Movie News, Reviews, and Discussion Super-Thread

[I'm a Puppy!]

 

Holy god Steven. WTF were you thinking?

[Skullfuckers Anonymous]

Hey, that 7th house isn't going to buy itself.

[ToxicAdam]

It's pretty important that you are completely fucked up when watching Meet the Feebles.

'Head of the Family' is another one of my favorites from that era. Comedy-Horror:
 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116503/

[etiolate]

I forgot how shitty the lighting is in Feebles. It's like every puppet cost them three lightbulbs in exchange.

I first saw Meet the Feebles at a b-movie fest that used to run in this town. They'd show b-movies and cult classics with festival fair attitude and costume parties. It got derailed when they built the new arena and kicked out anything that scared old rich people.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

It's only going to get worse
https://www.avclub.com/spielbergs-next-film-might-be-indiana-jones-5-as-if-we-1822280407

[Positive Touch]

holy fuck bp was the best super hero movie ever god damn

i never see a movie twice in theater but i will definitely watch that again

[bluemax]

Is that the woman from Blade Runner in RPO? Is she now typecast as evil henchwoman for life?

[toku]

That he's out of touch and might as well make a meme movie.

I wouldn't say he's out of touch man, he's always been a bit of a broad strokes kind of filmmaker. This is just the era we live in now, one where the quickest way to most people's heart is through referencing other pieces of pop culture.

[Tasty]

Black Panther

Pretty great. I'd put it on the same level as Iron Man, Ant-Man, and Dr. Strange as far as origin stories go. Falls into those movies' trap of "the villain is like the hero but with his own version of the hero's suit/powerset." Very entertaining, but also pretty predictable for vast swaths of the running time.

4 / 5

[Tasty]

PS- Michael B. Jordan can get it in this movie, god damn.

[Momo]

Black Panther

Pretty great. I'd put it on the same level as Iron Man, Ant-Man, and Dr. Strange as far as origin stories go. Falls into those movies' trap of "the villain is like the hero but with his own version of the hero's suit/powerset." Very entertaining, but also pretty predictable for vast swaths of the running time.

4 / 5

I hated those three movies

[seagrams hotsauce]

Spielberg being 'in touch' with anything is a joke. He's directed a shitload of passable but incredibly boring movies I'd never watch again. Out of the shit he's directed in the last two decades, Munich is the only thing I've ever wanted to rewatch, and the shit he puts his name on as a producer is embarrassing.

[TVC15]

Spielberg was all downhill from Raiders.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

mother! is certainly up there as the ballsiest big studio release in recent years, if nothing else.

Hostiles is a well intentioned, sterlingly performed, beautifully shot mediocrity. Such a shame, as westerns are so rare anymore one feels tempted to grade on a curve, but its overwhelming self-seriousness (veering into pretension) and way overlong running time obliterated that feeling for me. Also. its narrative blatently contradicts its good intentions (racism is bad, mm-kay). What are you left with then, other than a sincerly pantomimed and interminable whiff. Such a shame.

And if you had told me I'd prefer the Gerald Butler and 50 Cent starring Den of Thieves by a large margin to the ambitious Christian Bale western, I would have thought that to be a dubious proposition, but here we are. Its a dumb movie that successfully played against my expectations of a what a dumb crime drama would be about. It too has a relaxed pace and a frquently discursive plot, but actually remembers its supposed to be entertaining. Hell, Gerald Butler actually gets to deliver an ultra rare good performance (yeah, I know, I was surprised too) as the quite authentically grizzled detective leading the chase on this junior varsity redo of Micheal Mann's Heat. But hey, being dumb isn't the same thing as being bad, and having a pair of great shootouts and enjoyably pulpy sense of everything helps boost the entertainment value considerably. I risk overpraising what is only a moderately good film, but yeah, I'm giving a soft reccomendation for it.

