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Dr. Yinz Ljubljana posted:A Haunting in Venice : Yet another Hercule Poirot movie starring Kenneth Branaugh as the supposedly Belgian detective who works through things with Facts and Logic. An interesting take on the Skeptics vs Believers with the formerly retired Poirot coming out of retirement for One Last Job debunking a medium at a séance. A game cast, including a shockingly good Tina Fey, underused but skilled Jamie Dornan and the always excellent Michelle Yeoh. Visually, a fairly simple affair, Branaugh (who directed and starred in this one as well as the last two recent Poirot movies A Death on the Nile and Murder on the Orient Express) keeps things moving and has the light touch of an early Hitchcock. Not the world's best movie but a real solid version of a thriller that hasn't been done as a feature film until now. Don't rush to the theatre or anything, but it's worth a watch for the various excellent performances. A slim 103 minutes, it could have used some slight trims to take it down to a manageable 90, due to an extended denouement and a baffling intro Most of the cast did a great job with what they were given, but once each character had been introduced, they just blended into everyone else.
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# ¿ Oct 1, 2023 22:05 |
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# ¿ May 14, 2024 21:26 |
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Carpet posted:Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet, 2023) Not for everyone, but if you like slow, methodical procedurals you'll probably love it. It probably is 20 minutes too long, though.
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# ¿ Nov 12, 2023 00:22 |
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ShoogaSlim posted:killers of the flower moon Saw Raging Grace last night. It was pretty good, it sort of reminded me of the creepy children's dramas you'd sometimes get on UK tv back in the 80s and early 90s. There's some really good ideas and social commentary, David Hayman is absolutely terrifying as the terminally man the main character is supposed to be looking after (all the acting is great, tbf), and the fantastic score really helps build the mounting dread. The film is just let down a bit by an overly slow and boring build up to the main thread, and a sort of 'made for tv' feel to the whole thing.
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# ¿ Dec 30, 2023 15:11 |
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Just watched Rebel Moon. lovely lens, lovely over-produced sfx, lovely slo-mo that just highlights the fact that literally nothing that happens thats vaguely cool is actually real, lovely zero-stakes action sequences, one-dimensional unrealistically evil baddies that just exist so you feel good seeing them get their asses kicked, not one single original idea in the whole drat thing. Not even any cool looking spaceships. A shameful movie with shameful fans.
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# ¿ Dec 30, 2023 22:16 |
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BigHead posted:Just watched Saltburn on Prime. What a great movie, holy cow. Barry Keoghan was fantastic. Funnily enough I watched Calm with Horses last night, another film with a great performance from Barry Keoghan, well worth a watch if you haven't seen it. Grimey and brutal film with amazing performances from everyone in it.
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# ¿ Jan 1, 2024 21:05 |
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Black Crab Kinda weird sci-fi about a bunch of people sent to ice-skate across a frozen archipelago to deliver a package during a post-apocalyptic civil war, sort of like Sorcerer on ice. And with none of the style, stakes or tension, unfortunately. Suffers a lot from bullets practically drawing outlines round the main characters and the film sort of ending about 75% of the way in and the last act being a massive drag. A shame, because some aspects are really, really good. Worth a watch if you want to see a sci-fi thats a bit different but be prepared to stop most of the way through to go and do something else.
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# ¿ Jan 3, 2024 20:11 |
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The Boy and the Heron - mixed feelings about this one. I've got to admit I'm not a massive fan of Miyazaki, most of his films I need to see a few times before I like them, perhaps this is no different. Forty minutes in and I was thinking this was an absolute masterpiece, everything about it is so beautifully crafted, *everything*, and I've rarely, if ever, been so drawn into a world and wanted to go there and explore it. But the last hour or so felt a bit like 'and then this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened' etc, and while everything ties up nicely, it hasn't left me with the feeling of being on a journey like some of his other films, it didn't really leave me with anything, tbh, and I'm not sure what to take away from it.
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# ¿ Jan 6, 2024 20:42 |
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Archer666 posted:Split Second 1992 sci-fi with Rutger Hauer 'Dick Durkins' is fuckin hilarious all the way through too, a genuinely great character. The bit where he laughs about Hauer's character being called Harley and Hauer's response seems like genuine corpsing.
