John Wick (2014) - 7/10 has a lot going for it. Where it excells the most is in the world building. The characters already have a history. Its a lived in place with a rich baskstory and mythology and the best part is we dont get to know the details. Its implied. That makes for a good watch.

Thats easily the best thing the script offers. After that its a standard Gentleman Theif set up but in an assasin setting. Which im all for mind you. We take the Gentleman Theif and plop us into a world of Gentleman Thieves and top it off with our Hero being a hero in the Greek sense. Wick is without flaw. Never errs. But this is my first gripe. I like a greek hero. But Wick is only one until plot contrivances demand he isnt.

He never misses a shot. Until the plot needs him to. It makes these moments almost feel absurd. He's been completely perfect for 90 min but now he misses the one time we care if he hits or not. Doesnt ruin the picture but it is lazy writing.

As far as the action itself good action, or atleast action done well, demands expert cinematography. Im a cinematography fanatic so i always enjoy the chance to see good action. Wick is a mixed bag. Some of it is outstanding. Well framed well considered shots. Limited edits allowed the audience to understand space. The Gun-Fu specifically is fairly good.

However Wick does something that on paper is super interesting. it melds Gun-Fu with grappling. Gun-Jitsu if you will.This is where it falters. Its interesting and cool but since there's no way principle cast can do these things in 1 wide take itts filled with constant edits at every contact point so we can hide the stunt team.

This keeps the action from every being exceptional. And i think thats my primary take on the film.

Just south of exceptional.

Which still lands it in "quite good." It has tons of interesting ideas, especially in the minutia of the action but the execution juuuuuuust misses...like Wick missing a central character when the plot demands.

The second one is the best in the series

I watched the 2nd one. The action was much improved. Wider and longer shots. Plot was solid but weaker. There's a novelty about a man seeking vengeance for his dog



Still 7/10


But it was better than the 1st

I went in blind when I saw the first one, just hit the theatre on a random Tuesday (cheap night) and looked at what was available. Hadn't seen any trailers or anything for it so had no idea what to expect. Movie blew me away, it was so much fun.

2nd was good, by the time the 3rd and 4th movies came out they were getting a bit high on their own farts, but still cool action scenes

Something in the Air: 7/10


French film. Coming of age story using revolutionaries in their own minds in the 60s to illustrate the naivety of youth. I really enjoy this. Id go more into but im worried the forum will die before i hit post

Destor how did you feel about the inciting incident in John Wick? I remember you saying you wouldn’t watch it if a dog got hurt but that may have been years ago.

No Country for Old Men - 7.5/10

Gave it 8 out of 10 on the other boards but have decided to knock it another half point. Was a masterpiece of suspense and tension until suddenly it wasn't and the climax they were building to never comes. Probably supposed to be something "poignant" about the "senslessness" of violence or whatever.

@Seanny

Most is off camera so its not abrasive. Beyond that the film is fairly upfront about the dog being an emotional facsimile for the wife. Wick isnt shown to particularly care about the dog as such. The film doesnt try to emotionally manipulate the audience into grieving for the dog like Marley and Me for example.

Had it been this long time companion that he was bonded with and Wick went ona murderous rampage of cathartic grief in the name of the nameless dead dog...it would have been a rough watch. But as it is the dog is a prop. So its fairly ineffective as a plot device but it isnt designed to be either. The dog is the wife. Thats the emotional hook. And it makes it go down pretty easy.

Tarantino had a similar take to yours but I'll counter by saying if there's a big climax as you anticipate then there *is* fundamentally country for old men.

The Badlands (1973) 6/10

Interesting watching this now. Scott was clearly heavily inspired by this when he made True Romance even repurposing some of the score.

Very solid film. Its primarily carried by Sheen's raw charisma.

I think what wouldve put it over the top for me is if it captured some of the more horrific acts from the killing spree that inspired this film. From clubbing babies to death to failed rape attempts.

What we get instead is almost a folk hero version of a senseless killing spree. Doesnt make it not compelling. Its how it felt to them not how it was. But i think you couldve juxtaposed those realities for a more interesting film.

John Wick 3 (2019) - 6/10


Action was pretty good but the growing cgi use hold it back. The story heaviest of the 3 films. I liked it.

Longlegs - Terrific cinematography and the acting was great. Creepy but I wouldn't say scary. Narrative issues here and there for me. 7.8/10

The more I think about it the more plotholes I am coming up with...

