was just bad. I do not understand why they had to introduce a character like Cole Young into the canon as the everyman. Previous Mortal Kombat films used characters from the actual games as the everyman such as Liu Kang or Johnny Cage.

If there is one franchise that I could see having a successful Marvel-Esque cinematic universe, Mortal Kombat is it. There is such a rich tapestry of great narratives with these characters that you could tell for years. All you would need is a "Kevin Feige" for Mortal Kombat who is a great producer and is knowledgeable about the lore. Or have a collaborative effort by producers and writers who are huge fans of the Mortal Kombat franchise.

I honestly believe that if a video game franchise already has a great narrative, then all it needs is a great writer/s to translate that to the big screen. If Kevin Feige can do that for Marvel Comics then I do not see why it can not be done with Mortal Kombat. And yet, I believe all the movies based around Mortal Kombat are bad.
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I've said it before here and I'll say it again. MK 2021 does everything that the original MK 1995 failed to do with exception of one area; it lacks a god damn interesting story.

It has the missing gore.
It has the better effects.
It has Scorpion and Sub Zero as actual enemies.
It has a bigger budget.

Yet it lacks a god damn compelling story. The one thing they DIDN'T need money for. The one main thing the original film got right and I would argue was the main thing that made the original one of the best video game adaptations ever made.

At least the original film gave you the Star Wars template (or Enter the Dragon template) by giving you three likable misfit protagonists and a simple yet engaging story of those three warriors fighting in a tournament to prevent evil from conquering our world. MK 2021? What the fuck was the story to that movie? It's like it wanted to be an origin movie more than anything else, but it failed to make me give a damn about Cole so its origin story fell flat on its face. And then it just barrel rolls into a series of pointless fights to stop Outworld from breaking pre tournament rules...so what's the point of the tournament when we have these pointless make shift fights pre tournament?

That whole movie is nothing more than 100 minute (or so?) of franchise bait. Instead of just focusing on making a fun SINGULAR movie, it's all just obvious setup for a potential franchise. Hell, the fucking animated film from last year was leagues ahead of it. If you haven't checked it out, go check that one out, it's actually not bad.,

Seriously, it had all the potential in the world if it only had a fucking compelling story to go with it. I guess at least Kano made it somewhat entertaining though.
 
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danielmann861 said:
I've said it before here and I'll say it again. MK 2021 does everything that the original MK 1995 failed to do with exception of one area; it lacks a god damn interesting story.

It has the missing gore.
It has the better effects.
It has Scorpion and Sub Zero as actual enemies.
It has a bigger budget.

Yet it lacks a god damn compelling story. The one thing they DIDN'T need money for. The one main thing the original film got right and I would argue was the main thing that made the original one of the best video game adaptations ever made.

At least the original film gave you the Star Wars template (or Enter the Dragon template) by giving you three likable misfit protagonists and a simple yet engaging story of those three warriors fighting in a tournament to prevent evil from conquering our world. MK 2021? What the fuck was the story to that movie? It's like it wanted to be an origin movie more than anything else, but it failed to make me give a damn about Cole so its origin story fell flat on its face. And then it just barrel roles into a series of pointless fights to stop Outworld from breaking pre tournament rules...so what's the point of the tournament when we have these pointless make shift fights pre tournament?

That whole movie is nothing more than 100 minute (or so?) of franchise bait. Instead of just focusing on making a fun SINGULAR movie, it's all just obvious setup for a potential franchise. Hell, the fucking animated film from last year was leagues ahead of it. If you haven't checked it out, go check that one out, it's actually not bad.,

Seriously, it had all the potential in the world if it only had a fucking compelling story to go with it. I guess at least Kano made it somewhat entertaining though.
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Very well said, and I couldn't agree more. The animated film is really enjoyable, did you see there's a sequel to it coming at the end of this month? MK 2021 is clearly showing it's going to try and go in the direction of an Avengers/Marvel Universe type of direction, which is most likely going to be a big mistake as it was with Marvel. Cole Young being written into an already rich lore was the worst thing they did with that movie, and also the actor they cast for Liu Kang was ridiculous, I felt like I was watching Michael Jackson circa late 1980s on camera visually.
 
danielmann861 said:
I've said it before here and I'll say it again. MK 2021 does everything that the original MK 1995 failed to do with exception of one area; it lacks a god damn interesting story.

