The Official Movie Thread

[CiG]

New stuff I've watched recently:



The Informer (2019) Checked this out based on the poster saying it's by the producers of John Wick and Sicario (not sure what the actual connection is because it ain't the key writers or director) and it wasn't too bad. Kind of reminded me of a lesser David Ayer project or something, if you like undercover cop/detective/gangster/double cross type movies you'll probably enjoy this but don't expect a masterpiece. Best thing I've seen Joel Kinnaman in.




The Raid 2 (2014) Finally saw this and yeah it ruled big time. I still think I like the first one more because its setup and story are so simplistic and to-the-point that it allows the action to be pushed to the limit, whereas this movie's plot sort of got in the way at times, it was a bit convoluted. That said, the action was fucking insaaaane and I have total admiration for everybody involved. That fight scene with Cecep Rahman towards the end was so bonkers. Must see for all lovers of action and martial arts movies.




Cut Throat City (2020) RZA's new movie that I really didn't expect much from, but I figured I'd throw it on and see what's up. I was pleasantly surprised, it was pretty enjoyable. Basically it takes place before, during and after Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans with a group of friends from the overlooked 9th Ward who decide to start doing heists to make money. Just a solid hood film if that's your kinda thing and it's cool to see one that takes place somewhere other than New York or L.A.




The Survivalist (2016) This one was fucking awesome, total blind buy and it paid off. Filmed in Northern Ireland and it's the director's first feature film. If you enjoyed It Comes at Night you should check this one out, similar vibe (though less horror tones), small budget, minimal dialogue, overall paranoid feeling, post-apocalyptic but basically devoid of explanation of the world. You're just... in it. Dirty and dismal as fuck.

 

[Einherjar86]

View attachment 27356

The Survivalist (2016) This one was fucking awesome, total blind buy and it paid off. Filmed in Northern Ireland and it's the director's first feature film. If you enjoyed It Comes at Night you should check this one out, similar vibe (though less horror tones), small budget, minimal dialogue, overall paranoid feeling, post-apocalyptic but basically devoid of explanation of the world. You're just... in it. Dirty and dismal as fuck.

I've been meaning to check this out.

Watched Hunter Hunter the other day, jesus fucking christ. Purposefully avoided reading about it after the hype, went in pretty blind. Slow burn horror/thriller, ratchets up the tension with really well-paced narrative and solid acting. Some additional thoughts:

Spoiler

Act II turn is great, disturbing and increases the scope of the plot. Act III and conclusion are as fucked up as people are saying, but I felt a bit let down by the final showdown--it was as gross as people are saying, but felt less tasteful than the rest of the movie, almost too gratuitous and exploitative for a film that exhibits so much patience and restraint (although maybe that's why they did it).

I was also a bit let down by a lack of conceptual connectivity. Clearly the wolf imagery is significant, and I'm sure some people liked that it's left mostly unacknowledged; but I would have liked the film to unpack this a bit more. Possibly building on some kind of background mythology or folktales...? The whole "who's the real hunter" schtick is fine, but feels hackneyed to me; it's been done and re-done since 1924's "The Most Dangerous Game."

Anyway, still a good movie.

 

[CiG]

Has anybody here seen Takashi Miike's First Love yet? @Oblivious Maximus?

About to sit down and watch this one:



Yayan Ruhian rules.

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

Has anybody here seen Takashi Miike's First Love yet? @Oblivious Maximus?

About to sit down and watch this one:

View attachment 27367

Yayan Ruhian rules.

Never got to First Love which is funny because I followed all the updates from when it was announced then never watched it. Love Yakuza Apocalypse though.

 

[CiG]

Never got to First Love which is funny because I followed all the updates from when it was announced then never watched it. Love Yakuza Apocalypse though.

I'm pretty keen to check it out. I was waiting for it to come to a streaming platform or hit the local shelves but nothing has materialized. Yakuza Apocalypse was goofy fun and I really liked Blade of the Immortal too, he hasn't lost his touch.

Did you see/like Terra Formars?

