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What Is The Last Film You Watched? (Newer Films)


King Mark

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Solo

 

In the cinema, I thought this was a huge 'meh' with virtually nothing standout in it (except the score of course, which is mixed pretty low), kept checking my clock.

 

And now... it's only a little bit better. I was more entertained overall, but noticed more shoehorned callbacks (callforwards?) and still found nothing really engaging about the characters or the story. Looks bland, at times too dark. Lando has his moments and I like Enfys Nest but I don't really know why. L3 is terrible. 

Spoiler

Maul

is completely needless and useless setup for sequels that probably won't happen soon, it really sticks out.

 

However, if we believe the queefing joke rumours and going by some of the humour left in the final film, I'd take this any day over the funny guys' version.

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4 minutes ago, Holko said:

Looks bland, at times too dark.

That is a problem with Ron Howard's films lately.  You had to squint through the haze to see the glamour that was supposed to be at the heart of Rush.

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roma.jpg

 

Roma

 

Caught Cuaron's return to film after his post-Gravity hiatus at TIFF last night. At the heart of this beautifully-shot film is a simple drama about a middle-class family at the verge of breaking up. But we follow this family against the sprawling imagery and character of 1970s Mexico. For those unimpressed by the more flashy Gravity, you might be more pleased with the lack of showy flourishes here, but in typical Cuaron-fashion, we are invited into a world of its own. This is clearly an insider trying to encapsulate the world he grew up in, in a two-hour portrait, or tone poem, rather. Was also impressed to see that Cuaron shot this alone, without Lubezki. And I hope he gets proper Oscar recognition for it! This might be my favourite film of his.

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That's an excellent film. I think this one might be better though. Perhaps not as thrilling or ambitious on an immediate level. It's much too subtle for that. But it comes off as the work of a more mature storyteller.

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23 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

Prisoner Of Azkaban is his best film.

 Gravity his second best.

 

I really like Prisoner of Azkaban, but its not THAT great, to be held anywhere near the standard of Children of Men.

 

That film is a textbook example of catharsis, in the best possible way. Truly deserving of the title masterpiece.

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1 hour ago, KK said:

That's an excellent film. I think this one might be better though. Perhaps not as thrilling or ambitious on an immediate level. It's much too subtle for that. But it comes off as the work of a more mature storyteller.

 

That's good news because his storytelling capabilities in COM really felt juvenile. Not a fan of Gravity either so I'm not keeping my hopes up for Roma, even though the trailer looks beautiful. 

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Aside from looking quite beautiful, Roma is very much the antithesis of Gravity. This is a much more contemplative Cuaron.

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1 hour ago, Stefancos said:

Alex will weep at your words.

 

Children of Men is a solid 3 out of 5 movie. I enjoy it. I suppose today it's essentially equivalent to an extended Black Mirror episode, though.

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6 minutes ago, Quintus said:

 

Children of Men is a solid 3 out of 5 movie. I enjoy it. I suppose today it's essentially equivalent to an extended Black Mirror episode, though.

 

1 hour ago, Stefancos said:

Alex will weep at your words, Lee.

 

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Can You Ever Forgive Me - Saw this at the tiff screenings at Dartmouth. Great. It's awesome to see Melissa McCarthy in a different role then usual, and she's very good, but Richard E. Grant was especially outstanding as the best friend. I didn't even know much about who Lee Israel was beforehand, and I still found the art forgery story very interesting. - 8

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Hereditary

 

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This could be a classic (The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, et cetera) and it's most definitely the best Horror flick I've seen since It Follows. One of the great things about it is that it's not strictly a horror movie and that it works equally well as a family drama. And it's important to note that the horror itself isn't jump scare based, which is truly rare these days. Even though not perfect, Hereditary is a quite an impressive debut film. We will follow Ari Aster's career with great interest! 7/10 or 8/10.

 

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4 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

This could be a classic (The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, et cetera) and it's most definitely the best Horror flick I've seen since It Follows. One of the great things about it is that it's not strictly a horror movie and that it works equally well as a family drama. And it's important to note that the horror itself isn't jump scare based, which is truly rare these days. Even though not perfect, Hereditary is a quite an impressive debut film. We will follow Ari Aster's career with great interest! 7/10 or 8/10.

 

How's the score?

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29 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

 

How's the score?

 

Very effective and eerie, but not something to listen to on its own, I guess. 

 

21 minutes ago, KK said:

  Collette is great in it too.

 

She is (can you get an Oscar for a performance in a horror movie?), and so it Gabriel Byrne. And where the heck do I know Ann Dowd from?! Oh, I remember now, from The Handmaid's Tale.