It has the missing gore.
It has better effects.
It has Scorpion and Sub Zero as actual enemies.
It has a bigger budget.

Yet it lacks a god damn compelling story. The one thing they did DIDN'T need money for. The one main thing the original film got right and I would argue was the main thing that made the original one of the best video game adaptations ever made.

At least the original film gave you the Star Wars template (or Enter the Dragon template) by giving you three likable misfit protagonists and a simple yet engaging story of those three warriors fighting in a tournament to prevent evil from conquering our world. MK 2021? What the fuck was the story of that movie? It's like it wanted to be an origin movie more than anything else, but it failed to make me give a damn about Cole so its origin story fell flat on its face. And then it just barrels roles into a series of pointless fights to stop Outworld from breaking pre-tournament rules...so what's the point of the tournament when we have these pointless makeshift fights pre-tournament?

That whole movie is nothing more than 100 minutes (or so?) of franchise bait. Instead of just focusing on making a fun SINGULAR movie, it's all just an obvious setup for a potential franchise. Hell, the fucking animated film from last year was leagues ahead of it. If you haven't checked it out, go check that one out, it's not bad.,

Seriously, it had all the potential in the world if it only had a fucking compelling story to go with it. I guess at least Kano made it somewhat entertaining though.
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Exactly. If you think about it, Liu Kang and Kung Lao being of the White Lotus Xiaolin Society could be a movie all on its own. Scorpions Shirai-Ryu and Sub-Zero's Lin Kuei clan's rivalry could be a story all on its own. Jax and Sonya being of the Special Forces tracking down the leader of the Black Dragon clan Kano is a story all on its own. Then you could take an overarching villain such as Shao Kahn, Cetrion, Shinnok, or Onaga the Dragon King who's overall plot is to merge the timelines or fuse the Kamidogu to rule and/or destroy the realms.

The key to making a great cinematic universe is to create great stand-alone movies first. To do this, one must care about these characters first. Then, you add in a loose continuity instead of making it so blatantly obvious in your first movie. This is why the Original Star Wars Trilogy and the Marvel Cinematic Universe worked so well with the mainstream.

I still have yet to see the direct to video movie, but after seeing the previews it looks promising. Also, I watched the Mortal Kombat Legacy web series which was pretty decent but sadly was canceled.
 


I went to the cinema to see this tonight and it was as good as I expected, even better in many ways. This movie covers an important topic of acceptance and loneliness and delivers with power. If all films had this level of heart and mental health awareness that would be amazing. Its sad to see this leaving theaters after only 2 weeks, though it comes as no surprise given the content, substance and depth to it. The masses go see movies like Suicide Squad or Space Jam 2 keeping them in theaters for months and pass up on important films with heart like this one. It never ceases to amaze how often most people would like to stay out of their human skin and psyche. If mental health, acceptance, science, psychology and spirituality are of interest to you go see Joe Bell!
 
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Maniac (2012) -- I actually have a lot of love for this remake. The grindhouse/slasher/horror fan in me of course loves the original 80s film with Joe Spinnel. But I think I might like this remake just a tad bit more. Fantastic soundtrack underneath it. Utterly disturbing with its use of First Person Perspective. And a compelling tragic love story of a repressed momma's boy psycho falling in love with a girl only with him trying desperately to hold his inner beast at bay. I think Elijah Wood is great in this considering how little you see of him. I just really love this remake. It's one of the better remakes that came out in that time of "lets remake everything."



A Serbian Film -- Well, this one is certainly controversial. I understand why people absolutely despise this film. I understand why people might write it off as exploitation-al trash. I complete understand why it would be majorly offensive to some people. And yet, I think it's actually a rather well done piece of hardcore genre cinema if you have an open mind for what it is actually doing and trying to say.

