Rate the Last Movie You Saw

[dannyboy121070]

Last night was OUT OF DARKNESS, a film that I was frantic to see when it played in theaters last fall. My wife refused to go, because "Cavemen and monsters? And subtitles? No.", and no one else was interested in subtitles either, so.....

Thank God I was too cheap to pay the $5.99 rental, and waited until it hit Paramount+ yesterday, because wow, I was ready to put my fist through the TV by the time it ended. The clean-shaven face of the tribal leader was bad enough, but the reveal of what they were on the run from actually made me squirm with anger. No spoilers, but...fuck you for marketing the film the way you did. I can't really blame the filmmaker for making the film he wanted to make, but this was totally marketed in a misleading way. Enough said. Just don't waste your time.

[dannyboy121070]

I watched a new doc about The Beach Boys last night on Disney+, which was excellent. Highly recommended if you're a fan.

[Sock Monkey]

It started out strong. I read about 25% of it in bed one night, I just could not put it down. The author was given permission to follow the film from pre-production though release, so she made a lot of friends on the set. By the end, it seemed as if she was including things about crew members that we didn't need to know, just to include them, and the book dragged mercilessly. Did I need to read about the costume fittings of extras, and the goings-on of Bruce Willis' stand-in...? No. So...I guess it depends on how Inside Baseball you want the book to be. To me, there was just too much extraneous information for the book to be considered enjoyable.

That kinda makes it sound like it'll be a pass for me. I love some Inside Baseball stuff, but there is a tipping point. Maybe if I find it used somewhere cheap...

[dannyboy121070]

I'm glad you liked AMERICAN FICTION! It's just a funnier, smarter, and even more fun of a movie than what I thought it was going to be.

I hadn't heard of THE DEVIL'S CANDY, but have always been fascinated about the issues surrounding THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES. How was it?

It started out strong. I read about 25% of it in bed one night, I just could not put it down. The author was given permission to follow the film from pre-production though release, so she made a lot of friends on the set. By the end, it seemed as if she was including things about crew members that we didn't need to know, just to include them, and the book dragged mercilessly. Did I need to read about the costume fittings of extras, and the goings-on of Bruce Willis' stand-in...? No. So...I guess it depends on how Inside Baseball you want the book to be. To me, there was just too much extraneous information for the book to be considered enjoyable.

[Sock Monkey]

I watched AMERICAN FICTION on Amazon the other night...what a great film! Thought-provoking, hilarious, great cast...Geoffrey Wright was amazing, as always. Highly recommended.

I just finished reading THE DEVIL'S CANDY: THE ANATOMY OF A HOLLYWOOD FIASCO, about Brian De Palma's film adaptation of THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES, so I decided to watch A24's documentary DE PALMA, which was very interesting. I haven't seen all of his films, and this made me want to go seek out some of the ones that I've missed. Fascinating stuff.

I'm glad you liked AMERICAN FICTION! It's just a funnier, smarter, and even more fun of a movie than what I thought it was going to be.

I hadn't heard of THE DEVIL'S CANDY, but have always been fascinated about the issues surrounding THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES. How was it?

[Martin]

I watched AMERICAN FICTION on Amazon the other night...what a great film! Thought-provoking, hilarious, great cast...Geoffrey Wright was amazing, as always. Highly recommended.

I just finished reading THE DEVIL'S CANDY: THE ANATOMY OF A HOLLYWOOD FIASCO, about Brian De Palma's film adaptation of THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES, so I decided to watch A24's documentary DE PALMA, which was very interesting. I haven't seen all of his films, and this made me want to go seek out some of the ones that I've missed. Fascinating stuff.

Thank you for posting about American Fiction. That was one I was planning on going to the theater to see but life got in the way. It had dropped off my radar and I did not realize it was on Prime. I will try and find the time to get to it soon. 

[dannyboy121070]

I watched AMERICAN FICTION on Amazon the other night...what a great film! Thought-provoking, hilarious, great cast...Geoffrey Wright was amazing, as always. Highly recommended.

I just finished reading THE DEVIL'S CANDY: THE ANATOMY OF A HOLLYWOOD FIASCO, about Brian De Palma's film adaptation of THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES, so I decided to watch A24's documentary DE PALMA, which was very interesting. I haven't seen all of his films, and this made me want to go seek out some of the ones that I've missed. Fascinating stuff.

[dannyboy121070]

I also watched Dev Patel's MONKEY MAN on Peacock, which was vaguely disappointing. I was frantic to see this film, after all the hype of how brutal and relentless the action was, but it dragged a bit for me, despite some really good fight scenes. Patel is great in the film, but it was a lot longer than it needed to be, and the shakycam beatdowns were too few and far-between to hold my interest.

[dannyboy121070]

Thanks for the heads up on the doc. I have MAX so that works out for a change!

