Yeah I think I'd put Spotlight above The Big Short, but both are great.
Went and saw Ralph Breaks the Internet and was a bit disappointed.. it felt more formulaic. Still a decent movie. The Disney bit, especially with the princesses, is pure gold though.
__________________ Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position.
But certainty is an absurd one.
Not sure how I feel about Mission Impossible Fallout. I loved the action sequences, the stunts and fight scenes. They were really well done, but the plot itself seemed a little lacking. You are pretty much know from the beginning what is going to happen, so there's no real surprise. Previous MI movies had much more intricate plot lines than this.
Rampage was a weird one. I can get behind the idea of large mutated animals, but it wasn't terribly well executed. The Rock was The Rock as expected, but most of the supporting cast was terrible.
Wow. Just got back from Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse and it was absolutely phenomenal.
That might be the second best Marvel movie out there next to Avengers Infinity War. I was honestly blown away and I’d say I’m a movie-goer with high expectations.
Characters-A+
Creativity A+
Story A+
Music A++ (might be some of the best overall music I’ve heard in a movie in years that perfectly matched the tone and feel of the movie)
Animation- second to none. I have never seen anything like this before. I don’t even understand what they did?
How is this movie not being talked about more?!? I get that it’s a certain style, but if you’re a fan of comic book movies and Soider-Man you need to watch this puppy ASAP. It’s ridiculous. Can’t say enough great things about it.
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Got to catch up on some movies during this Christmas break. Some comments:
The Favourite
Big fan of Yorgos Lanthimos but this is probably my least favourite of all his films. I still enjoyed the movie, especially all the anachronistic touches and how the story made the audience shift their allegiances back and forth. But the repeated one-up(wo)manship and the repeated scenes portraying Queen Anne as mentally dim and easily manipulated (which I'm pretty sure is a commentary on Trump, and perhaps the reason why Lanthimos took on the project as this is his first film in which he did not receive a writing credit) becomes monotonous after awhile. Plus Lanthimos' repeated use of that fisheye lens got to be really distracting for me because it made the scenes so cinematically ugly. Later in the evening after the movie, my wife and I were reading up on Queen Anne on the internet and were pretty amazed at how much of the movie was based on historical facts -- the movie is filled with so many bizarre and anachronistic scenes that one leaves the movie thinking it was all made up.
In the Fade
Finally caught up with the latest film from the great German filmmaker Fatih Akin (Head-On, Edge of Heaven, Soul Kitchen, etc.). I'm not sure what to make of the film when taken in its entirety. The movie starts strong as the first third of the film contained a powerful depiction of grief and depression that reminded me much of Manchester By the Sea, plus a mystery surrounding the ex-felon dead husband and whether he was attacked because of his former lifestyle. Then the film transitions, during the second third of the film, to a conventional (but still interesting) courtroom drama, where there was what seemed to me like some pointed commentary about Germany's domestic/right-wing terrorism problem. And then the last third of the film goes bats**t crazy as it goes into full revenge thriller mode but if Lisbeth Salander was a soccer mom. I generally love movies that upend audience expections but I'm not sure the second act was necessary and I didn't buy the last third of the movie. Diane Kruger won the best actress award at Cannes for this role and it was well deserved. She should have received a lead actress Oscar nomination given what I felt was a pretty weak field last year. Plus, Casey Affleck won an Oscar for his powerful performance in Manchester by the Sea and Kruger's portrayal of grief was at least equal to that of Affleck's and she did it in two languages to boot. Some familiar and appreciated Akin elements here such as the use of Turkish-German actors (it was in Akin's films where I learned about the large Turkish population in Germany) in the cast and his use of great music -- the title of the film is a reference to the Queens of the Stone Age song and Josh Homme scored the film.
The Last Race
Apparently Long Island was once a real hotbed of motorsports, containing, at one point, 40 auto racing tracks. This documentary is about the last race track on Long Island that is struggling to hold on in the face of real estate development, noise ordinances, an aging fanbase and even older racetrack owners who are considering cashing out. After the movie, I looked up the Riverhead Raceway on google satellite view and it's pretty ridiculous how close big box stores and housing developments have advanced upon this race track even though its location was once considered remote and surrounded by forests. Like many documentaries today, it borrows heavily from Errol Morris so there are lots of long, static, visually appealing shots with super slow-motion. But it's missing the blood boiling aspects (i.e., an unsolved mystery and/or social injustice) of Morris documentaries. It's more of a somber eulogy for a disappearing blue collar way-of-life.