On my first viewing, I thought some of its allegory did get lost in the over willing need to shock you. But on repeat viewings, I've kind of come around to realizing that is entirely the point though. It's so extreme that it verges on the borders of parody, but that is the point of its resounding anger and vitriol.

To quote its film makers "You want a victim? Well we'll give you a fucking victim!" The anger is entirely critical of its own government, of its own land, of overbearing political correctness, of its culture and most importantly, of its film industry. It's not perfect. But it is I still think an important film and not just "trash for trash sake." These guys spit their vitriol towards their home land into every frame of this film. Definitely not for the easily offended. But it is mostly a pitch black (and I do mean JET black) angry satirical cartoon of its country of origin.
 
last movie i saw was 10 rillington place (1971).

it was a true story about a serial killer called John Christie, who killed 8+ women and one child in the 1930s-1950s, which all took place a house in london. the real sad part of the story was there was a complete miscarriage of justice where a young man, timothy evans, wife and child murdered by this serial killer but mr evans was charged with the murderes and executed.

the movie has great acting by Richard Attenborough and John Hurt.

yes its an old film but this movie feels a lot darker then most horror movies because it's all based on a true story.
 
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I watched THE GREEN KNIGHT last night. It might be my favorite movie this year. It's a medieval fantasy parable based on an Arthurian poem. It's not gonna be everyone's cup of tea as it's slow paced and contains no action, despite what trailers may portray it as an action adventure flick. But I will tell you this, it's damn epic on the classic hero's journey concept and a beautiful movie to just stare at with amazing performances.

Other than that, I've been really into Nicolas Cage's movies lately as he has been on a resurgence path. I highly recommend Pig, Color Out Of Space and cult favorite Mandy.
 
My goodness, I didn't realise I haven't updated this in over 3 months...I simply don't have the time to go over every film i've watched, so sadly i'll just do a list and hope that will bring up some interesting conversation. Films in bold are ones I think are special!

