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Comments
1 - 9/10
2 - 9/10
3 - 8/10
I love all 3.
The CGI is very poor, otherwise it's an enjoyably ott action film. I don't know who is more badass in this film, Nicholas Cage, Amber Heard or William Fitchner... probably best to call it a draw between the 3.
Leatherface
Not to be confused with Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (AKA the only TCM film to show respect the original). I knew of the "twist" before watching Leatherface, but when it happened, I still couldn't prepare myself for how cheap it was. Highlight of the film had to be Stephen Dorff at the vengeful Sheriff, shame he wasn't in the film more.
1. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
2. Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)
3. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
4. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)
5. Texas Chainsaw (2013)
6. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
7. Leatherface (2017)
8. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994)
He is this generation's Arnie, Bruce and Sly put together.
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Call Me By Your Name (2017)
I had read positive commentary on this coming of age drama, directed by Luca Guadagnino and based on a James Ivory script and Andre Aciman novel. It's set in Italy and boasts wonderful cinematography courtesy of director of photography Sayombhu Mukdeeprom. The camera captures the atmosphere, warmth and romantic nature of Italy quite beautifully. In fact, I don't think I've seen it so well done in a western film since John Seale's work on Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley. You feel as if you're really there. This to me is the real star of the film. The score, which features eclectic tracks from various artists, is another standout.
The film itself focuses on the sexual and homo-erotic romantic awakening of a 17 year old boy Elio (Timothee Chalamet) on account of the visiting presence of a handsome and worldly graduate student Oliver (Armie Hammer) at the estate at which is professor father (Michael Stuhlbarg) and mother (Amira Casar) are staying. Their relationship develops slowly and cautiously, even though Elio's attraction to confident and flamboyant Oliver is instant. Elio's surprisingly understanding current girlfriend (Esther Garrel) has to contend with this developing scenario. Chalamet is excellent as the slightly awkward but intelligent young man coming to terms with his sexuality. Hammer is surprisingly good as well, and is physically convincing as someone who could entice such attraction & affection. This is certainly an interesting film. Quite sensual and intimate in some ways, but I felt also somewhat distant in other ways. I found some of the scenes (including one with a peach), uncomfortable to watch, but I appreciated the overall message which was beautifully delivered at the end by the father. It's very true, and more of us would be well served to know it sooner rather than later. Youth is fleeting. Make the most of it & experience it fully.
This film reminded me in many ways of Bernardo Bertolucci's Stealing Beauty, which I recall rushing to the theatre to view as a younger man on account of Liv Tyler. Well, this one doesn't have Liv (a pity), but is aesthetically similar. Worth a watch, but it's a bit slow.
1. Pan's Labyrinth (10/10; masterpiece)
2. The Shape of Water (9.5/10; my favorite of 2017, good or great in most ways)
3. The Devil's Backbone (9/10; an extremely original, well-done film)
4. Hellboy II: The Golden Army (8.5/10; a terrific sequel, fun the whole way!)
5. Hellboy (8/10; a very good, different comic book film - works as an origin film and much more!)
6. Crimson Peak (6.5/10; some very good stuff included, but it never really comes together for me)
7. Pacific Rim (6.5/10; decent enough, entertaining in most parts, but not my kind of movie necessarily)
8. Cronos (6/10; average - didn't particularly like or dislike it collectively)
9. Mimic (5/10; questionable characters/acting, but some cool moments and ideas)
10. Blade II (5/10; some really cool stuff here and there, but overall not my cup of tea)
@FoxRox, have you read this?
https://screenrant.com/spider-man-3-underrated/
It's really well thought out, and puts all three in very good perspective.
Last movie I've seen now is Inherent Vice (2014). Definitely the weakest and my least favorite of Paul Thomas Anderson's films, sadly. Didn't work for me. Just Boogie Nights remains before I've seen all his films.
Really good film that, @barryt007
Love the narration and the very flawed characters. Seen it a few times. Very underappreciated.
Btw, @FoxRox do you usually go through a director's catalog like you're doing now with del Toro and PTA? Or is it something you've just fallen into this once?
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Just back myself from RED SPARROW. Not excellent, but really solid stuff here. The narrative is well-paced, captivating throughout, and has just the right touch of the labyrinthine about it for a spy thriller. The film is quietly shot and framed well. JLaw is great as usual. Francis Lawrence gets solid performances from the supporting cast. All in all every bit as good as it looked from the trailer when I first saw it months ago, when I hadn't even heard of it. Disagree entirely with the stuffier critics who say it relies its violence as a gimmick and its sex as an enticement to ogle Lawrence. Each is earned and comes with cost.
Inherent Vice just didn't work for me. I never was able to get into the story I'm afraid, even though on paper it sounds interesting. Josh Brolin was probably my favorite part. Magnolia and Inherent Vice are the two PTA films that I couldn't appreciate like his other films; they didn't speak to me as well as his other works. Right now for me his work would go:
1. There Will Be Blood
2. The Master
3. Punch-Drunk Love
4. Phantom Thread
5. Hard Eight
6. Magnolia
7. Inherent Vice
Just have to watch Boogie Nights to figure out where that one will place.
I think you'll like it. For me it is his best prior to PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE.
You've never seen any movies with DDL in them before? Wow, how did that happen? (j/k, weird things happen, I know.) I agree about Vicky Krieps, I want to see more of her (I think I've seen only 2 other movies she's in, but in much smaller roles). I loved the movie, too.