Hundreds of Beavers - 8/10

Like watching a close to two hour live action Looney Tunes cartoon

Twisters - 8/10

Just got back from it... didn't really want to see it, and my expectations were low.... but ended up really enjoying it. Real decent flick.

La Samouraï (1967) - 9/10


Watch it. Its great

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice - 7.5/10

Was entertaining, and I loved the use of practical effects. I wish the various plotlines/stories would have "converged" more than they did.

The Count of Monte Cristo (2024) 7/10

A French adaptation from the same team that produced the recent Three Musketeers films with Vincent Cassel and Eva Green.

A serviceable, good-looking adaptation. However, I feel the story deserves a series rather than being crammed into a 3-hour film.

They are re-releasing The Mummy (1999) for its 25th anniversary this weekend, so I'll be going to see that this Saturday. I've always enjoyed that film.

The 2002 adaptation of “The Count Of Monte Cristo” is great.

I will check it out.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was fun

Very zany

Zany out of ten

Grosse Pointe Blank 7/10
High Fidelity 7/10

I found myself having a John Cusack weekend.

I liked both films, though I found my attention wandering with both by the beginning of their third acts.

Minnie Driver looked so good back then. She probably doesn’t look bad now but man alive was she something else in the late 90’s.

John Cusack is better now than he ever was back then too. He plays a great villain, never liked him because of his nasal voice but it works for a shit heel.

I won't lie. She was the reason why I chose to watch Grosse Pointe Blank in the first place.

That’s one of the things that really bugs me about you mate. We get so close to being on the same page and then I remember your weak stances on the Tory party and your absurd adoration of insufferable foreign pap music.

You need a good kick up your cock boy.

Also that time you were thirty minutes away from me and didn’t tell me until you were safely hours away from me. That annoyed me.

I’m a centrist too so you are basically a wildly left leaning loon at this juncture in time. Would your parents be receptive to a queer son?

I have Grosse Point Blank in my wishlist on amazon. I'll get around to it... i dont intend to suck any dick while i watch it unlike some posters who have since deleted their post. I see you though.

I didn’t suck any dicks when I saw it. I didn’t suck any boobs either though.

One day I’ll start to live life the way that it should be lived.

I'm here to confound and disappoint in equal measure.

Anything Else (2003) - 9/10

Off the top of my head it might be the best romcom ive ever seen. Though i hesitate to call it a romcom since the rom is fundamentally a set up for a punchline. Ive watched a lot of Allen over the last year or more and i think this is my favorite of his films ive seen. Aleast on par with Annie Hall and Midnight in Paris or Manhattan.

Biggs gives a solid performance. Ricci is sex personified. The dialogue is A+ and the characters keep you on your toes. It doesnt unravel in a hollywold way because the characters are so neurotic that being typical would never occur to them.

Highly recommend it.

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

Never watched a documentary in the theater before. I rate it "I'm not crying, YOU'RE crying.... shut up!" out of 10

The Substance - 9/10


I dont have time to write a thing. The last 10 min walked an elderly couple. 60ish.

Joker: Folie a Deux - 6/10

I wasn't necessarily opposed to the idea of a musical... but as it is the musical segments are largely pointless and don't really "add" to anything... and there were sometimes where they went back to back musical segments and it was like "just get back to the story, this is literally just eating screentime".

Other than the musical bits it was kind of slow... enjoyed most of the trial bits once that actually got going... Ending was "meh" and not what I would have gone with.

Movie shows "glimmers" of hope, like if they took kind of the same premise/story but just changed and shifted focus/structure, removed most of the musical bits, and changed the ending they could have had another really good movie on their hands.

Being John Malkovich 7.5/10

This is one of the most peculiar, bonkers and melancholic films I have seen in a long time. I liked it, but I still need to process what I've just watched. It's going to stick with me for a while.

Theres a moment in that movie that turns girls gay

Problemista - 8/10

I enjoyed it....

Destor - please review Wicked. You've seen it 5 times at this point. I would like to know which song you loved the most and how emaciated you'd like Ariana Grande to be.

I havent seen it. The marketing deliberately hid that it was a 2 part film and i found that to be extremely deceptive. That said its a monster hit so me protesting isnt going to change anything so I'll probably check it out. The play is great. The best song is defying gravity but its not in this i dont think so the answer is Popular.

