What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[D Angelo Barksdale]

Just another last shout for those who frequent this thread that the vote for P&B's Top 100 films closes today, so get your votes in.

[yoda]

I think my top five for the year are (in no particular order):

Aftersun

Decision To Leave

Everything Everywhere All At Once

The Worst Person In The World 

The Banshees of Inisherin

[Detournement]

Vertigo (1958)

I've been rereading Lolita this week and noticed that on the first road trip they visit Mission Dolores near San Francisco where the vital scenes in Vertigo, which came out a couple of years later, take place. So I thought I'd rewatch Vertigo with Nabokov and Kubrick in mind. 

In Lolita Humbert claims Lolita is almost a reincarnation of his first child love Annabel and in Vertigo you have Jimmy Stewart's Scottie attempting to turn the slightly skanky Judy into the classy Madeline who he loved and lost. The subtext to all that is obviously Hitchcock trying to replace Grace Kelly with other blonde actresses after she ditched him to become a European royal. The stuff with Madeline being possessed by the painting of her old world grandmother seems to allude to the American aristo Grace desiring to become a real aristocrat. There is a constant fetish/theme around girls/women's clothes in both Lolita and Vertigo and having watched all the Kelly/Hitchcock films he obviously liked to dress her in black and white and it's noticeable that a very important scene in the film he has Kim Novak in black and white. 

A couple of other things I noticed for the first time are that when Scottie has undressed Madeline and is waiting for her to wake up he has a porn mag on the table in front of him and that the Maddie Ferguson character in Twin Peaks who is Laura's cousin/doppelganger derives her name from Vertigo. 

Rocco and his Brothers (1960)

 Simone in this has to be one of the biggest b*****ds in cinema history, in the second half of the film I felt genuine hatred for him every time he came on screen. I have to wonder if the actor took any flak for it in real life. 

It's the story of a southern peasant family who migrate to Milan to escape grinding poverty and struggle to assimilate and get by. Two of the brothers are boxers and the fight scenes are brilliant.

Mirror (1975)

Scenes from the life of a Russian family before during and after WW2. It's non linear in a way that obviously inspired Terence Malick in his later films. It's not exactly a thriller but it looks beautiful and was an enjoyable watch with a few glasses of wine in me.

Edited December 31, 2022 by Detournement

[BFTD]

Argo (Blu-Ray) - I've seen it before, but my maw hadn't. Still a gripping thriller that's worth seeing without knowing the real-life details, which come as a bit of a surprise.

Winchester (Blu-Ray) - Helen Mirren is the heiress to the Winchester gun company, most famous in real life for building a bizarre house with nonsensical geometry. The other board members attempt to have her removed by bribing a laudanum-addled doctor (the lad who played John Connor in that shit Genisys film) to claim she's not of sound mind, but he witnesses spooky happenings during his visit.

Like The Nun, just the absolute nadir of the modern horror film. Bit of potential in the actual story for an interesting film, and this has all the trapping of a chilling ghost story, but is only interested in being your absolute bog-standard generic festival of jumpscares, with very little of interest going on otherwise.

Paranormal Activity 4 (Blu-Ray) - aka The One With The Haunted Kinect.

I quite liked these films, but they were completely dry on ideas by this point. Very dull and with a very tired "twist" that doesn't make a lick of sense.

[MSU]

Well, I did it. I documented every fucking movie I saw in 2022. Been an interesting wee journey, and I've enjoyed reading all the comments and recommendations and stuff on this cracking thread.

So to close out 2022, I have:

170 Climax (#77 in the A24 series) I expected a difficult watch given it's Gasper Noe and all, and that's what I got, but it was for different reasons than, say, Irreversible. The thing that kept frustrating me was I hated everyone in it, dancers are really boring, I didn't care what happened. Technically, it's pretty impressive but that didn't make it any less of a slog to get through. Most positive thing I can say is I'm glad it's over. 5/10

