What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Sergeant Wilson]

9 hours ago, MSU said:

027 Lover, Stalker, Killer -- I dunno if it's because I've watched so many of these Netflix documentaries, but because of the way they set out the players at the start of this, it becomes fairly obvious fairly quickly what the real story is. That notwithstanding, Sam Hobkinson's film is still interesting enough and maybe even something that would've been astounding to watch 10 years ago as it follows the tale of a man who got more than he bargained for when he opened up a Plenty of Fish account. 5/10

028 The Color Purple -- After enjoying Wonka so much, it almost fooled me into thinking I liked musicals. Thankfully, The Color Purple comes along to remind me that I really don't. It's such a shame because so much of this is first-rate: the acting, the cinematography, and the lighting is *gorgeous*, but every time it threatened to make an emotional connection with me, a big ole song in its size 12s would come along, trample over that good work, and make an already long film feel even longer. 6/10

... and then I went to see the five Oscar-nominated documentary shorts ...

029 Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó -- "Documentary" seems too grand a term for this nevertheless delightful short about the elderly grandmothers of the filmmaker, Sean Wang, who live and grow even older together. There isn't an awful lot to this, except the quirky, sharp, amusing old women who laugh and dance and fart and seem to gain energy whenever Sean comes to visit, but who measure the summers they have left as under five. Very pleasant but overall maybe just a bit too twee and offers too little that lingers. Even the farts. 6/10

030 The Barber of Little Rock -- I loved this short documentary about Arlo Washington, a man who set up a barber college in Little Rock, AK but has given so much to his under-privileged and ignored community. Arlo articulates brilliantly the generational poverty that afflicts those born on the wrong side of I-630, and the ridiculous additional hoops they have to jump through for financial services and loans. Washington is an inspirational character, doing something great for the community he loves, but the film also provides an interesting history lesson for those in need to learn. 8/10

031 Island in Between -- I'm a sucker for geographical quirks such as Kinmen Island shown in this documentary short, which despite belonging to Taiwain, lies a couple of miles from the Chinese mainland. What was most interesting, along with relics from the civil war, was the propaganda that swayed those on Kinmen away from the evil Commies across the water that seemed to be immediately dispelled once a ferry between the two was opened. S Leo Chiang's film doesn't get much deeper than that and fails to convey the tensions that still exist. 5/10

032 The ABCs of Book Banning -- If you weren't aware of the books that find themselves either restricted, challenged, or outright banned, from school libraries in the US, it's unlikely you'd expect to see The Hobbit on the list. And yet here we are. This short documentary interviews kids on their views of the books on the list that mostly appear to promote conversation around race, sexuality, and religion and whose talking points are squashed. You've got to be fucking kidding me, is the general view of the youngsters and it's hard to argue against it. Bookending this are the thoughts of a 100-year-old woman who gives an incredible speech to a Floridian school board, reminding them that the freedoms that people fought and died for include the freedom to express thoughts that some may find challenging. You get the impression that some of the soundbites are a bit manufactured, but the message remains incredibly strong. 8/10

033 The Last Repair Shop -- My pick of the bunch of the 2024 Short Documentary Oscar nominees focuses on the last repair shop in Los Angeles that fixes musical instruments for tens of thousands of school students. There's a pretty clear metaphor that the instruments aren't the only things that get broken or fixed, but the film handles this pretty smoothly. The craftspeople in the shop bring their own stories to the table along with those of the students and it's a hugely uplifting experience and a worthy reminder of the importance of music in children's lives and how playing an instrument can take you anywhere. Beautiful stuff. 9/10

Have you seen Holiday On the Buses?

[MSU]

8 hours ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

Have you seen Holiday On the Buses?

No, but I watched Carry on Abroad last night.

[Sergeant Wilson]

1 minute ago, MSU said:

No, but I watched Carry on Abroad last night.

Ells Bells!

[Sherrif John Bunnell]

Moonfall - I'm normally a fan of these nonsense disaster films, including previous films from the same director, but I thought this was just complete garbage from start to finish The director seemed to have ideas for about a dozen different movies and decided to cram them all into one. The acting is also laughably bad, but they didn't have much of a script to work with.

[CraigFowler]

Don't have a lot of time this evening so I'm going to do quick reviews of these.

