Last movie you watched & your rating

[Kong Wen]

Re: Fox and Dogs, I find Anderson's stop-motion work to be slightly less compelling than his live-action stuff in general, perhaps because he doesn't have as much freedom to work with his usual palette and human studies. Anderson fans are notoriously unable to reach any kind of consensus on a ranking of his films or even on any kind of scale of their quality, but to me, Grand Budapest Hotel and Life Aquatic are tops.

Predator gave us perhaps the best yell/scream in cinematic history, so it's worth it pretty much for that alone. One of the weirdest things about it is that Shane Black acts in the film in a kind of throwaway role (the goofy guy with big glasses). Black's better known to history for writing Lethal Weapons 1 & 2, and Last Action Hero, and for directing Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys.

[RamenJunkie]

Generally minor spoilers within...

I went and saw Ready Player One. I didn't enjoy the book really, for a lot of the usual reasons people cure about it (poor writing, too many lists). I did enjoy the movie. I liked how the handled the back and forth between the real world and the virtual world. I mostly liked the changes from the book. It did a better job of showing versus telling, which was what I had hoped for. If anything though there wasn't enough references. You can tell Activision dumped a bunch of money on this though, all of the Batman character cameos were from Arkham games, and Tracer from Overwatch shows up at least 5 times.

I have an interest in online virtual worlds, which also helped my enjoyment of this film.

I will say, later, the more I thought about the film, I did find some things I disliked. The bad guys motivation wasn't super clear, I mean yeah, corporate greed, but what exactly do the work camps DO? The existence of a world killing device in world seems kind of ridiculous as well. The supporting cast could have used a bit better development. Also, though it sounds prudish, the light swearing, mostly in the phrase "lose all your shit" within the span of like 5 minutes, seemed to exist entirely to make this movie not be PG. Because it was very very light on anything PG-13 aside from the swearing, which like I said, seemed to half exist in this short little but. I don't have a problem with swearing in movies, but the animation combined with the overall plot made the movie otherwise feel almost like a PG movie.

[Kong Wen]

I watched Lawrence of Arabia (1962) last week or so. Very interesting movie, and it was a blind spot for me. O'Toole manages to nail a really odd character with a really odd performance. It was interesting watching this so soon after reading Dune, which draws clear inspiration from Lawrence's story if not this film specifically.

It was interesting how patient the filmmakers were. I wonder if this is a cultural thing where modern cinema doesn't abide epic takes, but there were a lot of scenes where the camera lingers on a character moving from point A to point B, but it shows almost the whole transition rather than implying passage. When we first meet Omar Sharif's character, the camera picks him up in the distance and then keeps rolling for his entire approach. It feels like solid minutes of watching a rider get closer and closer with no other action.

Lots to say about this one, even if I didn't 100% like it. It's a classic.

I think the next masterpiece-from-a-bygone-era I'll try to catch up on is Ran (1985).

[The Shoemaker]

Inglorious Bastards - Had never seen it before, fantastic movie. Started it at midnight one night and it's a testament to the movie that I not only didn't fall asleep, but stayed engaged throughout the entire film.

I, Tonya - Really enjoyed the general pace and cinematography of this movie. Good watch.

Ant Man and the Wasp - Not bad. I liked the more personal story it had, from both perspectives. Overall I thought the humour was a bit flat though, which made it an okay movie overall.

Deadpool 2 - I didn't find this one as entertaining as the first, in particular I felt it didn't really find it's feet until half way through. Still overall enjoyable, and the ending was great.

[Kong Wen]

Baconchrist, why do I let this thread go for so long...?