171 Babylon -- Finally, after expecting The Fabelmans or Empire of Light to be a love letter to cinema and being wholly disappointed to find that they weren't, at the third time of asking, this is it. This is the love letter to cinema that I'd wanted. But it's a case of being careful what you wish for, because this love letter is from an abusive former partner and it might also be a suicide note. A debauched rollercoaster ride through the early days of Hollywood and the transition into talkies proves to be uneasy for Brad Pitt and a captivating Margot Robbie and her glorious side-boobs. There's quite a bit of Paul Thomas Anderson in Damien Chazelle's story and direction. Most obviously it tips its hat in the direction of Boogie Nights, but there's some Licorice Pizza in there in some of the rarer quieter moments, and there's a confidence in the quirkiness that I rather admired. Mesmerizing stuff. 9/10

172 The Whale (#128 in the A24 series) I'm a bit of a sucker for Darren Aronofsky. Brendan Fraser plays Charlie, a 600lb English teacher who can no longer leave his home and who is given a week to live by his part-time carer and nurse. During this time, he tries to reconnect with his daughter, reconcile with his ex-wife, and allow himself to grieve for the loss of his boyfriend, and gradually explain the significance of a poorly, but honestly, written review of Moby Dick. Based on a play, it's confined mostly to one room in a house, and is in 4:3 ratio to make it that bit more obvious that the house is Charlie's grave. The ending destroyed me. 9/10

173 Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody -- Hoo boy. Bad musical biopics tend to be really bad, and this one absolutely honks. Rather than find a narrative thread through Whitney's life, or focus on one pivotal moment, the movie blusters through her life from one IMPORTANT MOMENT to the next, with no connection to what came before or lead into what happens next. People, usually Stanley Tucci, burst into rooms to announce, Hey Whitney, they want you to sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. Hey Whitney, you're about to break The Beatles' record for consecutive number ones. Hey Whitney, Kevin Costner's on the phone. Naomi Ackie's portrayal of Whitney is so bereft of charisma and presence as she' mimes to genuine performances, and about the only interesting thing the movie gives us is the realization that the whole package needs to be in sync for it to work. Someone who looks a bit like Whitney, who moves a bit like Whitney, but who can't be Whitney just doesn't convince. And once you spot that Bobby Brown's gap between his teeth is pencilled in, you can't unsee it. 3/10

Happy New Year, folks!

[accies1874]

Here goes for the final 2022 films...

248. Nanny (2022)* - Prime

A non-white woman emigrates to the west to work as a nanny for the child of two middle class white assholes. This and Nocebo must have been in a race to get released first as seeing the latter just a couple of weeks ago made me feel like Nanny is just a re-tread of a bunch of different ideas we’ve seen before with some attempts at being a psychological horror almost exclusively through dream sequences.

249. My Old School (2022)* - BBC Scotland

A lot of folk on here will remember the subject of this documentary at the time, but I only saw a trailer for it a few months ago and found that interesting yet never bothered watching until I saw it was on TV just before Christmas. The first thing I’ll say is that the decision to use Alan Cumming as a talking head whose voice was dubbed over by the doc’s subject just didn’t work for me. It was a decision that screamed “look, we’ve got Alan Cumming!” and an opportunity for Cumming to do something a bit different without consideration for how it would affect the tone of the film. It diverts attention from the interviewee and onto a performance which is completely unnecessary and lessened the legitimacy of his recounts. I also realised maybe halfway through that the editing for his talking head sections were rigid in following the same two-camera editing pattern. However, I was pleased they chose to use animation rather than crappy live action recreations, and while the animation’s nothing groundbreaking, it does give off that youthful, school nostalgia vibe which worked well with the whole framing device of the film.

The story itself makes for an interesting news story, however it doesn’t have enough depth to stretch across 1hr45m. I quite liked the idea of adults reflecting on their school lives and how knowledge of an experience being built on a lie affects said experience. There were two interviewees in particular who were by far the most interesting to focus on from this perspective and they were handled as appropriately as possible. Tbh, the first act was all about how this character weaved through all these people’s adolescence to the point where it might as well have been metaphorical – I even wondered if there was even a story to tell beyond this guy being mysterious. Once that mystery began to unravel, though, I thought the film became much weaker. 

Reading some reviews – which seem to be v favourable – it is interesting how, despite there being a consensus of praise, people find different things within it. Some are on board with the subject and find it an enjoyable experience, some find the film to be a character study of someone very off-putting. Thought that was quite interesting. 

