Movie Reviews (20)14: Modern Times Edition

[purpleoscar]

Ida 8/10: One of the better movies of the year. It's about a girl in 1962 who is a postulant studying to be a nun that is investigating the murder of her parents during the war. As the plot thickens there's a sense of despair and aimlessness amongst the people she meets. Her aunt was part of the Soviet show trials and is depressed over a wasted life. There's an air of guilt as the history of past persecutions is brought up. She also tries to discover other options for her life before she takes her vows. It's a short movie with amazing black and white cinematography. It could be filmed in a landfill and it would still look great. By keeping it short the movie doesn't overstay its welcome.

 

[bono_212]

The Defiant Ones

I think the only thing that I was a little confused on with this one was what time period it was supposed to be portraying. Some things seemed just a bit too archaic to be happening in the late 50s, but otherwise, it was a great picture. And, I don't really think you can go wrong with those leads, so I thoroughly enjoyed it all the way through. The very, very end was a little abrupt and silly, but it couldn't take much away from the rest.

8/10

 

[lazarus]

Ida 8/10: One of the better movies of the year. It's about a girl in 1962 who is a postulant studying to be a nun that is investigating the murder of her parents during the war. As the plot thickens there's a sense of despair and aimlessness amongst the people she meets. Her aunt was part of the Soviet show trials and is depressed over a wasted life. There's an air of guilt as the history of past persecutions is brought up. She also tries to discover other options for her life before she takes her vows. It's a short movie with amazing black and white cinematography. It could be filmed in a landfill and it would still look great. By keeping it short the movie doesn't overstay its welcome.

This is a fantastic film. The actress playing the aunt gives perhaps the best performance I've seen so far this year.

 

[purpleoscar]

This is a fantastic film. The actress playing the aunt gives perhaps the best performance I've seen so far this year.

I know! And the impact is felt even if it's a short movie. It's the best cinematography that I've seen so far this year, though The Immigrant is good in that technical area as well.

 

[Lancemc]

Really got to get around to that one

 

[purpleoscar]

Continuing my review catch-up...

Under the skin 5/10: Okay I had low expectations with this one since I hated Glazer's prior movie Birth. I did like this one better but like a lot of detractors I wanted more explanations for the alien's behaviour. Scarlett Johansson does do a great performance as the psychopathic alien looking at humans as pure food. The special effects of the actual consuming were eeriely well done. A beach scene with a drowning dog was masterful in sheer terror but at the same time a psychopathic glibness as the alien takes advantage of the rescuers. Most horror movies couldn't touch that. The cinematography was also excellent. It really felt like I visited Scotland. Seeing the street lights at night and seeing the natural light of the Scottish landscape gave the feeling that Scotland can go from pretty to drab very quickly. It looks isolated, humid and cold. The occupants look depressed, lonely, and desperate. Though this is the perfect food for the alien. The non-professional guys being picked-up look suitably helpful or belligerent. It was a good choice rather than hiring professional actors.

What I didn't like about it is that there's little explanation for an emotional shift in our psycho-predator when she develops sympathy for a person/food that is disfigured. There was also a helper-alien that isn't developed at all. Much of the hunting feels repetitive after a point and some of the slow shots didn't need to be that slow. The audience's patience will be tested.

Spoiler

When the alien finally meets her comeuppance it appears more like an indictment of men as we sympathize with the female killer in an uncomfortable way.

So in the end it's a mixed bag for me but I don't outright hate it or love it like many of the audience. It was worth a look as a curiosity but not much more. I haven't read the book so maybe reading it would fill out the plot holes.

 

[The Sad Punk]

300: Rise of an Empire

The fuck?

 

[bono_212]

Well that's final, then. I must see it immediately.

 

[purpleoscar]

Locke 7/10: This is an actor's piece for Tom Hardy more than anything. Basically the main character has a whole bunch of things turn wrong in his life while on the road to greet his mistress who's delivering his baby. He's a builder that's got a massive concrete pour that he has to oversee but because of his circumstances he must direct other employees on the phone and try to avoid any errors that will ruin the project. He also has to notify his wife over the phone about his cheating. The best part is his solo arguments against his long-dead dead-beat Dad and all the daddy issues left behind.