As far as vampire films, I really try to steer clear of them. Frankly, I just don't find them that interesting or scary, unless it's completely brutal vampires like in 30 Days of Night. Same goes for werewolves. Though to be honest, my main issue is that most modern werewolf films I have seen in recent years are just riffing on the puberty/sexual awakening themes of Ginger Snaps. After more than a couple of these, my weariness begat my wariness. Finally, I really enjoyed Nathalie Emmanuel in Game of Thrones and keep looking for her to pop up in something decent. The only thing that I have seen her in is Die Hart 2, which was playing at a family member's house and...yeah, from what I saw, I'm good not doubling back to catch the other 70-something minutes I missed.

Yeah, I think THE INVITATION was her chance at stardom, and it seems to have flopped. I was wondering if she'd done anything lately. But I suppose being in a Kevin Hart vehicle is good exposure.

[Sock Monkey]

The Jodorowsky doc is streaming on Max, and THE INVITATION was the newer vampire one. How they can just take a title from another recent movie is beyond me, but, yes, the Kusama one was vastly superior! As far as recent vampire films go, I've seen a LOT worse than this. A LOT, lol. And Nathalie Emmanuel is easy on the eyes, so there was that.

Thanks for the heads up on the doc. I have MAX so that works out for a change!

As far as vampire films, I really try to steer clear of them. Frankly, I just don't find them that interesting or scary, unless it's completely brutal vampires like in 30 Days of Night. Same goes for werewolves. Though to be honest, my main issue is that most modern werewolf films I have seen in recent years are just riffing on the puberty/sexual awakening themes of Ginger Snaps. After more than a couple of these, my weariness begat my wariness. Finally, I really enjoyed Nathalie Emmanuel in Game of Thrones and keep looking for her to pop up in something decent. The only thing that I have seen her in is Die Hart 2, which was playing at a family member's house and...yeah, from what I saw, I'm good not doubling back to catch the other 70-something minutes I missed.

[dannyboy121070]

The Jodorowsky doc is streaming on Max, and THE INVITATION was the newer vampire one. How they can just take a title from another recent movie is beyond me, but, yes, the Kusama one was vastly superior! As far as recent vampire films go, I've seen a LOT worse than this. A LOT, lol. And Nathalie Emmanuel is easy on the eyes, so there was that.

[Sock Monkey]

I've been watching movies like crazy over the past few weeks...so many that I forgot some of them already. Highlights include:

THE BOYS IN THE BOAT, a fresh-from-theaters film directed by George Clooney about a Washington rowing team that made it to the Olympics in Hitler's Germany. Decent film, but if you've seen one sports biopic, you've seen this one. No surprises to be had at all.

NOSFERATU. THE VAMPYRE . Having just finished Werner Herzog's new autobiography, I felt compelled to seek out some Herzong/Kinski films. I was sure I had never seen this, but a lot of it seemed familiar...I think I saw it on Bravo back in the 90s, maybe. VERY slow and ponderous...I alternated being awestruck (Some of the lingering shots of scenery and countryside were just spectacular) and being bored by the odd pace. Kinski pales in comparison to Max Schreck, unfortunately, and this was not as good as the original. Isabelle Adjani's performance was silent-film worthy in it's dramatics. Weird film. Glad I watched it, but it bored me enough to postpone more Herzog/Kinski films for another night.

Not sure if I mentioned this in an earlier post, but I finally watched THE GRAY MAN on Netflix. Fun action film with Ryan Gosling, and Chris Evans in a rare villain role. Action-packed, good performances, and I could look at Ana De Armas all day, every day.

THE INVITATION spoils the hook of the film in the trailer, so there were no surprises here, but it was a decent Horror film. Probably would have been better if it were rated R. There is an unrated version, but the PG-13 version was on Netflix, and the unrated is on pay-per-view, so PG-13 won, lol.

Last night I watched a couple of documentaries, one about late WWE wrestler Bray Wyatt, which had me in tears by the end, and another about Jodorowsky's aborted attempt to make a (bonkers) film of DUNE in 1975. Truly weird stuff, which could have legitimately changed the course of cinematic history if he had succeeded in getting it made. Orson Welles as Baron Harkonnen, Dali as The Emperor, Mick Jagger as Feyd Rautha.....crazy.

I'm assuming THE INVITATION is the more recent one and not the Karyn Kusama-directed movie from 2015. If so, I definitely passed on that one. The one from 2015--completely unrelated besides the title--is one of my favorite films, though.

I have been meaning to get around to watching that Jodorowsky Dune documentary for years. Thanks for the reminder to track that down as it sounds fascinating.

[dannyboy121070]

I've been watching movies like crazy over the past few weeks...so many that I forgot some of them already. Highlights include:

THE BOYS IN THE BOAT, a fresh-from-theaters film directed by George Clooney about a Washington rowing team that made it to the Olympics in Hitler's Germany. Decent film, but if you've seen one sports biopic, you've seen this one. No surprises to be had at all.

