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list/discuss/rate - your recently watched movies

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 20 2016 at 00:41
Florence Foster Jenkins

Surprisingly funny true account of a rich and widowed New York culturalite who loved singing opera but had a tin ear and almost no vocal talent.   Meryl Streep hits all the comedic, tragic, sympathetic and human notes, Simon Helberg reasonably good as her accompanist and Hugh Grant in a nice comeback as her companion.   Made in a light, almost Woody Allen style, Florence Foster Jenkins fulfills its purpose as a truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story of a hysterically bad performer who had no idea what was going on.
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 23 2016 at 01:23
Woman on the Run

Classic b-grade noir shot in S.F. about an estranged wife searching for her husband who disappears after witnessing a murder.   Fast-talking and well paced, tense, photographed to heighten the mystery and character of San Francisco, this grainy 1950 beauty was just restored by the UCLA Film Archive and was well worth preserving.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 23 2016 at 21:31
Sully

Fairly blah look at the investigation of Captain Sully Sullenberger and his copilot after their dramatic landing of a commuter jet on the Hudson River in NYC and the impact it had on their lives.   Tom Hanks plays his usual 'regular guy' character with all the excitement of a geriatric fisherman and the film takes the expected bad-people-persecute-good-ones direction, never rising above a decent TV movie.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 26 2016 at 20:33
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Though still suffering from a touch of extrapolation fever, the Star Wars storyline is back on track after the disastrous and anemic The Force Awakens as a ragtag band of rebels infiltrate the Imperial Data Archives to lift and transmit the Death Star blueprints.   Made with the love and dedication only real SW habitués are capable of, the film prequels Episode 4 by just a few days, finally answering questions and satisfying cravings somehow lost on the last four entries.   Proper, well paced and with humor from a droid who is actually funny, Rogue One does not insult us and at least tries to reproduce the world George Lucas so painstakingly created.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 27 2016 at 23:01
Snowden

Respectfully told story of young enthusiastic intelligence analyst Ed Snowden and his slow turn from patriotic academic to forward-thinking activist.   Smart script from Oliver Stone & Kieran Fitzgerald and another brilliantly nuanced performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Snowden delivers a worthy if exaggerated version of one of the more important events of our time.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 29 2016 at 03:34
On Dangerous Ground

With a spectacular score from the master Bernard Herrmann and directed by Nicholas Ray, this 1951 noir is rough and uneven but is a grower, as a cynical detective starts to warm to a blind woman while tracking a thug and... frankly the whole thing is absurd and not really worth it unless you're a b&w movie fan.   Still, despite the muddled photography and painfully small budget, it has its moments and may have even influenced Hitchcock.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 05 2017 at 23:41
Experiment in Terror

Noir thriller from Blake Edwards about a serial stalker who intimidates his victims before he strikes.   Shot in shimmering black & white on location in parts of San Francisco rarely seen in film, Edwards' 1962 take on the novel is direct, creepy and dark, wasting no time juxtapositioning S.F.'s upper crust against its seedy underbelly.   Ross Martin (Wild,Wild West) was nominated for best Supporting Actor as the stalker.  

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 15 2017 at 00:12
Dog Eat Dog

Mad, frantic and twisted ultra-violent humor from Paul Schrader based on the Bunker novel has Nick Cage and Willem Dafoe on a crime spree after Dafoe is released from prison.   Good production design keeps the interest for awhile but by the halfway point it devolves into a depraved crime picture with stylistic panache.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2017 at 05:05
The Accountant

If Bruce Wayne had been a number-cruncher with Asperger's instead of an angry rich guy, you'd have Ben Affleck's character in this well-toned revenge flick paletted in soft greys, earth shades, and switching fluidly between present and past.   With a plot that takes the tough-guy-goes-after-unprepared-criminals thing and tries to make it a touch more interesting, The Accountant gets points for smarting-up an old and tired storyline.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Jeffro Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2017 at 06:57
El Dorado

Hadn't seen it in many years and wanted to see if I would still enjoy it. I did. Although director Howard Hawks denied that it's a remake of Rio Bravo (another good one), it's pretty obvious that it is. It's a formulaic western of the period but definitely enjoyable with a good cast.

John Wayne and Robert Mitchum, what's not to like? Also has James Caan, Christopher George, Ed Asner, and the super cute Michelle Carey Heart
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 31 2017 at 00:51
Inferno

In a world where anything can occur for no reason and nothing can stop it for any reason, Ron Howard has turned the Brown novel into an utterly ridiculous parody for this third Robert Langdon chapter about a madman in possession of a deadly virus.   Opportunities for good character development and plot are squandered, often ignored completely, in exchange for disconnected events and contrived motives that add up to no more than a mediocre episode of CSI: Florence.   Irrfan Khan is very good as a powerful executive working for Langdon's enemies and is the one bright spot in an otherwise adolescent ripoff of a movie.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dayvenkirq Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 31 2017 at 02:13
The Wicker Man (the 1973 original)

Set on the territory of a Hebridean island inhabited by pagans, this is a story of Sergeant Howie, a devout Christian, on an official business to locate a missing person. The end of the plot is obviously not very realistic, but hey: it's a movie, for Christ's sake. 