From what I hear that song is in it.... also, yeah.... that 2 part film thing was confusing.... I remember hearing about it being a 2 part film and about "Wicked Part 1" coming..... but then everything started coming out and nothing mentioned two parts so I thought "Oh, they must have decided against the two parts thing". Then it came out and there was "controversy" about it being actually two parts still.

But I digress.... I haven't seen the play and I haven't seen the movie....

I do admit I will probably check out the movie when it hits streaming

Ah so theyll end on defying gravity then. That makes sense.


Then easily Defying Gravity. Its completely iconic.

And ftr make it 2 parts or not i dont care just tell people up front. Convincing people to go to the theater and then gating the end of movie behind a secondary paywall is just shitty. It takes no effort to slap pt1 on a poster.

25th Hour (2003) - 8/10


A little uneven but really good. A man has one final day before going to prison for 7 years. Climax was excellent and theres some strong monologs. Ed Norton, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Rosario Dawson and Brian Cox all have solid performances. Needed just a little something extra to really put it over the top. Strong though.

The Mosquito Coast (1986). 7/10

Watched it because I realized I never saw that River Phoenix movie, but Harrison Ford stole the show. He was a manic genius, moved his family to the rainforest, made a big contraption that made ice, burned down a missionary church, burned down his own building killing rebels when he was trying to freeze them to death, and gets shot and dies on a raft.

Dogville (2004) -9/10

Lars Von Trier is a film maker that is impossible to recommend. His films will put virtually everyone off entirely but if you ca stomach is permanently hostile disposition you will find some of the best cinematic essays ever released.

I fundamentally disagree with Dogvilles subtext and conclusion. I wont delve into what either of those are theyre better interpreted by the individual. Despite my objections to his subject matter there's a respect that must be given to the form. The technique. Its to that end the piece is very exceptional. His intent was realized fully in a way that is doubtlessly envied amongst peers.

I avoided this film in particular for a simple reason: i think Nicole Kidman kinda sucks. Like 80% of the time she's just awful. I bit the bullet and im glad for it. Shes good here. Very good even. I still think her best work is Eyes Wide Shut but this is up there for her. Paul Bentley is exceptional here as well.

Lords of Dogville

The sequel Wasington is no good though... you've been warned.

Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) -7/10


Been getting into Wes Anderson more and more lately. This is no Moonrise Kingdom but i really enjoyed the film. Perhaps my favorite Bill Murray performance outside of Lost in Translation.

“Dogville” is one of the worst films ever made. It is comprehensively bad, and it’s rare that you can say that about anybody’s work but Lars Von Trier makes a habit of it.

Even his own brain and body hate him.
The one good thing he did with his wretched life was to convince Kirsten Dunst to get her beautiful tits out, and even then it was in a film so bleak that calling it maudlin does a disservice to crying drunks everywhere.

I’ve seen the entirety of “Trevor: The Musical” so I know a little something about bad films and guilty wanks.

Yeah we fundamentally disagree on the point of film. He's never made a fun film and he never will. He's not a fun person and he doesnt have a fun soul.


But we agree on one thing: her tits were outstanding in Melancholia

I do not expect joy from every film. I also do not expect abject misery from every film. Lars is on two losing fronts there. Inconsistent.
He’s a mealy mouthed cunt if ever I saw one.

Lars Von Trier has been giddy with delight in every interview that I have ever seen him partake in by the way. He is very obviously a fun person with a horrible personality disorder and a series of other ailments.

Being a fag is a diagnosis. He is definitely a fag.

Lars Von Trier is fundamentally against film making. He makes weird garbage stories but he very rarely makes a film.

I’m annoyed by so many people but he really grinds my gears. He is awful, awful dog shits.

He rides loud motorcycles?

He is a lot like one in terms of noise and saying nothing, but a motorcycle takes you somewhere in the end.

If I ever saw Kirsten Dunst’s boobs up close in real life around 10 years ago, I reckon I’d be depressed and very shaky right now too.

You are never getting that high again. Not after that Hitler crack.

Serendipity (2001) - 4/10

The casting is thus films issue. The premise i think works on the page atleast. Destiny and love at first sight distilled into becoming the plot itself. You can easily see how youd end up here when putting pen to paper. Its so obvious its preposterous that it wasnt made sooner.

Kate Beckinsale is exactly the kind of woman men hppe would be cast in a romcom they were drug to and she's as stunning here as you'd hope she'd be.

