What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[nicholasrope]

Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt 1

Katniss is back and this time she joins the Revolution trying to upend The Capital, along with people from the 1st two Movies, she succeeds in getting others to join. But Peeta is being used as propaganda to turn people against her. It has a different plot to the original Movies as it was focused on rebelling and with it being the 1st part, it was always going to end in a cliffhanger. I did like it though.

Bottoms

2 High School Teens who are Gay, form a Fight Club disguised as a Self Defense Club in order to get closer to the Girls they like. But they run fowl of the High School Football Team.

OK, this one is a bit strange, it's a Indie Comedy where the 2 leads are quite unlikeable but the supporting cast (The Football Team and Teacher especially) are quite hilarious. It's one of those that I won't buy full price but will if it goes really cheap. Not sure if I'd recommend it.

BTW, Thanksgiving was advertised, I really hope that some of the kills were kept of the Trailer.

Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

The Revolution is in full force but Katniss must decide whether the leader of the Resistance is really right for the position or just wants to take over from President Snow. In a way this was quite disappointing, it was too long but Donald Sutherland excels as the mean Bad Guy, Woody Harrelson is quite good as well.

[nicholasrope]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

Killers of the Flower Moon

Martin Scorsese's latest film has become widely discussed because of its lengthy running time rather than the subject matter, the performances, and the quality of the filmmaking.

This is a shame because it is one of the great man's finest films; a beautifully constructed and powerful epic about a disgraceful and repugnant episode in the United States' recent history.

The film focuses on a World War I veteran, Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio), who has returned from Europe in need of employment. His uncle, William 'King' Hale (Robert De Niro), is heavily involved with the Osage Nation and is seen by many of them as respectful, friendly, and helpful – he speaks their language fluently and is keen to follow their customs.

This avuncular appearance masks a rapacious and cruel nature, a man who wants to take every cent possible from the Osage people by fair means or foul. As part of this, he suggests that his nephew become a chauffeur to Molly Kyle (Lily Gladstone), a single woman who will likely inherit a fortune from the Nation's oil wealth – the long-term plan is to marry her and become a court-appointed guardian of her finances, at which point she will be deemed incompetent and ruined.

I'm not how he does it but DiCaprio has changed his face in a similar way to Billy Bob Thornton in Sling Blade, almost speaking with a permanent grimace that may be a result of the internal injuries he suffered in Europe, and manages to convey both tenderness and ruthlessness. He is also tender and loving around Molly but willing to go along with Hale's plan to murder Molly's first husband for his life insurance – Ernest is a complicated and conflicted man, a willing puppet of his powerful uncle.

The performances DiCaprio, De Niro, and Lily Gladstone are all superb – Gladstone is very impressive – and the fine ensemble cast features Jesse Plemons, John Lithgow, Brendan Fraser, and an admirable range of Native American actors.

It's a film I'm glad I saw at the cinema because it is a long film that demands your attention, an important commentary on America's relationship with its indigenous people, so watching it without any distractions was important.

Additionally, I saw it on one of the bigger screens so was able to appreciate Rodrigo Prieto's cinematography in a way that wouldn't be as impressive on my 55" TV at home. Unsurprisingly, Thelma Schoonmaker edited the film and did so in a way that made the film feel weighty and important, but never too long or confused. Considering what was on the screen, I have no idea how much was left out to get it down to 'only' 206 minutes!

Finally, Robbie Robertson's score should be singled out for praise because it is a wonderful backdrop to the film, a blues-inflected and beautifully composed piece of music by someone with Cayuga and Mohawk ancestry. It is unfortunate that this 11th collaboration with Scorsese was his last feature film and Robertson died just before the film was theatrically released, so it's fitting that it is dedicated to him.

I would like to watch this again before it disappears from cinemas and will try to avoid one with an interval. It was constructed and edited as one uninterrupted piece, paced accordingly, and I don't think it should be broken up with a 15 minute break so people can go to the toilet or buy a drink – inserting an interval after it was finished artificially changes the film that Scorsese and Schoonmaker directed and edited, respectively, and just feels wrong.

Interesting to hear your takes on Intermissions, I've heard reasonable arguments for both sides. Personally I'm waiting for a Physical Release so I can stop it if I need too.

[Demoncrat]

Alone In The Ghost House

FF.
Some idiots travel to the backwoods in search of ratings. What they find wasn't all that exciting, and the "twist" literally came out of nowhere. And not in that cool Sleepaway Camp style either. Meh.


Little Murders (1971, Alan Arkin)

Checked this one out as I do love The In-Laws (1979).
Elliot Gould gets saved from a beating by a passing woman. They decide to get hitched after some back and forth. Both sets of parents have plenty to say about this. An oddity. What I loved was the dialogue here, in that there was dialogue and not just plot convienence parroted. Recommended. Go in blind with this one.



Suitable Flesh (2023, Joe Lynch)

Heather Graham and Barbara Crampton?
This one. Irking the purists with an adaptation of a Lovecraft story (the only one with a woman character tee hee) certainly, I sat amused when it began to unfold. Lawdy it's silly. Not necessarily a bad thing.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

"You'd best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Turner. Because now you're in one."

You know when you put something on for the sake of it and then end up really enjoying it. That's what happened with me and this film tonight.

A film very much in the classic Errol Flynn, Burt Lancaster vein of swashbucklers ala Captain Blood (1935), The Sea Hawk (1940), The Crimson Pirate (1952) with swathes of humour that try and mask the scarier moments, with the ingenious casting of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow and showcasing a pirates life that was fun and exciting.