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Just now, Alexcremers said:

Very effective, but not something to listen to on its own, I guess. 

 

21 minutes ago, KK said:

 

Shame, I miss when deeper horror movies would produce thought provoking scores that meditate on the film's underlying themes (It Follows was the last to do this that I'm familiar with).

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firstman%20copy.jpg

 

First Man

 

Gone is the glitz and glamour of La La Land. Chazelle wants to show that he's grown up with plenty of shaky cam and intense close-ups for 2 hours. And it works. First Man is a solid film that explores the pressures on Armstrong and his wife during the development of the Apollo mission. It has a nice rhythm and 60s flair with a nice mix of 16mm and 35mm film with solid performances from Gosling and Foy. Chazelle channels the claustrophobia and intensity of space flight well. But at the end of the day, I don't think I can really get excited about it. Good stuff, not sure if it's great.

 

Hurwitz's score also has nice moments. There's a Desplat-esque harp idea that gets expanded into a full-blown ensemble piece that sounds like it came straight from Trevor Jones' The Last of the Mohicans.  The theremin use is subtle, and there's a nice bass riff for the NASA stuff.

 

11 hours ago, Alexcremers said:

And where the heck do I know Ann Dowd from?! Oh, I remember now, from The Handmaid's Tale.

1

 

The Leftovers!! One of her best.

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Black ‘47

 

It’s essentially a revenge driven western set during the Irish potato famine but it’s themes of the evils of colonialism and the rule of the 1% speak to the major issues effecting the world right now. Beautifully shot and it has a great cast. Hugo Weaving is an ex soldier and disgraced police inspector tasked with hunting down a former fellow soldier who seeks justice for his dead mother and family by killing those responsible, the ruling class. 

 

Loads of tension, hauntingly beautiful but bleak landscapes, excellent action sequences, and perfectly paced. 

 

The revenge plot and tracking down Feeney is the main focus but it succinctly gets across all the main points of England’s genocide of Ireland without becoming polemic. 

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if_beale_street_could_talk_film.jpg?ssl=

 

If Beale Street Could Talk

 

Barry Jenkin's follow-up to his Best Picture-winning Moonlight preserves his flair for a strong visual language, but with a much more uneven execution. Although it's carried well enough by a strong cast, the film is just kind of all over the place. Britell's score serves as the more interesting attempt at what he did with Moonlight (dry string quartet renditions of melancholic chords).

 

I came out disappointed, but the crowd loved it.

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The Favorite - Yorgos Lanthimos latest is sort of like a big royal baroque mess. The cinematography is top-notch, and you can tell the lead actresses (Coleman, Weisz, and Stone), are having a "ball" in their respected roll. It's also really hilarious, witty, and feels like a change of pace for Lanthimos, being much more accessible then his last few films. Super impressed. - 8.5 / 10

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I recently saw Hereditary too, and also loved it!  Great directing, tons of really cool shots and effective pacing throughout.  Great ending that subverted expectations - I hope they never make a sequel.

 

 

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39 minutes ago, Jay said:

I recently saw Hereditary too, and also loved it!  Great directing, tons of really cool shots and effective pacing throughout.  Great ending that subverted expectations - I hope they never make a sequel.

 

 

 

Well, that was my one minor gripe with the movie. The last scene could have been more ambiguous.

 

 

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39 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

Well, that was my one minor gripe with the movie. The last scene could have been more ambiguous.

 

True, I'll give you that.  The actual ending could have been way shorter / they didn't have to spell out every last bit about what really happened.  What I just meant was that

Spoiler

the bad guys win, and all the good guys die / are possessed.  That was refreshing

 

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The Predator is a trainwreck. Its a mess of a film. You can see the kid grow and shrink in various parts of this mishmash.

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Mandy

 

It takes some time for it to get going, but once it does, it's a fine ride. Cosmatos delivers a revenge flick fascinated with 80s biker gangs, grunge, heavy metal, and pulp fantasy. It could definitely use some trimming in its first act, but once Cage wakes up, it's hard to turn away as he slobbers over himself, chopping off heads with giant axes and chainsaws. It should be very easy to get this wrong, to laugh at its self-indulgent ambitions, but the film strikes a fine balance in its tone and character. And much of that success owes itself to Jóhannsson's psychedelic score, which ranges from dreamy strumming guitars to screaming organs with every crevice of sound explored in between. It's all one feverish LSD trip. Would have been a good one to have hit a joint before walking in...

 

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