[Tasty]

Black Panther

Pretty great. I'd put it on the same level as Iron Man, Ant-Man, and Dr. Strange as far as origin stories go. Falls into those movies' trap of "the villain is like the hero but with his own version of the hero's suit/powerset." Very entertaining, but also pretty predictable for vast swaths of the running time.

4 / 5

I hated those three movies

Maybe the African kitsch will put it on top for you, personally it didn't do much for me so the movie was just a nice little origin tale.

I expected Ant-Man and Dr. Strange to be very mediocre but came away pleasantly surprised, I had slightly higher hopes for BP and it exceeded them in the same way.

[Assimilate]

Dr. Strange, Thor:ragnarok are the epitome of garbage.  It's at the point where it's just a fucking joke, and they know it.These are getting to be Uwe Boll movies. Which is fine if it weren't for these menchilds defending it with their lives.

When your movie going experience started with marvel flicks, and it's all you know you kinda have a hard time realizing what is or is not crap.

I don't agree with him using Wonder Woman as an example but this guy is spot on.

[benjipwns]

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called Black Panther, "a jolt of a movie" and said "in its emphasis on black imagination, creation and liberation, the movie becomes an emblem of a past that was denied and a future that feels very present. And in doing so opens up its world, and yours, beautifully."

Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said, "With dialogue that deftly explores serious questions, such as how much if anything do wealthy countries owe the poor and oppressed of the world, Black Panther draws energy from Coogler's sense of excitement at all he's attempting. The result is a superhero movie that's worth seeing twice, and that is a rare sighting indeed."

Richard Roeper writing for the Chicago Sun-Times called the film "one of the best superhero movies of the century" and said, "If you appreciate finely honed storytelling with a Shakespearean core; winning performances from an enormously talented ensemble; provocative premises touching on isolationism, revolution and cultures of oppression, and oh yeah, tons of whiz-bang action sequences and good humor – then you should see Black Panther."

Natasha Alford of The Grio said, "Black Panther is remarkable because this film is a movement, a revolution in progress, and a joy to experience all wrapped into one" and called it "a master class in what it means to be proud of who you are, where you have been and where you and your people are going."

Jamie Broadnax of Black Girl Nerds said Marvel "created a masterpiece with Black Panther" adding, "it's afro-futuristic and Blackity-black as hell. It's everything I've ever desired in a live-action version of this popular superhero and yet so much more. Quite frankly, the experience is indescribable."

dad annihilated for telling me to read a real book that one time last millennium

[BlueTsunami]

Best part of Black Panther was Killmonger and Okoye. Having slept on it I feel the film would have been a pretty standard MCU film if not for the heft of Killmongers origins, his grey morality and the great acting from the actress playing Okoye.

Also loved the way Michael B. Jordan played Killmonger. He came off as genuinely cool, fierce, and most importantly sympathetic. Now thats a villain

[Tasty]

Yeah Killmonger was great.

[HardcoreRetro]

The Shape of Water? More like the Shape of Diarrhea.

[Great Rumbler]

 

Makes Hook look like Raiders.

[BlueTsunami]

CAN LOVE BLOSSOM IN THE VR WORLD?

I hope we see that entire inspiring speech from the perspective of his slum sized 10x10' sleeping area. Just him yelling into the empty space, goggles firmly secure.

[TVC15]

CAN LOVE BLOSSOM IN THE VR WORLD?

I hope we see that entire inspiring speech from the perspective of his slum sized 10x10' sleeping area. Just him yelling into the empty space, goggles firmly secure.

obligatory

[toku]

I hope we see that entire inspiring speech from the perspective of his slum sized 10x10' sleeping area. Just him yelling into the empty space, goggles firmly secure.

[BlueTsunami]

I need to memorize that monologue so I can make a scene in Best Buys cellphone area. And I now need to watch Johnny Mnemonic again

[bork]

Black Panther

Pretty great. I'd put it on the same level as Iron Man, Ant-Man, and Dr. Strange as far as origin stories go. Falls into those movies' trap of "the villain is like the hero but with his own version of the hero's suit/powerset." Very entertaining, but also pretty predictable for vast swaths of the running time.