250. The Feast (2022)* - Digital Rental

I thought this was excellent, even if I’ve still not fully got my head around it, although I was left a bit disappointed that I didn’t manage to catch it in the cinema as that would’ve likely enhanced my appreciation. It’s an excellently paced, moody, slow-burn horror with at least two scenes that made me look away and an atmosphere which starts off pretty unsettling but then descends into a complete nightmare. Visually, it’s absolutely class. There are a few slow transitions which blend images in adjacent scenes to make something really cool – not something I’ve seen much of, if at all – and a lot of cool and creepy symmetrical shots. The way they shot the dinner scenes was just perfect too: lit, framed and blocked purposefully and gorgeously. That’s all necessary as it’s very light on dialogue with a main character (of sorts) who doesn’t speak her first line until 20 minutes in and doesn’t have many thereafter, although I was a big fan of the sound design, especially when it establishes nature stuff like birds and the wind and then pierces through that with man-made designs. 

251. White Noise (2022)* - Netflix

Wow this is a bit of a ride. It starts off as a boring and irritating family drama, then goes into a (imo) very funny disaster movie, then back to the drama before capping things off with a neo noir. There’s actually a comment on what I presume to be life after the pandemic which I’ve found to be the best COVID-related film so far, and the first half also depicts a really accurate visual representation of Twitter and the internet in general (despite being set in 1984) – the latter is when it’s at its best. I think I might need to watch again as there could be quite an interesting representation of simply being overwhelmed in a life where you don’t really have a clue, but I found the jarring narrative/tonal shifts and aloofness of it all to be a bit tough to sit through first time around.

252. Prayers for the Stolen (2022)* - MUBI

Interesting film about a life dominated by the Mexican cartel through the eyes of three young girls who become young teenagers in the second half. It’s impressive how lingering the whole thing is, letting serenity take over and just appreciating the small moments in these girls’ lives which both act as nondescript seminal moments and a respite from the horrors of their surroundings. Those surroundings aren’t always the direct focus of the film, but they’re still felt throughout in every single character who has to survive in such a toxic environment. Calling it bittersweet would be underplaying things, but would give you a sense of how it plays out. 

253. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)* - DVD

Rounding off the year with an all-time favourite.

Don’t really know how to sum it up other than saying that it uses the conventions of cinema and twists them to create a wonderfully inventive encapsulation of a break-up. Its non-linear (but still technically linear) narrative is obviously a clever way at letting us inside Joel’s mind as he runs over the relationship once it’s gone, but that structure also means that it, unconventionally, doesn’t let us see them as a couple prior to the breakup; it’s front-loaded with showing the couple at their end, so we see no reason for them to be together as they’re just at each other’s throats constantly. However, that makes it all the more special as we go further into his mind and see the relationship blossom in reverse which I suppose is kind of depressing but also hopeful. It’s that sort of film.

[accies1874]

So that's it. 253 across the year, 186 for the first time, 62 new releases and 39 trips to the cinema (both most I've done). Definitely won't be doing this for every film in 2023, but it was definitely a fun venture. 

[accies1874]

19 hours ago, yoda said:

I think my top five for the year are (in no particular order):

Aftersun

Decision To Leave

Everything Everywhere All At Once

The Worst Person In The World 

The Banshees of Inisherin

Aftersun, We're All Going to the World's Fair, Hit the Road, Red Rocket and Amulet are pretty secured as my five faves, but I'm gonna rewatch a few different ones over the next few days to see if anything else sneaks in (or out). 

6 hours ago, MSU said:

Well, I did it. I documented every fucking movie I saw in 2022. Been an interesting wee journey, and I've enjoyed reading all the comments and recommendations and stuff on this cracking thread.