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# ¿ Jan 11, 2024 21:45 |
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Magic Hate Ball posted:Anatomy of a Fall was really good and it makes me laugh that the schedule of events for the trial was basically: The scene at the end though, where they’re in the restaurant and it looks like they’re about to kiss scared the crap out of me. I’m so glad they didnt
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# ¿ Jan 19, 2024 21:42 |
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Lobster Henry posted:It’s funny, while I was watching it I never really entertained the idea that she might’ve done it. But on reflection, I think that’s less about my impression of her character and more about my disinterest in that kind of storytelling. Like, I’m not a murder mystery person. I don’t like rug pulls of that kind; I’d rather have the facts and watch the drama unfold. So I just subconsciously assumed that she was innocent because I would’ve thought a last-act reveal was hella dull.
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# ¿ Jan 20, 2024 22:12 |
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Big Mean Jerk posted:At this point I only have the thread bookmarked so I can read outrageously bad takes That last finale by the drat is absolute torture, too.
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# ¿ Feb 12, 2024 18:58 |
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Mat Cauthon posted:Yeah he's an abhorrent person but that works for the role in 2049 where you need someone who exudes inherent scumminess to make certain things click. Part of the reason Luv is so great in the movie is because as soon as you get a glimpse of how Wallace interacts with her you understand 100% why she is like that. Beverly Hills Cop - fuckin hell I love this film so much. a perfect movie. one of my favourite soundtracks ever. the good guys are all so drat charming and likeable, while the bad guy is charismatic and mysterious but still grounded. so many great characters, even side parts like Serge in the gallery or the 'free bananas' dude in the hotel. funny in the same way as hanging out with a bunch of funny people, not the weird fourth-wall/character breaking poo poo that is all most comedies seem to be able to muster up these days. 5/5
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# ¿ Feb 15, 2024 20:52 |
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River's Edge (1986) - a kid in high school murders a schoolmate for no clear reason, tells his friends, and things kinda spiral from there. Reminded me a bit of Stand by Me in terms of the atmosphere and that the whole film takes place over a very short period of time and feels like a journey. Features a very young looking Keanu Reeves being very Keanu and Crispin Glover in an extremely disturbing mullet being very Crispin Glover, which aren't necessarily bad things. There's some slightly wooden acting but otherwise it's pretty great, the plot gives no fucks and there's a constant dread that things are about to explode building in the background. Would recommend.
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# ¿ Feb 20, 2024 01:26 |
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Midnight Meat Train (2008) The most gratuitous and incompetent CGI and post-processing in any film ever. The most unintentionally hilarious foreplay scene I have ever witnessed. Vinnie Jones looking painfully British and out of place in New York. Bradley Cooper being utterly inept with a camera. Bradley Cooper having some sort of psychotic break while trying to photograph his semi naked girlfriend. A subway station underneath a meat packing plant. A subway train where no-one noticed one of the carriages has meathooks in it. An upside down corpse that's got rigor mortis so the boobs hang upwards. A plot so stupid I daren't try to recall it. It's loving dreadful, but it is fun.
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# ¿ Mar 13, 2024 01:09 |
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Killing Ground (2016) An Aussie couple go camping and find an abandoned truck and tent, though they don't realise they're abandoned at first, then bad poo poo starts to happen. Not an amazing film by any stretch, and it's pretty harrowing in parts, but as a thriller I really enjoyed it. There's some solid low-key acting, people behaving realistically in a terrifying situation, decent pacing and a shitload of tension, and the film lets you know quite early on that the ending probably won't be happy. The only real downside is that the film jumps back and forth between two points in time in a way that possibly lets on too much, and it's done kinda clumsily. I loved the scene early on when the toddler stumbles out of the woods, barely in shot. Properly gave me chills, I kinda wish more of the film had that vibe. Also that lady's face at the end, drat. Just dont watch the trailer if you're planning on watching the film. 3.5/5 toiletbrush fucked around with this message at 00:10 on Mar 15, 2024 |
# ¿ Mar 15, 2024 00:06 |
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Island Zero (2018) - fantastic setup, fantastic location, fantastic photography, but everything else is shiiiiiiiiiiiittttt
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# ¿ Mar 16, 2024 20:45 |