Films
1) Thelma & Louise / Ridley Scott / 1991 / 4/5
2) Personal Shopper / Olivier Assayas / 2016 / 3/5
3) Thank You For Smoking / Jason Reitman / 2005 / 4/5
4) Overboard / Garry Marshall / 1987 / 3/5
5) Mortal Kombat / Simon McQuoid / 2021 / 3/5
6) The Scarlet Empress / Josef Von Sternberg / 1934 / 5/5
7) Nomadland / Chloé Zhao / 2020 / 4/5
8) Thirst / Park Chan-Wook / 2009 / 4/5
9) Youth Without Youth / Francis Ford Coppola / 2007 / 3/5
10) Spiral: From The Book of Saw / Darren Lynn Bousman / 2021 / 1/5
11) Tetro / Francis Ford Coppola / 2009 / 3/5
12) The Star Wars Holiday Special / Steve Binder / 1978 / 1/5
13) Heroes Shed No Tears / John Woo / 1984 / 3/5
14) Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba The Movie: Mugen Train / Haruo Sotozaki / 2020 / 3/5
15) The Colour of Money / Martin Scorcese / 1986 / 2/5
16) Raya and the Last Dragon / Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Paul Briggs & John Ripa / 2021 / 3/5
17) Earwig and the Witch / Goro Miyazaki / 2020 / 1/5
18) Thunderbolt and Lightfoot / Michael Cimino / 1974 / 3/5
19) John Wick: Chapter Two / Chad Stahelski / 2017 / 3/5
20) The Next Karate Kid / Christopher Cain / 1994 / 3/5
21) The Grapes of Wrath / John Ford / 1940 / 4/5
22) John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum / Chad Stahelski / 2019 / 3/5
23) The Devil Is A Woman / Josef Von Sternberg / 1935 / 2/5
24) Killer Crocodile / Giannetto De Rossi / 1990 / 2/5
25) Framed / Richard Wallace / 1947 / 3/5
26) Fast & Furious 8 / F. Gary Gray / 2017 / 3/5
27) Fast & Furious 9 / Justin Lin / 2021 / 3/5
28) Last Tango In Paris / Bernardo Bertolucci / 1972 / 3/5
29) In The Heights / Jon M. Chu / 2021 / 3/5
30) Lionheart / Sheldon Lettich / 1990 / 3/5
31) 711 Ocean Drive / Joseph M. Newman / 1950 / 3/5
32) Giant Monster Gamera / Noriaki Yuasa / 1965 / 3/5
33) Battles Without Honour And Humanity / Kinji Fukusaku / 1973 / 3/5
34) Battles Without Honour And Humanity 2: Deadly Fight In Hiroshima / Kinji Fukusaku / 1973 / 3/5
35) Gamera Vs. Barugon / Shigeo Tanaka / 1966 / 3/5
36) Black Widow / Cate Shortland / 2021 / 2/5
37) Gunda / Victor Kossakovsky / 2020 / 4/5
38) The Mob / Robert Parrish / 1951 / 3/5
39) Children of Men / Alfonso Cuarón / 2006 / 4/5
40) Gamera Vs. Gyaos / Noriaki Yuasa / 1967 / 2/5
41) Space Jam: A New Legacy / Malcolm D. Lee / 2021 / 2/5
42) Gamera Vs. Viras / Noriaki Yuasa / 1968 / 2/5
43) Battles Without Honour And Humanity 3: Proxy War / Kinki Fukusaku / 1973 / 3/5
44) Gamera Vs. Guiron / Noriaki Yuasa / 1969 / 3/5
45) The Crazies / George A. Romero / 1973 / 4/5
46) Battles Without Honour And Humanity 4: Police Tactics / Kinji Fukusaku / 1974 / 4/5
47) Gamera Vs. Jiger / Noriaki Yuasa / 1970 / 2/5
48) Slaughterhouse / Rick Roessler / 1987 / 2/5
49) Battles Without Honour And Humanity 5: Final Episode / Kinji Fukusaku / 1974 / 3/5
50) Gamera Vs .Zigra / Noriaki Yuasa / 1971 / 2/5
51) The Anthem of the Heart / Tatsuyuki Nagai / 2015 / 4/5
52) Super Monster / Noriaki Yuasa / 1980 / 2/5
53) Maniac Cop / William Lustig / 1988 / 3/5
54) New Battles Without Honour And Humanity / Kinji Fukusaku / 1974 / 3/5
55) The Sparks Brothers / Edgar Wright / 2021 / 5/5
56) The Suicide Squad / James Gunn / 2021 / 3/5
57) Some Like It Hot / Billy Wilder / 1959 / 4/5
58) Gamera: Guardian of the Universe / Shusuke Kaneko / 1995 / 4/5
59) Thief / Michael Mann / 1981 / 4/5
60) River of Death / Steve Carver / 1989 / 1/5
61) Massacre Gun / Yasuharu Hasebe / 1967 / 3/5
62) Joy of Torture / Teruo Ishii / 1968 / 3/5
63) The Iguana With The Tongue of Fire / Riccardo Freda / 1971 / 3/5
64) The Witches of the Orient / Julien Faraut / 2021 / 4/5
65) Forbidden Photos of A Lady Above Suspicion / Luciano Ercoli / 1970 / 2/5
66) Gamera 2: Attack of Legion / Shusuke Kaneko / 1996 / 4/5
67) Gangster VIP / Toshio Masuda / 1968 / 3/5
68) The Hills Have Eyes Part II / Wes Craven / 1984 / 1/5
69) Horrors of Malformed Men / Teruo Ishii / 1969 / 3/5
70) Hellraiser / Clive Barker / 1987 / 3/5
71) New Battles Without Honour And Humanity 2: The Boss' Head / Kinji Fukusaku / 1975 / 3/5
72) Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris / Shusuke Kaneko / 1999 / 2/5
73) House / Steve Miner / 1985 / 2/5
74) Two-Lane Blacktop / Monte Hellman / 1971 / 4/5
75) The Red Queen Kills Seven Times / Emilio Miraglia / 1972 / 2/5
76) Truck Turner / Jonathan Kaplan / 1974 / 4/5
77) New Battles Without Honour And Humanity 3: Boss' Last Days / Kinji Fukusaku / 1976 / 3/5
78) Jungle Cruise / Jaume Collet-Serra / 2021 / 3/5
79) Censor / Prano Bailey-Bond / 2021 / 4/5
80) Outlaw: Gangster VIP 2 / Keiichi Ozawa / 1968 / 3/5
81) What Have You Done To Solange? / Massimo Dallamano / 1972 / 4/5
82) Happy End / Michael Haneke / 2017 / 4/5
83) Free Guy / Shawn Levy / 2021 / 3/5
84) Affair In Trinidad / Vincent Sherman / 1952 / 2/5
85) The Harder They Fall / Perry Henzell / 1972 / 3/5

