Jump to content

What Is The Last Film You Watched? (2020 films)


Matt C

Recommended Posts

Next up for our B&W triple feature was

 

David Fincher's 'Mank' Trailer Debuts

 

Mank

 

I have never seen Citizen Kane and didn't know anything about it's creation and production; This film purports to be that story, but come to find out Herman J. Mankiewicz writing the script in 1940 is only a framing story that takes up probably less than 30 minutes of screentime; The bulk of the 2 hour 11 minute running time is flashbacks to various interactions Mankiewicz has at various studios and with various notable people throughout 1930s Hollywood.  Towards the end of the film it becomes clear why Fincher decided to make this film now, as one of these story threads is about the 1934 California governor's election between a Republican candidate backed by head of MGM Studios Louis B. Mayer, and Williams Randolph Hurst, against Democratic candidate Upton Sinclair, who it seems would have won if not for Mayer and Hurst's interference.

 

Gary Oldman is oddly cast; Mankiewicz was 43 years old when writing Citizen Kane and in his 30s for all the flashbacks, but Gary Oldman is 63 years old - and looks it, at all times!  I love Gary Oldman and he's generally great in every role, but I didn't find anything particular remarkable about this one.  Charles Dance was his usual self as Hurst, and Amanda Seyfried was maybe a step above one-note as his mistress Marion Crane.  I was left thinking her story would have made for a better story than Mankiewicz's, or even an entire movie on just the 1934 election.

 

The film is so indulgent in these flashbacks, the actual interesting part of Mankiewicz's life as it pertains to Citizen Kane - that him and Orson Wells fought over screenwriting credit, and Hurst banned all mention of it in his papers so it bombed at the box office - is only barely mentioned before the film quickly wraps up.

 

So while I was not engaged by the story or characters for the most part, the cinematography and set design was very much top notch.  The two combine to really transport you back to old time Hollywood and there were often interesting framing and lighting choices to admire when the story wasn't being very compelling.  I think Fincher went overboard with some indulgences though, like putting in fake cigarette burns in the corners throughout the whole film.  Too much!

 

I'm glad I saw it before the Oscars, but I'll probably never watch it again.  It's free on Netflix.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Jay said:

The film is so indulgent in these flashbacks

 

Well, Citizen Kane is *the* original flashback movie, so I suppose that's the reason, for better or worse. I haven't seen Mank yet (it's certainly on the list), but Kane is absolutely worth seeing. It's an excellent film with a great cast and great score, and the cinematography is still top notch 80 years later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

46 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

I watched it just once at class, during my first year in college. If I remember correctly, I believe I lost about 5 minutes of screentime of the beginning of the movie due to arriving late for class.

 

So you probably missed the glorious opening tracking shot that culminates in the reveal of the MacGuffin (and Herrmann's leitmotif for it).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

WONDER WOMAN 1984

 

Maybe, I'm just the wrong demographic for these films but ....

this film sucked!

 

Gal is drop dead gorgeous but where's the script?

No more comic book movies that dont feature BATMAN!😵😡

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The irony is I watched it because of all the praise for the SCORE- I like to see the film FIRST.

 

IDIOT#😵

1 hour ago, bruce marshall said:

WONDER WOMAN 1984

 

Maybe, I'm just the wrong demographic for these films ....

 

No. It just sucked.

Imdb reviewers agree,  and most of them were fans of the first one!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, bruce marshall said:

No. It just sucked.

I like to think this is the dumbest superhero movie ever made...
Just watch this, at least it should make you laugh about the script

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The film was terrible, really disappointing (with a few cool parts) 

 

The score is fun

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SOUL

 

Strange film.

It started out very strong, if reminiscent of the wonderful INSIDE OUT.

Then, they throw in that tired trope about body switching! Oy vey!

Thankfully, it didn't last too long before returning to its metaphysical roots.

And, boy was that a emotionally satisfying ending. I was in tears.

On 1/4/2021 at 12:29 PM, JoeinAR said:

Lets see watched WW 84 lots of fun.

 

 

If that comment doesn't earn at least a one year ban, I don't know what does!

 

 

😝

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/3/2021 at 2:17 AM, bruce marshall said:

The irony is I watched it because of all the praise for the SCORE- I like to see the film FIRST.

 

IDIOT#😵

No. It just sucked.

Imdb reviewers agree,  and most of them were fans of the first one!

Using imdb reviews as part of your argument totally destroys any argument you might have had.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, JoeinAR said:

UsingJWFAN reviews as part of your argument totally destroys any argument you might have had.

I didn't go by them. I read them after watching to see what  others thought; I acknowledge I may.not be the audience for MCEU films.

IMDB Fans who write thoughtful reviews are usually pretty reliable.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

News of the World movie review (2020) | Roger Ebert

 

News of the World

 

Hey this movie is pretty good!  I was expecting it to be Tom Hanks going around and reading the news to a bunch of towns in the old west, and while that happens a few times, it's largely a road trip action flick with Hanks continually facing new adversaries as he tries to get a twice orphaned German girl to relatives she has on the other side of Texas.

