Has Anyone Seen Any Good Movies in the past year?

Do tell. Comments are always open here.

Bingeing the Pandemic

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This is a good news/bad news situation. There isn’t a lot of great stuff lately, but some of it is worth a look.

The Queen’s Gambit

This is my top pick for watching right now. Loved it. Loved the adult sensibility, the lack of idiots and idiocy, and the entire production was top notch. (more)

The Mandolorian

I’m stuck in the first season at the moment, so I haven’t seen enough for a full review. The opening was clearly a Spaghetti Western set in Star Wars, and so I was instantly sold. Mando is very much like Clint Eastwood’s man with no name. The Baby Yoda twist works on its own, but I haven’t seen where that thread is headed yet. I’m sure to the Disney Store.

Black Mirror

Now caught up: this is the hard scifi show to watch. If you have Netflix streaming, definitely do not miss. Charlie Brooker is a genius.

The Expanse

For its vibe, its dark perspective the show has legs. It’s not my favorite, and I’m not enamored of the characters, but sometimes you need to head out beyond the belt.

AHS 1984

Jason & Freddy may be in a different copyright zone, but American Horror Story has returned to the big 80s to aerobicize the terror out of you. With the expected callbacks to previous characters, you may see Richard Ramirez get his own Satanic-powered subplot. The problem with this season (and others) is that there’s no one to root for. They pretty much all turn out shitty by the end. They’re big on redemption stories of the worst killers, and that doesn’t work for me.

The End of the Fucking World

This is kind of a show of, by, and for young psychotic serial killers. For that alone, it’s worth checking out. The deviant kid in the lead role is creepy.

Humans

One of the best realizations of The Singularity yet. (review)

Parasite

A Korean language film won the Oscar for Best Picture? Yes it did. And it’s all about class conflict. (review)

Knives Out

This is like an old time thriller they don’t make anymore. (review)

1917

Amazing achievement and also takes you away to another time and another war that has little bearing on our current reality. There’s a kind of escape. (review)

Other films I’d recommend are Destroyer (Nicole Kidman), Woman at War, Capernaum, Ford v. Ferrari, Little Women, Harriet, Queen & Slim.

There’s also Possessor, which I would have reviewed if it was a better film. It’s Brandon Cronenberg, his second film–the first one was better.

If you’re all binged-out and burned through those, there is always the greatest reality TV show of all time: Taskmaster UK, and the other good British panel shows including Mock the Week, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, QI, and Hypothetical. All are up on the web in various locations.

Or read a book.

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Movie Roundup – Spring ’19

J. Giambrone

I’ve compressed all the reviews into these compendiums, except for a few exceptional titles:

• Destroyer

• The Wife

• The Seagull

• Bad Times at the El Royale

• Gore Vidal: United States of Amnesia

• Fahrenheit 11/9

• All film related links

Burning

This Korean crime drama takes too long to get moving, with a sad sack of a protagonist–a writer, of course. It does bring a memorable ending though.

Mary Queen of Scots

Like many, I’m absolutely entranced by Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie as well. I meant to review this in full, but nobody reads reviews anymore. I wasn’t sure how closely they stuck to the real history, as the writer even admitted to fabricating a key scene. Is history improved through embellishment?

Ask Me Anything

This oddball story twists everything at the end. That’s the best thing I can say about it.

Humans S3

I thought I had reviewed this, as I…

View original post 401 more words

#MOVIES | Recent Rental Roundup March’19 + Freebies

First the Freebies

I sift through the muck, so you don’t have to. Here are some underrated gems online for free right now:

Europa Report

I’ve talked about this before, and it remains a haunting, realistic science fiction thriller.

Triangle

I don’t think I have talked about Triangle. This is a great, twisted, deceptive story. It burrows deep into your mind and won’t let go.

The Last Seduction

I have mentioned this one on a list of sexy thrillers. Linda F. is a powerhouse and kind of evil.