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

Did you see/like Terra Formars?

Not that one either. The most current Miike I've seen actually is Yakuza Apocalypse. I do really want to see Laplace's Witch though. I've fellated it to the point of chafing but if you haven't seen it, Over Your Dead Body (2014) is extraordinary.

 

[CiG]

This MMA movie Bruised that Halle Berry is directing and starring in sounds more and more interesting. Just read that she brought Valentina Shevchenko on to be her fight trainer/scene partner and ended up with some broken bones from Shevchenko's strikes. Seems like John Wick 3 was the first chapter in a new kind of acting career for Halle which is cool because we definitely need more physical acting and less of this CGI bullshit.

Edit: Movie news...

Is Prisoners of the Ghostland Nicolas Cage's 'wildest' movie yet? Director Sion Sono weighs in.

Japanese director Sion Sono insists that his first English language film, the Nicolas Cage-starring Prisoners of the Ghostland, is a "very classic" story. "It's a movie about a hero," says Sono of the film, which premieres at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 31. "It's really simple. However, the details are quite fantastic and quite different."

No kidding. Cage plays a bank robber who is freed from jail by Bill Moseley's wealthy warlord The Governor so that he can try and locate the latter's missing adopted granddaughter Bernice, played by Kingsman actress Sofia Boutella. "The character lost her mother when she was a child and she was adopted by the Governor," says Sono. "The Governor got the Hero out of the prison, and he's supposed to go and save the governor's granddaughter. If his mission is completed, he's supposed to be free, and he can walk away." The catch for Cage's character? He is strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct after five days unless he returns with Bernice. Also: "There are samurais, there are ninjas, and ghosts are part of the story as well," says Sono.

The cast boasts a Face/Off reunion thanks to the presence of Nick Cassavetes, who played an associate of Cage's villainous Castor Troy in John Woo's 1997 body-swap action movie. "Nick Cassavetes' character used to be a partner with the hero for things like bank robberies," says Sono. "They are notorious characters in the past. During one of the bank robberies, Nick Cassavetes' character got caught and the hero run away. So, the character has a feeling against the hero."

‘The Little Things’ Review: Washington and Malek Are Haunted Detectives in Strong Serial Killer Throwback.

Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, and an unhinged Jared Leto mine vintage genre fun from a serial killer movie with echoes of "Se7en."

 

[CiG]

Recent movies I checked out:



Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (2020) This is an epic beast of the slice-of-life genre, 2 and a half hours with a story taking place over the course of 2 years in a town situated along the Fuchun River. So much beautiful cinematography and impressively long shots (like one where a guy swims a huge stretch of the river with not cuts). The deep dive into mainland Chinese culture and the generational clashes between people is the true heart of the film for me. Seems like the writer/director Xiaogang Gu has only done this one film which is pretty surprising considering how amazing it is, and as of writing this it's my 2020 FOTY.




Nomadland (2021) My first movie of 2021 (it did festivals in 2020 but wasn't available to the general public until this month) and it was absolutely amazing. Some of the most beautiful cinematic shots I have ever seen, covering a wide variety of the American landscape.

It's basically about a woman who ends up living in her customized van after the industry she worked in went under and the small town that formed up around it falls apart, and she gets by doing seasonal work for Amazon and working odd jobs in the off-seasons across the country.

Several of the support cast are real life "nomads" giving it a very "real" feeling similar to a documentary at times. Frances McDormand is obviously great, but much like American Honey the true quality of the film is the landscapes and random characters that populate the film.

Essentially Nomadland is American Honey for people of the retirement age. Highly recommended, this is a real modern masterpiece in the slice-of-life/road movie genre, in my opinion.




Villain (2020) Worst poster ever, other than how boring it is it's also very misleading. This isn't some kind of bombastic action movie or anything, more of a drama/thriller with organized crime elements. I'm loving that Craig Fairbrass is on a tear lately, he rules and is proving he can be pretty flexible with his roles (Muscle was fucking amazing). I would say check this out if you're a fan of Hyenas, Hummingbird (the Statham movie) and other similar gritty British crime thrillers.




