The Top 5 List Thread
- Thread starter zabu of nΩd
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no country for old wainds
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1) margaret
2) cosmopolis
3) romancing in thin air
4) inside llewyn davis
5) blackhat
6-10: the act of killing, tabu, the unspeakable act, every paul thomas anderson, every wes anderson
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
Oblivious Maximus
I am the worm
Good to see Cosmopolis on another list. Nice knowing it didn't fly over everyone's head as the wretched reviews would lead one to believe.
no country for old wainds
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no country for old wainds
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it's a pretty intimidating film and not conventionally cinematic in the slightest, so i understand why it got panned in a lot of places. i'm sure i don't fully understand it myself, but i did try to write about it here.
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
Top 5 films I didn't expect to like as much as I did (and even outright expected to hate):
1. Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV
2. Weather Woman (Otenki-Oneesan)
3. Bullets, Blood & a Fistful of Ca$h
4. Cleopatra Jones
5. Boxcar Bertha
When I first discovered Troma like most I loved the first Toxie film and was disappointed by the two followups so I pumped the brakes on buying the fourth film, years later I finally grabbed it and basically was blown away by how much of an insane roller-coaster ride it was and ever since it's been my favourite Troma film. I'll defend that orgy of retardation 'til my death at this point.
Weather Woman was something I grabbed last year (I think) because I'll just buy any Asian shit reissued by Eastern Eye and this one turned out to be a god-tier pink film that made no sense but also 100% sense somehow. Probably helps that the film's titular character completely appealed to the femdom lover in me.
Bullets, Blood & a Fistful of Ca$h was a very recent discovery (last week) which I bought on the strength of a very short trailer after seeing it at a thrift store and made a note to look it up later. I didn't grab it in the moment because the DVD details/aesthetic made it look pretty shitty. Watched the trailer, penis tingled, rushed back the following morning to grab it and watched it that night. This one reminded me why I love old school meat & potatoes action films and was a very satisfying watch, this is one of those movies I'll be coming back to probably for years and years.
Pretty funny that the director went on to only make one other film, some shitty-looking romance film lmao but anyway Tom Doty fucking rules and this photo basically sums up the whole vibe of the movie:
T.N.T. Jackson kinda burned me out recently on blaxploitation films because the martial arts choreography was so bad and there wasn't anything else to balance it out. It just became a bad, painfully low budget film. Well, I put off watching Cleopatra Jones for ages because I thought it would basically be the same so I was really surprised that it ruled. The fight scenes featuring Tamara Dobson are pretty shitty (though better than T.N.T. Jackson IMO) but the rest of the film completely makes up for it, with insanely bad ass car scenes, a cool cast of support characters (many familiar faces if you love the genre) and the music and antagonists are hilarious. The main villain is a lesbian kingpin nicknamed "Mommy" lmao.
I know it might sound retarded to put a Scorsese film in a list like this because at the very least you should expect to like a Scorsese film, but I saw this after I saw Mean Streets which I felt was overall a pretty disappointing film and so I went into Boxcar Bertha expecting it to be even worse because I felt the biggest issue with Mean Streets was that it was all of Scorsese's classic elements in embryo form thrown together with little finesse and so, logically I thought, Boxcar Bertha would be even more clumsy and embryonic. Turned out it was a lot better than Mean Streets and while it had the typical aimless vibe that many independent 70's films have, the moments where it switched on the focus were amazing and the ending itself was fucking apeshit.
1. Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV
2. Weather Woman (Otenki-Oneesan)
3. Bullets, Blood & a Fistful of Ca$h
4. Cleopatra Jones
5. Boxcar Bertha
When I first discovered Troma like most I loved the first Toxie film and was disappointed by the two followups so I pumped the brakes on buying the fourth film, years later I finally grabbed it and basically was blown away by how much of an insane roller-coaster ride it was and ever since it's been my favourite Troma film. I'll defend that orgy of retardation 'til my death at this point.
Weather Woman was something I grabbed last year (I think) because I'll just buy any Asian shit reissued by Eastern Eye and this one turned out to be a god-tier pink film that made no sense but also 100% sense somehow. Probably helps that the film's titular character completely appealed to the femdom lover in me.