It's a short movie and takes place entirely in his car.

Spoiler

The ending is abrupt and there's quick payoffs to the different goals he has (both good and bad payoffs).

It was entertaining and it would be nice to see Hardy get a nomination.

 

[The Sad Punk]

Well that's final, then. I must see it immediately.

The Persians literally have suicide bombers. I'm not even kidding. Throw in the same video game loading screen visuals, orientalism, masculism and xenophobia as the original and historical accuracy is the least of its problems. Credit to Eva Green, who does the best she does with a hilariously misogynistic villain. It's kind of entertaining, it's just hard to tell why it even exists. I'm particularly fond of the atrociously miscast main guy playing Themistokles, whose angry man deep voice sounds more like a geriatric butler than Gerard Butler.

 

[bono_212]

I really did love the first one, but nothing about this seems like a good Idea.

 

[purpleoscar]

The Double 6/10: Strange movie that apes a lot of Brazil and a bit of Rear Window. The style of editing and sequences is almost exactly like Brazil. Eisenberg plays a 1984 type character that feels alienated in a Kafkaesque way in a bureaucratic society. A double is invented for him that acts like a narcissistic psychopath who interferes by stealing his identity and steals his hoped for girlfriend and takes credit for his work. The rest of the movie is his attempt to regain his life and demonstrate his uniqueness.

It's not as funny as Brazil or as thrilling as Rear Window so it's pretty mediocre overall. It's worth a VOD but ultimately forgettable with lots of plot-holes. The movie does make me want to read the Dostoevsky story it's based on.

 

[lazarus]

Damn, that Planet Of The Apes film was good.

Really impressed by the work from Reeves. Consider how much of the first 10-15 minutes are without dialogue.

Also loved the really harsh cut from Malcolm and Cesar's families standing together (right around when the medical assistance for Cesar's wife is offered) to a human firing a machine gun right into the camera. He doesn't let the good feeling soak in and instead torpedoes it with the reality of the impending violence.

There's also that great shot near the end as

Spoiler

Malcolm backs away into the darkness, and another where Cesar walks among his bowing brethren like Willard at the end of Apocalypse Now.

My fear is that the next installment will be just one big war movie with wall-to-wall action.

 

[Lancemc]

Yeah, I share similar feelings. Really just competent and compelling from start to finish, so much so that I revisited Rise of the Planet of the Apes afterward, which I really liked the first time, and found it surprisingly lacking outside of a few standout parts.

Also worried about the next film, but I can see it going any number of places still.

 

[Lancemc]

BOYHOOD's fine.

 

[LemonMelon]

9/10-IMDb
99%-Rotten Tomatoes
99%-Metacritic

lmao I guess maybe I should see it.

 

[bono_212]

Calvary:

I thought Gleeson was fairly brilliant, as usual, and the story was one of the most intriguing ways I've ever seen a film about the Catholic Church portrayed. However, there was one thing that really took almost the whole viewing experience away for me:

Spoiler

They spent the entire film trying to set up the rich man as "the guy" but it was very obvious from the start that Chris O'Dowd was going to be the "villain" 1) Because he's getting rather famous and is billed 2nd only to 2) appear in a grand total of five minutes of the film, prior to its ending and 3) He has a rather unique voice and I could tell it was him talking from the start. So, I spent most of the movie irritated at the idea that I don't think I was supposed to know who dun it, but I did and so all of the left turns it kept throwing at me felt a little meaningless.

Still, all in all, I thought it was well-acted and fairly well-written and I enjoyed watching it so,

7.5/10

 

[Lancemc]

9/10-IMDb
99%-Rotten Tomatoes
99%-Metacritic

lmao I guess maybe I should see it.

Definitely should.

I mean it when I say it's "fine" though. Honestly mostly nonplussed by it, but I'm in the minority here clearly. Never even remotely reaches the highs of The Before Trilogy, or even Dazed and Confused or School of Rock for me.

 

[djerdap]

As a big fan of Before trilogy, I'm really looking forward to that one.

 

[lazarus]

Definitely should.

I mean it when I say it's "fine" though. Honestly mostly nonplussed by it, but I'm in the minority here clearly. Never even remotely reaches the highs of The Before Trilogy, or even Dazed and Confused or School of Rock for me.