4 / 5

Pretty much exactly how I felt about this.  Enjoyed it and I also like the Marvel movies that stay away from all the Infinite stone stuff...although funnily enough they totally could have shoehorned one in as the reason why Wakanda was able to power itself or something.

Also loved the way Michael B. Jordan played Killmonger. He came off as genuinely cool, fierce, and most importantly sympathetic. Now thats a villain

He did a great job, although the only thing I didn't like was that he came off a little too "gangsta" at times with the way he spoke.  I wouldn't expect that from a highly-trained black ops assassin.

[TVC15]

The Shape of Water? More like the Shape of Diarrhea.

I expected more, but I still liked it and think it’s Guillermo’s best since Pan’s (there’s really not much competition. It’s very well put together/directed and looks amazing. The colors in the movie are so amazing. It’s the best looking movie of last year, I think.

I think my two issues are:

1) Considering the running time, not much time is given to the actual development of the relationship between Eliza and Fishdick. It seems to happen pretty suddenly. I guess another Eliza issue is, uh, the government was really lax about who had access to Fishdick. Why did the Russians even need to install a spy when they could have just paid off the disgruntled cleaning staff?

2) we should have seen the dick. (Really, I did have a second issue but it slipped my mind.)

[BlueTsunami]

The drunk call in Sideways Holy fuck that is cringe in pill form ugh

[Optimus]

Dr. Strange, Thor:ragnarok are the epitome of garbage.  It's at the point where it's just a fucking joke, and they know it.These are getting to be Uwe Boll movies. Which is fine if it weren't for these menchilds defending it with their lives.

When your movie going experience started with marvel flicks, and it's all you know you kinda have a hard time realizing what is or is not crap.

I don't agree with him using Wonder Woman as an example but this guy is spot on.

I loved the video until the Wonderwoman part because of this: "If you're movie is sincere enough it's not cheesy"

No, if the movie is sincere and good enough it's not cheesy. Wonderwoman is another superhero product with boring one-dimensional characters and a typical and predictable story. Marvel recognizes most of their products fall into the aforementioned description and uses "bathos" to counteract the effects of their movies' crappiness. Admittedly WW isn't as bad as most Marvel crap but it's still mediocre.

[Stoney Mason]

Watched the The Disaster Artist.

So its good but its honestly good in the way that something like Trekkies is good. It's good for the niche of people who are interested in that thing that the movie is covering. And since I fall into that group who likes bad movies and the room then I mostly enjoy it. But if you're not specifically in that niche, I don't think this movie is the type of movie that would overly interest people.

All my laughs are basically at James Franco doing his wiseau character and that is indeed funny but that would be funny in any context in any movie like say Napoleon Dynamite or Borat. It's funny because he's such an absurd fish out of water character. Not because I think this movie is executed in an amazing way. It's an average movie with a super good character in the lead role that elevates it.

And that is fine. It's just not maybe at the level of the hype machine it kind of generated had led me to believe. It ain't no oscar movie.

[ToxicAdam]

Spielberg was all downhill from Raiders.

I tried to watch Temple of Doom yesterday with my kid and it was AWFUL. i used to think it had a strong opening and a bad ending, but the entire club scene through the airplane crash is pretty awful. It's like bad slapstick.

[team filler]

That dumb biaaaaaaaaaaatch screaming nonstop, it's unwatchable.

[Assimilate]

Dr. Strange, Thor:ragnarok are the epitome of garbage.  It's at the point where it's just a fucking joke, and they know it.These are getting to be Uwe Boll movies. Which is fine if it weren't for these menchilds defending it with their lives.

When your movie going experience started with marvel flicks, and it's all you know you kinda have a hard time realizing what is or is not crap.

I don't agree with him using Wonder Woman as an example but this guy is spot on.

