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Which movie did you watch today and how would you rate it?

 
 
 
Pulp Fiction - Film consisting of outrageous content that somehow, by the ending, fits like a glove. This film isn't for everyone and I could have lived without the drug involvement, but otherwise, this film proves, "You can do Blazing Saddles again"... if you are good enough.

Wakanda Forever - A film about loss and coping with loss, particularly as an agnostic/atheist. This film is a lot better than some give it credit for.

The Sting - A really good film about a con. Brilliantly written and well acted. How in the heck it won 7 Oscars, though, seems a bit much. Granted, most of them were minor ones. Thank goodness Lemmon won best actor for Save the Tiger.
 
The Bridge 2006
A documentary about jumpers off the Golden Gate.
Mostly interviews with Family, friends and jumpers.
Interspersed with long distance footage (from the shore) of people walking along the railing, looking over the railing, etc.
But they were at it long enough to film 5 jumpers climb over the railing and jump; 2 rescues; and one person change their mind and climb back to the safe side.
I always assumed people jumped at night. But these were during the day.
If you are depressed, don't watch this.
I won't rate it, skipped through most of the interviews.
 
The Beekeeper: as much as I might typically enjoy Jason Statham kicking ass, I couldn't really get into this. I didn't finish the movie, because I just kind of stopped caring what would happen.
 
The Fly (1986)

I rewatched this one for the umpteenth time to see if it still holds up. It does. This time what I noticed the most is that there isn't an ounce of fat in the movie. Every scene advances the plot and the expository dialogue is minimal yet pointed. Overall, the film does a great job of showing and not telling.

There are a couple of dated scenes, but they detract very little from the movie.

Horror Scale: 9/10
Non-horror Scale: 7/10
 
Colonel Sanders said:
The Fly (1986)

I rewatched this one for the umpteenth time to see if it still holds up. It does. This time what I noticed the most is that there isn't an ounce of fat in the movie. Every scene advances the plot and the expository dialogue is minimal yet pointed. Overall, the film does a great job of showing and not telling.

There are a couple of dated scenes, but they detract very little from the movie.

Horror Scale: 9/10
Non-horror Scale: 7/10
Click to expand...
And includes the great movie line "Be afraid. Be very afraid."
 
Talk to Me

It's about a demonic hand thingy, where, if you say just a couple of magic words, demons appear and potentially possess the sayer of the words. Horror ensues.

There's lots of background missing on the hand thingy (who, where, what, when, why). The movie just kind of skips over that, likely hoping for a sequel to reveal that part.

However, it still manages to be entertaining. The young actors, and the entire cast for that matter is pretty damn good, and the special effects are exceptional. It also establishes a really good, creepy atmosphere, and it's well paced.

Horror film scale: 6.5/10
Non-horror scale: 6.5/10

The identical ratings are a result of it being a solid watch regardless of genre.
 
Titane

This is an odd and uncomfortable watch.

It's easy to spoil, so I won't get into any details, except to say this: don't ever have sex with a car.

Anyway, it's an artsy kind of film that is the complete opposite of irritating movies that spoon feed the viewer and hit them over the head with its themes. It's obscure to the point of aggravation. Also, the pacing is painful. The opening scene wastes no time, the second scene keeps that pace, and the third scene reminded me of a frenetically paced Taratino flick.

The rest is a painful, often perplexing, although sometimes intriguing slog. Cutting a good 20-30 minutes would've helped this film immensely. However, even had the movie been cut down to an acceptable run time, the payoff at the end isn't worth watching everything that came before it.

It's very different and has more artistic merit than most films, so that bumps up my ratings.

Horror Scale: 7/10
Non-Horror Scale: 5/10
 
2010: The Year We Make Contact.

The sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Of course, it can't hold a candle to Kubrick's masterpiece, but it is actually a pretty good movie, and (IIRC) a good adaptation of the book. The film is a product of it's time - with a sub-plot about a conflict between the US and the Soviet Union ramping up as the Russian space ship heads out to Jupiter - but the cast is great, the acting is solid, and somehow Helen Mirren is in there and not the center of attention for the entire film.

And there's some other oddities, like why Dr. Chandra is a white guy rather than an Indian, but overall it is a decent film.
 
Altitude
Not impressive.

An airliner is hijacked because a macguffin's aboard. The dialog, acting, and plot weren't memorable, so what I mostly remember is the fights.

The fights suggest a rationalization like this: "Our hero is played by someone un-athletic, and we haven't budgeted a stand-in, so let's toss an out-of-focus camera around. Then, when our hero is still standing when the camera calms down and regains focus, the audience will understand that she won the fight."

One fight went like this: A villain put her fingers on a guy's head. She didn't stress or strain; she just put her fingers on him. The guy then turned his head a bit, and the Foley cart made a neck-breaking noise.
 
Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band

Documentary following the hardest working man in rock and roll on their first world tour since covid.

The most in-depth look at their legendary live performances.
Click to expand...

9/10 Not a 10 because I wanted more.
 
1. Alien: Romulus. It was okay. I'd heard good things, but don't pay for it even if you like the Alien series. Lots of easter eggs, none of which are clever, but a fairly entertaining watch. 5/10

2. The Final Destination (2009): I really like these movies. The Rube Goldberg Machine deaths are usually unpredictable and way over the top, which keeps it interesting. The film never takes itself seriously and knows it's silly. It's fun horror. 6/10

3. Don't Speak: The truly great thing about this movie is that it's so awful, so fast, that it allowed me to stop watching at the 10 minute mark. I will almost always give any movie a good half hour, but this one was kind enough to let me know right up front that it would be an insulting famine to the senses. 0.5/10
 
Although I didn't watch it today let me "plug" Good Thief about which Roger Ebert wrote ""it is clear, that he [Nick Nolte] was born to play Bob. It is one of those performances that flows unhindered from an actor's deepest instincts." Although I DO recommend the movie, it has flaws and may seem like an odd candidate for a Favorite Movies list. I think the soundtrack is a big part of why I liked the film! Leonard Cohen song(s) and a French version of the Stones' "Black is Black" are among several songs that make the film a pleasure.