Sound of Metal (2020) I heard Riz Ahmed recently won an award for this one and if that's true he deserved it. Anybody who loves music should check this one out, the subject matter is pretty depressing and something most of us probably dread happening to us. As an aside, all the cool musical references were fun to keep an eye out for, whether it be posters on walls, stickers everywhere or Riz's awesome collection of band shirts (Youth of Today, Rudimentary Peni to name a few). A lot of genuine heart and passion went into this, you can tell.




Possessor (2020) Something that actually lived up to the hype, it was kind of like eXistenZ meets Beyond the Black Rainbow or something, but with a really mind-bending espionage/assassination script. Super fucking creative, quite violent, peak visuals and effects, very engaging plot, it's all here for me. If this is only his second film he's already showing promise and potential for a very interesting career as a filmmaker, though I still need to watch his debut.

I'll be very surprised if this isn't in my top 5 for 2020 by the time I've seen everything I want to see.

 

[no country for old wainds]

i’ve still seen literally nothing from this decade haha

 

[challenge_everything]

I didn't think Possessor had much to say, despite the intriguing premise. Slightly disappointed.

 

[CiG]

I feel like there's something in there but I need to watch it again without the distractions of a first viewing.

 

[no country for old wainds]

it was chaw's film of the year btw

 

[CiG]

First day of a 5 day hard lockdown here, did a shitload of chores around the property and decided to unwind by watching these two back-to-back tonight:





Watched a couple of episodes of that new Netflix series about Richard Ramirez today, pretty good. Got me in the mood for this kind of shit I think...

 

[Einherjar86]

First day of a 5 day hard lockdown here, did a shitload of chores around the property and decided to unwind by watching these two back-to-back tonight:

View attachment 27504

View attachment 27505

Watched a couple of episodes of that new Netflix series about Richard Ramirez today, pretty good. Got me in the mood for this kind of shit I think...

Brick is great. How was The Little Things? Been hearing mixed things.

Recently watched Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Creepy, which I thought was very good despite feeling like some of its development was a bit thin. The overall atmosphere was great, and loved the architectural particularities. I was a bit put off by some of the dialogue, like the cops saying how the one house "feels exactly like a crime scene." This seemed like strange wording for old investigator clichés, e.g. hunches, bad feelings, etc. I realize that part of this may have to do with translation, but they weren't even inside the house, lol. It just seemed a little campy, which clashed with the rest of the film's solemn and auteur-ish manner.

Spoiler

I'm also not sure I buy Nishino's whole method. Vaguely speaking, sure it could work and I think the idea is chilling; but it felt like the film didn't develop his methods enough, so that I was left unconvinced that people would be so easily manipulated when not even kidnapped. I also don't understand why Koichi could overcome the drugs (whatever they were), but his wife couldn't. I feel like if more time was spent on the details of how Nishino did this, I'd have been able to suspend disbelief better (or not had to at all).

 

[CiG]

The Little Things was really good man. If anybody here would like this one (besides me) it's definitely you.

God damn this was relentless. Recommended especially for those who liked The VVitch.

Watched The Dark and the Wicked. Real nice slow-burn horror, bleak and creepy as hell. Fell apart for me in the third act though; the resolution didn't pack enough of a punch, and it felt like an underdeveloped explanation.

Spoiler

Watched this today. Nowhere near as good as The VVitch in my opinion, or even that similar. As far as supernatural horror goes I'd say it's slightly above average outside of a few fucked up scenes, but anything refreshing or interesting was outnumbered by predictability and reliance on tropes. Not only were there too many lame jumpscares but you could also see them coming from a mile away.

I also have no clue how you could call this "slow-burn horror" because you've literally already seen the devil within the first 15 minutes of the movie, and then when the protagonists arrive they've already seen supernatural creepy shit on the first day at the farmhouse. In fact the horror is so immediate and consistent the whole way through that it becomes pretty quickly frustrating how retarded the characters are acting, doing all the dumb things like seeing things and brushing it off as their imagination, ignoring doors that open on their own and lights that turn themselves on at night.