Yes, that, too, but while physical attraction could be, affection isn't (and wasn't) based on physical attributes. Love goes far beyond that.
Distant how? Not caring what happened, or what do you mean? Just asking because "distant" is so, um, distant from my own experience. I felt very close to everything, and sort of like I was in Italy observing, and the movie as a whole felt like an embrace I won't be letting go of.
Oh? That's surprising. I'm curious to learn why, if you'd care to elaborate.
As for the peach scene, I thought it was exquisite. Absolutely beautifully done - both part 1 and part 2. I love them both.
(Many people only actually mean part 1, but part 2 is incredible, so many things in such a short time. It was great watching part 2 in a sold-out theatre, with some people anticipating and starting to giggle, then this really loud burst of laughter in the theatre at those first words, then bubbly laughter for a bit, and then, when the mood of the scene changed, audience suddenly going absolutely silent, like magic. Loved it.)
Guadagnino loves Bertolucci's work.
I don't remember if I've even seen that one.
I don't really understand "slow" as a description for this movie, since it seems like a negative attribute, and that's how it's usually used, but this would be ruined if it was "faster." (It could be even "slower" actually.) It needs time to breathe. A movie that needs to show much happening and a lot of turmoil, without a lot of action, and where people communicate a lot of their thoughts and inner world without words, has to provide space to allow that. And it needed to allow space for the attraction, desire, longing - along with all the confusion and conflicting emotions - to be seen and felt to make it work. Most movies don't handle that well at all, which is one reason why it so rarely seems real, but it did it here. (You might disagree on that, of course.)
Practically all scenes provided important information and details, developed the characters and moved the story along. Except maybe where they ask for water, but that was a nice oasis between two extremely important scenes with tension... the characters themselves probably needed... oh wait... *thinks* ...actually, I guess they needed that break and the water, and not just because it was hot, so that scene needed to be there, too, both for the audience and for the characters. As for editing... cutting away biking from between scenes (for instance) would have been just rushing. I liked the pace, it fit the dreamy, lazy summer that was essential to the story.
Talking of which, I agree about the cinematography being great, and it fit the movie perfectly. One would never have guessed that they had to deal with exceptionally rainy weeks while shooting the movie. I don't know how they still managed to shoot it pretty much in chronological order, a lot of it is outdoors.
Anyway, nice to hear that you kinda enjoyed the movie despite finding it "slow" and it making you "uncomfortable."
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Regarding Call Me By Your Name: I was intrigued by it because of some positive reviews and because I had heard good things about Hammer, an actor I have perhaps been harsh on in the past. I'm glad I watched it and enjoyed it overall. My point about 'slow' is for other viewers who may read my review. I don't want to mislead them about the pacing, which is far from brisk. The film takes its time, and that's a good thing in this instance. It has an old school flavour to it as a result. I didn't mean it as a negative.
Regarding the 'peach' scene, I just found it gratuitous & a bit odd. I'm not a prude by any means (after all, I quite enjoyed the pie shenanigans in American Pie and wasn't uncomfortable with that), so your question led me to consider what it was in particular about the scene which made me feel this way.
In terms of other scenes being uncomfortable
In terms of 'distant': I mean that I wasn't able to relate to the romance in the same way that I was in Phantom Thread for instance. While there was very little nudity or overt sexual references in the DDL film, I found I could connect with both Woodcock and Alma, and in particular the tenderness, tension, emotions, passions & love games between them. I couldn't quite do the same with Elio and Oliver. It was foreign to me in a way, as though I was observing it from afar rather than wholeheartedly absorbing and embracing it. It's difficult to explain. I'm not sure if that's on account of the direction or not. Visually Call Me By Your Name is the stronger film.
I don't want you to think I didn't like it. I thought it was very well done.
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PS: Regarding Stealing Beauty: I saw it many years ago and found it slow and boring. Then again, I was much younger. I might enjoy it a lot more now. It's basically Liv's character coming of age in Italy if I remember correctly (I had a huge crush on her and she was the main reason I sought it out). The soundtrack is first class.
@bondjames, did I mis-read, or did you say TPT was your first DDL film? You didn't see MY LEFT FOOT? IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER? AGE OF INNOCENCE? THE BOXER? THERE WILL BE BLOOD? GHANDI (I jest-- a blink and you missed it role)...
But, seriously, you've never seen DDL before this most recent release?
I will say I was impressed enough by him in Phantom Thread to want to see more of his films, so I have some discovering to do.
Grab MY LEFT FOOT, first... GANGS OF NEW YORK is surreal since he elevates everything about it, at the same time making DiCaprio (an actor I enjoy) and Cameron Diaz, appear as if they were in a kindergarten play.
Mine too.
@Birdleson Proud of you! It is an awesome movie and has a spot in my Top 10!
That might be the only Day-Lewis film I've seen that I didn't like actually.
I haven't checked it out. I wasn't interested initially because it looked so, so similar to THE BOOK OF THE DEAD (2014). I haven't checked specifically to see how alike it turned out to be in the end, but I've heard only rave reviews, so I should probably view it at some point.
Still need to give this a home viewing. I'm hoping it'll allow me to focus on the actual film itself instead of the experience of seeing it in IMAX.
Indeed...the character development is very very good,and you can feel the nervous energy around the town re the peodophile,especially the pool scene.
I was very pleasantly surprised by it,thoroughly enjoyed it.
Fantastic Four (2005)