28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[MadMan]

I haven't seen Animal House in years. I am not sure how I would judge it now. I kind of prefer Real Genius over it when it comes to college comedies.

[Peng]

A Man for All Seasons (1966) - Watching a traditional period drama right after The Favourite does the former no favor at all, and the staidly direction and languorous pacing only compound its problem of being a thuddingly obvious theater adaptation even more. Paul Scofield is marvelous though, conveying a ton of thoughts and feelings under stolid surface and carefully measured words, which makes his brief cracks of overwhelmed emotions towards the end so heartrending, and gives his thunderous climatic speech all the weight it needs for that epilogue to be absolutely haunting. 6.5/10

[StanleyK]

Watched Sean Baker's Starlet; it's been a long time since I've watched a movie with no expectations at all and liked it so much. Great performances by a bunch of unknowns, great score and a beautiful, understated story, somewhat reminiscent of the Dardenne brothers's earlier and better efforts. Why isn't this talked about more?

[Yxklyx]

Issur Danielovitch Demsky is still alive.

[Peng]

Rewatched Unbreakable (2000) in preparation of Glass.

This almost slid from 3.5/5 into 3/5 on rewatch for me, actually, and now that Split bumps up to my #3 of his, it clarifies a whole lot about Shyamalan for me. A director of genre infused with Importance (especially in pacing), he has the formal chop and imaginative conceptual ambition, but kind of needs a spark or more from his actors to make his ponderous self-seriousness gain human dimension and deep feeling (my frustrated thought, pre-cinephile, while watching Signs: "why do these people seem all braindead?!").

The Sixth Sense has Haley Joel Osment and maybe his most consistent story to date; The Village, his best film, has a killer ensemble cast where all his characters seem like actual humans for a change, and I still can't believe Shyamalan is really capable of that tender, heartfelt romance (big credit to Bryce Dallas Howard); Split, apart from a great interplay between committed McAvoy and Taylor-Joy, finds the director finally lean into pulpiness and delivers an unhinged, actual genre direction that looks great on him. In contrast, Unbreakable just seems like a very novel concept and some exquisite visual/direction in search of that kind of spark. Here's hoping that new-phase Shyamalan and that cast has me more receptive to what he's serving up in Glass.

[Wryan]

Lots of credit to Sean Baker and the girl and mom actors in The Florida Project for their near-immaculate verisimilitude, but Jesus fucking Christ I couldn't stand them. I could barely get thru the movie with my blood pressure intact. Guess the movie worked super well 'cause I was so damn angry at and for all of them by the end of it.

[MadMan]

The Florida Project made me cry at the end.

[MadMan]

I have seen Unbreakable at least 5 times. Maybe more. I love that movie, flaws and all.

[Peng]

Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)

Remarkably sustains the exhilarating, whatever-go spirit of Saturday morning cartoon the whole way through, with about four or five times the length and at much higher craft. This being his first feature, someone else’s property (even if the characters are reshaped as milder to suit the director more), and made in barely half a year, the film still feels very much of Miyazaki’s sensibility, if not as deep in his later films' serenely articulated, thematic concern: rollicking adventure (this almost feels like a warm-up to Castle in the Sky), fluidly animated action especially around architecture, and a healthy dose of authority distrust. Fun and charming debut. 7.5/10

[StanleyK]

Lots of credit to Sean Baker and the girl and mom actors in The Florida Project for their near-immaculate verisimilitude, but Jesus fucking Christ I couldn't stand them. I could barely get thru the movie with my blood pressure intact. Guess the movie worked super well 'cause I was so damn angry at and for all of them by the end of it.

Sean Baker seems to be really adept at making great movies about insufferable people. These types of movies usually infuriate me, but he's got a Midas touch that makes them compelling. And what a great director of actors he is; most of the parts are played by non-actors and are excellent. I was especially impressed by the kids in The Florida Project. Child actors very rarely give convincing performances, but the ones here are genuinely Oscar-worthy.

[Yxklyx]

The Florida Project made me cry at the end.