And no one else in the film seems like they would be allowed to breathe the air she breathes. Male lead is John Kusack. 15 years past his prime and even in his prime would be an odd fit. If Kusack is the 10 that she should be so lucky to have the guy who plays Beckinsales fiancé is a 4. Molly Shannon of SNL fame plays her BFF and looks 15 years too old for her too.

And none of them have any chemistry whatsoever
They all feel like they put together by a marketing agency instead of someone with a vision. And that includes Jeremy Piven who gives his standard, but enjoyable, Piven performance but like the rest of the cast i struggle to believe he's spent 10 min with Kusacks character despite being his alleged best man.

So the fairly solid script lands flat. Nothing lands outside of Beckinsales smile and it cant save this forgettable film.

The Dead Dont Hurt (2023) - 8/10

Without recency bias i might go to a 7 on this one but as the credits play i feel really good about the film. Written Directed and Starring Viggo Mortensen and honestly he shouldve started writting much earlier. The script is excellent. The direction is at least journeyman. Its some real quality work.

Its a western but closer to a period piece. Husband goes off to fight in the civil war but we follow the story from the perspective of his french wife left at the homestead. The scrilt unravels as we go in a very satisfying way. Id recommend it to anyone who likes the genre but it is action light if thats what you expect from the genre.

Favorite Piven role was PCU. Love that movie.

Ricochet - 1.5/4

How John Lithgow and Denzel Washington ended up in this piece of shit is anybody’s guess. Directed b Russell Mulcahy of “Highlander” and “Highlander 2” infamy, it’s essentially a revenge thriller told from the wrong perspective and with far too much malarkey to be taken seriously. On the plus side it is quite funny and I wasn’t mad that I watched it, it was just very silly and oddly enough would have been more believable if Christophe Lambert was playing Denzel’s role. He is far more likely to suffer at the hands of Dick Solomon in prison.

Dont lump Highlander in with Highlander 2. Highlander is a scifi classic

It’s classic pap. Enjoyable rubbish, a few missteps from being as laughable as the sequel.
Most importantly they were both directed by the same bloke, so you kind of have to lump them in together when you see how bad his other stuff is. It all treads the imaginary line between mental and batshit fucking crazy. A line that only clinical psychologists are inclined to draw.

“Highlander” would be a great film if it had the Scotsman in the right place and no trace of Christophe Lambert who was easily the worst action hero of the time. A time that included Franco Nero leaping around in a ninja costume…

The Nightingale

Highly unpleasant... powerful though... would not rewatch. Strong though

Nosferatu - 8/10

Gothic horror dripping in macabre, mood and incredible cinematography. Lily Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgård give excellent performances.

Thelma - 9/10

A real good time

Wait til the sequel "& Louise". it's a helluva ride.

Strange Darling - 8.4/10

"Civil War"

stupid title... was more about a camera journalist than a war

Nosferatu . 7/10. Felt kinda long. Really cool visuals though
Gf thought it was boring.

Beetlejuice Beelejuice it was ok 3/7

Cadillac Man... so funny...

The Room Next Door

Been a while since Ive seen "Almodovar"... always with the big art pieces and the symbolism... the acting felt kinda weird... definitely a Thinkingfilm... beautifully "shot"...

Oppenheimer. 4/7 it was ok but the bomb scene wasn't nearly as good as Indiana Jones in the fridge

Wolfman 6/10


It was ok. At least it wasn't long.

Juror #2 - 9/10

The film mad me incredibly angry.

Why? This is Directed and Produced by Clint Eastwood. Easily one of the best directors to ever do it. He's 95 now. This is very likely his last picture.

Warner distributed this film to 28 theaters

28

Twenty fucking eight.

This is one of the best courtroom dramas ever. Certainly not as good as 12 Angry Men but its wayyyy up there especially in the Juror sub genre.

So Eastwood makes a truly phenomenal film. A script that should be a front runner for Best Screenplay. That film is likely the last one he will ever make. Nicholas Holt and Zoey Deutch and Toni Collette and JK Simmons give outstanding performances and Cedric Yarbrough gives what will certainly be the best performance of his career

And Warner only shows this in 28 fucking theaters and no awards push.

9/10

27/28

Not enough trans people being represented I guess.

Well thats all it took for Emilia Pérez to get 13 nominations so there's definitely a road map

People were probably confused by not seeing Juror #1 first

Captain America: Brave New World - **3/4 out of ****.