 

Some of the action scenes were impressive, which shouldn't have surprised me coming from Paul Greengrass.  The setting of 1870 post-Civil War Texas was wonderfully realized, and the various interactions he has with some former soldiers and townsfolk makes you think about how little has changed in 150 years in some respects.

 

James Newton Howard's score had some really nice parts that stood out and made me want to check out the score album.

 

It's $6 on VOD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the-father-movie-review-2021.jpg

 

The Father

 

A simple but highly effective film that really tries to be in the mind of someone drowning. One of Hopkins' most compelling performances in years, the kind that doesn't at all feel constructed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice, can't wait to see that one as soon as it shows up on streaming... or maybe $6 VOD (still $20 VOD here as of right now)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sure, of course it sounds like that, but that automatically mean that it is. I had no interest when I first heard about it either, but then when my movie podcast reviewed it I learned it was actually something special 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/16/2021 at 1:41 AM, AC1 said:

Hopkins with dementia sounds like Oscar bate though ...

 

On paper, yea, but it transcends that I think. None of it feels conceited. And the whole thing is actually rather clever in how it tries to emulate the experience rather than just trying to bait the audience with trauma porn.

 

Hopkins' performance is quite devastating by the end however. What a pro.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love and Monsters

 

Post-apocalyptic movies shouldn't be light-hearted, fun and romantic, but this one is maybe the first few good movie set in the last days of mankind.

 

It has a fun script, charismatic characters, great use of visual effects for the monsters. But it can be also very scaring sometimes, with great setpieces involving the monsters.

 

Beltrami's score is unremarkable though. The movie makes better use of pre existing songs.

 

I recommend it. It's "free" on Netflix, at least if you live outside the US.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

MANK

 

 

Very enjoyable for the most part!
Absolutely loved Oldman. Though he may be a bit old for the role it fits his style of acting perfectly.

I like that it wasn't a  " Making of..." film but more a portrait of a a man and an era.

The stuff about Upton Sinclair - probably;t completely unknown to modern audiences- made the film for me.

 

Im sure a lot of the film is fictionalized but they did not

pretend they were making a " factual' biopic .

 

Well worth seeing!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nomadland

 

I watched the probable winner of the Best Picture Award just a few hours before the ceremony.

 

It's a great movie! Very slow and poetic, it reminded me of a Malick movie. Not everyone is going to like it, but I found the movie to be quite moving.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Edmilson said:

Nomadland

 

I watched the probable winner of the Best Picture Award just a few hours before the ceremony.

 

It's a great movie! Very slow and poetic, it reminded me of a Malick movie. Not everyone is going to like it, but I found the movie to be quite moving.

 

I loved how often dialogue from one scene would play over over footage from another 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, Jay said:

 

I loved how often dialogue from one scene would play over over footage from another 

 

That's a very Malick thing to do. The film pulled a lot from his DNA.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Edmilson said:

What movie is this? The YT video is unavailable here. 

Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World

 

It fits all the criteria you listed and still manages to deliver genuine pathos in the end. You should check it out!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Watch Another Round | Prime Video

 

Another Round

 

A weird little movie that starts with a great premise and setup, ends with a strong finish, but really meanders and doesn't live up to its potential for most of the middle.

 

Four high school teachers decide to maintain a buzz throughout their work-days teaching children, to improve various deficiencies each think they have in their personal lives and/or teaching styles; Various results of this experiment ensue, and change as the drinking escalates for each of them in different ways.

 

Overall, I found it to be too much of a slog, and too depressing, to be able to give an easy recommendation.  But it is clever and interesting, and different than most films out there.

 

It's free on Hulu

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Stand In Cast, Character & Cameo Guide | Screen Rant

 

The Stand-In

 

Ooof.  If you've seen the trailer for this, it looks like a decent comedy with Drew Barrymore playing dual roles as the famous actor and her lookalike stand-in right?  Well this is one of those cases where they took every single funny scene that exists in the movie and put them all in the trailer to make you think it's a comedy, when it really isn't.

 

It's a bizarre drama about a famous actress who has a mental breakdown and becomes a recluse for 5 years, then finds her old stand-in to go to rehab for her when she gets caught for tax evasion, but the stand-in starts appearing in public again as her, and things escalate and escalate from there...

 

It felt like a rough draft that they just filmed.  The potential for a compelling story is here but it's just executed so poorly, both through a meandering and unfocused script and some scatterbrained directing.  Barrymore is pretty committed and they do some fun things occasionally when both characters share a scene, but most of the time you'll just be bored and wondering where things are going.

 

Not worth a watch, but it's free on Netflix if you're a big Barrymore fan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Jay said:

Watch Another Round | Prime Video

 

Another Round

 

A weird little movie that starts with a great premise and setup, ends with a strong finish, but really meanders and doesn't live up to its potential for most of the middle.

 

 

Yeah, I thought it was good as long they had the experiment under control but it was kind of predictable that the drinking would get out of hand. It's then when I started losing interest.

 

Have you seen Vinterberg's Jagten? Same director, but much better movie.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep, we saw The Hunt a while back and I loved it.

 

Definitely a much stronger movie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.