Feb 18, 2015

^Watched Gone Girl last night. Was kind of surreal considering the majority of it was shot like a mile or so from where I live. I drive by The Bar nearly everyday (it's an actual restaurant now.) Cool movie though, b------s be crazy

 

Feb 14, 2015

I've seen a lot of films since I posted in here last..but just been real busy in my personal life to post anything.. here's what I seen recently.



My first time watching my blu-ray, was earlier today.. and right off the bat.. the film has got some of the best 'action' in a film of this type. Usually, these types of films are a 'guilty pleasure' for me..but not this time.. I found a great pleasure in watching it, but it's pure pleasure, no feeling of 'guilt' what so ever.. Emily Blunt was a sight to see as well. The film never has to learn from its mistakes since it hardly makes any. It’s always vibrant, humorous, thrilling, and greatly thoughtful. I look forward to re-watching it again...and..again...and again..it almost feels like a 'real life' video game, with infinite lives.. definitely a great film.. 9.1/10



I re-watched my dvd of this earlier tonight..it's one of those 'noirs' that draws you in. It's a perfect blueprint on how to tell a great 'noir story'.. even when the story is comedic, hopeful, and sad. Gale Storm is such a deliciously sight to see here.. very underrated actress imo. I can't picture watching this, if it were presented a different way..a definite "prototype" of how to pull off a real noirish opening, and ending. Just like the film itself, the main character has trouble seeing the world in anything other than black and white..and probably wouldn't see it any other way.. fantastic Noir.. 8/10

 

Jan 20, 2015

• 
  Locke 2014
  ★★★ Watched 19 Jan, 2015
  
  Overly sensational pillow shots and dissolves replete this mediocre concept film made engaging solely by Tom Hardy's magnetism.
  
  65- Decent.
  
  
• 
  Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles 1975
  ★★★★★ Watched 19 Jan, 2015
  
  Precision and detail ornament this aesthetically and narratively pure examination of quiet suffering. Stunning.
  
  96-Masterful
  

 

Jan 19, 2015

I watched most of Philip K d-ck's adaptations over the past few weeks.

Blade Runner - 10/10
Total Recall(1990) - 7.5/10
Screamers - 4/10
Minority Report - 8/10
Impostor - 3.5/10
Paycheck - 4/10
A Scanner Darkly - 10/10
Next - 1/10
The Adjustment Bureau - 6.5/10
Total Recall(2012) - 5/10

Blade Runner and A Scanner Darkly are absolute masterpieces. I ended up watching them again immediately after the first time.

 

Jan 10, 2015

• 
  Big Eyes 2014
  ★★½ Watched 09 Jan, 2015
  
  Character deconstruction in place of development, pandering narration, thematic contradictions, and a bland formal design. It's greatest strength is in its mise-en-scene, colours and costumes which accurately evoke the period. Not enough.
  
  50/100 - Mediocre
  
  
• 
  A Man Escaped 1956
  ★★★★★ Rewatched 08 Jan, 2015
  
  I've written a lot already on this favourite film of mine as well as its creator.
  
  
• 
  Lola 1961
  ★★★★★ Rewatched 08 Jan, 2015
  
  A whimsical, precisely laid exploration of the attractions between people and how this energy guides one along planes of serendipity and chance.
  
  90/100 -Amazing
  (Second Viewing, Bluray Criterion)
  
  
• 
  The Theory of Everything 2014
  ★★★ Watched 07 Jan, 2015
  
  Overly sentimental. Strong acting with brief moments of beauty and inspiration. Flawed in its need to please
  
  68/100
  

 

Dec 17, 2014

Gone Girl:
An exciting, well directed puzzle that sacrifices post-film resonance in favour of during-film intrigue.

80/100

Nightcrawler:
Social disease personified in the tense meanderings of a uniquely amoral man.

84/100

 

Dec 14, 2014

To The Wonder (2012) (Dir. Malick)

An ambiguous extended analogy comparing faith and love, I professed the latter when I first saw this film in 2012. Upon revisiting it, my faith has been reaffirmed.

More restrained than its highly acclaimed sister film, To The Wonder dazzles not in its scale, but in the power of its modesty. This isn't the spectacular creation, but brooding purgatory and paradise in the eyes of Norman Rockwell and how thin you can draw the line between them. Where a Sonic drive-in or a flourescent super market can be holier than Mont Saint-Michael. Where a regulations investigator can walk like a savior among his poverty stricken and cancer ridden followers. Where the church-on-Sunday farmer's daughter can be Mary Magdelene. If only you believe.

 

Dec 10, 2014

Guardians Of The Galaxy. Extremely overrated movie. 5/10.

 

Dec 9, 2014

Having not seen Badlands, I feel comfortable saying it's his slowest paced film and easily the least interesting out of his filmography, thematically at least. It spends a lot of time celebrating nature, and the culture surrounding different civilizations and romance explored through that, and not much else. It's beautiful yeah, but the cinematography didn't much serve the story in any real way, and in turn that made the more poetic side of Malick's filmmaking come across much more pretentious than it has in the other films I've seen from him. Not once in To the Wonder or The Tree of Life did I question why the visuals were being used to tell the story so heavily, but in this it came across as Malick trying to make more of an epic visual feast than a coherent story. In between all of the nature shots and scenes involving Pocahontas walking around aimlessly with Colin Farrell, all I wanted was a more traditional narrative so I could know more about what was actually happening between the natives and the English. Sort of a double edged sword there since the visuals are what make the film so enthralling in the first place, but it was a little too much process. I don't believe this story needs that kind of storytelling to get its point across.

I did leave the film having a positive experience overall, I just didn't connect with what Malick was shooting for. It's definitely something I'm eager to revisit.

 

Dec 7, 2014

One of my favorite films of all time..probably in my top 10. I don't know what to say about this great experience that I, or anyone else who has seen hasn't said already. Possibly one of, if not the finest Bill Murray performance, as well as Scarlett's.. 9.6/10



Let me start off by saying.. I enjoyed this a lot more than MOST. I personally think it's one of Woody's best stories, I was s----d into the atmosphere at first glance. It's a pleasant, Jazz Age experience about seances and the silly rich. In its heart, though, it's closer to previous Allen films like "Scoop," "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion" and "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger," all of which I enjoyed with great pleasure..with multiple viewings...it never takes it's self seriously, like the films mentioned & that's what I like about it. It's a story of love and honesty which remains with you long after the credits have rolled.. 8/10

 

Nov 30, 2014

Guardians is awesome. Certainly better than Dawn. However, if the comedy doesn't work for you it's kind of worthless. Another one of those films I doubt I would like all that much if I didn't see it with a crowd.

Heat (1995, Michael Mann) - 8/10
Paths of Glory (1957, Stanley Kubrick) - 10/10
Cannibal Holocaust (1980, Ruggero Deodato)

 

Nov 24, 2014

saw gone girl last night, 8.8/10

very, very impressive movie. loved all the twists throughout. don't wanna ruin anything tho..

shoutout the homie Tyler perry. haven't seen him act that well, ever.

 

Nov 23, 2014

they were showing toxic avenger and return to nukem high back to back at a cinema near me and lloyd kaufman was introducing it. i didnt see him, i got there just before it started and left after toxic avenger cause i thought i had work today and it was late, but i think he was there watching it.