Bullets, Blood & a Fistful of Ca$h was a very recent discovery (last week) which I bought on the strength of a very short trailer after seeing it at a thrift store and made a note to look it up later. I didn't grab it in the moment because the DVD details/aesthetic made it look pretty shitty. Watched the trailer, penis tingled, rushed back the following morning to grab it and watched it that night. This one reminded me why I love old school meat & potatoes action films and was a very satisfying watch, this is one of those movies I'll be coming back to probably for years and years.
Pretty funny that the director went on to only make one other film, some shitty-looking romance film lmao but anyway Tom Doty fucking rules and this photo basically sums up the whole vibe of the movie:
T.N.T. Jackson kinda burned me out recently on blaxploitation films because the martial arts choreography was so bad and there wasn't anything else to balance it out. It just became a bad, painfully low budget film. Well, I put off watching Cleopatra Jones for ages because I thought it would basically be the same so I was really surprised that it ruled. The fight scenes featuring Tamara Dobson are pretty shitty (though better than T.N.T. Jackson IMO) but the rest of the film completely makes up for it, with insanely bad ass car scenes, a cool cast of support characters (many familiar faces if you love the genre) and the music and antagonists are hilarious. The main villain is a lesbian kingpin nicknamed "Mommy" lmao.
I know it might sound retarded to put a Scorsese film in a list like this because at the very least you should expect to like a Scorsese film, but I saw this after I saw Mean Streets which I felt was overall a pretty disappointing film and so I went into Boxcar Bertha expecting it to be even worse because I felt the biggest issue with Mean Streets was that it was all of Scorsese's classic elements in embryo form thrown together with little finesse and so, logically I thought, Boxcar Bertha would be even more clumsy and embryonic. Turned out it was a lot better than Mean Streets and while it had the typical aimless vibe that many independent 70's films have, the moments where it switched on the focus were amazing and the ending itself was fucking apeshit.
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Oblivious Maximus
I am the worm
I'll have to read that later. It's a fascinatingly odd film even by Cronenberg standards. I consider it to be part of a loose trilogy with Crash and eXistenZ. I also love the fact that some people saw it solely for Pattinson (who's excellent, by the way) only to have their brains fried.
no country for old wainds
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it's kind of amazing where pattinson's career has gone after harry potter and twilight. two cronenbergs, a herzog, a denis, a gray, a bunch of niche genre movies. he could've just relaxed and enjoyed being a sex symbol but he's ended up doing barely any mainstream roles at all outside of the twilight sequels, which is weird for a guy who's hardly the most expressive out there.
Oblivious Maximus
I am the worm
Exactly why he was perfect for Cosmopolis. Just the right kind of robotic, though the entire cast was purposely acting like that.
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
Yeah Pattinson's career never ceases to surprise me. Do you think this is part of why Cosmopolis was panned by reviewers?
no country for old wainds
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i wouldn't be surprised if cronenberg's starting point for casting that character was "get me someone who's typecast as a vampire"
kristen stewart has turned into a terrific actress too, unlike basically all the kids from harry potter lol
kristen stewart has turned into a terrific actress too, unlike basically all the kids from harry potter lol
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
The Harry Potter trio haven't done much of anything interesting you're right. 
Did you see Personal Shopper?
Did you see Personal Shopper?
no country for old wainds
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yeah, it's among my favourites of the last couple years actually, although i spent a long time wrestling with it. its niche is basically that it's a horror movie where the horror stems from the idea that ghosts don't exist, and more broadly that the meaning we think we're gleaning from the world is actually our own delusion projected onto it. pretty familiar idea, but the way the film explores it is quite unique and chilling IMO, and stewart aces the role - some people find her acting style too overcooked and methody, but i think her fidgety tic-dependent naturalism really serves this one well, and the other collaboration she did with assayas too (CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA). it's cool to see a european movie so blatantly influenced by the east asian slow-cinema stuff i love (apichatpong, tsai etc) too; it borrows the fluid, sleepy way they slip between reality and the supernatural.
