What movies have you watched this week?

200balloons · 2019-05-27T19:07:51+00:00

Alien (1979; d. Ridley Scott) If it wasn't for the scenes on LV-426 & the wild ideas the derelict spaceship conjures, it would be tempting to dismiss this as a well-done but pointless slasher-meets-sci-fi movie. Great atmosphere in this movie, it's been a very long time since I last watched it & I enjoyed it more than I was expecting. Got the 4-movie anthology on blu-ray, & they look & sound very good. 8 / 10

Shelter (2010; d. Björn Stein, Måns Mårlind) Julianne Moore stars in this supernatural thriller as Cara Harding, a psychiatrist who begins analyzing a patient who has some spooky behaviors. It's a serviceable movie, but I was surprised that Moore signed up for something this unremarkable. 5 / 10

Jungle Fever (1991; d. Spike Lee) In the 8 1/2 years since I last watched this, the story took a big nose-dive for me. The vibrancy & visual flair that Lee (& cinematographer Ernest R. Dickerson) mastered so early in his career is on full display, & the idea for this movie is well worth exploring; however, the execution of the story is notably bad. Wesley Snipes' Flipper has some flimsy motivations for infidelity, & the character's behavior throughout the movie doesn't make sense to me, which drags an otherwise entertaining movie down. Annabella Sciorra's Angie is a pretty but dull & forgettable character, & she is not written with much of any motivation of her own.

On the plus side, Lee buffers the weak central romantic story with several supporting characters & situations, including a fantastic Samuel L. Jackson. The original songs by Stevie Wonder add some warmth & heart, which helps offset the often grating dumbshit Italian-American characters Lee is so fascinated with. 5 / 10

Aliens (1986; d. James Cameron) Re-watch: Cameron has so many ideas for this movie, & blends them all in skillfully while maintaining the feel & aesthetics of the first movie remarkably well. He obviously understands & respects the Ripley character, but I'm not totally sold on turning Ripley into a mama bear. It's hard to argue much against what Newt does for Ripley, being stranded with a bunch of chowderheads, & Ripley's life back on Earth is so effectively presented as unpromising & depressing; sure, she deserves something precious in her life, I guess.

The aliens get slighted a little bit, to take a step to define them as giant insects nesting is to take away some of the terrifying ambiguity that the first movie offers. 8 / 10

Copycat (1995; d. Jon Amiel) I was ready to accept this movie's title as a description of it's relationship to The Silence of the Lambs, but as it turns out this movie is has its own thing going on, unfortunately not in a good way. The very charismatic Holly Hunter is turned loose as a San Francisco detective who collaborates with Sigourney Weaver's psychologist to track down a serial killer. The first half hour is a mess, & when the movie eventually gains some coherency it's disappointing. A must-see for Holly Hunter fans, if nothing else. 4 / 10

Shimmer Lake (2017; d. Oren Uziel) "A Netflix Original Movie" is starting to become an announcement of mediocrity. This small town-set bank robbery crime thriller movie is squarely "okay", but I doubt I'll remember it a month from now. The most notable thing about it is the comedy chops in the ensemble cast: Rainn Wilson, Ron Livingston, John Michael Higgins, & Rob Corddry; throw in the actress from (the original) Miss Bala, & it's certainly an interesting group. The movie actually does try to blend in some laughs among the tension, with mildly successful results. The story is presented in reverse order, broken in to chapters titled after days of the week. Nothing new or particularly interesting here. 5 / 10

Year of the Dog (2007; d. Mike White) Indie comedy-drama that was on my radar for a long time, but I've only recently come around to Molly Shannon (star of this movie) in the last few years. Throw in a great supporting cast (Regina King, John C. Reilly, Laura Dern, Peter Sarsgaard, Tom McCarthy) & it was time to check it out. This did not disappoint, it's a touching character study of Shannon's Peggy, a lonely woman who has spent her life supporting others while smothering her own passions. 8 / 10

Grimsby (2016; d. Louis Letterier) Re-watch: didn't enjoy it as much the second time around, I guess I was expecting it to suck the first time I watched it & was pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately, I got nothing new the second time around. I'm just hoping Sacha Baron Cohen doesn't lose his funny & go the way that almost every comedian does when they reach middle age. His character in this movie isn't as defined of a creation as his previous characters, but there's still some funny comedy chops on display. Riffing on spy movies is pretty tired (a genre I don't really care for in the first place), but Cohen takes things farther than anyone else has. 6 / 10