12 - Howl's Moving Castle

This is the third Hayao Miyazaki film I've seen and the one I've probably liked the least. It lacks the cutesy charm of My Neighbour Totoro and, even though it was set at a time of war, I didn't feel the same sense of peril with the main character and those close to her as I did with Spirited Away. I guess it was just a bit too fantastical for my tastes. That being said, I still enjoyed it. The Witch of the Waste going from being a domineering presence to a bug-eyed grandmother was the highlight for me, I laughed just about every time she was on screen after that.

13 - The Apartment

A romantic comedy that was well ahead of its time with a concept that's more original and interesting than 99 per cent of romantic comedies which have been released since. Jack Lemmon is such a likeable and relatable lead, Shirley MacLaine is an enchanting presence and plays the messed-up, love-sick interest of the lead with just the right balance, and Fred MacMurray superbly goes against type as the manipulative Sheldrake. All three of them are perfect in the roles and that's what makes it. The script is funny and while you have a fair idea of where the film is headed, it throws in a few curveballs along the way to keep you on your toes. My only main gripe is that it's about 15 minutes too long. 

14 - Zone of Interest

The best movie released in 2024 so far for me. There is nothing much which happens over the course of 100 minutes and yet I was transfixed on the screen throughout. That's because the attention to detail is astounding. Talking about it with my partner afterwards, there were little moments we each picked up on which, once shared, enhanced our experience of seeing it. It's very much a film which is show, don't tell. I've hastened to use the word "enjoy" so far because it's not an easy watch by any means. Even as the film continued and I began to realise how restrained it was in any sort of dramatic elements, I still had a sense of dread coursing through me, which isn't all that surprising given the subject matter. It's a hugely important and brave movie to make, as well. It's just commonly accepted that Nazi's were monsters, which is what we tell ourselves as a society to bring comfort and banish the idea that something like that could happen again (of course, it already has happened again in some form elsewhere, just not in countries that the UK cares about, but I digress). When in fact they were not monsters, they were people, and people can do things so heinous that we don't have the words to properly describe them.

15 - American Fiction

There was a lot I liked about this. Movies and books only really showing black people living in poverty or being involved in drugs or crime isn't something that had crossed my mind before, so it posed some tough questions amid the well-balanced satire. It was also a lot funnier than I expected the movie to be and, despite just watching it by myself, I laughed out loud on several occasions. Furthermore, it was an interesting character study with regards to Monk and how he struggles to relate to the world around him. However, it's also a film about family and that's where I thought it was a little weak. As a drama it didn't get to me emotionally. I think the best way to describe why was the use of the mother's dementia. It's really just used as a reason to drive the plot. The scenes with Sterling K Brown are all great and I think it would've been better if they'd trimmed that part down and just made it about their dynamic and nobody else. But the biggest problem for me came in the third act. Had it all been tied together nicely then I think I would've liked it a lot more. As it was, I was left feeling a bit like the film was unresolved and narrative decision late on which really didn't work for me.

[Lex]

Sure it’s been mentioned on here before but seen Aftersun for the first time at the weekend and still thinking about it now. Superb movie full of nostalgia, a great soundtrack and angst. Young Scottish actress Francesca Corrio is outstanding in the lead role. 

 

[Scorge]

Fans of creative swearing should enjoy Wicked Little Letters - Colman/Buckley, in fact most of the leads are very good in this. Would warn that if you've seen the trailer it's a bit of a misdirect -  it's a darker film that it lets on, but still has quite a few chuckles nonetheless.

Edited February 23 by Scorge

[jimmy boo]

22 Bullets

Started watching this Jean Reno film on unofficial app on firestick with leggy subtitles. Apart from the obvious nothing much has happened in first 30 minutes so packed it in. Is it worth trying another time?

[MSU]

The five Oscar-nominated animated shorts next, and they must be pretty short because the cinema threw in two Highly-Commended for good measure.

