I was indeed pretty active in that thread, looks like.
So it wasn’t just me; I hated it. Did the Harker character walk all the way to Dracula’s castle?
We watched Coherence, it’s one of those movies which jumps from interesting scifi to utterly baffling in a minute or so about ten minutes before the end, I tried looking up the ending and found that the explanation gave me a headache and left it as knowing roughly what was going on. That I’d missed so much from the film when I was watching it.
The summary would be: A passing comet makes weird things happen.
It looked as if he walked all the way from the Inn.
I’ve watched every movie I could get my hands on that’s an adaptation of Dracula (not just movies that have Dracula in them), and you can see features that they share or don’t (nobody has yet filmed a completely faithful adaptation of Stoker’s novel. You probably can’t, in any case, for lots of reasons. even those that are pretty faithful in some part (Coppola’s Franco’s) depart pretty significantly in others. The films sort of group themselves into families. This one falls into the group…
… in which Harker himself becomes a vampire. I don’t know why Herzog chose to do this – maybe he figured the film needed a final punch or a twist. It’s not part of the 1922 film. But it joins films like Horror of Dracula and the most recent BBC/Netflix adaptation by Stephen Moffat
This past weekend, we watched The Irishman and the US version of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
I preferred the latter, much as I expected going in.
I’ve considered the trilogy of movies in Swedish(I think?).
Are they any good?
I couldn’t say, as I too am only at the “considering” phase. I was disappointed to see that the US versions will not continue.
I know, was it really not a hit at all? I thought it was pretty good.
I saw and liked the original Swedish films, although I haven’t read the novels. (I also liked the original Swedish film version of Let the Right One In, although, again, haven’t read the novel.)
‘Seconds’ 1966 John Frankenheimer film. Seconds (1966) - IMDb
Though a 60s film it was shot in black & white, but it was perfect for this film.
Basically it’s about a late-middle aged NY banker who, bored with his life, is approached by “the company” about an offer to be more or less reborn via extensive plastic and other surgeries and given a new identity and situation. The catch is “the company” must substitute a cadaver for a staged death of said client. For this they use their “stock” of failed rebirths hoping for another shot. Dark and disturbing to watch.
I watched two sailing ship movies in a row. I may watch a third tonight.
Cutthroat Island has a terrible reputation, and that seems mostly due to an overblown budget and an overbearing Director. In watching it, that doesn’t matter to me, so taking it on its own merits, it’s limp, lacklustre, and miscast. The piratical clichés are laid on thick. The story is very much of a muchness with other 90s fare like Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves and The Three Musketeers but with forced charm. None of the actors come out unscathed; even Frank Langella, who was putting the most effort in, clearly wasn’t enjoying himself. It has its moments, and it’s not unwatchable, but that’s the best I can say about it.
Meanwhile, on another level entirely, is Master and Commander, The Far Side Of The World which is a compelling adventure filled with charismatic charm, tangible dangers, and a cleverly staged story, almost exclusively at sea and from the one ship’s point of view. Many praises have been heaped upon it, and they are well deserved. And I completely agree in that it’s one of the best Star Trek movies that never was. It’s a shame they didn’t make a trilogy. I understand a prequel is in the cards, but that will have a different cast, writer, and director, so is an unknown quantity.
I watched Beverley Hills Cop last night. It only makes sense once you know that Sylvester Stallone was supposed to be the star, and Eddie Murphy took over at pretty much the last minute. They rewrote a lot of the script to take this into account but not enough.
Possessor - streams on Hulu
Gist: In parts strange, intriguing, intense, but in other parts rather dull.
Possessor is quite a movie and I think roughly 70% of it is excellent(and shocking) and well worth your time. Unfortunately, there is a middle chunk of this movie that drags along a bit too long and kind of diminishes the overall movie somewhat.
The premise is that a woman works as an assassin who enters minds and while in there, kills certain targets. At the same time, she has a family who she increasingly feels distant from. The rest? Well, you are just going to have to see it to experience it.
I have no comparison for what the majority of Possessor is like. It’s an incredibly strange movie and there are images in it that will be hard to forget for a long time.
Pros:
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Very strange in a great way
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Extremely well made
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One of the most bizarre movies I’ve seen recently
Cons:
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Dull in the middle
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Plot actually kind of hard to follow in parts
I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes strange/weird movies. I would compare it to movies like Paprika, Donnie Darko, or Brazil. Not so much in terms of plot, but in terms of strangeness. Again, just a very weird and bizarre movie. Worth a watch.
I have seen both the Swedish original and the American remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and far prefer the latter: better cast, script and production values IMHO.
Agreed on all counts! This earlier thread may interest you: Master and Commander
Fourteen Days in May
★★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Gist: Essential viewing for everyone. Amazing documentary on capital punishment in the United States
Did Edward Earl Johnson commit the crime he was executed for? It is certainly not beyond a reasonable doubt. Should he have been executed even if he was guilty? I can’t think of a single reason he should have been.