One of the best movies I've seen recently. What's crazier than Possession is this script:

https://www.springfieldspringfield.c...vie=possession

which I'm going to have to go through because the audio (and Adjani's accent) has always made me miss something. One of the key new lines I understood on tonight's rewatch is:

Because it's here with you?
-Yes!

[transmogrifier]

My Top 15 Directors strictly according to average scores of all the films of theirs I have seen. Four film minimum. Bolded are those names I never would think about if asked to name my favorite directors, though I certainly don't dislike them.

1. Peter Greenaway
2. David Fincher
3. Sergio Leone
4. Fred Zinneman
5. John Sayles
6. Nicholas Roeg
7. Pedro Almodovar
8. Dennis Hopper
9. Jacques Becker
10. Paul Thomas Anderson
11. David Lean
12. Bernado Bertolucci
13. Michael Powell
14. Michael Mann
15. Michel Gondry
16. Jean-Pierre Melville

I would have said that my favorite director is Robert Altman, but his long career means a number of bombs drag his average down a bit. But goddamn I miss him.

[Irish]

The Criterion Channel service launches April 8, and will be available on desktop, Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, iOS, and Android devices for the monthly fee of $10.99 (or $99.99 annually).

Charter subscribers get some additional benefits, especially if they subscribe before the April launch date, including reduced pricing for the life of their subscriptions along with other benefits, including a prelaunch Movie of the Week every Wednesday until launch, starting with the complete, newly released Criterion edition of “Mikey and Nicky,” with a new restoration supervised by Elaine May, along with all of its supplemental features.

https://theplaylist.net/criterion-ch...date-20190130/

Yay...?

[Dukefrukem]

By that price, does that mean it will offer some of the extra feature stuff that's on some of the DVDs?

[StanleyK]

During the opening credits of Memoirs of an Invisible Man I was thinking "There's no John Carpenter font, and where's his synthy score? This is all wrong." Then I remembered that I don't actually like John Carpenter's movies and thought I might enjoy this one. And I did enjoy quite a bit. I think I've finally found a filmmaker with which I can be a proper Match Cut contrarian.

[Dukefrukem]

During the opening credits of Memoirs of an Invisible Man I was thinking "There's no John Carpenter font, and where's his synthy score? This is all wrong." Then I remembered that I don't actually like John Carpenter's movies and thought I might enjoy this one. And I did enjoy quite a bit. I think I've finally found a filmmaker with which I can be a proper Match Cut contrarian.

What are some of his other movies you dislike and why>?

[StanleyK]

What are some of his other movies you dislike and why>?

I hated They Live, Prince of Darkness and The Fog. I didn't particularly care for Big Trouble in Little China, Assault on Precinct 13 or Halloween.

In general, his movies have interesting concepts, but the execution is sloppy. For example in They Live, the idea of sunglasses that you can put on to see reality is neat; but as soon as Roddy Piper puts them on, he loudly announces to the aliens that he can see them and starts shooting at random, which is just about the stupidest thing he could do. Later he punches Keith David for 45 minutes because he won't put on the glasses. That's the other main problem I have with Carpenter: the pacing is awful. There always seems to be a point in his movies where the story comes to a halt and just spins its wheels without going anywhere. For instance in Halloween, between Michael arriving at his hometown and him killing Annie, nothing happens. There are no new stakes, no pieces being moved around the chessboard, so to speak. I think it's supposed to be a slow burn building up to an explosive ending, but with nothing new at stake the effect is tedium rather than tension.

The only movie where I think he was successful at this was The Thing. I also enjoyed Escape from New York, and to some extent Dark Star.

[Dukefrukem]

Fair. I dislike Prince of Darkness and The Fog too. Totally agree with you on Halloween.

Was ready to rumble if you badmouthed the Thing.

Big Trouble in Little China is a masterpiece.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I hated They Live, Prince of Darkness and The Fog. I didn't particularly care for Big Trouble in Little China, Assault on Precinct 13 or Halloween.