• 2018-06-05 — Coherence — 8/10 — Good mind-bending sci-fi. Small set, ensemble cast, shot really close. Lots of little details to pick up on. Bears multiple viewings. Caught it on Netflix.
• 2018-06-14 — Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels — 7.65/10 — Classic Guy Ritchie. Doesn't hold up against the ravages of time quite as well as Snatch.
• 2018-06-26 — Coco — 8.1/10 — Best Animated Feature winner. Better than Zootopia but still anodyne. I enjoyed its considered treatment of tricky subject matter (death).
• 2018-06-30 — The Disaster Artist — 7.9/10 — Better than I thought it would be. (I thought it would be good, but not quite as good as the people who claimed it was good, but not quite as bad as the people who claimed it wasn't as good as the people who claimed it was good claimed it would be.)
• 2018-07-06 — Ant-Man and the Wasp — 8.4/10 — Not quite as good as the first one, if only because the joke templates weren't as fresh (e.g. Peña's rambling stories), but still quite good. I love that they've stuck with the caper genre for these smaller-stakes entries in the MCU. Good action, size-gags, and performances all around.
• 2018-07-08 — Swiss Army Man — 7.901/10 — What the fuck? This was actually surprisingly touching at times, and features good performances from the two leads. It's got some interesting formal experimentation, too (e.g. the noises the characters make chant-up to soundtrack elements). It loses points for losing track of its message at times, and there was no good way to end it. Recommended for people who like weird movies or stories about death.
• 2018-07-15 — The Death of Stalin — 7.71/10 — Another death movie. I appreciated the satire in this, although it could have gone further in demonstrating the absurdity of social stagnation under a strongman dictator. I enjoyed the absurdist notes as well (the actors used their own accents), but overall it could have been a bit funnier. Buscemi put in an excellent performance.
• 2018-07-22 — Hail, Caesar! — 8.3/10 — Not among the Coens' best, but it's still good. Nice ensemble cast with the action broken up into vignettes. Brolin did an excellent job as a hard-ass but likable protagonist.
• 2018-07-23 — Suburbicon — 8.05/10 — Another Coen/Clooney collaboration. Stylized look at racism in a particular time and place. Damon puts in a Malkovich-like performance as a creepy dude. I like that it doesn't try to turn the central "mystery" into a surprise—it gives the audience credit for their intelligence and just lets them know what's happening.
• 2018-07-23 — Game Night — 7.664/10 — Surprisingly funny without over-relying on Bateman's now-ubiquitous deadpan straight-man. The caper goes on a little long, but there are some memorable twists and turns. Plemons is perfectly cast in his role as the creepy neighbour.
• 2018-07-24 — The Equalizer — 8.4/10 — This is a great movie because it somehow perfectly balances the mystery of Washington's identity, the sentiment at the heart of his actions (his friendships at the diner and the Home Depot), and the campy vigilante action sequences. They somehow got the right mix of light and dark.
• 2018-07-28 — The Equalizer 2 — 1.9/10 — By contrast, the sequel completely failed to recapture the delicate balance that made the original so good. There was no real mystery. The film's attempts to ground Washington's character were flat. Worst of all, most of the plot beats simply didn't make sense. It picks up points for one or two key scenes that had some of the energy of the original, but they were in side-plots. Bad movie.
• 2018-07-31 — Sorry to Bother You — 8.5/10 — Good, original, off-the-wall surrealist science fiction. Touches on many themes (racism, capitalism, revolution, mass culture, art, etc.) and there's a lot to digest. The cast is phenomenal. I had a couple of minor gripes that I can't really condense into a summary like this.
• 2018-08-05 — Ocean's Eleven — 7.75/10 — Clooney and Damon again. I usually like ensembles, but I kind of found it to be a weakness in this one. The rest of the cast beyond Clooney, Damon, and Pitt were underutilized. I liked Roberts's understated performance, though. It took some stomach to get past Cheadle's accent.
• 2018-08-08 — Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping — 7.2/10 — This was OK. The cameos and guests were probably the best part of the movie. I think my main problem was that it wasn't Lonely Island enough. None of the songs were as strong as their typical material, so the music couldn't carry the film. Worth a casual watch if you like Samberg.

[The Shoemaker]

I also saw Popstar - which I also thought was alright. Some good moments in there.

Life of the Party - expected an alright comedy, received something that barely approached funny. Maybe it's just more of a "mom" comedy?

I Feel Pretty - Not bad. I expected a more off the wall comedy, but it was a bit more grounded. Not what I expected, but not bad.

[The Shoemaker]

Fantastic Beasts 2

Story felt like a mess. Not a great movie in my opinion.

[Kong Wen]

Fantastic Beasts 2

Story felt like a mess. Not a great movie in my opinion.

How was the first one?

I haven't seen either, and the trailers I've seen for this new one haven't really prompted any interest.

[The Shoemaker]

Fantastic Beasts 2

Story felt like a mess. Not a great movie in my opinion.

How was the first one?

I haven't seen either, and the trailers I've seen for this new one haven't really prompted any interest.

I wouldn't say the first one was anything spectacular, but it had fun character moments and a story you could follow. The story in this one really just seemed convoluted, and the characters didnt shine.

[Kong Wen]

Last night I watched Bad Times at the El Royale (2018). I've wanted to see this since the trailers came out last year, but I never had an opportunity while it was in cinema. Finally decided to download it for my birthday and it was a rollicking good time. I can't say too much about it without spoiling things. It makes great use of the ensemble cast—every character has their own motivations and backstory and the way they intertwine is very well done. The characters you're afraid of, worried about, and rooting for shift and shimmy throughout the course of the story. Solid 8/10.