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Wanted: Dead or Alive 1986 Rutger Hauer, treading practically threadbare ground at this point, plays an utterly unhinged ex-CIA agent living in the most insanely 80's, ludicrously outfitted bounty-hunter's secret warehouse lair, paid to hunt down a terrorist who's blown up a cinema showing Rambo on the cheap, with a wacky harmonica vs 1960's Doctor Who/BBC Radiophonic Workshop fusion soundtrack. Sounds great, right? Alas, the ending scene is pretty funny, but otherwise it's incredibly generic and dull. The baddies and action are both dull as poo poo, and Hauer's nowhere near charismatic enough to get away with his constant mugging at the camera. You'll struggle to maintain your attention. 2/5
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# ¿ Mar 18, 2024 01:00 |
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Nightride (2021): This film must have been a logistical fuckin nightmare. Hats off to everyone involved for that alone. Imagine Boiling Point except instead of following a chef through a rough night at a restaurant, you're following a drug dealer on his last, biggest, riskiest deal. It's not as good as Boiling Point, and it doesn't have Stephen Graham in it, but it's still pretty loving good. Shot in realtime in what is presented as a single take, mostly pointing back at the main character as he desperately drives round Belfast, trying to shake a potential tail while trying to get all his ducks lined up. The whole thing feels really tense and authentic, there's even a few bits (including an encounter with the police) where I'm genuinely not sure if they're real or not. The acting is mostly solid, and even though you (mostly) only hear their voices, there are some great characters too - Ellie O'Halloran as a much younger cousin stuck out at night after her tinder date ghosts her, and Stephen Rea as the guy who's about to collect are particular standouts. There's a few slightly cringey lines and the original soundtrack isn't always able to carry the tension the rest of the film builds, but overall it's a really fun ride, a definite recommend. But don't watch the trailer, it gives away way too much.
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# ¿ Mar 19, 2024 21:26 |
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Late Night with the Devil (2023) Have you seen stuff like The Vast of Night, or Look Around You, or other similar stuff where a ton of effort has gone into paying attention to detail, and making things feel real and authentic? Well, Late Night with the Devil has exactly gently caress all of any of that. You know it's going to be poo poo in the opening scene, when they simulate an old CRT telly with a bunch of awful CGI, rather than...you know...just using a real CRT tv. It's a film with a ton of great ideas, but with a frustrating lack of attention to detail, or any care to make anything feel authentic, or for anything to make sense in the real-tv/found-footage setting its supposed to have. It's an extremely dumb film, but it's pretty entertaining, so I don't totally hate it. It just could have been so much better.
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# ¿ Mar 29, 2024 01:55 |
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Surge (2020): 24 hours in the life of an airport security worker who has a massive mental breakdown on his birthday. Sort of like Falling Down but with Safdie brothers vibes and filmed in London. Possibly a bit of Joker in there too. I'd not heard of Ben Wishaw before this, and he's so loving good there were bits where it almost felt exploitative, like the producers let a genuinely severely mentally disturbed man loose on the streets. It's probably not as good as Good Time or Uncut Gems but I found it way more of an anxiety rollercoaster. VVV I just noticed I put the wrong year on Surge lol toiletbrush fucked around with this message at 18:38 on Mar 31, 2024 |
# ¿ Mar 31, 2024 16:10 |
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Dr. Yinz Ljubljana posted:Promising Young Woman is a solid film with a lot of people going around just misunderstanding the whole thing and I love those, honestly Emily the Criminal (2022) Aubrey Plaza plays a young woman, crippled by debt, who's desperation draws her into the world of credit card fraud. Another film with Good Time vibes - loads of tension, super naturalistic acting, amazingly authentic characters and dialogue. It's not particular deep or layered but whatever, it's a fun ride that goes by quick. Dont watch the trailer tho, it literally gives the whole film away. toiletbrush fucked around with this message at 11:26 on Apr 2, 2024 |
# ¿ Apr 2, 2024 11:23 |
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Gaius Marius posted:Prisoners Denis Villeneuve
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# ¿ Apr 21, 2024 11:26 |
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# ¿ May 14, 2024 21:26 |
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Rolling Thunder (1977) Quentin Tarantino apparently loves this film, I didn't. It's probably a great film, but maybe I'm too millennial brained to connect with it, beyond the basic revenge angle. Haute Tension (2003) As a slasher flick this seemed really well done, everything was well put together, the gore was good and there was tons of it. But if you're like me and slasher flicks and gore just kinda wash over you without any effect, this film probably won't do much for you. I really wanted to like it, and loved the build up, but I just didn't care about anything that happened or anyone it happened to.
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# ¿ May 6, 2024 13:24 |