034 Our Uniform -- We started off the 2024 Animated Shorts Oscar nominations with this interesting Iranian piece that basically gives a young girl’s opinion of the hijab. The seven-minute film lacks a conventional story but the animation style using fabrics was really inventive. I’d have preferred a slightly longer short with a more traditional narrative. A decent start. 5/10

035 Letter to a Pig -- A short about the holocaust and generational trauma left me confused about the overall message and the violent twist it took about halfway through. The animation was sparse in places, but effective, and mixed well with some live-action / rotoscoping thrown in. I guess I just don’t get why the little girl wanted to kill the pig. Story of my life. 3/10

036 Pachyderm -- Animated like a children’s book for a fairy tale just gives this short more oomph as it details a little girl who spends her summer vacation with her grandparents, and the horror that very subtly lies within. I thought the style was very impressive and appreciated that the narrative didn’t need to check with the audience to make sure we all got it. My pick out of the nominations to pick up the Oscar. 7/10

037 Ninety-Five Senses -- An old man tells the story of his life through the five senses and rips the rug from under us when he reveals his rap sheet extends to more than just stealing a magazine from a hair salon. The conceit is fine, but it asks for suspension of disbelief to be extended a bit further than was acceptable. However, I liked how each sense had its own animation style and team of artists. 6/10

038 War is Over! -- Horribly manipulative and twee, this short uses a video game engine to tell us that chess is like war, and ask if we’re sure we can’t just get along? A pigeon flying over the trenches is the real star, the Lennon and Ono influences are less of a coup (coo!). Will probably win. 2/10

039 Wild Summon -- How typical that my favorite Oscar nomination short wasn’t even nominated. This Highly Commended offering from the UK follows the life cycle of a wild salmon but pictures her and all the other salmon in a pseudo-human form with swimming flippers and goggles. The hurdles that have to be swam through seem all the more stark when happening to something that doesn’t look like a fish. Gorgeous scenery and a brave approach to animation, I thought this was already excellent before Marianne Faithful’s narration. 9/10

040 I'm Hip -- Paula Abdul wants her animated feline music video back. 1/10

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

Asteroid City.

Not a fucking clue what was going on.

[MSU]

Finally, Oscar nominated Live Action shorts.

041 The After -- This short has an awful lot going for it, most of it in the shape of David Oyelowo who plays a father whose life is turned upside down by a terrorist incident. But after a strong opening, it doesn’t really go anywhere and the things that do happen feel inconsequential. It bears more than a passing nod to 2020’s winner, The Long Goodbye, but benefits from not having Riz Ahmed do some slam poetry at the end. 4/10

042 Red, White, and Blue -- And the Oscar for most ill-judged twist goes to… I liked quite a bit of this as it seemed to be a tale of the lengths that a woman has to go to to get an abortion in the US these days. Brittany Snow gives a strong performance but the focus drifts and someone involved should’ve really had some notes about the ending. 5/10

043 Knight of Fortune -- Changing a light bulb in a mortuary has never been so funny. This Danish short was as odd and quirky as you’d expect but while it has a fairly dark premise, it chooses to go in a humorous direction and is all the better for it as it examines grief and the struggles men have in dealing with such matters. My pick of the bunch from 2024’s selection. 8/10

044 Invincible -- This true story of a Quebec kid detained in a youth center, or juvenile detention, doesn’t offer many paths into the heart of the tale. As a consequence, it remains unclear why Marc, our young protagonist, plays up when his good behavior allows him family outings at the weekend as a reward. It’s full of angst and anger but with no real background or hint to the cause, it’s pretty hard to care. 4/10

045 The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar -- Hey, Wes Anderson! Wes Anderson just called. He wants his Wes Anderson movie back. It doesn’t matter which one. 3/10

... and then ...

046 Bob Marley: One Love -- When Ziggy Marley comes on before the movie starts to tell you how much he and the family approve of this film about his dad, and then when you see the number of producers who share a last name in the credits, you know you're in for a somewhat sanitized version of events. And so it proved to be, with Marley's dalliances outside his marriage dealt with by a female figure in the distance looking back over her shoulder. The music and Kingsley Ben-Adir are both wonderful, but neither is enough to raise this overly-safe biopic into interesting territories, not helped by a flashback-heavy approach to the storytelling. 4/10