A bit underwhelming, but this corner of the Marvel universe is usually tackled competently enough. The action/spy thriller motif is pretty hard to screw up, and, yeah, there's enough decent action and intrigue to keep you dialed in. I think it's weighed down a tad with its callbacks to previous outings, which are necessary for this story to happen, though. A couple of characters could have been utilized more, too. Nothing overtly terrible here. Just some passable fun. You get one post-credits scene to set up what I'm assuming is one of the Avengers movies and a couple of notable cameos on top of it all.

Captain America: Brave New World - 6/10

Another "ok" Marvel movie that never really does anything memorable or cool.

Captain America: Brave New World - 6/10

This is just barely a 6 and very nearly a 5 but i think it gets just enough thats atleast visually interesting, namely in the climax, to feel more positive than neutral about it. That said I'll probably spend most of this post shitting on because there's a lot to improve.

At a broad stroke level excluding Ross no characters in this film are interesting and this is especially true for Mackee. Now its hard to put his head on a pike here because the reshoots really expose the bad writing. They clearly restructured this film at least once and the solution was to bring Mackee in and have him give exposition in really flat scenes. He has 2 or 3 of these in the film. Just Mackee and a character explaining details that were cut from a movie we'll never see but we still need to get the plot to work. So its hard to blame Mackee for a flat performance when the writing forces him to Exposition-Man. Regardless his performance is never interesting. Ever.

He's a sidekick and he feels like it and his sidekicks feel laughable. The film has an insistence that being just a man is a boon for his symbolism. That by not being a superhero he's superheroic. That his greatest power is he's uninteresting. I dont think anyone is actually going to be duped into thinking this actually a laudable trait but there's a scene where his sidekick tells him how much he idolizes Falcon and its just preposterous. "Ya know what my favorite part of super hero movies are? When normal people are the focus!" Said no one ever.



tl;dr

The film is a mess but there's some decent ideas here. I dont think Mackee works as a leading man and would strongly recommend either recasting him or strictly use him in buddy cop/team-up movies so he can do what Mackee can actually do: be a sidekick.

Final Prayer (U.S.)/The Borderlands (U.K.) - *** of out ****.

I love the set up here and the slow burn that builds to a final ten minutes that goes all out, delivering a neat and surprising and grim payoff to the events. It could be argued that despite the presentation, it's not really found footage per se, more like you're witnessing it all live along with the characters. Speaking of which, it's a refreshing experience to have main characters that you like and feel very real instead of the usual type in these kinds of movies who get afflicted with "horror movie stupidity". This is a great example of "less is more" as it delivers despite the limitations, including the very brisk runtime. I would recommend it, even if you're feeling a bit out of it in the first 15 minutes. I would say stick with it, and you might be pleasantly surprised.

Addendum: while there are some creepy moments, it's hard for me to be scared of that lame, stock crying baby sound used in the film after hearing it used in shit like Silent Hill: Downpour. It's more eye-rolling than anything else, especially in that fucking game.

Moana 2 - 7.5/10

I was entertained. Some catchy songs. I can definitely see it's origins as a Disney+ show before they decided to just make a movie instead. Plethora of characters added to the cast so not as much time for Moana and Maoui characters to have as much focus as they got in the original.

eephus - quaint

Mufasa - 7.5/10

I was entertained. Not so much by any of the songs though. Story was ok, but made me feel bad for Scar....

And really, isn't that what we were all demanding of the Disney villains while growing up? I know I always wanted to feel for an upper-class snob who wanted to skin puppies.

patch adams

Dead Poet Society for doctors. noble but a little kitsch

Dead Patients Society

Sinners (2025) - 8/10


Really enjoyable. My fav movie of the year so far

Ballad of wallis island

Like a unbearable weight of massive talent meets inside llewyn davis

Watched all the Final Destination movies this month

And Paddington in Peru

Sinners was decent but I don't understand the hype at all. It was nothing greater than a decent vampire film. Jack O'Connell does the worst Irish accent you'll hear since the last time he played one.

James Woods in John Carpenter's Vampires is the best role in a Vampire movie.

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Mickey 17

Real good... kinda "on the nose" politically but thats ok

Love science fiction plot holes... fun

What was that accent... weird

Watched Mickey 17 yesterday. Definitely ham fisted in its messaging especially with Ruffalos paper thin performance but i did like it fairly well all the same


7/10