What are you currently watching?

[Reed Rothchild | 9,545]

2 hours ago, darkchylde28 said:

I think the better question would be, "When was the last time a non-artsy movie actually won?"  I just went back through the list, and while there were several winners that I watched before they got nominated and ejoyed, the last real, mostly mass-appeal movie that won Best Picture was Return of the King, 19 years ago.  I seem to recall a lot of people muttering about exactly this the year that Black Panther lost, and regular people finally started realizing exactly how out of touch the Oscars were with what "everyone" thought of movies.

Parasite and Shape of Water both straddle the line.  Artsy genre flicks.

[fox | 1,667]

16 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Parasite and Shape of Water both straddle the line.  Artsy genre flicks.

I was going to say Parasite isn’t an art house flick at all.  Shape of Water is pretty mainstream as well.

It’s like anything that doesn’t have capes or blue people is too indie for normies.  

[doner24 | 1,196]

31 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Parasite and Shape of Water both straddle the line.  Artsy genre flicks.

The 00’s was full of non art house films. The Departed, No Country for Old Men, Million Dollar Baby all fit plus more. 

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

1 hour ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Parasite and Shape of Water both straddle the line.  Artsy genre flicks.

 

1 hour ago, fox said:

I was going to say Parasite isn’t an art house flick at all.  Shape of Water is pretty mainstream as well.

It’s like anything that doesn’t have capes or blue people is too indie for normies.  

Shape of Water is so damn good. Guillermo del Toro doesn't get included in best director conversations nearly enough considering his body of work. An amazing artist who excels in every genre he attempts. Even his misfires are a sight to behold (Crimson Peak comes to mind). I'd gladly take him over Nolan, Tarantino, and countless other contemporaries.

[noahdino91 | 1]

Rewatched "Fight Club" - 10/10.
Now, from the modern technological reality, all this struggle in the basements and the struggle with undermining credit cards is perceived as somewhat juvenile and naive, but in general the film is beautiful, the acting of the main characters is simply incredible, the sound is excellent, the picture is delicious. You will forget the arcs of the super-bright plot and the solution to the main plot in a matter of seconds, so it is not as interesting to watch as the first time, but it is still a topchik.

[avatar! | 1,819]

Currently available on amazon prime --

One of the best "horror" movies every made, it was also a major inspiration for many other works including Silent Hill

 

[G-type | 2,482]

On 3/12/2023 at 5:03 PM, DarkTone said:

Just watched every final destination movie in a row. 

Gorley and Rust podcast listener?

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

Finally got around to checking out Everything Everywhere All At Once and I loved it. It's so incredibly rare to see a film that successfully blends action, comedy, and drama like this. Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh are fantastic and earned their Oscars. Jamie Lee Curtis is fine, but her Oscar was clearly a career recognition award rather than due to her performance here.

My only real criticisms are the overly long final act and the recycling of the same jokes towards the end (if you've seen it, you probably know what I'm talking about). Overall, it's a fantastic film deserving of all the praise. It's uplifting to see something so unique without all the usual Oscar-bait winning the big awards.

[DarkTone | 985]

9 hours ago, G-type said:

Gorley and Rust podcast listener?

Never heard of them. 

[BlackVega | 583]

I just watched Into the Sun with Steven Seagal and this one was so boring and so much cancer

[doner24 | 1,196]

I am currently watching Vanderpump Rules with my wife after her begging me for years to watch. It’s trash. 

[G-type | 2,482]

8 hours ago, DarkTone said:

Never heard of them. 

They are currently covering the Final Destination series..

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

I just watched Alex Garland's newest movie, Men. On release it was quite divisive and I can see why. I think Garland is one of the most interesting writer/directors working right now and he's put in some amazing work on things like 28 Days Later, Dredd, Ex Machina, and Annihilation. He has been skewing more and more towards experimental, avant-garde stuff as his career has progressed and this one certainly takes the cake.

I'll immediately start by saying that Men is an A24 film through and through. If you're familiar with their output as a studio and you read the synopsis for this movie, you can probably imagine much of what is to come. As the title suggests, the movie is an exploration of misogyny told through the eyes of a woman fleeing a recent tragedy in her life. There's not much in the way of plot, so the movie depends on its relatively on-the-nose symbolism and themes to get viewers through. As always, Garland presents a beautifully framed film where the scenery acts as a character and pulls your attention where it's needed. There is a general sense of dread pervading nearly every shot; the uneasiness of the main character is palpable and almost entirely derived from the fact that she is a woman who dares to venture out alone. How much of her danger is projection versus reality is up for debate and central to the core of the movie. Although the plot is a bit of mixed bag, the script is quite good and Jessie Buckley and Rory Kinnear are wonderful; I'd love to see them together in a more interesting movie.

Overall, this is Garland's weakest film. The symbolism is extremely heavy-handed, particularly the final twenty minutes, to the point that it becomes boring. The film wraps up with an excessive amount of body horror and gore which comes off as silly rather than exciting. I'm sure Garland was trying to illustrate how repetitive and overwhelming this trauma can be, but there is a fine line between making a point and belaboring it. As is typical with these arthouse movies, it's a bit of a slog and the conclusion is left open for interpretation. It's almost worth a watch just to see the two leads chewing the scenery, but you'd be hard-pressed to find many who'd enjoy this film. If you're an A24 and Garland devotee, you're probably better off rewatching Annihilation which plays with its themes in a much more interesting and visually arresting way.