Short Films
1) Letter from Paris / Walerian Borowczyk / 1976 / 3/5
2) Ashes / Steve McQueen / 2014 / 4/5
3) The Stairs / Ben Maddow / 1950 / 2/5
4) Up In Daisy's Penthouse / Jules White / 1958 / 2/5
5) Three Sappy People / Jules White / 1939 / 3/5
6) Diary of A Sergeant / Joseph M. Newman / 1945 / 4/5
7) Hot Stuff / Jules White / 1956 / 1/5
8) The Human Voice / Pedro Almodóvar / 2020 / 3/5
9) Saved By The Belle / Charley Chase / 1939 / 3/5

TV Shows
1) Demon Slayer / 2019 / 3/5
2) Nichijou: My Ordinary Life / 2011 / 4/5
3) Space Dandy / 2014 / 3/5

Re-watched
1) The Karate Kid / John G. Avildsen / 1984 / 4/5
2) The Karate Kid Part II / John G. Avildsen / 1986 / 3/5
3) The Karate Kid Part III / John G. Avildsen / 1989 / 2/5
4) Blue Collar / Paul Schrader / 1978 / 4/5
5) The Enforcer / James Fargo / 1976 / 3/5
6) The Goonies / Richard Donner / 1985 / 4/5

Phew...!!
 
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bcdcdude said:
My goodness, I didn't realise I haven't updated this in over 3 months...I simply don't have the time to go over every film i've watched, so sadly i'll just do a list and hope that will bring up some interesting conversation. Films in bold are ones I think are special!

Films
28) Last Tango In Paris / Bernardo Bertolucci / 1972 / 3/5
57) Some Like It Hot / Billy Wilder / 1959 / 4/5
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Just wanted to say, that is heroic, BCD :LOL: So many films!

Just have a couple of poking thoughts (no pun intended for the first film ;))

I gave Ultimo Tango a Parigi, a solid 8/10; Brando is superb as always, Schnieder is great (as always) and she looks wonderful! I am a bit uneasy over the, "butter scene," (not so much on-screen, but the stories and anecdotes from Schneider, make me feel this way) and the plot is largely-fluff, but the sets are superb and the acting is top-notch, plus, as much as a skeeze Bertolucci is, he definitely had a fantastic knack for good-directing and the film is strong as a result. How did you feel, to give is a 3/5?

Some Like it Hot, I too give a solid 8/10-9/10. I'm not a huge Monroe fan, but that is the only B&W film where the actress has captivated me so (well, this and for some reason, Giulietta Masina has always caught my eye); she looks phenomenal, puts out (IMO) her best performance and the screwball antics of Curtis and Lemmon are awesome. This is a very-fun film, if not one of the most-fun I've ever watched.

For myself, we did watch a film recently:

22 Jump Street (2014):

Jenko and Schmidt return to infiltrate a school, but this time, it's a college. Like in 21 JS, they're going after a drug dealer, as an en-vogue drug has recently killed a young, black woman, who was attending the university. Assimilating won't be as hard as it was in 21 JS, but can the two guys fit in, without blowing their cover?