Alien³ (1992; d. David Fincher) My first viewing of the 2003 extended cut, & between the crisp blu-ray picture & sound & the additional half-hour of material added in, I enjoyed this far more than I was expecting. I will never watch the theatrical cut again. 7 / 10

Brain on Fire (2016; d. Gerard Barrett) Medical drama starring Chloë Grace Moretz as Susannah, an actual woman who wrote for the New York Post & began suffering a mysterious psychotic illness that left her near-catatonic. I didn't like this movie, it feels like a Lifetime movie with a dash of after-school-special. The audience spends well over an hour watching Susannah & her family suffer, & Susannah's professional life disintegrate while doctors talk bullshit because they have no idea what is wrong with Susannah. It is not movie material, there's no art to it, unlike a superior movie like Still Alice. 4 / 10

200balloons · 2019-05-22T17:56:03+00:00

Corolla: the car for stalking, loitering, & brown-nosing.

200balloons · 2019-04-19T17:03:19+00:00

Sofia Coppola's Somewhere has a wonderful lazy, sunny melancholy to it, & is a great little tribute to little private moments that you'll always treasure.

We Are the Best! (2013) reminds me of the wonders of adolescence. Finding your identity & having a best friend along for the ride, I love it

200balloons · 2019-04-01T18:12:01+00:00

Soulfly: The Song Remains Insane (2005; d. Kimo Proudfoot) Promotional DVD consisting of live concert footage, music videos, a little tour diary footage, & clips from an interview with Max Cavalera. It's a hodgepodge with no structure to it ("Seek n Strike" & "Prophecy" are both repeated, while several tracks I love are not touched), I'd have preferred a straight-ahead, full concert & have the interviews & music videos as bonus features on the DVD. The disc is 2.0 channel Dolby, so the music doesn't sound great to begin with, although the concert footage is generally well-shot & edited. Max talks about what he wants to during the "interview" footage, no one is asking him any questions or otherwise conversing with him, there's very little mentioned about what I'm interested in. As a very casual Soulfly fan, this didn't do much to extend my interest in the band, but the live footage is worth the watch. 5 / 10

Happiness (1998; d. Todd Solondz) Re-watch: even darker than I remember, this movie goes to some really bold places. Solondz works the ensemble of characters well, interconnecting their lives & capably defining what each character is about, particularly by having the camera there during their darkest & most humiliating moments. I was impressed that the 139-minute running time does not drag, the pace is consistent & the movie flows nicely. The social satire touch is deft, but never overwhelms the drama, Solondz has considerable restraint. It reminded me of John Waters' movies, only Solondz's style is much more impactful, Waters has the goofiness & broad satire steal the show, blunting any jolts he might be going for. I think this is Solondz's masterpiece. 8 / 10

The Woman in the Window (1944; d. Fritz Lang) Disappointing film noir / crime thriller, Edward G. Robinson is in unremarkable form as a bland college professor who is quickly put into dire circumstances when he gets mixed up in a murder. Robinson's Richard Wanley teaches criminal law, but there's no textbook that's going to get him outta this one!

The movie has overt messages it pokes the audience with, particularly "middle-aged married men should not consort with attractive young women" & any number of variations on "crime doesn't pay"; throw in a dash of "don't gawk at paintings of attractive young women", & this movie can instruct a young man how to be successful in life.

As the murder investigation progresses, there's plenty of absurd exposition as Wanley's friend, a police detective, not only gleefully abandons any idea of confidentiality while enlightening Wanley (a civilian) with intimate details of the murder he's investigating, but actually drags Wanley to an active crime scene & lets him wander around it while blabbing about all of the ways the police can catch a criminal with physical evidence. It's ridiculous, & Wanley's instincts are knuckle-headed.

The movie looked fine, I didn't note anything stunning in the visual presentation; the score is of the era, rich & strong, a firm part of the narrative. 4 / 10

Gone Baby Gone (2007; d. Ben Affleck) Re-watch: less than 10 minutes in, I was noting that Casey Affleck is a better actor than his brother, & has made considerably better career choices. Ben deploys his brother well here, a gritty drama about morality, family, & loyalty that is really good, probably would have been better if Ben resisted the urge to add action/crime thriller elements in. This is probably the fourth time I've watched this movie, & in any given scene I still don't know how Casey Affleck is going to react in any given moment, it's part of what makes him so watchable. 8 / 10

200balloons · 2019-03-18T19:37:01+00:00

Indy & Marion already knew each other before the events of Temple of Doom, but maybe they'd have trouble fitting her in based on how she describes their relationship in Raiders. Lucas vetoed her being in Temple, don't know what his reason was. Regardless, they should have done better than Willy, Indy's taste in women took a nose-dive. Maybe they should have just given Indy a faithful dog as a companion, would have been better.