I loved the video until the Wonderwoman part because of this: "If you're movie is sincere enough it's not cheesy"

No, if the movie is sincere and good enough it's not cheesy. Wonderwoman is another superhero product with boring one-dimensional characters and a typical and predictable story. Marvel recognizes most of their products fall into the aforementioned description and uses "bathos" to counteract the effects of their movies' crappiness. Admittedly WW isn't as bad as most Marvel crap but it's still mediocre.

I agree. I thought WW was sincere but it was still another dumb comic book superhero movie. The video is excellent though and it does a great job illustrating how Marvel does not give a fuck anymore. They know this generation is filled with manchilds that have no idea what makes a good movie so they don't even worry about that demographic anymore. Their main purpose is to obtain that young audience and keep the cash flowing. They don't even spend money on the CGI anymore 



Darkest Hour- i thought it was ok but not 'dark' enough. It got a bit silly at parts, with the shouting, and then that stupid train ride. Overall, Oldman deserves an Oscar.

[Let's Cyber]

Black Panther is really good. Probably in the top 3 for Marvel movies for me.

[VomKriege]

Watched Gerald's Game which Jay from RLM liked a lot. The writing, direction and performances (Excellent work on Gugino's makeup and her physical decay) are good enough to hold up a very limited premise and keep it engaging. It has some genuine gross parts witout getting too over the top. I'm not sure with the last 15mn or so, it suddenly gets very convoluted (In a Stephen King way) and needlessly explicit without adding much value to the story. It was perfectly fine as a 90mn feature with some ambiguous fantastical elements till then. It's tightly made but the color grading was average, it's a tad below par of what I'd expect from a film.

Also watched Bright. Beyond the fact it's really weird to just superimpose fantasy racial tensions to real life tensions and in Los Angeles of all places (and having the black lead sort of act the low key racist), it was OK, I guess. It's a serviceable action flick (though no sequence is really worthy of being written to home about) thanks to how committed they were to making it a non-stop chase, which surprised me. The premise has some neat stuff (the wand works pretty well in that regard) but ultimately any pretense of really exploring it goes by the window. The villain has no backstory (I love Noomi Rapace and sure she's maybe not the actress with most range, but she does nothing besides looking elvish) and some of the plot points are handled messily/lazily. As a result it ends on a whimper in an artificial manner. Smith and Edgerton are indeed a lot of the work to make the thing watchable.

[Nintex]

Watched Sicario again, RIP Johann Johannson

This movie is incredible. The cinematography is top notch, the music basically perfect, the acting by Benecio and Blunt is second to none.
Despite this movie being fairly high rated, I still feel it is an underrated gem.

[Bebpo]

Best part of Black Panther was Killmonger and Okoye. Having slept on it I feel the film would have been a pretty standard MCU film if not for the heft of Killmongers origins, his grey morality and the great acting from the actress playing Okoye.

Also loved the way Michael B. Jordan played Killmonger. He came off as genuinely cool, fierce, and most importantly sympathetic. Now thats a villain

Just saw Black Panther and it was a really fucking solid origin film. Michael B. Jordan nailed the Killmonger role,

that being said I didn't feel the bolded at all. His character was a fucking evil psychopath murderer. Yeah he had a hard childhood, wah wah wah, fuck him. If anything his character was underdeveloped and maybe a longer film with more morality to him would've made me care more. He was a great evil villain, the end for me. Ok, I can kinda back down on that a bit and say he's sympathetic to his causes and his character's frustration with wakanda and its isolationism in the face of minority oppression, but he's just way too cold blooded a killer for me to feel any empathy. Dude kills so many fucking people in cold blood. I think maybe if they made him a little less brutal and didn't kill so many people I'd find him more grey area, but he's way past any line in moral actions.