Private Life
I really liked this movie for a couple of reasons. First, I'm a huge sucker for movies about hyper-literate urban bohemians with neurotic personalities and messy lives, like those films made by Woody Allen, Noah Baumbach and Whit Stillman. I've seen Tamara Jenkins's previous two movies (Slums of Beverly Hills, The Savages) but had never heretofore thought of her belonging in the same company, likely because she makes films so infrequently as this is only her third movie in 20 years. But this film and The Savages certainly belong in this very narrowly-defined genre. The second reason I liked the movie was because it is about a couple's battle with infertility. I think any couple who have had to deal with infertility issues will recognize many of the scenes in this movie -- the daunting odds the doctors love to keep repeating, the poking and prodding by clinicians, the constant popping of fertility vitamins and supplements, trying to masturbate into a small plastic cup at the clinic using decades-old pornography with your pants down at your ankles while a bustling clinic is on the other side of the door and then partially missing the cup which ends up on the couch and you suddenly realizing you've been sitting on the same couch as thousands of other men who invariably also missed the cup, etc. Smart, well-written dialogue too -- where else will you find references to Serpico, Bella Abzug and that "Innocence" short story by Harold Brodkey in the same movie?
The Rider
I was amazed to learn after watching this film that all the main actors were non-professional. This is the third great film in recent memory (along with The Florida Project and Mid-90s) in which the lead actors are non-professionals. I find these performances to be so miraculous. Add the fact that the director, Chloe Zhao, happened upon this family of rodeo cowboys by coincidence and started developing the screenplay based on a particular incident in their lives shows you the limitless potential of cinema. This is one of the best films of the year. The movie is so gorgeous to look at as well. This is Zhao's second movie (I have not seen her first) but this movie could only be made by a bonafide filmmaker.
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I saw Vice the other day. I’d echo the thoughts posted already - despite some excellent acting performances, the movie comes across as being fairly one dimensional. It’s a film made to rile up partisan democrats in the US and unfortunately it doesn’t really explore the motivations behind why the characters act in the way they do (beyond an overly simplistic good / evil narrative).
Vice, despite some great acting performances from everyone involved was an incoherent mess. The scattershot style that worked so well in The Big Short really falls flat. It's hard to find humour when they are cutting away making lite of very real incidents of war, torture, and terrorism.
Also despite Bale's great performance there is actually very little development of the character. No exploration of why he does what he does, his morals or ethics. He starts and ends the movie the exact same person save for a worse hair line and 50 pounds.
There are some halfhearted attempts to humanise Cheney but they are over run with unnecessary 4th wall breaking distractions. Sam Rockwell as Bush was awesome though.
Not worth a viewing in theatres. 5.5/10.
Wow, I disagree. Different strokes, I guess. Personally I thought the story and the character of Cheney was fascinating and horrifying in equal measure, and I think his motivation was simply a lust for power and influence, nothing more. I was thoroughly entertained throughout the entire film. Great movie IMO, and also quite funny. There were plenty of belly laughs in the theatre I was in, and the post credits scene was hilarious.
As for the politics, I think any sane, rational person would find the events and actions depicted in this film pretty despicable, regardless of political stripe. I don't think the cutaways to real life events were meant to be funny at all, and there certainly weren't any laughs during those scenes from myself or the audience I watched it with. The laughs came more from the dialogue and the performances. The scene in the restaurant for example was expertly done.
Is it as good as the Big Short? Not really. But I think it's still a quality film and another solid entry in McKay's filmography. And the performances are killer.
^^different strokes indeed. Given it's set to be a critical and commercial flop when it was clearly crafted as Oscar bait makes me feel the general consensus is 'meh'.
Physical performance doesn't have a stand in for true character arc and Vice simply had none. A lot of flash with no real substance or nuance. This time next year people will forget this movie ever existed and it will fall into the void of another painfully average film.
Last edited by J pold; 01-01-2019 at 01:46 AM.
