Movies Rate and Discuss the Last Movie You Saw v.16

Dune II (2024)
As expected, it looked and sounded epic. However, I found the actual content to be thin on the ground for the most part. Not an awful lot happens, but was definitely worht a visit to the cinema.
7/10
 
The Human Surge (Argentina, 2016) - 4/5
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an experimental meditation on human connection in the digital age. the anti-narrative, composed of meandering vignettes, links three different groups of people from across the globe (Argentina, Mozambique, & Phillipines) & follows their random interstices of life. i found it to be very arresting, but definitely not for everyone. i'll be eagerly waiting for a download of The Human Surge 3 to finally pop up on one of my sites

A Thousand and One (USA, 2023) - 4/5
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a gutwrenching slice of Harlem realism about a mother who kidnaps her son from foster care and raises him in the Harlem neighborhood where she grew up. there are some seriously dynamite performances that are for sure among the best from last year, especially the lead performance by Teyana Taylor. there is a scene at the end—a conversation between Inez (Taylor) & her 17yo son (played by Josiah Cross)—that is one of the most powerful pieces of acting from the last few years. it's an absolute slobberknocker of emotional performance from the both of them. i highly recommend this one & it's a damn shame that it's flown under the radar for 2023

The Passenger (USA, 2023) - 3/5
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Kyle Gallner's Benson is fed the fuck up & is determined to free his coworker Randy from his pathetic existence. decent low budget Blumhouse thriller.

Wonka (UK, 2023) - 2.5
the ketamine made this incomprehensible gobbledygook. was Timothy Chalamet milking a giraffe at one point?
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Hundreds of Beavers (USA, 2022) - 4/5

what happens when you take the visual style & sensibilities of b&w silent era slapstick comedy, fill a wintery landscape w/ costumed critters who look like they took a wrong turn on their way to a furry convention, & pump it full of absurdism a la Guy Maddin via a giant ACME syringe? you get Hundreds of Beavers.

the story of applejack Jean Kayak, who loses everything when his entire apple farm is destroyed by the local no-good stinkin' beaver empire. when he falls in love w/ the fur trader's daughter, he must drag himself up out of rock bottom to prove himself worthy & win her hand in marriage by slaying the very same varmin that brought him ruin—the beaver.

if you happen to see a place near you that is screening this at any point, i highly recommend you go to that screening. it's an hilarious romp that plays gangbusters w/ a crowd. if you're not fortunate enough to have a place like that in your area, i'm hoping it will hit streaming later this year, i assume after hitting another round of midnight screenings on the festival circuit/single screenings at local indie theaters. either way, whether on the big screen or streaming/download, big big recommend
 
Ricky Stanicky 5/10
This a comedy starring John Cena and Zac Efron. The premise is clever. 3 lifelong friends invented a 4th friend that never existed to blame shit on, and use to get out of familial obligations and take man trips etc. This is not a great movie, but John Cena really impressed me. He actually is very funny and is more capable than I thought. The rest of the movie falls a little flat. They went woke in a way that doesn't make sense to the movie....the one friend is a black gay guy, and just doesn't jive with friends that would do the type of things they do. Not realistic at all and was not necessary. There are some laughs here, almost all with Cena's scenes, but too far apart to make this a really funny movie. Worth a watch if nothing else is going on, if only to see Cena's chops.
 
wait… do you mean to tell me a Farrelly brother possesses the same depth of understanding of how the token black friend who is also gay would operate in a friend group ranges somewhere between a frat bro who peaked in high school & a sea cucumber?!

i don't believe it.
 
Hell Camp 6.5/10
This is a Netflix doc about the Wilderness Youth Programs designed to help troubled teens through tough love. I had just watched a limited series doc called the Program about the same thing but in a school type setting. Both were well done, with tales of abuse. Hell Camp focuses on this guy who created the camps and the fallout that ensued. The out of control teen help market is still huge today. But these programs just end up fucking up the kids worse. I think the Series was slightly better than Hell Camp, but both are well done.
 
HenryFlower said:
wait… do you mean to tell me a Farrelly brother possesses the same depth of understanding of how the token black friend who is also gay would operate in a friend group ranges somewhere between a frat bro who peaked in high school & a sea cucumber?!

i don't believe it.
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I actually liked the character but so underdeveloped that it felt they just wedged him in for optics. What they could have done is make this guy the wife's BFF who is not buying what the guys were selling with their "fake bullshit". That could have been opportunity to develop the character and give him more laughs.
 
I just finished Poor Things, it was OK I guess. Some of it was funny. IDK, it wasn't too overwhelmingly good but I did finish the movie. Movies that I don't like at all I never finish so that's good.