So to close out 2022, I have:

170 Climax (#77 in the A24 series) I expected a difficult watch given it's Gasper Noe and all, and that's what I got, but it was for different reasons than, say, Irreversible. The thing that kept frustrating me was I hated everyone in it, dancers are really boring, I didn't care what happened. Technically, it's pretty impressive but that didn't make it any less of a slog to get through. Most positive thing I can say is I'm glad it's over. 5/10

171 Babylon -- Finally, after expecting The Fabelmans or Empire of Light to be a love letter to cinema and being wholly disappointed to find that they weren't, at the third time of asking, this is it. This is the love letter to cinema that I'd wanted. But it's a case of being careful what you wish for, because this love letter is from an abusive former partner and it might also be a suicide note. A debauched rollercoaster ride through the early days of Hollywood and the transition into talkies proves to be uneasy for Brad Pitt and a captivating Margot Robbie and her glorious side-boobs. There's quite a bit of Paul Thomas Anderson in Damien Chazelle's story and direction. Most obviously it tips its hat in the direction of Boogie Nights, but there's some Licorice Pizza in there in some of the rarer quieter moments, and there's a confidence in the quirkiness that I rather admired. Mesmerizing stuff. 9/10

172 The Whale (#128 in the A24 series) I'm a bit of a sucker for Darren Aronofsky. Brendan Fraser plays Charlie, a 600lb English teacher who can no longer leave his home and who is given a week to live by his part-time carer and nurse. During this time, he tries to reconnect with his daughter, reconcile with his ex-wife, and allow himself to grieve for the loss of his boyfriend, and gradually explain the significance of a poorly, but honestly, written review of Moby Dick. Based on a play, it's confined mostly to one room in a house, and is in 4:3 ratio to make it that bit more obvious that the house is Charlie's grave. The ending destroyed me. 9/10

173 Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody -- Hoo boy. Bad musical biopics tend to be really bad, and this one absolutely honks. Rather than find a narrative thread through Whitney's life, or focus on one pivotal moment, the movie blusters through her life from one IMPORTANT MOMENT to the next, with no connection to what came before or lead into what happens next. People, usually Stanley Tucci, burst into rooms to announce, Hey Whitney, they want you to sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. Hey Whitney, you're about to break The Beatles' record for consecutive number ones. Hey Whitney, Kevin Costner's on the phone. Naomi Ackie's portrayal of Whitney is so bereft of charisma and presence as she' mimes to genuine performances, and about the only interesting thing the movie gives us is the realization that the whole package needs to be in sync for it to work. Someone who looks a bit like Whitney, who moves a bit like Whitney, but who can't be Whitney just doesn't convince. And once you spot that Bobby Brown's gap between his teeth is pencilled in, you can't unsee it. 3/10

Happy New Year, folks!

Shame you had to end the year with such a stinker - although I don't have any sympathy with you choosing that - but it's been good fun reading your highs and lows of the year. Made me feel like I wasn't completely insane doing this. 

[Scotty Tunbridge]

6 hours ago, MSU said:

173 Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody -- Hoo boy. Bad musical biopics tend to be really bad, and this one absolutely honks. Rather than find a narrative thread through Whitney's life, or focus on one pivotal moment, the movie blusters through her life from one IMPORTANT MOMENT to the next, with no connection to what came before or lead into what happens next. People, usually Stanley Tucci, burst into rooms to announce, Hey Whitney, they want you to sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. Hey Whitney, you're about to break The Beatles' record for consecutive number ones. Hey Whitney, Kevin Costner's on the phone. Naomi Ackie's portrayal of Whitney is so bereft of charisma and presence as she' mimes to genuine performances, and about the only interesting thing the movie gives us is the realization that the whole package needs to be in sync for it to work. Someone who looks a bit like Whitney, who moves a bit like Whitney, but who can't be Whitney just doesn't convince. And once you spot that Bobby Brown's gap between his teeth is pencilled in, you can't unsee it. 3/10

I went to see this on Boxing Day to get out the house for a bit and agree with this. As I was watching it I was thinking this seems to be going at 100mph and not in a good way.

These biopics all seem to follow the same pattern as well so I’m getting a bit bored with them, I don’t know if that’s because all musicians life’s are broadly similar but they all go along the lines off:-

humblish upbringing, get discovered, hit the top, drugs, friends/family/manager rinse them for money, redemption, death (if applicable).

Edited January 1, 2023 by Scotty Tunbridge

[tongue_tied_danny]

The Many Saints of Newark.

I'm not particularly a fan of The Sopranos but I thought that I'd give this a go.

It's the epitome of "meh". Some decent acting and some of the scenes of the race riots were well done but overall it wasn't all that interesting.

One for Sopranos fans only I think.

6/10

[Ewanandmoreagain]

 

No Time to Die - formulaic , silly to start                                   with.

