Rate The Last Movie You Saw

[noodles_leone]

Thanks to a couple of long flights and the jet lag that goes with them:

The Square - 8/10
The film isn’t subtle, which is a big fault comsidering what it’s going after. Also, a couple of subplots could have stayed on the cutting room floor. But this is all outweighted by an attention to meaningful details, many brilliant scenes and a great cast. I was going for a 7, but the Square, as heavy handed as it is, ends up being more though provoking than I’d like to admit. Good job.

War of Planet of the Apes - 4/10
After the half turd the first opus of the trilogy was (I stopped trying to get their actual titles right: one is dawn, one is rise, one is war, who knows which is which, none of them are worth the trouble anyway) and the total turd the second opus ended up being, I didn’t want anything to do with these films anymore. The amazingly good reviews this one got made me watch it (in the plane). Quick review: the first shot is terrific, you can turn off your tv right after the first cut. Average, pointless stuff with great CGI monkeys.

Videodrome - 6.5/10
I has never seen this before, I will probably never watch it again, but that was as far from “average pointless stuff” as you can get. Old fashion cheesy auteur gore is great.

It (2017) - 3/10
Didn’t even finish it. Had they not fired Fukunaga before the shooting, they had a wannabe masterpiece on their hands. Instead, they went with your regular boring collection of averagely shot horror scenes that have nothing to do with what the book is about. I cannot believe anyone gave it more than 5/10.

Call me by your Name ?/10
I only got the first half of it, the plane landed afterward. While the premise of the story doesn’t interest me at all, some reviews got my attention. Turns out the film is technically brilliant. The pacing is fast and jazzy, and Guadagnino virtuously reconstitutes the atmosphere of the hot and lazy Mediterranean summers with an attention to detail that is almost unequaled nowadays without ever stealing the show. Top notch filmmaking.

Baisers Volés - 8/10
 

Kingsman 2 : the Golden circle 5/10
Fun and a bit hit and miss like the first one, but the brilliance of the camerawork is now lost in an ocean of CGI.

[XhcnoirX]

The Square - 8/10
The film isn’t subtle, which is a big fault comsidering what it’s going after.

That nails it. It tries way too hard to be this 'clever' satire about the modern art world and existence, but in the end I found it a boring, lifeless mess. It didn't work for me at all.

[noodles_leone]

I wouldn't say "lifeless". It's cold but it's supposed to be cold and distant.

[moviesceleton]

I wouldn't say "lifeless". It's cold but it's supposed to be cold and distant.

My main complaint actually is how conventional and not cold it eventually turned out. I mean the resolution at the end (spoiler: him loosing his job and thus spending more time with his daughters) is just way more Hollywood than I was expecting and Östlund couldn't really sell it to me. Actually I couldn't make out what he was trying to say in the end – I have a feeling he doesn't know either.

But regarding the movie as a whole, I could just copy/paste your rating and thoughts.

[noodles_leone]

My main complaint actually is how conventional and not cold it eventually turned out. I mean the resolution at the end (spoiler: him loosing his job and thus spending more time with his daughters) is just way more Hollywood than I was expecting and Östlund couldn't really sell it to me. Actually I couldn't make out what he was trying to say in the end – I have a feeling he doesn't know either.

But regarding the movie as a whole, I could just copy/paste your rating and thoughts.

Hey, aren't you in the US now?

[moviesceleton]

Hey, aren't you in the US now?

Not yet. In a month, if it's going to happen at all.

[cigar joe]

Not yet. In a month, if it's going to happen at all.

If you come to NYC let us know.

[dave jenkins]

Yeah, we'll show you where we buried noodles_leone. 

[noodles_leone]

And stole his password so we could keep his account alive to hide our crime.

The 400 Blows 8/10
 

Annihilation 7?/10
Pretty cool. Easily the most ambitious and interesting Netflix feature film to date. Lots of great stuff in it although sometimes flawed writing is hard to separate from intentional symbolism (which is where the heart of the movie is anyway). It's hard not to compare Annihilation to The Arrival. Anyway, it's great to see that -flawed or not- ambitious SciFi is thing once again. Exciting times.

Cartel (long version) 7/10
First viewing. Very good and original for a movie about the cartels. Terrific by the book yet modern yet classy yet audacious yet noirish yet colorful cinematography. It's Ridley Scott's most Fincheresque side. Unfortunately, the dialogues aren't as smart and cool as they sound. Top notch performances all over the place, although Cameron Diaz is probably miscasted.

[dave jenkins]

And stole his password so we could keep his account alive to hide our crime.

The 400 Blows 8/10
 

Too bad Truffaut rubbished his What-Now-Little-Man ending with a bunch of worthless sequels. The proper way to proceed (for this viewer, anyway) is to treat those unwelcome additions as apocrypha. Or documents from an alternate universe.

[noodles_leone]

Naaaaaa.

The first 2 sequels are amazing. They’re among the cutest films ever, Amelie-like, but under the surface, they’re all about the unavoidable tragedy of the ephemeral quality of love. The underlying contrast crushes me every time during the whole viewing. I never cared for the last movie though, which was just easy money for a broke Truffaut (but the credits song is one of the best by Alain souchon).

I see how they may arm the what-now-little-man ending though, but the fact the feature length sequels take place start about a decade from the ending of 400 blows protects the ending for me. I may also be helped by the fact I saw the sequels first, and much more often.

Have you seen the shorts? I think i’ve only seen one, 10 to 15 years ago.

For those who haven’t seen it, here is the audition of the young Jean-Pierre Leaud:
https://youtu.be/ULovABBn2ds

[Dust Devil]

Annihilation 7?/10
Pretty cool. Easily the most ambitious and interesting Netflix feature film to date. Lots of great stuff in it although sometimes flawed writing is hard to separate from intentional symbolism (which is where the heart of the movie is anyway). It's hard not to compare Annihilation to The Arrival. Anyway, it's great to see that -flawed or not- ambitious SciFi is thing once again. Exciting times.

I never thought you for a Mortal Kombat fan.

[noodles_leone]

I never thought you for a Mortal Kombat fan.

 

[stanton]

Have you seen the shorts? I think i’ve only seen one, 10 to 15 years ago.

There's only one short film, the half hour film Antoine et Collette from 1962. I like it, just like the first 2 sequels. The last one L’amour en fuite (1979) is not that good though.

[dave jenkins]

There's only one short film, the half hour film Antoine et Collette from 1962. I like it, just like the first 2 sequels. The last one L’amour en fuite (1979) is not that good though.

This is actually the only sequel in the series I like. But again, I have to pretend it's about a different character who just happens to have the same name.