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Ralph Breaks the Internet was decent. The story is basic and gets dull at times but there is a good message are enough fun jokes and pop culture references to make this entertaining. The Disney princess part was possibly the funniest move moment of 2018. 7/10
Here are few more reviews of movies I saw over Christmas:
Red Sparrow: A solid slow burning spy movie that kept me guessing until the end. It was sometimes convoluted though and had an over reliance on graphic sex and violence. Also Jennifer Lawrence gives a solid performance if you can ignore her accent repeatedly changing between American and sort of Russian. 7/10
Pacific Rim: Uprising: I didn't like the first one and knew this would be worse but decided to watch just to see the Jaegers fight in Sydney. The movie started out as I expected, being a typically bad sci fi action sequel, and then devolved into a ridiculous mess I could only laugh at. I guess I sort of enjoyed parts in a this is so bad it is good kind of way. The Sydney battle was a bit of a disappointment. Not enough destruction and a few parts were obviously filmed in Brisbane. 4/10
Mission: Impossible - Fallout: Yes it is dumb, I am expected to remember characters and plot points from the previous movies, and you'd think by now they'd come up with a gimmick other than the face swap but overall this is just a really solid action movie. The actions scenes are exhilarating and always had me on the edge of my seat. It also didn't just feel like mindless action but was instead purposeful to the plot with real stakes. I especially enjoyed the scene where Tom Cruise just keeps running and running. 8/10
Downsizing: This had so much wasted potential and leaves me feeling annoyed every time I think of it. It started out well with some cool sci fi, social commentary, and dark humour but started meandering and went no where. The 3rd act is especially bad and did not have a satisfying conclusion. It's like the writers had no idea what to do with the story so they just didn't do anything with it. 3/10
I also saw Into the Spider-verse recently and put a review in the comic book movie thread. Highly entertaining. 9/10
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We watched A Simple Favor last night. It had an intriguing set up and first half, then went stupid and off the rails and almost into satire in the second half. Tonally all over the place.
But the lead actresses are both smokeshows so it wasn’t a total waste of time.
We watched A Simple Favor last night. It had an intriguing set up and first half, then went stupid and off the rails and almost into satire in the second half. Tonally all over the place.
But the lead actresses are both smokeshows so it wasn’t a total waste of time.
I thought it was kind of a fun movie as I laughed more than I do watching most comedies these days. I don't think it was supposed to be overly serious hence the hokey ending. Maybe a little overambitious as the director was trying to blend too many genres into one movie but Kendrick and Lively kind of take the material and make it work.
I tallied everything up and I've seen 99 films this year with a 2018 release, still have some to see that I'm sure will make the top of the list but here's my highly anticipated* top 10:
Annihilation
Hereditary
Sorry To bother You
Suspiria
Upgrade
The Favourite
Eighth Grade
Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse
A Star Is Born
Mission Impossible: Fallout
*not at all anticipated
Unfriended: Dark Web, Gotti, Fifty Shades Freed, Slender Man, 15:17 To Paris, Hurricane Heist, and Truth Or Dare are at the bottom of the list
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We watched A Simple Favor last night. It had an intriguing set up and first half, then went stupid and off the rails and almost into satire in the second half. Tonally all over the place.
But the lead actresses are both smokeshows so it wasn’t a total waste of time.
Almost into satire? I do believe that was the point which actually made the movie kind of fun to watch IMO. This was not a true thriller a la Gone Girl.
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The Favourite
Widows
Suspiria
A Star is Born
Searching
Spiderman
Infinity War
Blockers
A Simple Favor
Hereditary
Are probably in no particular order my top 10. Refreshing to have films with premises that would suggest they would be forgettable popcorn flicks turn out to be top film worthy. I was very happy with the horror genre this year, outside of the disappointment that was the Nun.
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The Favourite
Widows
Suspiria
A Star is Born
Searching
Spiderman
Infinity War
Blockers
A Simple Favor
Hereditary
Are probably in no particular order my top 10. Refreshing to have films with premises that would suggest they would be forgettable popcorn flicks turn out to be top film worthy. I was very happy with the horror genre this year, outside of the disappointment that was the Nun.
That was a terrible film. It was bad and it should feel bad for being that bad.
Wow.