Another incredibly-fun film, it never takes itself seriously (which helps and hurts it, at times) and the performances of the two leads are pretty good, with Hill seemingly being a bit out of place and over the top, while Tatum is awesome like always. Seriously, give this guy a light, comedic role and he is absolutely brilliant and he's become one of my favourite actors to watch, as a result (but keep him away from the serious stuff; he's not too-great at that). I do like all of the parodying/lampshading of university life that is shown and everything is tastefully-done, without having to rely on any unnecessary gore, sex or heavy-handed cursing.

A fairly-good family film, surprisingly.

8/10

Up next is probably 2 films this weekend, as it is Labour Day Weekend and then in 2 weeks, my wife is off to a Bachelorette Weekend, so I will absolutely watch 3-4 films on my own, as I have nothing going on for 2 full days. I'm looking to watch Valerian (saw it on Opening Day in 2017, as I am a gargantuan Luc Besson fan), Mohabbetein (3 1/2 hours... ugh lol. I mean, I wrote my biggest University essay on it and I still haven't seen it; now's the best {and probably, only} time. My first Bollywood film), Blood In, Blood Out/Bound by Honor (watched it once in 2014 and would like to see it again; phenomenal film), City on Fire, Prison on Fire (just got 'em) and Battle Royale (also just got it).

If I have time, I'll watch the Raid 2 again, as it is just so wonderfully-done.
 
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Outside of watching some of Kurosawa's films, primarily Throne of Blood, Seven Samurai, and Ran; I have taken a morbid interest in the Friday the Thirteenth films starring Jason Voorhees. Also, I recently purchased Robert DeNiro's Taxi Driver about a man's descent into darkness.
 
the last documentary /movie i saw was on netflix, called : Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed.

i saw a documentary about bob ross not long ago on bbc. the bbc doc must have been not truthful because everything seemed upbeat and happy.. but i guess this netflix doc is the reality. very sad to find out his 2 Business partners ( a husband and wife) really caused bob ross a lot of grief towards the end of his life, as he was dying with cancer. this husband and wife also screwed his son out of the business, so the son get no profits from the millions made each year from the exploitation of his fathers likeness and name :(

not surprisingly, the official bob ross twitter page is bombing pretty hard now.

 
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Truck_1_0_1_ said:
Just wanted to say, that is heroic, BCD :LOL: So many films!

Just have a couple of poking thoughts (no pun intended for the first film ;))

I gave Ultimo Tango a Parigi, a solid 8/10; Brando is superb as always, Schnieder is great (as always) and she looks wonderful! I am a bit uneasy over the, "butter scene," (not so much on-screen, but the stories and anecdotes from Schneider, make me feel this way) and the plot is largely-fluff, but the sets are superb and the acting is top-notch, plus, as much as a skeeze Bertolucci is, he definitely had a fantastic knack for good-directing and the film is strong as a result. How did you feel, to give is a 3/5?

Some Like it Hot, I too give a solid 8/10-9/10. I'm not a huge Monroe fan, but that is the only B&W film where the actress has captivated me so (well, this and for some reason, Giulietta Masina has always caught my eye); she looks phenomenal, puts out (IMO) her best performance and the screwball antics of Curtis and Lemmon are awesome. This is a very-fun film, if not one of the most-fun I've ever watched.
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Ah, interesting you highlight those two films, because both were ones I had to watch over multiple days. I find it pretty hard to watch films at home in one go as there are too many distractions. For both films, I think it took 3 attempts to watch!

So LTIP...it's one that I always knew of its infamacy, but it took a long time to get round to it. I actually watched 3 Bertolucci films prior; '1900', 'The Last Emperor' and 'The Sheltering Sky' which were all great films and sadly LTIP is the weakest of them all. It's weird, I just found the film rather boring. I imagine it must have been shocking in the early 70's (and I guess still is to a degree), but I just couldn't connect to it as much as I would've liked. That said, there is a hazy dreaminess that I quite like. Part of me gave it 3/5 just to be safe haha. I must admit that serious erotica isn't really all that sexy (I think the only one that came close is Nagisa Oshima's 'In The Realm of the Senses' and that's a tough watch any way you slice it!) and as I was watching LTIP, I thought "man i'd like to watch Barbet Schroeder's "Maitresse" instead!)