6/10.
 
I Am Legion said:
I actually liked the character but so underdeveloped that it felt they just wedged him in for optics. What they could have done is make this guy the wife's BFF who is not buying what the guys were selling with their "fake bullshit". That could have been opportunity to develop the character and give him more laughs.
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i was going to add that i really like Jermaine Flowers in my above post, but i didn’t wanna sully his net positive w/ my Farrelly brothers vitriol lol
 
Ghost 6.5/10

Finally got roped into watching it. Always assumed it was a total romance chick flick based on its reputation. Was pleasantly suprised to be wrong. Had more humor than I expected, and Whoopi was a good actress before she went off the deep end. No burning desire to watch again, but it drew me in and entertained me on a "stay at home date night".
 
Letters from Iwo Jima

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I think the most interesting aspect of the film is how it shows the lack of organization, structure, and communication within the Japanese military and how it led to their downfall on Iwo Jima.

Watanabe doesnt get the respect he needs from his fellow members, while at the same time trying to modernize the mindset of older Japanese values which at this point are becoming a big handicap compared to their American counterparts. The whole thing is a big disaster.

The Americans are there but really the heroes, antagonists, and conflict are all focused on the Japanese side. You get some characters you hate, some you like, and a good amount of impactful moments of development inbetween.

Overall I did think it was better than Flags of our Fathers. And was definitely impressed with Eastwood with directing a film that is 99% in Japanese as well as he did.

7.5 range
 
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Some korean films

Man from nowhere

9 out of 10 shit might go 10/10

Pretty much best revenge action film iv seen, like faar better than john wick or crank or anything else

Bittersweet life

Was ok about 7 out of 10
 
revoltub said:
Letters from Iwo Jima

-

I think the most interesting aspect of the film is how it shows the lack of organization, structure, and communication within the Japanese military and how it led to their downfall on Iwo Jima.

Watanabe doesnt get the respect he needs from his fellow members, while at the same time trying to modernize the mindset of older Japanese values which at this point are becoming a big handicap compared to their American counterparts. The whole thing is a big disaster.

The Americans are there but really the heroes, antagonists, and conflict are all focused on the Japanese side. You get some characters you hate, some you like, and a good amount of impactful moments of development inbetween.

Overall I did think it was better than Flags of our Fathers. And was definitely impressed with Eastwood with directing a film that is 99% in Japanese as well as he did.

7.5 range
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Eastwood’s filmmography as a director is, overall, quite impressive. The fact that his output was so high from when he was in his 70s onward is damn impressive, too.
 
LOVE LIES BLEEDING (2024)

The acting is solid. If you like Kristen Stewart, worth a watch. The other broad also did a good job. All the side parts from Ed Harris on down to a Keith Jardine cameo do well, the casting works.

The vibe is good. It has the feeling & general appearance of a quality movie; the directing & overall production is competent, on the better side of average...

That's just it though. It never reaches any heights. Nothing new or gripping is said in the story or the writing. The directing isn't visionary enough to grab you the way a great film does. The one big swing the movie does take, in the ending, didn't work for me. Nor the person I went to see it with. Nor pretty much the rest of the audience, who seemed to be awkwardly laughing at the movie, rather than with it.

Regardless, 'Criminal Lovers' is kind of a hard genre to truly fuck up, so it is a decent enough watch; but I wouldn't rush out to the theater to see it.

'twas a'ight / 10



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Peteyandjia said:
LOVE LIES BLEEDING (2024)

The acting is solid. If you like Kristen Stewart, worth a watch. The other broad also did a good job. All the side parts from Ed Harris on down to a Keith Jardine cameo do well, the casting works.

The vibe is good. It has the feeling & general appearance of a quality movie; the directing & overall production is competent, on the better side of average...

That's just it though. It never reaches any heights. Nothing new or gripping is said in the story or the writing. The directing isn't visionary enough to grab you the way a great film does. The one big swing the movie does take, in the ending, didn't work for me. Nor the person I went to see it with. Nor pretty much the rest of the audience, who seemed to be awkwardly laughing at the movie, rather than with it.

Regardless, 'Criminal Lovers' is kind of a hard genre to truly fuck up, so it is a decent enough watch; but I wouldn't rush out to the theater to see it.

'twas a'ight / 10



GFvAzDJWMAAVr4P.jpg
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The Dean of Mean is still getting work? Cool, good for him.

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Dune 2021. Not sure how to rate it but I enjoyed it. I'm not a Dune nerd and haven't dabbled with that universe other than the movie. Good out of 10. Interesting and well made, just didn't floor me. I'll probably see the second one in le theater.
 
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