Damn. Sorry. Could a mod add a poll?
I haven't seen a movie take such a huge dive in quality in the third act since Funny People. On the whole, I enjoyed it, and I was sure for a while that it was my favorite movie of the year. Too bad it (almost) completely falls apart.
Winston, why do you fail at making threads? Do you want TGM to be mad at you?
Sure why not?
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI (Rian Johnson) - 9
STRONGER (David Gordon Green) - 6
THE DISASTER ARTIST (James Franco) - 7
THE FLORIDA PROJECT (Sean Baker) - 9
LADY BIRD (Greta Gerwig) - 8
"Hitchcock is really bad at suspense."
- Stay Puft
I didn't think it fell apart too much, but []
Everything until then is sooo good The blend of noir tropes is so deftly handled; hard not to geek out a little. Especially loved the first Willis/JGL meeting, the dialogue about the arm scrawlings, "Beatrix" etc.
[]Quoting Boner M (view post)
Agreed with eternity. Was loving this until the film []
What's good is great though. That diner scene is so good, it's a shame []
Sure why not?
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI (Rian Johnson) - 9
STRONGER (David Gordon Green) - 6
THE DISASTER ARTIST (James Franco) - 7
THE FLORIDA PROJECT (Sean Baker) - 9
LADY BIRD (Greta Gerwig) - 8
"Hitchcock is really bad at suspense."
- Stay Puft
Need a poll here.
[]Quoting Winston* (view post)
Really enjoyed it, but agreed on both counts.Quoting Watashi (view post)
Out of 4 stars:
The Guest: ***1/2
Furious 7: ***
The Tale of Princess Kaguya: ***
It Follows: ***1/2
[]Quoting Boner M (view post)
Last 10 Movies Seen
(90+ = canonical, 80-89 = brilliant, 70-79 = strongly recommended, 60-69 = good, 50-59 = mixed, 40-49 = below average with some good points, 30-39 = poor, 20-29 = bad, 10-19 = terrible, 0-9 = soul-crushingly inept in every way)
Run (2020) 64
The Whistlers (2019) 55
Pawn (2020) 62
Matilda (1996) 37
The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976) 61
Moby Dick (2011) 50
Soul (2020) 64
Heroic Duo (2003) 55
A Moment of Romance (1990) 61
As Tears Go By (1988) 65
Stuff at Letterboxd
Listening Habits at LastFM
This was great. One of the best of the year for sure.
Loved the diner scene. Old Joe's lambasting of Young Joe for being selfish was given great weight with later events.
Extended (and disorganized) thoughts...
Really loved this one and I feel it'll continue to grow on me with repeat viewings.
As with all time travel films it's impossible to examine the time travel bits without leaving myself confused, brain aching from the inherent paradox(es). But Johnson seems to have been aware of this himself - he knew it just wouldn't be possible to write a time travel story and have every single loose end tied up, every question answered. With Willis and JGL's conversation in the diner, Johnson breaks the fourth wall and asks the audience to just shut their brains up a bit and enjoy the story - it's not going to make sense because it can't make sense, so just watch it and enjoy it.
I quite liked the twists the story took in the last third, and it reminded me a lot of the best stories by writers like Philip K. Dick and Ray Bradbury - what feels like an insignificant part of this future world becomes an intrinsic part of the story, changing everything and everyone in the story. The reveal involving Dillahunt's character left the audience audibly gasping at our showing.
The child actor was also pretty darn good, exhibiting both a childish innocence and confusion, and an unnerving awareness. It worked, and I couldn't ask for more as I've often found child actors to be the weak points in stories like this.
While I loved both JGL and Willis, I still felt that JGL looked like, well, JGL with prostheses and make-up, not a young Bruce Willis. Once in a while, in a dimly lit shot, I was able to catch some uncanny similarities between the two (a look at his nose here, a shot of his profile there) but on the whole I just couldn't see past it being JGL.
But what we have here is a superbly crafted sci fi film with great performances from all involved, unusually strong and natural dialogue for the genre (techno babble kept to a minimum, people who felt real and three-dimensional), and a story that delivered both viscerally and emotionally.
Great stuff.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
I was guessing that...
[]
Liked it very much, though. It seemed a little thin on initial viewing, but I'll be curious to watch it again. Certainly the
[]
Oh, and
[]
At the very least,
[]
I feel like Rian Johnson and I aren't simpatico. I liked this better than Brick, but he's a left brained filmmaker that probably writes and rewrites his scripts to make sure every I is crossed and T is dotted. I wrote this in a previous post, but my favorite time travel movies are things like the first two Back to the Futures and Donnie Darko where there is enough going on besides the time traveling (or in the case of the DD original cut: ambiguity if there is even time travel). In fact, that ambiguity is something people like PT Anderson, Malick, and Kelly (sometimes/sortof) have and Johnson could use more of.
This is pretty good, but I feel like Johnson isn't aware that it needs less of[] and more scenes like the one in the diner with Willis and JGL.
I also wanted to mention there are as many lens flares in this as Super 8.
Ratings on a 1-10 scale for your pleasure:
Top Gun: Maverick - 8
Top Gun - 7
McCabe & Mrs. Miller - 8
Crimes of the Future - 8
Videodrome - 9
Valley Girl - 8
Summer of '42 - 7
In the Line of Fire - 8
Passenger 57 - 7
Everything Everywhere All at Once - 6
Was anyone else suspecting that...
[]
I was actually a little disappointed that it didn't turn out that way.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Everyone I saw it with thought that was the case, but I wasn't convinced. Now I know why.Quoting megladon8 (view post)
Why the hell would you do that to yourself though?
Ratings on a 1-10 scale for your pleasure:
Top Gun: Maverick - 8
Top Gun - 7
McCabe & Mrs. Miller - 8
Crimes of the Future - 8
Videodrome - 9
Valley Girl - 8
Summer of '42 - 7
In the Line of Fire - 8
Passenger 57 - 7
Everything Everywhere All at Once - 6
Prove a point?Quoting Pop Trash (view post)
Full to bursting point with well-considered ideas, compelling characterisations, and sophisticatedly staged scenes, Looper nonetheless deflates somewhat in its second half as the film's asymmetric structure prevents it from reaching a truly satisfying catharsis.
★★★★★
MAX
Laying the 314 on your candy ass.
I liked it a lot. I love time travel plots anyways but this one was a little light on it overall. Good way to start out my day.
I loved this movie. I wasn't too fond of the kid, however. Every time he spoke I felt my interest diminish. Still, one of my favorites of the year so far.
Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler) - ***
The World's End (Edgar Wright) - ***