What Films Are You Watching? - September šŸŽž šŸ“½ šŸŽž

Right? Mad ensemble

Booooo

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A Fantastic Woman was mostly a really good film, however, I think there was one scene that I think was unnecessarily cruel. Transphobia is (obviously) a very real thing for most trans people but I feel like we had already got the weight of how much a dick one of the characters was without this scene.

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Anyone seen Athena? Seems like itā€™s having a super limited release before going on Netflix at the end of the week.

Which is a shame. Itā€™s incredible stuff. It starts with a riot at a police station, following the death of a young boy. This opening long-take is one of the most impressive things Iā€™ve ever seen. Molotov cocktails, indoor fireworks, gunshots, cars driving into buildings, dozens (if not hundreds) of extras, wheelies on motorbikes - itā€™s a sheer adrenaline-rush of chaos, and the film does a good job of sustaining this for a good while. Itā€™s like if Gaspar Noe had directed The Raid, as odd as that is to type. The director did Stress (Justice) and Gosh (Jamie XX), and Iā€™ve been waiting a while for him to do a film thatā€™s this demented, and it delivers!

That said, the politics are confused/not good, and the final 20 minutes is a lot less interesting than what comes before. Even at just 96 minutes, you canā€™t really sustain that level of maximalism, and it would have been better if it was a tight 80-85 imo. Still, if youā€™re interested in unconventional action stuff, I fully recommend! I really want to post clips of it, but I donā€™t want to spoil it. Iā€™ve been thinking about its high points a lot, despite its flaws.

Off to Jackie Brown later for a 25th anniversary screening - interesting to see how it holds up given ive always considered it my fav Tarantino

FYI itā€™s part of an Everyman series called Throwback, where Ā£15 gets you a ticket, a drink, and a pizza/hotdog. So well worth it if you have one near toy and something good is playing under that series

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thought Underwater from 2020 was surprisingly really good actually. Throws you in from the start with very little backstory and everything just explodes right away, which I loved. The action is well shot, some very cool half-lit shots and settings (though a bit too murky sometimes), enjoyed how physical and clunky everything inside the bases was, K Stew is excellent, and thereā€™s some great monster designs - part Stranger Things, part A Quiet Place, and then the huge Lovecraftian giant at the end! Solid ending too, actually was on the edge of my seat and did a little fist pump when we got the combo of her badass final line/the explosion/the slow-mo last shot

yes itā€™s just an Alien rip-off in the ocean ā€¦ but itā€™s a good punchy example of that type. Recommend for anyone after a tight, fast, no-nonsense underwater thriller

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Cold War is absolutely beautifully photographed but the central story didnā€™t do a huge amount for me. Probably suffered from me constantly. Thinking about how much I absolutely loved Ada and it being a notch or two below. Find films that jump over quite a long timespan in such a short runtime often struggle to fully hook me

Great final scene though. Wouldā€™ve been absolutely jaw droppingly good if Iā€™d cared going into it

Short Term 12 was fine. I wasnā€™t in the mood to watch anything too complex or energetic and this. It has a good heart and cast but failed to really pull me in

Was it fun playing spot the actor?

yes, they were definitely all actors

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Speak No Evil is a right laugh

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Saw Moonage Daydream at the IMAX. Itā€™s an utter assault on the senses.

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Pain And Gain (Netflix) 4/5
:muscle: Insanely crass, excessive, maximalist and I loved nearly every second. Would fit perfectly sandwiched in a triple bill with Crank 2 High Voltage and Logan Lucky as the bread. The million dollar question is always how knowingly/unknowingly it all isā€¦ and the fact that it isnā€™t 100% clear is a vital part of this ludicrous ride. Youā€™ve got dutch angles every minute, pov cameras up the wahzoo, half a dozen unreliable narrators and Dwayne being utterly fantastic.

Carlitoā€™s Way (Netflix) 1.5/5
:moneybag: Not aged well at all. The music cues are laughable and feel like theyā€™re from a different film, the noir-esque voiceover acting as exposition is dreadful, the main characters irredeemable, the side characters wafer thin, showing the finale in the intro removes all the tension from said finale and Pacino sounds like Foghorn Leghorn on coke. Scarface is far from great, but does this routine so much better.