i also quite liked stewart in CERTAIN WOMEN, kelly reichardt's (MEEK'S CUTOFF etc) last movie, even though she goes into full tic mode there. she's just one of those actresses it's hard to take your eyes off IMO, there's always a lot going on in her performances in the same way as, i dunno, protagonists in paul thomas anderson movies for example. some people consider that style tryhard these days but there are a lot of contexts where i think it works great. CERTAIN WOMEN is an adaptation of three interrelated carver-esque short stories (one of the others involves laura dern <3). there are a couple of lame Feminist moments in it which really stick out because reichardt's generally so good at being understated, but it's good other than that, just quietly soulful, atmospheric drama that settles into the bones.
i also remember liking her in ADVENTURELAND but i haven't seen that since it came out like a decade ago. she's also in PANIC ROOM apparently, i don't remember her in that at all lol, i guess she was a kid back then.
as for HP, emma watson was easily the best actor of the trio and is a massive star now i guess, but i don't feel like she's actually given many performances of note, it's mostly just fashion magazine-reading teenage girls and creepy ass dudes who love her. the guy who played malfoy has been in a few things and i think he sucks as well haha
i also quite liked stewart in CERTAIN WOMEN, kelly reichardt's (MEEK'S CUTOFF etc) last movie, even though she goes into full tic mode there. she's just one of those actresses it's hard to take your eyes off IMO, there's always a lot going on in her performances in the same way as, i dunno, protagonists in paul thomas anderson movies for example. some people consider that style tryhard these days but there are a lot of contexts where i think it works great. CERTAIN WOMEN is an adaptation of three interrelated carver-esque short stories (one of the others involves laura dern <3). there are a couple of lame Feminist moments in it which really stick out because reichardt's generally so good at being understated, but it's good other than that, just quietly soulful, atmospheric drama that settles into the bones.
i also remember liking her in ADVENTURELAND but i haven't seen that since it came out like a decade ago. she's also in PANIC ROOM apparently, i don't remember her in that at all lol, i guess she was a kid back then.
as for HP, emma watson was easily the best actor of the trio and is a massive star now i guess, but i don't feel like she's actually given many performances of note, it's mostly just fashion magazine-reading teenage girls and creepy ass dudes who love her. the guy who played malfoy has been in a few things and i think he sucks as well haha
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
Yeah he was in the first of the modern Planet of the Apes films and he was utterly hateable in a way I can respect with some hindsight. Very few actors exist anymore that generate genuine hatred for me.
I think the only other thing I've seen was Perks of Being a Wallflower which I kinda liked but at the same time it made me feel like a creep to watch lmfao. It's so utterly teeny that it's hard to openly appreciate. Weirdly enough if you look at her filmog there's nothing after 2017 listed, not even anything listed as upcoming or in post-production.
Personally I have a massive softspot for Radcliffe and always wanted to see him do a great film after Harry Potter but it seemed like nothing ever happened.
He played a young Allen Ginsberg in Kill Your Darlings which might be interesting I guess. Jungle and Imperium looked interesting last time I saw their trailers but haven't checked them out yet, can anybody confirm if they're good or shitty?
no country for old wainds
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no idea. my dad liked that 'horns' thing which seemed so retarded it might actually work?
yeah i remember malfoy's "STINKING APE" line in that movie and thinking it was wooden as fuck lol, he does have an admirably obnoxious aura though
yeah i remember malfoy's "STINKING APE" line in that movie and thinking it was wooden as fuck lol, he does have an admirably obnoxious aura though
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
Yeah you just want to beat the shit out of him, he's like Jack Gleeson-lite.
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
Jason Isaacs rules, one of those dudes in a shit-ton of cool movies (Soldier, Windtalkers, Event Horizon, Dragonheart, Black Hawk Down, Fury, The Death of Stalin) but seems to get very little praise or recognition. He was fantastic in Good with Viggo.
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
Top 5 actors who haven't made films that I like as much as I like them:
1. Noomi Rapace
2. Sandra Bullock
3. Joseph Gordon-Levitt
4. Christina Ricci
5. Chris O'Donnell
If anybody has any recs related to these actors throw 'em my way.
1. Noomi Rapace
2. Sandra Bullock
3. Joseph Gordon-Levitt
4. Christina Ricci
5. Chris O'Donnell
If anybody has any recs related to these actors throw 'em my way.