The screenplay, written for the film by Anthony Shaffer, revolves around something of a conflict between Christianity and paganism. It appears that the story is trying to make a point that without Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, society could fall prey to a breakdown of the social order on a deep, spiritual level; we would not be able to grasp the concepts of decency and shame. 

Worshiping The Sun God that rewards them with annual harvests, the locals practice sex in public as well as strange medicinal methods, allow for formal education that seems to be predicated mostly on sex, and do not shy away from masturbation (like a good Christian should, I guess) among other things. Never mind the suspiciously phallic-looking hedges, but that complaint should go to the gardeners that don't even speak Spanish. 

For most of my life I never really liked films where [spoiler alert] the good protagonist dies. However, it appears that Sgt Howie's death at the end of the film does serve a purpose [spoiler alert over]. In the mix we have: 

1a) the ostensible powerlessness of Howie's God or 
1b) his seeming inability to understand the word of the Lord; and 
2) the fact that Howie did not leave any kind of trace after himself (aside from the obvious - his death will go on unreported). He did not leave a child ('cause I guess sex is on his devout Christian's no-no list), not a built house, not a painting, not a poem, not a prog metal studio album, not a freaking memoir - basically, no legacy of any kind, no evidence of his existence, no proof of contribution, or anything just to look at. 

There are certain things about it, however, that threw me off. For instance, the movie fails as a horror one because for 98% of its duration it felt more like mystery than horror, and the director Robin Hardy couldn't find a balance between the two. Also, I couldn't figure out for the life of me what place scenes like Britt Ekland's naked dance have in the movie. I guess musical and horror/mystery/crime don't go well together, as one can have the potential to offset the other. In addition to that, the cutesy music does not complement well the scene with mass copulation on sands in the night. Last but not least, making Howie look like a fool to the last minute, ignorant of what is at the heart of the locals' paganism and what is at the heart of Christianity, did not help anything at all. 

While I do appreciate the depth of detail given to the story, I cannot help but think that certain ideas placed in it do not belong, while some parts of the film needed improvement. 

*** / *****




Edited by Dayvenkirq - January 31 2017 at 02:31
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 03 2017 at 00:51
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Very acceptable sequel to the 2012 original and number eighteen in Lee Child's series of novels has Tom Cruise out to help friends in trouble from an evil military contractor.   Unadorned, straightforward, the Reacher films are quality economic storytelling at a time of contrivance and over-complication in action films.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BunBun Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 10 2017 at 17:09
Vertigo - 5/5, one of my favs., such a fun watch
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 16 2017 at 01:38
Arrival

In a furthering of the Close Encounters mentality regarding contact with non-Earth entities, a group of academics is tasked to communicate with a giant squid-like race of extraterrestrials.   Arrival makes a real effort to anthropologize an alien meeting and sets a slow, easy pace dotted by moments of photographic beauty, interesting design and a neat Tuvan score.   But as a work of entertainment it is like floating through a fogbank in a hot air balloon; almost sublime but not quite, and all too attached to the cinematic clichés of a Contact or an Independence Day to be truly groundbreaking.   Still, it is a refreshing change of pace as sci-fi goes, can be moving at times, and does offer its own unique perspective.  

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 23 2017 at 18:27
The Great Wall

Spectacular myth-adventure about the secret purpose of China's wall and the grand army that defends the country from herds of vicious beasties.   The Great Wall is dynamic, filled with color, history and imagination, and boasts a joint Chinese/U.S. co-production with a cast from both countries including Pedro Pascal [Game of Thrones] and the beautiful Jing Tian as the Commander.   Bursting with luscious costumes, acrophobic shots high above battles, and an ironic parallel with today's wall-building politics, see it in IMAX if possible.   If not, see it anyway.   It's a lot of fun and will cheer you up.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 24 2017 at 00:45
Manchester by the Sea

Interminably dull story of a janitor who raises his nephew after his brother dies suddenly.   Casey Affleck is fine in the lead as an Oswald-like ne'er do well who mopes around the small Massachusetts town while the plot switches indecipherably between present and past, asking us to have sympathy for characters who are not very sympathetic and patience with a movie caught in its own endless, swirling matrix.   Best Picture?   I think not, though the nominees this year are about as exciting as the pace of this film.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tapfret Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 24 2017 at 01:37
Hail, Cesar!

Coen Brothers "Period Piece" about a 1950's Hollywood film producer and I believe 4 different films he was juggling. People seem to think this movie was about George Clooney's character, but Josh Brolin plays the producer and at his current age fits the part to a T. It is a visually fantastic film, but the story floundered more than your average Coen film. It was enjoyable, but not great.

Are we giving these stars? 6.5/10 I guess.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 01 2017 at 01:20
Allied

Solid old-fashioned wartime thriller about a man & woman paired as spies in France who eventually marry and later come under suspicion upon moving to England.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 01 2017 at 23:22
Cameraperson  

In a series of contemplative and continually watchable short pieces of unused film shot for other documentaries, filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has created something both new in form and revealing of how documentary cinema is made.   As Johnson moves through the world; Bosnia, America, Uganda, Cuba, Yemen, Darfur, Liberia, Afghanistan; she gives us bits & pieces, moments, footage, and spontaneous happenings otherwise unseen by an audience, providing a glimpse into a creative process rarely exposed except in finished form.   Recommended to doc fans and students of film.

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