2/5

[Reed Rothchild | 9,545]

Nope - Better than Us, but maybe not quite as good as Get Out.  I was familiar with the real life chimp horror stories, so those scenes didn't get me as much.  But the one scene with all of the people being "captured"?  *shudder*

The Lighthouse - Very entertaining.  Powerhouse performances.  But I definitely had a shit ton of questions at the end.

Beast - Umm, it was fine I guess.  Typical murderous animals kinda thing.

[avatar! | 1,819]

10 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Nope - Better than Us, but maybe not quite as good as Get Out.  I was familiar with the real life chimp horror stories, so those scenes didn't get me as much.  But the one scene with all of the people being "captured"?  *shudder*

The Lighthouse - Very entertaining.  Powerhouse performances.  But I definitely had a shit ton of questions at the end.

Beast - Umm, it was fine I guess.  Typical murderous animals kinda thing.

I thought "Us" was very overrated. I have not seen Nope, but I have seen most of Jordan Peele's work. I'm not impressed. I will say the best movie he is associated with is BlacKkKlansman, which he produced but did not direct nor write - hence why it's better than the rest

The Lighthouse is fabulous. Easily one of the best Lovecraftian-inspired movies of all time... which probably is not saying all that much, but nevertheless. I thought the ending was wonderful. While there is a lot to the movie, the ending was based upon the myth of Prometheus and viewing the character in that light (heh), at least to an extent, helps makes some sense.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,545]

38 minutes ago, avatar! said:

I thought "Us" was very overrated. I have not seen Nope, but I have seen most of Jordan Peele's work. I'm not impressed. I will say the best movie he is associated with is BlacKkKlansman, which he produced but did not direct nor write - hence why it's better than the rest

I rather liked Get Out and Nope.  But different strokes.

[Mega Tank | 964]

2 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I rather liked Get Out and Nope.  But different strokes.

Did I miss something? I was very excited for Nope, but I was disappointed. I thought it was going to be a movie like Signs.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,545]

Sounds like I need to queue Nope up for the debate series

[a3quit4s | 4,102]

The mighty ducks tv show on Disney+ it’s meh

[Reed Rothchild | 9,545]

On 8/9/2021 at 1:59 PM, avatar! said:

Holy mother... this is one, uh, "strange" movie!

Japanese tropes galore, with people turning into bananas, magical cats, eating people, dismembered ass-biting heads... yup.

Once upon a time this was an answer at pub trivia.  I'm like 10000% confident I was the only guy in the bar who knew it 

[Brickman | 3,991]

I’m sort of in the same camp us Avatar on Jordan Peele. Loved Get Out but the rest have been very meh imo. Probably another M Night Shyamalan. Strong start but average movies after that.

I still need to see the lighthouse. Heard great things but keep putting it off.

 

[Brickman | 3,991]

Watching In search of Darkness Part 3. A doco series about 80’s horror movies. Sooo many B grade slashers I’ve added to my watch list since starting this series.

@Reed Rothchild you’ll love this series if you haven’t already watched it. 

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

On 4/12/2023 at 5:24 PM, Reed Rothchild said:

Nope - Better than Us, but maybe not quite as good as Get Out.  I was familiar with the real life chimp horror stories, so those scenes didn't get me as much.  But the one scene with all of the people being "captured"?  *shudder*

The Lighthouse - Very entertaining.  Powerhouse performances.  But I definitely had a shit ton of questions at the end.

Beast - Umm, it was fine I guess.  Typical murderous animals kinda thing.

 

On 4/12/2023 at 5:41 PM, avatar! said:

I thought "Us" was very overrated. I have not seen Nope, but I have seen most of Jordan Peele's work. I'm not impressed. I will say the best movie he is associated with is BlacKkKlansman, which he produced but did not direct nor write - hence why it's better than the rest

The Lighthouse is fabulous. Easily one of the best Lovecraftian-inspired movies of all time... which probably is not saying all that much, but nevertheless. I thought the ending was wonderful. While there is a lot to the movie, the ending was based upon the myth of Prometheus and viewing the character in that light (heh), at least to an extent, helps makes some sense.

 

On 4/12/2023 at 6:23 PM, Mega Tank said:

Did I miss something? I was very excited for Nope, but I was disappointed. I thought it was going to be a movie like Signs.

I try to keep hyperbole to a minimum, but Nope was fucking terrible. I could write an essay about just how bad it is, but I don't want to give it any more energy than it took to watch. For reference, I think Get Out is fantastic and I haven't seen Us.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,545]

Seems I'm in the minority 

Definitely need to do a thread for it.

Four Weddings and a Funeral - Okay, this movie is actually hilarious.  I had never bothered because I don't go out of my way for romantic comedies.

The Lodge - A decent horror thriller.  Seems pretty clear early on it's gonna go one of two ways.

[RH | 4,908]

I'm currently rewatching The Sandlot.  I don't think I've seen this film in at least 20 years.  Truly a classic. @Reed Rothchild that's a good one to rate.  If someone can't rate this one at least an 8 then there's something wrong with you.