I prefer Black Panther/Bossman's grey morality. One of the reason why I liked BP in the comics (probably my 2nd favorite Marvel comic characters behind Wolverine) is that him and his Dora Milaje do what's necessary and have no qualms killing people who need killing. T'Challa as a character is smart, regal, honorable, badass, and good. Now probably the weakest link of this Black Panther film was that T'Challa in the movie isn't at that point yet because this is essentially an origin film and he's still unsure and finding his way. It's a good film, the set design is fucking stellar, the supporting cast is all great and Bossman does a good job. Some nice action sequences too, but I think T'Challa as a character shines the most post-origin when he's running on 100% confidence and suave (kinda like what Michael B. Jordan is doing in this film). So hopefully we'll get that kind of a T'Challa in Black Panther 2 or Infinity War.

Also, felt the movie was pretty authentic to the source material. Could see bits and pieces of the Priest run in different parts. Only thing that kinda bummed me out was

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Killing off Zuri. Whitaker was perfect for the role, and would've liked to have seen him get more of his comedic-side in BP2; in the Priest run Zuri is really funny, especially as a counterpart to Ross. Whitaker/Freeman combo would've been nice, but oh well. The rest was handled great. They even fixed the horribly racist Man Ape character and made him awesome here.

[close]

[Optimus]

I agree. I thought WW was sincere but it was still another dumb comic book superhero movie. The video is excellent though and it does a great job illustrating how Marvel does not give a fuck anymore. They know this generation is filled with manchilds that have no idea what makes a good movie so they don't even worry about that demographic anymore. Their main purpose is to obtain that young audience and keep the cash flowing. They don't even spend money on the CGI anymore 

They have been completely Disney-fied. Notice how they're slowly starting to use the same recipe on Star Wars too? This imo goes way back before Whedon, what ruined Disney imo was Pirates of the Caribbean. They saw a recipe there of making dumb action movie franchises sprinkled with some comedic elements where you won't have to worry about quality because you can hide the trash with comedy so if the audience starts to realize what a dumb piece of shit the movie is you can say: "See? We're in on the joke! Don't take this shit seriously"

[Assimilate]

I agree. I thought WW was sincere but it was still another dumb comic book superhero movie. The video is excellent though and it does a great job illustrating how Marvel does not give a fuck anymore. They know this generation is filled with manchilds that have no idea what makes a good movie so they don't even worry about that demographic anymore. Their main purpose is to obtain that young audience and keep the cash flowing. They don't even spend money on the CGI anymore 

They have been completely Disney-fied. Notice how they're slowly starting to use the same recipe on Star Wars too? This imo goes way back before Whedon, what ruined Disney imo was Pirates of the Caribbean. They saw a recipe there of making dumb action movie franchises sprinkled with some comedic elements where you won't have to worry about quality because you can hide the trash with comedy so if the audience starts to realize what a dumb piece of shit the movie is you can say: "See? We're in on the joke! Don't take this shit seriously"

You're right and i did enjoy the first pirates a lot. It seemed pretty fresh at that time but corporations will do what corporations do and they sucked that formula dry. I can't believe it's still going though.

How are people legitimately still enjoying these things?

[Optimus]

I agree. I thought WW was sincere but it was still another dumb comic book superhero movie. The video is excellent though and it does a great job illustrating how Marvel does not give a fuck anymore. They know this generation is filled with manchilds that have no idea what makes a good movie so they don't even worry about that demographic anymore. Their main purpose is to obtain that young audience and keep the cash flowing. They don't even spend money on the CGI anymore 

They have been completely Disney-fied. Notice how they're slowly starting to use the same recipe on Star Wars too? This imo goes way back before Whedon, what ruined Disney imo was Pirates of the Caribbean. They saw a recipe there of making dumb action movie franchises sprinkled with some comedic elements where you won't have to worry about quality because you can hide the trash with comedy so if the audience starts to realize what a dumb piece of shit the movie is you can say: "See? We're in on the joke! Don't take this shit seriously"

You're right and i did enjoy the first pirates a lot. It seemed pretty fresh at that time but corporations will do what corporations do and they sucked that formula dry. I can't believe it's still going though.

How are people legitimately still enjoying these things?