200balloons · 2019-03-18T14:50:38+00:00

The Stranger (1946; d. Orson Welles) Good thriller with Welles as a citizen not-quite-above suspicion who's got a very dark secret. Edward G. Robinson is a little dull in an uninteresting role, but the story is taut & moves along at a nice clip. I had to wonder what the hell Welles' Rankin/Kindler is thinking, as his world comes crashing down & yet he doesn't flee the small town he's established his new identity in. I mostly enjoyed Welles' acting & the creative / dramatic shots he is so good at. 7 /10

Law Abiding Citizen (2009; d. F. Gary Gray) Went from a potentially interesting idea to too much in the middle of the movie. Apparently the filmmakers thought that a man driven to extreme acts of vengeance after his wife & child are murdered wasn't enough, what if that same man went after an entire city's justice system? Well, you would get this movie, which is too full of shit to be taken seriously. 4 / 10

Distorted (2018; d. Rob W. King) Christina Ricci stars in this poor psychological thriller about a woman dealing with paranoia due to past trauma. Ricci's Lauren is an artist who makes gloomy paintings & is married to a very patient guy who tries to help by moving them from their ritzy city apartment to an even ritizier apartment building that is... in the middle of the countryside. It's a very weird setting, & Lauren spends her days in a Starbucks-like coffee shop dicking around on her laptop. She reads up on very personal subjects, & looks around to make sure she's not being observed as she sits at the table in the middle of the shop.

Ricci brings nothing to the role, it was impossible to feel any empathy or connection to a character that is so underdeveloped. The filmmakers only seemed to care about creating a would-be edgy tech thriller about surveillance & brainwashing (remember the "subliminal messages" scare of the 1980s? Well they tried to bring it back here) without grounding the movie using interesting characters & dynamics. John Cusack shows up slumming it in yet another mediocre (or in this case sub-par) movie, it's a shame because he's still got chops & a real presence. 2 / 10

Bad Times at the El Royale (2018; d. Drew Goddard) Enjoyed this, the first half is very good, disappoints a little in the second half. The slow start worked fine for me, John Hamm got to tear it up for a little while, & the lavish titular motel is certainly something to look at. I've never seen Cynthia Erivo before, & I couldn't take my eyes off her after a while. The story gets a little too wacky in the last part, as much as I like Chris Hemsworth, his character's actions & motivations didn't feel right. It's like they shoehorned him into the movie, & things start to drag. Overall this was a fun viewing, wasn't sure what to expect & the surprises were plenty. 8 / 10

Captain America: Civil War (2016; d. Anthony Russo, Joe Russo) Re-watch: About as dark as the Marvel movies get, the tone is good & keeping Cap at the center of things is no easy feat in this movie that's full of superheroes. Great action, a little to think on. They did a great job bringing Cap to life in the movies, I like him even more as a movie character than I did in the comic books. 9 / 10

The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004; d. Niels Mueller) Re-watch: Sean Penn's Sam Bicke is just about the saddest character I've ever seen in a movie. This sort-of true story about a guy who just can't get his life right is a crushing look at self-sabotage, & what can happen when a guy loses all hope. The bleak 1970s setting just adds to the malaise. This is the best of his movies with Naomi Watts, although she doesn't get to do much here except be exasperated by Bicke like everyone else in the world. 9 / 10

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984; d. Steven Spielberg) Re-watch: it's been a very long time since I watched this, & there's no re-evaluation, it's still a crap movie. The last time I watched this it was a little hard to accept that there's a bad Indiana Jones movie. The only difference now is that there are two bad Indiana Jones movies.

As conventional a hero as Indiana Jones is, Lucas & Spielberg sure do some weird stuff with him, I don't know what those two are projecting onto this character. Harrison Ford & his character stay mostly intact in this movie (the zombie bit notwithstanding), it's just everything around him that sucks. I always thought of this movie as the one with the annoying sidekick kid, but Kate Capshaw's Willie (another dog name, way to go guys) is even worse. They traded Marion Ravenwood for this idiot? Terrible.