NOSFERATU. THE VAMPYRE . Having just finished Werner Herzog's new autobiography, I felt compelled to seek out some Herzong/Kinski films. I was sure I had never seen this, but a lot of it seemed familiar...I think I saw it on Bravo back in the 90s, maybe. VERY slow and ponderous...I alternated being awestruck (Some of the lingering shots of scenery and countryside were just spectacular) and being bored by the odd pace. Kinski pales in comparison to Max Schreck, unfortunately, and this was not as good as the original. Isabelle Adjani's performance was silent-film worthy in it's dramatics. Weird film. Glad I watched it, but it bored me enough to postpone more Herzog/Kinski films for another night.

Not sure if I mentioned this in an earlier post, but I finally watched THE GRAY MAN on Netflix. Fun action film with Ryan Gosling, and Chris Evans in a rare villain role. Action-packed, good performances, and I could look at Ana De Armas all day, every day.

THE INVITATION spoils the hook of the film in the trailer, so there were no surprises here, but it was a decent Horror film. Probably would have been better if it were rated R. There is an unrated version, but the PG-13 version was on Netflix, and the unrated is on pay-per-view, so PG-13 won, lol.

Last night I watched a couple of documentaries, one about late WWE wrestler Bray Wyatt, which had me in tears by the end, and another about Jodorowsky's aborted attempt to make a (bonkers) film of DUNE in 1975. Truly weird stuff, which could have legitimately changed the course of cinematic history if he had succeeded in getting it made. Orson Welles as Baron Harkonnen, Dali as The Emperor, Mick Jagger as Feyd Rautha.....crazy.

[Sock Monkey]

Got a couple of more movies in last week before the wife returned from her trip:

I did a "scientists and the supernatural" double feature of The Stone Tape (1972) and John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness (1987), which was rather fortuitous as I subsequently learned that the former was part of the inspiration for Carpenter's latter film.

The Stone Tape has a few hurdles that current American audiences will need to clear. Namely that it is (a) from 1972, (b) rather British in its horror, and (c) it's a television movie with all the hinderances such from that time period would be saddled with, including very poor special effects for today's audiences. The story revolves around a group of scientists who, instead of working on developing a new recording medium, get sucked into investigating a one of the old building's haunted rooms. Frankly, some of the acting is rather melodramatic and a good 10-15 minutes could have been cut. However, as the film unfolded and the implications of its revelations fully sunk in, I wound up liking this one. It's a hard one to recommend, but if low budget 1970s British television movies are your jam, then it might be worth seeking out. Grade: C+

I have to admit that there is a huge gap in John Carpenter's filmography that I haven't seen, pretty much anything after The Thing and before In the Mouth of Madness, which Prince of Darkness falls into. Now, I know that I must have caught part of Prince of Darkness on television at some point because I clearly remember snippets of ending involving the glass mirror but nothing beyond this. I'd heard middling things about this film over the years and, yes, it doesn't get anywhere near the heights of Halloween or The Thing, but I was really surprised at just how effective and fun the movie was. For the uninitiated, the film is about a group of college students/scientists who are recruited by a priest to figure out what to do with a canister of liquid Satan (for lack of a better description) in the basement of an old church. As the evil substance's influence is felt, all heck begins to break loose. As I said it's a rather fun horror movie, though it does feel like maybe one more pass at the script could have brought the elements together a little bit better. However, there are some striking images in the film and some great ideas that make this more than worthwhile. Thinking back on it now, this might improve in my estimation with further subsequent viewings. This also has lit a fire under me to get around to filling in those viewing gaps for not just Carpenter, but Romero and others. Grade: B

As mentioned above, I watched these films back-to-back one night and I almost want to recommend that to everyone. I think it enriches the experience for both films.

The last film I watched was Scorsese's Casino (1995), which was perfectly fine--and might be even better if one is unfamiliar with Goodfellas--but ultimately it felt like I've seen all of these artists do this and do it better. Everyone is in top form, especially Sharon Stone in a completely unhinged performance, but instead of building to an exciting the climax, the film peters out, leading one to wonder if the three hour runtime was worth it. That all being said, even lesser Scorsese is at least worth a watch. Grade: C+

[Sock Monkey]

I'm pretty sure I saw LOGAN LUCKY and enjoyed it. Speaking of Craig, I'm going to miss him as Bond...really unfortunate that not only will he not be back, but No Time to Die was the Bond film he went out on. Putting aside what felt (SPOILER) like a poorly contrived death scene for the character, the film was -- save for a great scene involving a Triumph Scrambler 1200 -- a real disappointment in a number of ways.

I never finished watching the Craig "Bond" films. I remember enjoying both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, but I had one of the worst theater experiences ever when I went to see Skyfall in which a younger couple where siting a couple of seats down from us and where talking and on their phones the whole time. I told myself I'd go back and see the film again to give it another shot, but I just never did. Maybe one of these days I'll work my way through the Craig series.