I'm not excited in the least about seeing it. Really feels like homework at this point.

And I like Linklater.

 

[djerdap]

If a film that's been shot over the course of 12 years with the same actors and the same crew is homework, that's a homework I really wouldn't want to do.

 

[LemonMelon]

The King of Comedy is fucking great. DeNiro was about 500 times superior playing a psychopath here than in Cape Fear and his giddy yet unsettling energy carried the film through to its climax, which was top notch. A darkly funny comedy routine sure beats exposition any day at fleshing out a character's back story. The stream I watched it on wasn't the greatest so I'm going to have to wait for a rewatch to judge the cinematography. There was some attractive framing (I loved the scene where he was recording his tape) and I really enjoyed the grainy textures used for the monologue, but honestly, DeNiro took my attention from more aesthetic matters.

The mid 80s were dark days for Scorsese commercially, but I really do love King of Comedy and After Hours.

 

[djerdap]

King of Comedy is one of my favourite Scorsese films. Scorsese stated that DeNiro's performance is his favourite out of all their collaborations and I tend to agree. It's a classic example of a movie ahead of its time. Thematically, it's never been more fresh than now in time of social media, where mediocrity has become the new means for success and attention.

 

[LemonMelon]

Man, I really can't speak highly enough of Rupert's monologue. It's just bad enough that you understand why he was told to refine the material, but good enough to wonder what the difference is between him and any other talk show host (honestly, I laughed harder at his jokes than any on an average episode of the Tonight Show). Meanwhile, the material is revealing of his dark past, which is apparently all that he's been brooding on for years, as well as fame, of course. On top of all that, the crowd laughs anyway because they're conditioned to assume a joke is there. What a brilliant scene.

 

[LemonMelon]

Finally saw The Wind Rises and I absolutely loved it. As a portrait of the creative mind and the insatiable work ethic that drives it, I found the film extremely powerful. The love story was a bit rushed (though I've seen far, far more inexplicable excuses for "romance" in animated films; at least this relationship had a memorable origin) and the pacing was fairly static, but I loved the story. I loved the moral conflict. And I thought the animation was astonishing. The earthquake in particular was absolutely terrifying.

Did Miyazaki end with his best film? No. Did he go out on a high note? Certainly. I would put this in my top 5 Miyazaki films along with Princess Mononoke (Ghibli's peak IMO), Spirited Away, Nausicaa and Castle in the Sky. Kiki's Delivery Service should be in there too somewhere.

 

[corianderstem]

Snowpiercer

One question:

Spoiler

Where the hell have they been getting meat for 18 years?

I did enjoy it. Tilda Swinton is freaking awesome.

 

[lazarus]

Finally saw The Wind Rises and I absolutely loved it. As a portrait of the creative mind and the insatiable work ethic that drives it, I found the film extremely powerful. The love story was a bit rushed (though I've seen far, far more inexplicable excuses for "romance" in animated films; at least this relationship had a memorable origin) and the pacing was fairly static, but I loved the story. I loved the moral conflict. And I thought the animation was astonishing. The earthquake in particular was absolutely terrifying.

Did Miyazaki end with his best film? No. Did he go out on a high note? Certainly. I would put this in my top 5 Miyazaki films along with Princess Mononoke (Ghibli's peak IMO), Spirited Away, Nausicaa and Castle in the Sky. Kiki's Delivery Service should be in there too somewhere.

Hell yes.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Just loved the shit out of TUCKER AND DALE VS. EVIL

 

[purpleoscar]

Chef 7.5/10: Fun movie with a lot of heart and soul. Favreau is a chef looking to regain his life after a twitter meltdown with a food critic. Leguizamo and Vergara turn in funny performances. As usual with food movies it'll make you hungry. This one is better to see with an audience.

 

[bono_212]

Forgot to review The Wind Rises, myself. I can't say much beyond what Travis did, he articulated my thoughts fairly well. It was a visually stunning film and I was so thrilled with the dream sequence element. I was scared that Miyazaki would leave us without a typical fantastic journey, by telling a "true" story. My fears were silly. He found a great way to blend the two and it kept me captivated straight through. Could not have been happier.