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This Post Has Been Distilled for the Eradication of Seemingly Incurable Sadness.
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If you thought this season would have a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention.
I had zero interest in watching the Spiderverse movie until rave reviews on here and some friends who'd seen it over the holidays. I went today.
That was WAY better than I expected. It was really good. One of the better superhero movies for sure. And it kicks the pants off of Aquaman which I saw a couple days ago.
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"OOOOOOHHHHHHH those Russians" - Boney M
Blackkklansman
First Man
Annihilation
Won't You Be My Neighbor?
Hereditary
Avengers: Infinity War
A Star is Born
Vice
Mission Impossible: Fallout
Mandy
Haven't seen Spider-verse yet. When I first watched the trailer I wasn't all that interested, but after seeing all the rave reviews on here, I'm definitely gonna check it out now.
Also there are still quite a few more I'd like to see, including:
Leave No Trace
Green Book
A Quiet Place
Searching
Eighth Grade
Last edited by direwolf; 01-01-2019 at 04:27 PM.
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Never heard of this but looks interesting. On my watchlist now. Thanks!
Okay, I think I got my top 10. It was hard but here it is in no particular order:
First Reformed
Free Solo
The Favourite
First Man
Roma
Annihilation
Cold War
Shoplifters
A Star is Born
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
The ones I didn't get to see:
If Beale Street Could Talk - CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHERE TO WATCH THIS?!?!
Burning - Will be playing at The Globe on Jan 10th. Looking forward to this.
You Were Never Really Here
Blindspotting
High Life
Suspiria
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
I recommend the Letterboxd app if you're a film buff. Great way to track and discover new stuff through a great community. letterboxd.com
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I already miss being off work. Saw a bunch of movies in the past few weeks....
Bumblebee
I took my son to a matinee yesterday, and that was a really fun movie to watch. As a previous poster said, this is the movie that we should have started it all (I guess it is kind of still. haha). It's made for a much larger audience, and is not over sexualized or over the top (as much as a Transformers movie can be, I guess). I loved the opening scene, the throwback, the nods to tradition. I also love how vulnerable they made Bumblebee, and the relationship that he and Hailee Steinfield cultivated. My 4 year old was a bit scared on some of the Decepticon scenes, but they were brief and fleeting. I thought John Cena was fun and entertaining too.
Bird Box
I recall seeing the trailer for this, and wanting to see it. I had completely forgotten about what it was about, but everybody over the Xmas holidays in my family and friends were talking about it. So we thought we'd give it a shot last night.
Whoa... it's got a typical zombie/end of the world feel to it of course, but I was not expecting to feel so much for some of the cast. Good pacing, decent mystery, and well cast I thought. A few things that were a bit over the top or unrealistic, also a couple predictable outcomes, but an entertaining watch.
BlacKkKlansman
I finally watched this, and thought it was a well done movie. I love John David Washington, and thought he nailed it. It was nice to see Adam Driver in another role than Kylo Ren, and thought he did really well. Lots of political statements throughout, and still really fun to watch.
First Man
I loved this movie. It captured space flight, trial and tribulations, from the perspective of Neil Armstrong, very well. Being a huge space nerd, this movie hit all the right places for me. I'm not sure Neil Armstrong was the strong silent type in real life, but Ryan Gosling did a very good job portraying it (very similar to his role in Drive to be honest...)
Venom
I saw this a few weeks back. I went in expecting hot garbage based on the reviews, and I came out pleasantly surprised. I laughed when I probably shouldn't have, enjoyed parts that probably were meant to be side parts, but all in all, I thought it was fun. Venom was very cool to see in this iteration (not that hot garbage Spiderman 3/Topher Grace), and I actually liked Tom Hardy and the conflict he portrayed between Eddie Brock and Venom. I had 2 big issues with the movie as a whole though. The first was the terrible casting. The main villain, was less threatening than my 4 year old when he's having a crappy day. The second, this should have been an 18A movie, with gore and guts etc, as that's part of Venom.
Lastly, the post credit casting of a certain individual, was utterly terrible. Ugh...
Favorites of the year
Black Panther
Avengers Infinity War
Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse
Star is Born
Incredibles 2
First Man
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Ant-Man and the Wasp