Monster

Charlize Theron shows the depths she’s willing to go to be the world’s top actress. Serial killer Aileen Wuormos was almost unredeemable, but Theron plays her with unflinching humanity–the buzzword actors do love.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Such a lush, immersive world, apparently based in Chinese myths, this is an unforgettable kung fu extravaganza, not least because of the two female co-leads.

Starship Troopers

Paul Verhoeven slides somewhere between satire and action-thriller. It’s an ugly planet, a bug planet. Potentially mocking his own source material, this film was ahead of its time, with our real-world slide to fascism in full gear.

Numerous other films at those sites.

 

Onto the recent stuff

We Are the Night

This lesbian vampire thriller from Germany is a mixed bag. Without trying to second guess anyone, I’d call it a b-movie at best that could have used a rewrite.

Papillon

This remake of the Steve McQueen film is based on a true story, and they tried to be accurate to the source material. The first film was more memorable, however, and is a classic. They diverge in styles and in some of the subplots. I prefer the original.

November

Oddball Eastern European legends mish-moshed into some kind of religious/steampunk insanity. It dragged a bit slowly, but it’s not like anything else you’re likely to come across this year. A true WTF film.

Risk

A documentarian selectively edits the story of the world’s greatest living truth-teller. Laura Poitras does a disservice to all concerned with this sly hit piece on Julian Assange. She was invited in to tell the story of Wikileaks, but she instead let her personal biases affect the outcome. A real disappointment, years are compressed into seconds, and she disparages Assange with innuendo, rather than doing the hard work of fact finding in the case of the Swedish accusations against him. From the start she says that Julian didn’t trust her, but this was revealing that she didn’t trust Julian, and she made a film to spread her distrust to others.

Small Town Crime

Good small-scale crime film. I liked this one, but couldn’t think of enough to say about it to post a solo review. It’s a low-budget, gritty detective story with a very flawed main character.

Hot Summer Nights

This was interesting, but the filmmakers didn’t seem to know where it was going. Case in point, they shot an unused ending that was completely different. Chalk it up to a young, inexperienced bunch. Some good scenes about wasted youth pushing the limits in the summertime. Not terrible, but never makes it to poignant.

Submission

Poignant. A writer’s film, one of many. Stanley Tucci is a great actor, and he delivers a twist on the professor/student forbidden tryst. Some hard-hitting scenes with real stakes.

Lights Out

Borderline unwatchable. The “high concept” drivel Hollywood hacks can’t get enough of, but I can. Skip.

The Train

A cult classic second world war film with Burt Lancaster bellowing his American accent and not even trying to pretend he’s French. While the rest of the cast is French or German. A nice plot about stopping a Nazi from stealing France’s greatest paintings as they are run out of the country.

Bombshell: The Heddy Lamar Story

Surprising, and most of the film has suspense and build up. The ending kind of fizzles. This exceptional woman was an inventor of military radio technology, which the government was too stupid to appreciate at the time it was needed most! And a beautiful actress with all sorts of issues.

Leave No Trace

This was highly recommended in the indie scene, and it’s shot well. I did like the completeness of the story, the multi-generational aspect, the coming of age and the unique perspective on society that it dramatizes.

Plus other films with full reviews.

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19 Subjects Banned from Chinese Cinema

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#7 Criticizing government

Hollywood, D.C

Trauma at the Border (#Film)

 

link

Hollywood Pitches its own Relevance

 

Most of them don’t say anything at all, but maybe a couple of lines will grab you.

In yet another award ceremony, sucking off each other and inserting statues up each other’s asses…

 

 

Essential Teen Films List

 

“ESSENTIAL”

Risky Business
Heathers
Say Anything
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Donnie Darko
Election
A Clockwork Orange
The Outsiders
American Grafitti
A Boy and His Dog
Clueless
10 Things I Hate About You
Mean Girls
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
The Stoned Age
Carrie
Weird Science
Back to the Future
Pump Up the Volume
Kids
Suburbia

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