Top Secret (Rakuten) 4/5
:mag_right: A sure fire way to not make me not touch my phone during a film is to stuff it with so many hilariously stupid jokes, clever wordplay, sight gags, prop work and brilliant set pieces that I canā€™t take my eyes of the screen for a millisecond. Not sure exactly why this doesnā€™t have the same cultural notoriety as The Naked Gun or Airplane as it easily belongs in the same conversation and is actually an fun amalgamation of the two.

Mad God (File) 3/5
:japanese_ogre: Didnā€™t get much from it apart from marvelling at the meticulous monstrosities on show and delving deeper and deeper into deranged depravity.

Playground (File) 3.5/5
:couple: A delicate and resonating portrayal of children and the inquisitive and idiosyncratic ways they act and react. Some fantastic performances from the young cast with Maya Vanderbeque the clear standout. The POV is kept with the kids and whilst noticeable it really helps integrate us to their plights and predicaments with the adults always dropping down to ā€˜ourā€™ level. It also made me consider how the educational system is so rigid and regimented leaving no space for flexibility, freedom and camaraderie to be built among children to get through it all together.

ā€”ā€”ā€”ā€”ā€”ā€”

Yes according to me Top Secret and Pain & Gain are more than twice as good at Carlitoā€™s Way. sicko.jpg

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Clerks 3

This was an intended hate-watch really. I was a massive fan of the original and really liked the more divisive second one. But Smith has become a complete annoyance these days and the synopsis for this film indicates that itā€™s yet another film that leans on nostalgia and looking back and giving the audience what they remember from previous films.
Which it is. The plot is bafflingly pointless even by the standards of a franchise that never really ā€˜didā€™ plot - Randall wants to make a film about working in the quickstop. Ok? Just a non-entity of a storyline that means that Smith can repeat iconic dialogue from the previous films instead of doing something new.
Having said that Iā€™d be lying if a couple of moments didnā€™t make me just a little bit teary, which is testament to Jeff Anderson and (Dante) Oā€™Halloran.
Elias comes back and heā€™s the worst part of the film, screeching nonsense about Christianity (yet another baffling choice that, just totally random)
(Bonus Technical Criticism): the camerawork/editing is really weird and amateur in places, Eliasā€™ first scene in particular.
Also just remembered that thereā€™s an audition scene that was interminably bad, unbelievable

Saw Moonage Daydream at IMAX and had to catch my breath at times and got plenty teary. Itā€™s fantastic. Canā€™t understand some of the sniffier reviews. Most people seem to be loving it. Only complaint; itā€™s not long enough.

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Recently watched:

Everything Everywhere All At Once - A odd sci-fi action and a long one at 2Ā½ hours long. Michelle Yeoh is the lead and gains the skills of different versions of herself from different dimensions.

Itā€™s a odd comical mix with big nods to The Matrix and Cloud Atlas. The gadgety kid from The Goonies whoā€™s also Short Round has grown up and is Yeohā€™s husband here. Their daughter is the actress whoā€™s the girlfriend of Mrs Maiselā€™s ex-husband.

It was barely above average but due to its long length I wouldnā€™t necessarily recommend it. 5.5/10.

Bloodthirsty - A singer who has hallucinations that sheā€™s turning into a werewolf goes to a secluded house in the woods owner by a creepy record producer to record her new album.

Slow moving and not bad for it. Although it does suffer somewhat from needless over dramatic stuff e.g. where the director thinks that itā€™s a good idea for Mr Evil to sit in chairs smiling menacingly to himself to make the film seem more profound and scary than it is. Itā€™s an ok film. 5.5/10.

To Be Or Not To Be - Carole Lombard and Jack Benny in a spy comedy thriller set in Warsaw in 1939. The film was made in 1942 and was Lombardā€™s last before her death.

Fun ridiculing of the Nazis and some excellent one liners. Maybe not in the same league as My Man Godfrey but thatā€™s a hell of a high bar. 8/10.

Quite quite tempted to go see Avatar in the cinema in 3Dā€¦

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Today I watched this documentary about Vietnamese people who lived in tunnels underground during the Vietnam war

Itā€™s very good and interesting. Obvious CW for descriptions of violence during the war, but it really shows the humanity of the Vietnamese people so I would really recommend watching.

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Really enjoyed See How They Run, so following the usual pattern Iā€™m going to guess everyone here probably hates it.

Saoirse Ronan is v v good.

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