Movies

Spending this October catching up on various spooky movies I'd been meaning to see over the years. In order of enjoyment:
  • An American Werewolf in London (****½) - fizzy character comedy meets incredible practical effects work. transformation as agony and terror, but also a sort of purification.
  • Lifeforce (***½) - Lovecraft meets exploitation meets 80s Spielberg meets Hammer Horror. gloriously deranged.
  • Someone's Watching Me! (***½) - something about John Carpenter's 70s-80s work is so incredibly cozy. Fun seeing him Do a Hitchcock here.
  • The Fly (***½) - my first Cronenberg! Very fun. Jeff Goldblum's eccentricities come across as borderline insectoid even before the transporter pods make an entrance. so, so gross.
  • Misery (***) - Kathy Bates rules so hard in this. we should all be grateful she was able to spin it into such an eclectic career. ain't no zealot like a Stephen King zealot.
  • Unfriended (***) - Slight, but full of clever ideas well executed. An extra half-star just for capturing so completely a certain period of time in online communication.
Tonight I'm finally watching Halloween, a crazy blind spot since I've seen most everything else Carpenter directed between Assault on Precinct 13 and In the Mouth of Madness.
 
Recent watches-

Inside Out 2- 4/5. Really enjoyed this. I thought it was funnier and more tonally even than the first film even if I'm in the minority on that.

Abigail- 2/5. The gore is nicely done but the acting was uneven and lots of stupid dialogue. Felt a bit like one of those films that used to pop in the 90's that was clearly influenced by QT and had plenty of style but also a script that felt very "just out of film school".

It's What's Inside- 4/5. This film is gorgeous, fun and smartly written. This Year's "They Cloned Tyrone" in that its a hyper stylized sci-fi film from a debut director that's unique and memorable... but also stuck on Netflix.

Minority Report (rewatch)- strong 4/5. Outside of some dated special effect, this film definitely holds up as one of Spielberg's more underrated films.

Saturday Night- 3/5. Gorgeous production design and cinematography. The cast was great. And yet, the Birdman style approach to a ticking clock didn't quite work for me and left the film feeling a bit hollow.

The 4:30 Movie- 2.5/5. A mediocre, uneven film is Kevin Smith's best film in years which is just depressing. I love Seth Rogan but him introducing Kevin to weed completely derailed the dude's career. Feels like a 2nd draft shot straight to film. I don't understand how a guy who used to write some of the best dialogue in the business is suddenly incapable of writing scenes that don't feel stilted.

Clerks II (re-watch)- strong 3.5/5. Had to rinse the 4:30 Movie with a quality Smith film. Remains wickedly funny and the dramatic moments work far better than in Smith's recent work (I'm looking at you Clerks 3).

Tigers Are Not Afraid- 3.5/5. Has some of the tonal issues that True Detective Night County had, but this is a rock solid little film with a fun visual style, great child performances and a unique twist on a tired formula.

Rosemary's Baby- strong 4/5. Holds up thematically. Some moments feel problematic but that also feels intentional (even for its time). Was lukewarm on the ending though and found it super frustrating that we didn't get to see the baby.

Missing- 4.5/5. Damn this film hit me hard. Jack Lemon and Sissy were both phenomenal. Highly recommend giving this a watch. Like with Rosemary, it's themes are still super relevant and I'd definitely call it one of the most underrated films of the 80's after seeing it.

Prometheus- 4/5. First time seeing this and not sure why the film is so polarizing. I thought it was thematically rich, tense and gorgeous. Perhaps I was too stoned to overanalyze the character motivations that seem to annoy some people. I'm also team Alien over Aliens so it's speed suited me.

Upgrade- 3/5. Fun (and the way it's budget was stretched is impressive) but brought down by campy acting.

Tideland- 1.5/5. Holy shit this was a miserable watch. And not it a good way. The worst film I've watched in a good, long while.

Signs- 2.5/5. I had no idea I was signing for a Christian parable when I started this one. Blech.

Nocturnal Animals- 4/5 (rewatch). Remains a rock solid noir full of great performances and excellent editing although I don't think I enjoyed it quite as much as when it dropped in 2016.

Strange Darling- 3.5/5. It's best to go into this one completely blind. Serial killer film.

All About My Mother- strong 4/5. Delightful, colorful, thoughtful... and a touch melodramatic. So typical Almedovar?
 
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kvetcha said:
Spending this October catching up on various spooky movies I'd been meaning to see over the years. In order of enjoyment:
  • An American Werewolf in London (****½) - fizzy character comedy meets incredible practical effects work. transformation as agony and terror, but also a sort of purification.
  • Lifeforce (***½) - Lovecraft meets exploitation meets 80s Spielberg meets Hammer Horror. gloriously deranged.
  • Someone's Watching Me! (***½) - something about John Carpenter's 70s-80s work is so incredibly cozy. Fun seeing him Do a Hitchcock here.
  • The Fly (***½) - my first Cronenberg! Very fun. Jeff Goldblum's eccentricities come across as borderline insectoid even before the transporter pods make an entrance. so, so gross.
  • Misery (***) - Kathy Bates rules so hard in this. we should all be grateful she was able to spin it into such an eclectic career. ain't no zealot like a Stephen King zealot.
  • Unfriended (***) - Slight, but full of clever ideas well executed. An extra half-star just for capturing so completely a certain period of time in online communication.
Tonight I'm finally watching Halloween, a crazy blind spot since I've seen most everything else Carpenter directed between Assault on Precinct 13 and In the Mouth of Madness.
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Your on LB yeah? The Fly and American Werewolf are both among my favorite horror films. Glad you enjoyed them.
 
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ngower said:
The writing is just so bad. In 7 there's a scene where Shaw breaks into Hobbs' office and at some point goes, "Like I said, I'm here for the team that crippled my brother," He never said that before. So no, not like you said bro.
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I am sure the writing isn’t great but I had a friend who loved muscle cars and was obsessed with the first movie. I never gave it much time but I did sit down to watch it once with him the most disappointing thing for me was the over reliance on CGI. Gone in 60 Seconds is just as dumb but at least it had real cars doing real stunts which made the entire enterprise much more entertaining to me.
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
The action is too much green screen cgi junk. Had they actually done stunt work it would have helped a bunch.

I get CGI if it’s dinosaurs or spaceships or superheroes but for cars driving fast and exploding they could actually do that.
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I've not seen past the 3rd one, but I assumed once you get into the 9th or 10th installment, you kinda just expect mediocrity.
 
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