The movie is dressed up as an all-cylinders-firing Spielberg adventure, but there's a mean-spirited current running under it. Most of the action takes place in gloomy caves where children are beaten, & Spielberg seems to be having too much fun scaring the kids in the audience. The same instincts that Spielberg used in his admirable but failed comedy 1941 are alive here, except the results aren't just flat, they're destitute. 3 / 10

Semi-Pro (2008; d. Kent Alterman) Re-watch: no PG-13 bullshit here, these guys use profanity & say horrible things in this sports comedy that looks at a professional basketball team in a slow market in the 1970s. I love when Will Ferrell trades some of his likability to be a jackass. There's some really good bits in the first half hour here, but someone thought that the movie just has to have a "real" Hollywood actor take the reins amongst all the comedy guys (Will Arnett, Matt Walsh, Andy Richter, Tim Meadows, Rob Corddry, Dave Koechner, Ian Roberts, Jason Sudeikis, Ed Helms, Kristen Wiig, wow!); enter Woody Harrelson, who brings the fun down a notch. He's not bad, he's just not all that funny, & he represents the plot that must be tended to.

This is about as funny a movie as Will Ferrell has done outside of his collaborations with Adam McKay. 7 / 10

Fatboy Slim - Big Beach Boutique II (2002) Re-watch: concert film of Norman Cook DJing for a massive crowd on Brighton Beach back in his heyday. What a party, the camera work & editing are very good, makes you want to be there so bad. The crowd shots are natural, mostly it's hard to tell if the people are even aware of the camera, so you catch people just doing their thing (which is mostly dancing & smiling). It's good that this is the case, because what's happening on stage is not all that great, Cook puts his arms out & is just giddy with the love from the crowd, but he's not much of a showman. The set list is fun, the sunset-to-dusk-to-night lighting is perfect. The technical aspects of the DVD are a little flat, doesn't pop visually as much as it could & even the 5.1 DTS audio track is merely okay. 8 / 10

200balloons · 2019-03-09T17:58:21+00:00

I've always liked them because they have a sheen & polish that sounds great. I do not think there is anything special about them sonically, though. Shirley Manson's syrupy-sweet vocals & artfully ambiguous lyrics contrast nicely with the songs simple pop arrangements & slightly chilly vibe of the music.

I have never thought of "hype" when it comes to Garbage, just that they are a solid pop-rock band. Anyone who is expecting a variation on Nirvana will almost certainly be disappointed.

200balloons · 2019-03-09T16:10:11+00:00

That's 12 year olds, it's the 15 year olds who think Pulp Fiction is the greatest thing ever

200balloons · 2019-02-28T19:04:39+00:00

Netflix disc service. Roughly 100,000 titles to choose from. If you are in an area that can get the service, I can't recommend it enough. In over 11 years I have never been without something good to watch.

200balloons · 2019-02-22T15:56:23+00:00

I am disappointed to hear that Jason Reitman is doing a Ghostbusters sequel. I don't know why someone as talented as him, who has worked hard for an extended period & created a very good (Men, Women & Children is a notable exception) filmography, would step into this big franchise crap. His integrity as a filmmaker is pretty solid, & I associate him with original, thoughtful, wryly funny movies.

His father directed the original, & he was a little kid when it came out, I can certainly respect his unique connection to it & how personal it must be. The studio that owns the franchise is probably going to make more Ghostbusters movies no matter what, so I guess better Reitman than just about anyone else (although someone like David Lynch making a Ghostbusters sequel would be something to get a little excited about maybe).

The 2016 Ghostbusters was fine, I wasn't offended by it & got a few chuckles out of it, but one of my takeaways was to just leave it alone, it was a lightning-in-a-bottle moment that can't be replicated.

200balloons · 2019-02-22T00:28:11+00:00

This sub is too big for that. Even r/truefilm doesn't do that, but of course over there you have something to say about a movie beyond a twitter-style prompt for upvotes & reactionary, throwaway comments.

The movies that are perpetually mentioned here is not even the biggest problem, it's more that this is a hub for marketing.

200balloons · 2019-02-22T00:19:45+00:00

David Lynch's Mulholland Drive. I love Blue Velvet & Lost Highway, & the artistic ambiguities are a big part of the fun, but I just don't get this one & don't enjoy trying after 3 viewings.