Of course a bunch of sequels with diminishing returns and the gritty as hell Starz series Black Sails (2014-17) would change all that.

[MrBarlow]

John Wick 3: Parabellum. 2019.

John must try and survive when a top bounty is placed on his head.

This one does start off promising, basically starts where the previous film ends and Wick constantly clock watching and a good use for a heavy book in a library and then becomes a non stop action film. The film is brutal especially in a armory and using different weapons but then it does slow down a bit and picks up again. We have more interaction with Ian McShane and Lance Reddick who helps defeat the first wave of assassins at the Continental. Halle Berry has a small role but her character is strong and not wasted even with two dogs who know how to bite and where exactly to bite on a guy, again like the previous films fight scenes are decently choreographed.

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[MrBarlow]

John Wick 4. 2023.

Condemned to be on the run, Wick manages to find a way to beat the high table but faces more challenges.

More fights, more action and more dog fighting and plenty of Paris Street fighting and using cars as a advantage to take out a enemy. Bit more in depth of Wick and his past that was not mentioned in the previous films. Think this got a lot of negative reviews on the release due to running time and drifting away from the plot and more characters, but this is for me a solid entry into the franchise on how those who serve under the high table use their position to negotiate what they want as Ian McShane's character uses his position to get his hotel back. Bill Skarsgard is decent as the antagonist who seems to agree on a few things yet changes on how it should go and still be without a conscience and know he has to face a tough enemy.

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

French Connection II (1975)

Cracking sequel to William Friedkin's seminal thriller in which Gene Hackman's Popeye Doyle travels to Marseilles to find Alain Charnier, the drug smuggler that eluded him in New York. Blundering in to French police operations, Doyle is given a less than friendly welcome.

As good a Euro thriller as you'll find and surely an inspiration to every Italian crime film that nabbed itself an American name to headline it. This is brilliantly shot by John Frankenheimer in the seedy port of Marseilles with Hackman every bit as good as the earlier film that won him an Academy Award.

Midway through there's a genuinely disturbing twenty minutes that details Doyle's withdrawal after being forcibly addicted to heroin by Fernando Rey's drug ring, and all these years later it remains a hard watch and i always find it really off putting, were it not so well done it wouldn't have had the same impact but it totally kills the films momentum as well.

Thankfully the final third is a full on revenge thriller with Doyle taking no shit from the French in his destructive quest to dismantle the drugs ring culminating in an exhausting foot chase for Doyle along the docks as Rey is seemingly escaping by boat.

[nicholasrope]

Dream Scenario

Nicholas Cage is a Professor who is somehow (Not explained) able to appear in dreams of multiple people. The Film follows how it is seen as a bit of a phenomenon but after the dreams start turning violent, people start turning against him.

This was done as a Indie Movie but the concept could have been used as a mainstream Horror Film (Freddy Kruger was mentioned)

Pretty decent watch.

SPOILER:

Nicholas Cage was brilliant in this especially showing the emotional toll it was taking as people were treating it like the dreams were real even though there was a company that was eventually invading dreams, which of course was more blatant and creepier.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by nicholasrope

Dream Scenario

Nicholas Cage is a Professor who is somehow (Not explained) able to appear in dreams of multiple people. The Film follows how it is seen as a bit of a phenomenon but after the dreams start turning violent, people start turning against him.

This was done as a Indie Movie but the concept could have been used as a mainstream Horror Film (Freddy Kruger was mentioned)

Pretty decent watch.

SPOILER:

Nicholas Cage was brilliant in this especially showing the emotional toll it was taking as people were treating it like the dreams were real even though there was a company that was eventually invading dreams, which of course was more blatant and creepier.

We can remember it for you wholesale.

[Frankie Teardrop]

AMITYVILLE 4: THE EVIL ESCAPES – The Amityville films are kind of a blur in my mind – I remember the first from TV when I was a kid, but I’ve never been overly wowed. “Get Out!” says the scary voice. I always liked that bit, but I wonder what I’d think of the whole thing now. The deliciously tripe-laden and yet somehow dark ‘Amityville 2’ is the king when it comes to a certain kind of bargain basement eighties fx driven schlock that I’m guessing had little in common with what the makers of the original were going for, but the later numbers and off-shoots are just one big haze to me. ‘The Evil Escapes’ is quite nice though really, very much a rainy afternoon film. It’s about a possessed lamp, into which the ‘evil’ from the original house has relocated itself, and basically unfolds as a steady stream of low intensity cheapo ghost-house moves – there’s gunk and a severed hand in those pipes, but who put the parrot in the oven? A cat’s eyes glow red at the end! A pleasing ‘direct to video’ vibe persists throughout, though now I find it was made for TV – didn’t know that.

AMITYVILLE: A NEW GENERATION – Another sequel. I got them when they were going dead cheap in the last VS sale. I don’t think I’d ever be tempted to pay big bucks for any of them, but for a markdown it’s all pleasantly nostalgic stuff. This one is about a bunch of ‘creatives’ who hang out in a converted warehouse in New York. They look a bit too clean-cut to be the type I remember from my time as a wannabe performance artist, but maybe I went to the wrong art school. Anyway, one of them finds out that the homeless guy across the road is a pivotal long-lost figure from his past, only there’s a mirror involved, and some haunting-related stuff happens, but then someone’s done a load of really mad paintings so maybe they’re possessed. Et Cetera. As always, those tiny moments, such as when a bad glowing green demon effect sprints around for a few seconds then hides in a labyrinth of awful pictures, make it worthwhile. The mid-nineties always make me think of panpipes and Gregorian chants set to slow beats, but I’m not saying either of them feature heavily in this.