Fourteen Days in May is an amazing documentary about the last two weeks of Edward Earl Johnson’s attempts to get a stay of execution in May of 1987. It is painfully clear that his guilt is debatable and that his confession was quite likely forced. In the documentary, the film makers interview Johnson, the guards and warden at the prison, and various other prisoners and family members close to Johnson. You can tell that the film makers took their time to form relationships with everyone and no one is portrayed in a negative light. Perhaps most memorably is how well the warden of the prison comes off. Is he sure that they are doing the right thing? Clearly not. After this execution, he went on to become an outspoken opponent of capital punishment. How could anyone be this close to it and not? How could anyone watch this movie and remain in favor of it?
Pros:
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Completely gripping from the first minute until the last
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You will never feel closer to people involved in capital punishment than this movie-making
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Johnson, the prison guards, the warden, and everyone involved are portrayed in a positive light
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An all-time great documentary on the American justice system
Cons:
- None. This is a frame-for-frame perfect documentary.
See this movie as soon as possible and let it make an impact on you the way it did me. Just an amazing movie all around.
This movie was on DVD and does not stream anywhere I am familiar with.
I’ve been on an actual airplane (twice!) and watched the following:
Bill and Ted Face the Music: It was okay - it’s mostly a combination of fanservice and tying up a few of the loose ends from the previous film, which resulted in a fairly limp plot. I came away feeling that there was more of a subplot with their wives that got edited out; it was set up and never really went anywhere. Reeves and Winter have fun playing different versions of themselves but mostly just seem to be going through the motions for the sake of the fanbase. Nice to see William Sadler back as Death, but again - fanservice.
Standouts were the two daughters, played to perfection by Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine, echoing all the best traits of Bill-and-Tedness (which we weren’t really seeing in Bill and Ted) while doing their own thing. Would love to see them in other roles in future.
Judas and the Black Messiah: Highly recommended for the performances by Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield and Dominique Fishback, and also for the historical (or as historical as these things get) insight into just how fucking racist and corrupt Daley’s police and Hoover’s FBI were. Serious gut punch at the end using real footage. I recommend watching this in conjunction with The Trial of the Chicago Seven for more context.
The Croods: A New Age: All I can say is that I prefer to watch mindless stuff on overnight flights as I’m too sleepy to concentrate. This was pretty mindless, even for a cartoon. Points for an underlying feminist subplot and it’s mildly entertaining enough, but I wouldn’t seek this one out.
I watched two movies on my recent long flight:
Zoolander: I had heard of it, but I never sought it out. I am not a fan of meet the parents which also stars Ben Stiller, but I did like dodgeball and mystery men, so I was not sure what to expect. I really enjoyed it and was laughing out loud at many parts. I only knew that Ben Stiller was in it, so I was pleasantly surprised with the appearance of Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell and Jerry Stiller. It was absurd with a little bit of a real message mixed in.
21 Jumpstreet. Juvenile, while at the same time meta, referring both to itself and the tv series. It is basically a buddy-cop comedy though unlike a lot of them in the genre, they actually become friends close to the beginning of movie instead of at the end. Although I enjoyed it, I am not sure I would sit through again.
//i\\
The Mortuary Collection
★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
Gist: Adequate, but not one of the best horror anthologies available.
Has there ever been a horror anthology better then Creepshow? It certainly seems that Creepshow is the standard that all other horror anthologies try to live up to and I can safely tell you that Mortuary Collection does not come too close to equally Creepshow in terms of consistent, scary, quality short stories. It isn’t bad, but it just isn’t that great. From the past few years, I would recommend Trick 'r Treat over this by a lot.
Pros:
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Some quality short scary stories, especially in the second half of the movie-making
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A good background story featuring Clancy Brown in a reliably good performance
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Final two horror shorts are great
Cons:
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The first two horror shorts are sub-par and really quite bad
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Even at its best, it has no segments that are particularly amazing
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Forgettable
I’d recommend this movie to anyone looking for a decent Halloween anthology movie, but only if they have already seen Creepshow, Creepshow 2, and Trick 'r Treat. It’s OK, but nothing all that special.
Finally got around to watching Brimstone.
It was great, lovely to look at and kept my attention the whole 2 and half hours. I’m not a movie expert, but it seemed pretty damn well done. A couple plot holes, but eh, whatever.
But Jesus! This is a grim, dark movie. I can see how it would be out of a lot of wheelhouses. It seemed kinda like a film Tarantino would make if he ever matured beyond the age of 14.
I would recommend it, but Viewer Beware! Know what you are getting into. And set aside a chunk of time. I suppose it could shed a few minutes, but really nothing felt like ‘filler’.
One more: I tried to watch WW84, really I did. But it was just stupid, even by superhero movie standards. I like Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman but whereas Marvel is successfully building a reasonably coherent interlinked universe, DC can’t seem to even manage a coherent standalone film. This was just a string of cliches and Macguffins overlaid with the thinnest veneer of a plot in order to justify a bunch of rather silly fight scenes, Kristen Wiig being awkward (and then not awkward) and a lot of weak “let’s make fun of the 1980s” sight gags.
I gave up halfway through. It’s possible it got better but I wouldn’t bet on it.