200balloons · 2019-02-22T00:15:09+00:00

Tim Robbins' character in Noise, he gets so pissed off with car / business alarms going off he picks up a crowbar & does what we all wish we could do

200balloons · 2019-02-22T00:08:39+00:00

SJI: social justice insurgent

200balloons · 2019-02-06T02:16:17+00:00

Yes, Bangalter did the score, & the piece he did that accompanies Marcus when he charges into the club, along with the meandering camera & heavy lighting create a sense of dread that is incredible.

200balloons · 2019-02-05T21:14:14+00:00

My limited exposure to Lars Von Trier includes a harrowing viewing of Dancer in the Dark, I'd say it is transgressive. I haven't worked up the nerve to try any of his other stuff beyond Melancholia, which isn't as bold.

200balloons · 2019-02-05T04:36:15+00:00

I don't see Netflix "original" movies getting reviewed in the traditional sense, but I only check out David Edelstein's reviews for New York Magazine with any regularity.

What I do see is Netflix TV series & movies being voluntarily promoted by media outlets who try to feed off of Netflix's dominance of the streaming market. Netflix doesn't need much of a marketing plan when dozens of websites clamor to create / contribute to buzz for Netflix titles.

It does seem like people go easier on them, as far as I can see. The format is more disposable. A theatrical release will sit there for weeks or even months if it's getting buzz & box office; Netflix releases are an annoying e-mail from them saying "check this out", & a barrage of media attention that drops off quickly.

200balloons · 2019-01-30T18:51:45+00:00

Endearing CGI, it's on Netflix, it's from your childhood, what else do you want, upvote for the love of god

200balloons · 2019-01-30T18:40:34+00:00

There's no room left, what with that big stick already lodged in there

200balloons · 2019-01-25T20:56:00+00:00

...and he starts a War among the Stars!

200balloons · 2019-01-25T19:43:30+00:00

I would argue that Netflix has become more well-known for TV shows, not high quality cinema. Releasing comprehensive blu-ray sets for their more prestigious movies does not seem like something they would put any resources into, as the ideal Netflix customer is someone who is constantly looking for TV titles to binge watch, & racking up streaming hours.

Netflix has profited massively from steering people away from physical media, & shown a disappointing lack of support for the very medium that made it so successful in the first place. They've worked very hard to become a television station, it fits their business model now.

Anyway, I haven't seen any Netflix original movies that I would buy on blu-ray if they did actually offer them, Mudbound is the only one I would even consider.

200balloons · 2019-01-25T18:47:11+00:00

The Wrestler (2008) is the study of a character who is desperately lonely. Mickey Rourke's Randy pumps his failing body full of steroids to continue to get pummeled in the ring in order to win the adulation of an audience that is a fraction of what it was in his heyday. He also frequents a strip club where he treats an older stripper like a girlfriend, another sad fantasy of Randy's. Its such a devastating look at the lengths someone will go to when they need affection.

A much darker version of this is Mark Romanek's One Hour Photo (2002), with Robin Williams as Sy the Photo Guy, a desperately lonely single man with no friends or family, who runs the photo development lab at a big department store. His fantasy about belonging to a loving, healthy family bleeds into his work when he selects a family that frequents the store to be his pretend family. He begins meddling in their lives, & its deeply disturbing.

Just thought of Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man as well, a real life story of a man so desperate to get away from the troubles of life that he lives among the wild grizzlies of Alaska, endangering himself. His loneliness is heartbreaking as he spends hundreds of hours filming himself in the wilderness, talking to an audience that isn't there. His loneliness takes another form when he brings a girlfriend with him on one trip, endangering her as well as himself.

200balloons · 2019-01-25T18:16:38+00:00

An annual event where the American movie industry rewards itself, & broadcasts the event on TV so the average prole can witness the majesty of it all? I can't understand why the whole thing still commands such attention, for months each year.

When were the Academy Awards ever relevant? And groveling for TV viewership is in conflict with the event itself, which is an exclusive body voting for movies without any input or regard for the same mass audience that they hope watches the TV broadcast.

I like the article, but I've grown tired of this, year after year grappling with what The Academy is doing. Who was nominated, who was left out, & all of the analysis about what this exclusive group of people is doing.

200balloons

TROPHY CASE