As for Some Like It Hot, it was a tough one, because it's one of those films I felt I should've watched long ago, but never did. In actual fact, this is the first Marylin Monroe film i've ever seen! I thought it was really good fun. And I think Billy Wilder is a fantastic filmmaker ('The Apartment' is my favourite film of his...I really ought to watch it again as it's been years...the pains and pleasure of wanting to watch so many films!)

As for the heroism...well thank you! I am cheating though as that's 4 months worth of films and a combination of lockdown and time to myself really helped...doesn't help I still have over 200 films to watch (300 if I include streaming sites!)
 
Not a problem; there are just so. many. films. in the world, that you'll never run out! ;)

And I hear you on UTAP (sorry, the Italian title is just intrinsically THE title of it, for me lol); I can absolutely see how it'd be boring and it is a slow-paced film and a half.

I did watch it 10 years ago as well, when I wasn't as much of a student of films as I have become, so it's possible on rewatch, I may not think of it in the same light.

I'm familiar with ITROTS, but have never seen it; what I do know about Ohshima, however, is the many times he was a judge on Iron Chef lol and he always had a perpetual smile/chuckle on his face :LOL: Seemed like a fun guy, even if he could be super-serious at times.
 
I think it's also the problem of watching it with the wrong frame of mind. Because I love junky B-movies too, sometimes I just want something a little easier to watch at times! I think I watched it because I had the house to myself and thought if there was an abundance of rumpy pumpy, then I won't have to turn the volume down*, but yeah, it's a tough watch. Which makes '1900' all the more surprising as that film is 5 hours long!

I do get upset when I want to like a film, but I can't. The worst ones are ones where I am made to feel like i'm thick for not appreciating it (I struggle with a lot of Jean-Luc Godard for that reason, even though I am desperate to love his work).

I dunno, sometimes I can watch difficult, long films without batting an eyelid and other times I struggle to get through an 80 minute film. I think I should've watched LTIP a decade ago as it might have made more of an impact at the time. I just wish I had more time for films. At the moment i'm averaging a film a day which is great, but I have gaming, music, cycling and actually wanting to hang out with real humans to do too!

Oshima is a good director, but his films are pretty hard work. That said, 'Cruel Story of Youth' and 'Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence' are brilliant films too. I had no idea he was on Iron Chef! It's almost as jarring as seeing Beat Takeshi in his Yakuza films :O !!

*although if I do get the question if i'm watching porn or something, I can legit say "nah, it's art house!"
 
Been churning through some Criterion Blu Rays:
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A Night To Remember -- To me, even though James Cameron was working from a historically accurate point, I still think it's clear A Night To Remember had some influence. There are some shots in this film are eerily reminiscent in framing to Cameron's Titanic that it can't just be coincidence. I know, I know, historical records and fact, but there are just some things here are too reminiscent. Great film though -- 4 out of 5



Shallow Grave -- Danny Boyle's debut and still perhaps in the top 5 of his filmography thus far as far as I'm concerned. Wickedly funny -- 4 out of 5



My Life As A Dog -- I've had this on my shelf for about 3 years now and never got around to watching it. Rectified. Thoughts? A charming come of age story but still, nothing I haven't seen a dozen times over in other coming of age stories. Still, charming and bittersweet nonetheless -- 3.5 out of 5



Pale Flower -- Another one that has been sitting on my shelf unwatched for some time. So much so it was still in the cling wrap. But I cracked it open and gave it a look. The story of a Yakuza just let free from prison, but when he returns to his old life of crime, he finds the world has moved on and changed. He re-establishes himself with his ex-Yakuza crew and finds himself a regular at the old gambling dens where he meets Saeko - a stiking upper class woman who is out seeking thrills. But he soon finds that her lust for thrills may be her downfall. Hence the beginning of a mutually destructive relationship. I was very taken by it. A great little slice of Japanese film noir. Again reminding me that these are the type of Yakuza stories I would love to see RGG Studios tackle -- 4.5 out of 5



Blow Out -- I've seen Blow Out before but I wanted to watch it again. One of DePalma's best! -- 4 out of 5
 
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