Corporations always find the lowest common denominator so mass produce and sell crap to consumers, it's one of the many reasons such large institutions especially when they're profit based are cancer for society. Because they don't only create the most simplified dumb products but they also train consumers to be lazy and have low standards. The tech industry is doing the same with its products lately where they're actually removing options that would confuse the morons. 

[TVC15]

Da Vinci Load 2: Electric Twinkaloo: big step down from the original. The two main twinks look like drug addicts and it looked like it was filmed in the basement from That 70s Show.

[Momo]

How are people legitimately still enjoying these things?

Why do people buy McDonald's and Taco Bell?

[Tasty]

Da Vinci Load 2: Electric Twinkaloo: big step down from the original. The two main twinks look like drug addicts and it looked like it was filmed in the basement from That 70s Show.

[Momo]

Just saw Mother. Going to have to read some analysis of this but whatever it is I just watched, it was cathartic.

Hated it, thought it was dumb, basic and obvious.

[Transhuman]

I watched Logan Lucky and it was good.

[Tasty]

Mother was such a ride in theaters. I wouldn't say I loved it but I definitely didn't hate it.

[I'm a Puppy!]

Black Panther It's a good marvel movie. That's about all I can say about it. Really the costume design was impeccable. The battle music was great. But man, when they weren't in action the music was so cheesy and hamfisted . It was distracting. Predictable to a fault. But it had the best villian in the MCU movies so far.

Early man A return to form for Aardman. A little cheesy, well,quite cheesy, even squeezing in a few fart jokes, but it was very enjoyable and adorable. Sorta surprising how mis-marketed the movie was. They played it like a "stone age meets bronze age" When really they should've been like "Best soccer movie since Shaolin Soccer." I mean it's a world cup year after all. I don't know if it was worth seeing in a theatre but definitely great DVD or streaming material.

[Assimilate]

Just saw Mother. Going to have to read some analysis of this but whatever it is I just watched, it was cathartic.

Hated it, thought it was dumb, basic and obvious.

are you fucking serious? compared to what else coming out of shitty ass hollywood?

Hated it, thought it was dumb, basic and obvious.

Totally had a different interpretation than the clearly obvious one actually...

edit: seems like Bardem and I shared the same interpretation so I'm in good company! A criticism of the Artist is a much more novel idea than the biblical stuff, too.

He always does both so both interpretations are valid.

[BlueTsunami]

Got fucked up and watched Bronson two nights ago. I didnt know I could experience existential panic like that. Some of those scenes just dug deep. Also that sense of being trapped in your own psychosis. Another Refn movie that took me a couple of shots to get into but then fucked me up.

[Momo]

Just saw Mother. Going to have to read some analysis of this but whatever it is I just watched, it was cathartic.

Hated it, thought it was dumb, basic and obvious.

are you fucking serious? compared to what else coming out of shitty ass hollywood?

Compared to what it presents itself as, I'm not going to judge a Marvel movie along the same scale (yes i judge ambitious, artsy and 'good' movies harsher) 

[I'm a Puppy!]

I know what I'm watching this weekend!

[Assimilate]

Just saw Mother. Going to have to read some analysis of this but whatever it is I just watched, it was cathartic.

Hated it, thought it was dumb, basic and obvious.

are you fucking serious? compared to what else coming out of shitty ass hollywood?

Compared to what it presents itself as, I'm not going to judge a Marvel movie along the same scale (yes i judge ambitious, artsy and 'good' movies harsher)

You say it was dumb and obvious but a ton of people didn't get it at all. I thought it was fresh, clever, and really well executed. It's a slow crazy ride that builds up and reveals itself. Not sure how you find that "obvious"

[Madrun Badrun]

Black Panther 10/10.  Been since Ironman 1 since a super hero just felt cool. 

[Assimilate]

Black Panther 10/10.  Been since Ironman 1 since a super hero just felt cool.

 

it just won't stop

[HardcoreRetro]

My favourite scene in Black Panther was when they showed the African woman climbing into the futuristic Wakandan Painless Clitoris Removal Booth.