In general, his movies have interesting concepts, but the execution is sloppy. For example in They Live, the idea of sunglasses that you can put on to see reality is neat; but as soon as Roddy Piper puts them on, he loudly announces to the aliens that he can see them and starts shooting at random, which is just about the stupidest thing he could do. Later he punches Keith David for 45 minutes because he won't put on the glasses. That's the other main problem I have with Carpenter: the pacing is awful. There always seems to be a point in his movies where the story comes to a halt and just spins its wheels without going anywhere. For instance in Halloween, between Michael arriving at his hometown and him killing Annie, nothing happens. There are no new stakes, no pieces being moved around the chessboard, so to speak. I think it's supposed to be a slow burn building up to an explosive ending, but with nothing new at stake the effect is tedium rather than tension.

Wow. Hats off to you for throwing in an opinion I am completely unprepared for. I don't like it, but damn it do I respect it.

[MadMan]

My Top 15 Directors strictly according to average scores of all the films of theirs I have seen. Four film minimum. Bolded are those names I never would think about if asked to name my favorite directors, though I certainly don't dislike them.

1. Peter Greenaway
2. David Fincher
3. Sergio Leone
4. Fred Zinneman
5. John Sayles
6. Nicholas Roeg
7. Pedro Almodovar
8. Dennis Hopper
9. Jacques Becker
10. Paul Thomas Anderson
11. David Lean
12. Bernado Bertolucci
13. Michael Powell
14. Michael Mann
15. Michel Gondry
16. Jean-Pierre Melville

I would have said that my favorite director is Robert Altman, but his long career means a number of bombs drag his average down a bit. But goddamn I miss him.

I have never seen a Almodovar or Becker film. I don't recall if I have ever viewed a Gondry. Interesting list, as several of those are among my favorites.

[MadMan]

Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)

Remarkably sustains the exhilarating, whatever-go spirit of Saturday morning cartoon the whole way through, with about four or five times the length and at much higher craft. This being his first feature, someone else’s property (even if the characters are reshaped as milder to suit the director more), and made in barely half a year, the film still feels very much of Miyazaki’s sensibility, if not as deep in his later films' serenely articulated, thematic concern: rollicking adventure (this almost feels like a warm-up to Castle in the Sky), fluidly animated action especially around architecture, and a healthy dose of authority distrust. Fun and charming debut. 7.5/10

I saw that movie on the big screen two years ago. Pretty rad flick, and most likely an influence on Cowboy Bebop. I loved Castle In The Sky.

[MadMan]

One of the best movies I've seen recently. What's crazier than Possession is this script:

https://www.springfieldspringfield.c...vie=possession

which I'm going to have to go through because the audio (and Adjani's accent) has always made me miss something. One of the key new lines I understood on tonight's rewatch is:

Because it's here with you?
-Yes!

Possession is one ot those batshit crazy movies I am glad I have seen. I watched it late one night on TCM and I wasn't really able to sleep afterwards.

[MadMan]

I love John Carpenter. To each their own, I guess.

[Dukefrukem]

My Top 15 Directors strictly according to average scores of all the films of theirs I have seen. Four film minimum. Bolded are those names I never would think about if asked to name my favorite directors, though I certainly don't dislike them.

1. Peter Greenaway
2. David Fincher
3. Sergio Leone
4. Fred Zinneman
5. John Sayles
6. Nicholas Roeg
7. Pedro Almodovar
8. Dennis Hopper
9. Jacques Becker
10. Paul Thomas Anderson
11. David Lean
12. Bernado Bertolucci
13. Michael Powell
14. Michael Mann
15. Michel Gondry
16. Jean-Pierre Melville

I would have said that my favorite director is Robert Altman, but his long career means a number of bombs drag his average down a bit. But goddamn I miss him.

Was this compiled through letterboxd?

[transmogrifier]

Was this compiled through letterboxd?

No, I have an Excel spreadsheet of all the movies I have watched. I would never be able to remember things I've seen or not otherwise, let alone individual scores.