The whole time I was saying to myself this is unironically the 'white people never flee a bad situation in horror movies' meme.

I don't want to deter anyone, but for people who like interesting horror movies but aren't necessarily genre die-hards there isn't much here for you, and for genre die-hards you've basically seen all of this before.

Also watched Saint Maud. Pretty good, especially for a debut. I doubt it will blow any minds though.

 

[challenge_everything]

@CiG

Spoiler

That explanation seems a bit reductive though, I mean, the whole point of the horror being immediate and consistent and the characters not running away from it, is tied into the theme of "what you'd be prepared to put up with not to abandon your loved ones". The brother eventually runs off home only to suffer the consequences. This leaves us expecting redemption for the sister if she refuses to yield; I liked the fact that it didn't play to convention in that regard although I'm not sure the ending it left us with had much to say other than being bleak for the sake of being bleak (I presume this is the criticism Einherjar was making).

I actually found the scares quite effective but that's highly subjective I guess.

 

[CiG]

@CiG

Spoiler

That explanation seems a bit reductive though, I mean, the whole point of the horror being immediate and consistent and the characters not running away from it, is tied into the theme of "what you'd be prepared to put up with not to abandon your loved ones". The brother eventually runs off home only to suffer the consequences. This leaves us expecting redemption for the sister if she refuses to yield; I liked the fact that it didn't play to convention in that regard although I'm not sure the ending it left us with had much to say other than being bleak for the sake of being bleak (I presume this is the criticism Einherjar was making).

I actually found the scares quite effective but that's highly subjective I guess.

Spoiler

I understand that the point of the film was for them to stick it out, but the way it was done was pretty sloppy. It's not really until the final act that a doctor tells them they cannot move their father to a hospital because he won't survive the trip. They had the whole film prior to get the fuck out of there with their father and they didn't because reasons.

I guess for white people, they'd just... stay in a house being haunted by the devil lmfao. I dunno maybe I am being a bit reductive, but the film wasn't so good that I think it deserves much charity regarding the plot.

 

[CiG]

@challenge_everything didn't realize you were on RYM, I was randomly looking at Avengement and saw your review:



By the way what you said about the violence is objectively wrong, especially regarding it having "no choreography" which is a bizarre claim considering the players involved. Yes, the "style" is supposed to be prison brawling which is chaotic, but there's a shitload of choreography and flair involved. For example:



The entire bar fight just shows how wrong you are:

 

[challenge_everything]

Spoiler

I understand that the point of the film was for them to stick it out, but the way it was done was pretty sloppy. It's not really until the final act that a doctor tells them they cannot move their father to a hospital because he won't survive the trip. They had the whole film prior to get the fuck out of there with their father and they didn't because reasons.

I guess for white people, they'd just... stay in a house being haunted by the devil lmfao. I dunno maybe I am being a bit reductive, but the film wasn't so good that I think it deserves much charity regarding the plot.

I agree with all this; it irked me at the time and the fact that it could have been easily remedied with some tighter scriptwriting is even more frustrating. It lost a star in my rating because of it - no more than that because I'm prepared to accept it was a plot device albeit a clumsy one.

 

[challenge_everything]

@challenge_everything didn't realize you were on RYM, I was randomly looking at Avengement and saw your review:

View attachment 27525

By the way what you said about the violence is objectively wrong, especially regarding it having "no choreography" which is a bizarre claim considering the players involved. Yes, the "style" is supposed to be prison brawling which is chaotic, but there's a shitload of choreography and flair involved. For example:

View attachment 27526

The entire bar fight just shows how wrong you are:

Nah I stand by that review 100%, that movie was fucking junk although admittedly I have fairly low tolerance for that genre as a whole. The constant tough guy banter with no wit just made the whole thing unbearable.

I honestly don't see anything interesting in that choreography compared to what's been done recently out of SE Asia, or say Brawl in Cell Block 99 (which actually had a plot too).