Not too subtle , then improved with Madeline reappearing as Blofeld's only in person contact with the outside world , until .....

Ending more emotional than OHMSS !

( Atlantic Road looks amazing )

Edited January 1, 2023 by Ewanandmoreagain

[Clown Job]

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) Netflix

The story 3 young German teenagers who enlist in the German army and are deployed to western France in the final year of WW1 

Not really much to say except its an absolutely superb film. Way beyond my expectations and just highted some of the horrors of WW1.

Would highly recommend, although it is in German.  

[scottsdad]

Interstellar (2014)

Interesting to begin with, but too long, boring and the end was a big anticlimax. 

[MSU]

Might as well log 2023 then. Kicking it off with a cheery wee number.

001 -- All Quiet on the Western Front (2022). Having recently watched the 1930 version, I was in no hurry to see a pointless remake, but it turns out this is neither pointless nor really a remake. The broad brushstrokes are roughly the same as it documents the horrors of trench warfare and the futility of it through the eyes initially enthusiastic young men desperate to give their lives for their country, but the emphasis is largely different. We skip a lot of the "you owe it to the Fatherland" stuff at the start and we see more of the war from the perspective of those making the orders, not just those following them, and as a German production in the German language, it feels more authentic. 8/10

[DrewDon]

Finally caught Aftersun tonight. 

Wow. Just wow. 

[DA Baracus]

On 02/01/2023 at 00:45, scottsdad said:

Interstellar (2014)

Interesting to begin with, but too long, boring and the end was a big anticlimax. 

I used to think you were a decent poster.

[JustOneCornetto]

On 31/12/2022 at 16:03, Detournement said:

Vertigo (1958)

I've been rereading Lolita this week and noticed that on the first road trip they visit Mission Dolores near San Francisco where the vital scenes in Vertigo, which came out a couple of years later, take place. So I thought I'd rewatch Vertigo with Nabokov and Kubrick in mind. 

In Lolita Humbert claims Lolita is almost a reincarnation of his first child love Annabel and in Vertigo you have Jimmy Stewart's Scottie attempting to turn the slightly skanky Judy into the classy Madeline who he loved and lost. The subtext to all that is obviously Hitchcock trying to replace Grace Kelly with other blonde actresses after she ditched him to become a European royal. The stuff with Madeline being possessed by the painting of her old world grandmother seems to allude to the American aristo Grace desiring to become a real aristocrat. There is a constant fetish/theme around girls/women's clothes in both Lolita and Vertigo and having watched all the Kelly/Hitchcock films he obviously liked to dress her in black and white and it's noticeable that a very important scene in the film he has Kim Novak in black and white. 

A couple of other things I noticed for the first time are that when Scottie has undressed Madeline and is waiting for her to wake up he has a porn mag on the table in front of him and that the Maddie Ferguson character in Twin Peaks who is Laura's cousin/doppelganger derives her name from Vertigo. 

 

Yeah Lynch likes to reference his favourite films in his work, as well as Vertigo other films like The Wizard of Oz, Sunset Boulevard (his character in TP, Gordon Cole) and 8 1/2 which is heavy on dream reality, can be seen throughout Twin Peaks and some of his films. Hadn't spotted the Maddie Ferguson one before.

[Stellaboz]

On Hogmanay watched Avatar 2. 

 

5/10 

Very boring plot and the ending, despite being exciting, had so much nonsensical conclusions. 

Visually awesome aye, but so are Lisa Ann films in their own way. 

Basically, big ass war happens and main guy shites it and runs off. H

[UpInTheAyr]

The Menu on Disney Plus. 

Honestly, can't remember the last time I enjoyed a movie as much as this. Best to go into it knowing nothing about it but its full of great surprises, build up, and hilarious quips by Ralph Fiennes. Gem of a film.. 

 

[Ewanandmoreagain]

Five Fingers ( and Operation Cicero )

Two films about the Albanian spy in the British Embassy during World War two.

Both embellish the " truth " , the latter more so.

James Mason is very good in places in the former and the film is quite exciting at the end.

The latter is Turkish dubbed English. I do not see why , if the German diplomat was murdered in Turkey , the Turks would be suspected rather than the Allies. The romance between Cicero and                      did not happen