[Momo]

 

[Momo]

Just saw Mother. Going to have to read some analysis of this but whatever it is I just watched, it was cathartic.

Hated it, thought it was dumb, basic and obvious.

are you fucking serious? compared to what else coming out of shitty ass hollywood?

Compared to what it presents itself as, I'm not going to judge a Marvel movie along the same scale (yes i judge ambitious, artsy and 'good' movies harsher)

You say it was dumb and obvious but a ton of people didn't get it at all. I thought it was fresh, clever, and really well executed. It's a slow crazy ride that builds up and reveals itself. Not sure how you find that "obvious"

I dont care about a ton of people, this is my opinion. Just for the record, I read a ton of books and watch more films than I care to admit, i just dont report it in here often. Also I dont care about Mother enough to discuss it further 

[BlueTsunami]

Got fucked up and watched Bronson two nights ago. I didnt know I could experience existential panic like that. Some of those scenes just dug deep. Also that sense of being trapped in your own psychosis. Another Refn movie that took me a couple of shots to get into but then fucked me up.

Lotta dong in that movie

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

I was like when Hardy angrily revealed his minnow

[Tasty]

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Enjoyed this movie as much as I thought I would. Really sharp and humorous with an abundance of dark humor and satisfying pathos. I'm not sure what group this puts me into, but I can understand the complaints with Sam Rockwell's character. Something about how they treat his racism so casually, combined with the focus on his big turnaround, didn't completely sync up for me personally. However I can totally understand that's on me and others can have different interpretations.

Also, the way certain characters would weave curse words into their tirades was just... poetic.

4 / 5


Beauty and the Beast (2017)

This was a perfectly-serviceable remake that does little to make its own mark or stand out other than "Hey, it's actors you know and like!" I will admit it's been at least a decade since I've seen the animated original, but there was nothing here (outside gay LeFou) that felt different in the slightest. What slightly elevated things for me was the set design, which bordered a little too much at times on "cray-cray Burton" and something more subdued. The exterior of the castle in particular was delightful.

Speaking of gay LeFou, I almost feel... cheated? Like it makes a lot of sense LeFou would literally be gay for Gaston, but that just makes it an easy decision. I'm *generally* not for changing orientations or race in updated characters, but it worked here (though felt a bit stereotyped.) I wish Disney would have introduced a brand-new gay character, but considering the blowback from a character as small as LeFou, I guess any step forward should be commended.

3 / 5


The Invitation (2015)

I didn't know much about this going in, and I'm glad I didn't. I'm also glad I set aside my laptop and smartphone for the running time. This is a movie with exquisitely creepy music playing over long, almost slow-mo, shots, but it still deserves every bit of your attention.

I wasn't sure whether I felt a 4 or 5 was more appropriate, but on reflection I honestly can't find a major flaw nor can I offer any tangible improvements. In terms of tightly-wound, paranoid thrillers, The Invitation has to be up there.

Spoiler by omission: 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

The entire movie I was going "Please don't be aliens, please don't be robots or some shit," and thankfully it wasn't! Biggest highlight of the movie is that it was just humans, and that's what makes the ending so damn powerful.

[close]

5 / 5


Good Time

Robert Pattinson completely disappears into his role of bank thief and brother to his mentally-challenged accomplice. This film's direction reminds me of mother! - you're constantly being whisked around and disoriented by close-ups, with very few wide shots (and of those, the car tracking shots are particularly mesmerizing.) The story is a bit weird and twisty, with no obviously "earned" plot developments, but that gives things a bit of a grittier, more realistic, improvisational feel. The focus here is on Pattinson's character and his brother, and in broad strokes they do both have fulfilling arcs.

This movie is definitely not for everyone, and I'm not even sure I'll remember it in a few years, but it definitely made me feel things as a result of the direction and acting.

4 / 5

[Bebpo]

I didn't like The Invitation haha, I remember enjoying the pace of the build up of it, but found the payoff to be too predictable and uninteresting.