047 Drive-Away Dolls -- I should know better than to look forward to movies released so early in the year. On paper, a lesbian road trip movie starring Geraldine Viswanathan and Beanie Feldstein, and directed by a Coen brother should've been the pick of the year so far. As it is, it's not even the pick of this week in February. The most difficult thing about reviewing this movie is to establish what I hated most about it. Margaret Qualley's irritating Texan accent? The lack of character development? The misguided opening that I guess was meant to be a light-hearted introduction to the characters but honestly made me want to leave after ten minutes? The many psychedelic interludes? The fact that it's set in 1999 for no other reason than to explain why no one has a cell phone? Just nothing worked, and it somehow continued to not work all the way through one of the longest 90-minutes films I've seen in years. It's one of those movies that makes you wonder how anyone watching the rushes thought this in any way was progressing as planned and worth pursuing. It manages to raise itself to 2/10 because I saw The Neon Demon a couple of nights ago and it's better than that, and its sexuality is unabashedly front and center, but honestly, not even a half-hearted attempt at a Coen-esque pair of bumbling baddies or a mandatory Matt Damon cameo are enough to save this car wreck. 2/10

[accies1874]

Oh dear. Maybe Joel Coen was the true brains of the operation  after all. 

[Mark Connolly]

21 hours ago, MSU said:

046 Bob Marley: One Love -- When Ziggy Marley comes on before the movie starts to tell you how much he and the family approve of this film about his dad, and then when you see the number of producers who share a last name in the credits, you know you're in for a somewhat sanitized version of events. And so it proved to be, with Marley's dalliances outside his marriage dealt with by a female figure in the distance looking back over her shoulder. The music and Kingsley Ben-Adir are both wonderful, but neither is enough to raise this overly-safe biopic into interesting territories, not helped by a flashback-heavy approach to the storytelling. 4/10

I thought it was pretty pish tbh.

I came away thinking that Bob Marley came across as a complete arsehole, which surely wasn't the intention, especially since, as you say, the family had such a big input

[BFTD]

I don't know if other people feel this way, but these days I lose interest in a film almost immediately when I realise it's a biopic, no matter who the subject is. They're usually stories that have to be massively manipulated to even slightly resemble a movie plot, take real life people peripherally involved (alive or dead) and libel them to serve the story they want to tell, and often whitewash their subjects to ensure cooperation from them/their estate.

They're almost all shite, often immoral, and it's a genre I'd be happy to see die.

[MSU]

15 hours ago, accies1874 said:

Oh dear. Maybe Joel Coen was the true brains of the operation  after all. 

I can confirm that The Tragedy of Macbeth is definitely better than Drive-Away Dolls.

[MSU]

55 minutes ago, BFTD said:

I don't know if other people feel this way, but these days I lose interest in a film almost immediately when I realise it's a biopic, no matter who the subject is. They're usually stories that have to be massively manipulated to even slightly resemble a movie plot, take real life people peripherally involved (alive or dead) and libel them to serve the story they want to tell, and often whitewash their subjects to ensure cooperation from them/their estate.

They're almost all shite, often immoral, and it's a genre I'd be happy to see die.

I've watched a lot of them in trying to see all the Oscar noms this year and there's nothing that stands out positively in any of them. And I see there's an Amy Winehouse on its way which seems to be portraying her dad as a sympathetic character, something that the Amy documentary notably didn't do.

I really liked The Social Network. I'm struggling to think of another that I enjoyed.

[MazzyStar]

Aguirre, The Wrath of God - Dundee defender Joe Shaughnessy hangs up his football boots and becomes a man of the cloth, and heads to South America along with other colonisers from Spain. 

During their search for the mythical El Dorado (not the wine) the conquistadors run into all sorts of bother. 

 

 

Edited February 28 by MazzyStar

[accies1874]

10 hours ago, BFTD said:

I don't know if other people feel this way, but these days I lose interest in a film almost immediately when I realise it's a biopic, no matter who the subject is. They're usually stories that have to be massively manipulated to even slightly resemble a movie plot, take real life people peripherally involved (alive or dead) and libel them to serve the story they want to tell, and often whitewash their subjects to ensure cooperation from them/their estate.

They're almost all shite, often immoral, and it's a genre I'd be happy to see die.

That's why Blonde's so great. 

[BFTD]

56 minutes ago, accies1874 said:

That's why Blonde's so great. 

The Monroe thing? I know nothing about it, is it different?

[accies1874]

1 hour ago, BFTD said:

The Monroe thing? I know nothing about it, is it different?

It's certainly "different". Not so much a biopic, more of a brutal, nightmarish depiction of fame that has some grounding in the true story. Can't imagine her estate would've been cool with much of it.