With an IMDB rating of 6.5, Good Thief is one of only VERY few movies rated below 7 which I've considered for my personal Favorite 80 Movies List. (I'm obsessed with Lists to the point where I compared my Favorites with IMDB's List.)

There are seven films which do NOT get even a 7 rating at IMDB but which I consider to be excellent. This will expose my taste. It might be a fun exercise for others.

In decreasing order of my preference here are the films low-rated at IMDB which are among my own personal favorites:
  • The Interpreter. I love the actors Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman. This is a great political action thriller but also very sentimental. Its 6.4 IMDB rating is inexcusable.
  • Good Thief. Fun. And sentimental.
  • Third Miracle. A wonderful (and very sentimental) tale about the Catholic Church investigating a woman's claim to sainthood. I hope atheists who, like me, do not believe in miracles can still enjoy the film. I like Ed Harris' acting.
  • The Score. Just a heist movie, but Edward Norton's acting makes it special.
  • The Devil Wears Prada. A great story with two great actresses: Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway. Much sentimentality.
  • National Treasure. Just a silly action-adventure thriller but more fun than most. Sentimental.
  • South Pacific. One of only two Rodgers-Hammerstein films I really like. (The other is Flower Drum Song but its IMDB rating is above 7.) Very sentimental.

Clearly I'm a fan of sentimental movies! 8-) But only if the movie is very good in other ways as well.

Spy Game -- an excellent (and sentimental!) spy thriller -- is another movie which IMDB under-rates, but it does score 7.1 so doesn't qualify for the above list.
 
The Substance

This is one of the must-see horror movies of the year. Briefly, it's a story about the tragedy of a former superstar on the verge of losing her looks and fame. She then finds a way to preserve that, but at a horrifying cost. It's also critical of Hollywood and its merciless search for the next Big Thing while at the same time ruthlessly discarding the people who made them untold amounts of money. This subplot is much less interesting though. Randy Quaid's character is the embodiment of the sleazy Hollywood agent/producer/whatever the hell he's supposed to be. Rather than insightful however, the character and the rest of those he associates with is just lame.

Like many movies that could be excellent, but are not, The Substance has unnecessary flaws that could've been easily eliminated. These flaws are consistent throughout and substantially detract from the effect it could've had.

The acting is top notch. Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley are both great in their respective roles, which helps reduce the negative impact of the film's shortcomings.

Finally, the gore. This might be the goriest movie since the 2013 remake of Evil Dead, and it's just as well done if not better. It's disturbing and used to great effect until the end when its overuse ruins the impact due to the ending going on and on and on.

Horror Scale: 8.5/10
Non-Horror Scale: 7/10
 
Knox Goes Away, 7/10; Streaming on MAX and start Michael Keaton as an aging hitman who has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of dementia which could see him deteriorate and die in a matter of weeks. Given the short time available he decides to get his affairs in order and agrees to take one last hit job with an accomplice. The hit turns to shit and he accidentally kills his accomplice. The cops are on his trail and then his estranged son shows up out of the blue. His son has killed a man he says raped his daughter. Knox has to figure a way to get his affairs in order and get his son off the hook for murder while his addled brain still functions. He draws up a plan and enlists fellow crook Al Pacino to help with the plan. Michael Keaton is a fabulous actor and carries the movie. A decent watch.
 
I watched "Arrival" again, and noticed that I missed something the first time around:

This is a modern version (in some aspects) of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." The main character in both films knows...something that they can't quite put their finger on, and in the last act it is revealed that they're the one human that the aliens can communicate with directly. There's also a neat little "tell" when Louise has her one on one with the aliens. It tells her (in the middle of a pending attack by the world's military) "there is no time." It's not trying to impart a sense of urgency. It is conveying how they perceive time differently.

Great movie, and Amy Adams puts in a helluva performance.

9/10
 
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LaRoy, Texas, 6/10; Streaming on MGM this is a Temu version of a Cohen brothers production. A convoluted plot where coincidences throw the characters together. Set in a small Texas town, Ray's friend who is a private detective shows him pictures of his wife going into a motel with the implication his wife is cheating on him. Ray is reluctant to accept this but ultimately he knows it's true. He buys a gun with the intent on killing himself and while sitting in his car gathering the courage to go through with it a man jumps in his car to give him money and address. The guy thinks Ray is a hitman he hired. And so it goes, the real hitman shows up later and he is trying to figure out what happened to his gig and things go from there. It's an ok movie but lacks the polish of a Cohen brothers movie.
 
The day after the election, we felt compelled to watch our favorite Mel Brooks comedy, "Blazing Saddles". It was made in 1974, as a satire of old Western movies. We've probably watched it at least 20 times and it's still makes us laugh a lot, despite probably knowing at least half of the lines by now.

I read a few years ago, that some people now object to that comedy because it has the N word in it and makes a few other politically incorrect comments. The comedy makes the white, small town, inbred folks look like morons and the Black sheriff saves the day. Some people are so overly sensitive over such minor things, instead of simply seeing the humorous satire in such a great comedy instead of searching for remarks that they don't like. I remember when it was on TCM about a year ago, they had to apologize for some or the politically incorrect language.

Imo, Mel Brooks is one of the most outstanding comedic geniuses in my lifetime and he's still going strong despite being in his 90s.

I know there are a lot of good dramas that I've watched several times, but considering the world we live in, I need some comic relief.
 
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