Caught it last night and this about sums up what I thought of it also. I knew what it was going to be about going it, so I may have liked it a little more than you did, but its no where near the pantheon of top Tarantino films. And Ill agree, his last few movies havent been great. I didnt even really enjoy Django Unchained or Hateful 8 either. It feels like hes making movies he expects Tarantino to make rather than something interesting and different. It was fine, but not something worth re-watching or thinking too much about. Some are calling the ending "controversial", what were they expecting? 5.5 / 10
I mean given given the title and the fact that the families' haven't been in the news objecting to the film I figured the ending was going to play out the way it did. Had it played out more historically there would have been a much bigger uproar. Honestly a handful of tenser dialogue scenes and it would have went much further to being a much better Tarantino movie.
I saw it tonight and thought it was great. The finale scene was uproariously good, it makes the slow build worth it. It could have been 15 minutes shorter, but that's my only major complaint. I loved that all the cult kids were kids of Hollywood heavy families. A bunch of Brad Pitt's one-liners, Leo's scene against Luke Perry was legit. I had not read much leading into it, so the "twist" ending was a delight for me. Spoiler The fairy tale was sold with the end title reveal "Once Upon a Time . . . I thought that was a nice touch. There won't be a film like that the rest of the year. The blend of writing / acting / fact & fiction mix-up and tension was unique. Terrific.
Hobbs and Shaw Like 80s action movies that don't take them selves seriously? You will love this movie. it was great.
I love how this place rates a Tarantino movie based on not how good of a movie it was, but how good of a Tarantino movie it was. Same goes for Scorsese. It just shows how they’re so much more above other directors in talent.
I'll go next: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Spoiler I saw this last week. I'd say it's his second worst movie, right above Django Unchained (yeah, I thought that one sucked.). Not a lot happened in OUATIH, and the characteristic snappy dialog wasn't there. I was also disappointed in Kurt Russell's role; when I heard he was going to be in it, 1) I thought he was going to have a bigger role, and 2) I thought he was going to be playing Stuntman Bob, the older brother of Stuntman Mike in Death Proof. In fact I'm still not sure how this movie ties in with the rest of the films in his cinematic universe. As per usual, he had some closeups of women's feet. At least he kept his ass behind the camera this time, and didn't do one of his idiotic cameos.
Joker Whew. This movie is a lot to unpack and I’ll probably need to see it again to take it all in. On the one hand I loved it, on the other hand it was one of the most unpleasant experiences I’ve had watching a movie in quite a while. Phoenix was absolutely amazing and the story was decent, but I’m not sure some of the attempts at adding a greater depth to the character really worked. It felt more silly than convincing at times. Overall though, I liked it and it had some fun twists to turn the lore on its head. Phoenix was downright unsettling throughout and truly frightening toward the end, and frightening in a way that its hard to pinpoint something similar in another movie. Not even Ledger's Joker, which I think this is on par with, had the same effect. Where Ledger's Joker wanted anarchy, Phoenix's Joker is a nihilist. I’ll discuss it more when others have seen it because it’s hard to jump into the details without spoiling it. 8.5/10
3 From Hell This is the sequel to The Devil's Rejects, which is one of my favorite horror movies. This one is not one of my favorite horror movies. It's watchable sure, and it's not terrible, but it's not great. The music, which was one of the best parts of The Devil's Rejects, is not even close to as good. Making Baby even more out of her mind crazy made her too over the top. Making Otis more of grumpy old man instead of a seething volcano of rage wasn't my favorite either. Now, both of these character progression do actually make sense, it just didn't make for as good of a movie. Also Sheriff Wydell was the most terrifying character of the whole first (second?) movie, and he's not in this. Spoiler: The rest that may give away some plot points The brother replacement for Captain Spaulding wasn't even close to the same intensity and creepiness of the original. I get the actor was too sick to really reprise his role, but the replacement fell totally flat. Also, the warden was suppose to be the new badass Wydell character, but nope. He was OK, but didn't do it nearly as well. The posse of killers in the shitty Mexican wrestler masks felt cheesy and cartoonish to me. There were some things I liked about it, the characters of Carlos and Sebastian (the Inn owner and his little employee) I thought were good additions. Overall I give it a meh. 6/10
El Camino If you know anything about Breaking Bad, you know what this is. I definitely want to re-watch because I'm sure I missed out on a few things, but overall upon first viewing, it's a good 2 hour long Epilogue for the Jesse Pinkman story. There are obviously a whole bunch of call-backs to the series as well as a few nice cameos along the way. 7.5/10
El Camino I generally liked it, but Im not sure what the point was and it was a bit boring sometimes. The acting was good and it was fun to revisit the characters, even though Aaron Paul is pushing 40 and passing for a teenager/early 20s is a bit of a stretch. The Todd scenes were as creepy as they’ve ever been and I’m glad some other characters made a return. I wish they had a tie-in with BCS, but it probably wouldn’t have made sense with the timeline. For BB fans, it’s a decent ending, but as a stand-alone movie for anyone that didn’t watch the series, it can probably be skipped. 6.5/10
It’s basically a long, slow-moving episode of the show. The “villains” were more forgettable than ever, and it’s pindrop-quiet for more than half the movie. Nothing too special happens with the exception of tacking on a final, definitive end to the series. I thought Skinny had the best return performance off all. The actor looked like they kept him in carbonite since the final epidsode.
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot I am a huge fan of Kevin Smith's films that feature those two title characters, but I did not have high hopes. Knowing that this was essentially a reboot of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back gave me a good idea of what to expect. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is easily my least favorite of the six main films that featured those two characters, though it's still above average as far as comedies go, so I was hopeful that the new movie would have some good laughs. The film follows the same basic plot as Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, as those two characters are traveling to Los Angeles to stop another film about them from being made. The road to getting there is different though, as the new movie uses Jay's discovery that he has a daughter as a plot device on what it's like to grow old. Most of the actors in the film didn't look like they were taking it that seriously and were embracing the movie for what it was, but I thought that Mewes was actually decent in the dramatic scenes that involved him and his daughter. I also thought that the twists at the end, including the main one, were well done. I think that my biggest complaint about the movie was that it went way overboard with the meta humor. There was never any doubt that there would be a lot of it and much of it would be funny, but it got old before the end. There was just not a whole lot in the way of new material for comedic scenes and one-liners. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back at least had that hilarious first half-hour before it devolved into mediocrity, but the reboot didn't have any stretches that came close to matching that. There were also a large number of cameos, some funny, some unfunny, but that too was expected, as it was also a problem in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. This goes down as my least favorite of the seven main View Askewniverse films...which means that, to me, it's an average comedy. I was hoping for a little bit better, but I was expecting worse, so I can't complain too much. 5/10 Hustlers I actually saw this with a date on Sunday. It is based on the true story of how a group of strippers ran a ring where they would seduce would-be male clients, drug them, and then run up huge tabs on their credit cards. Jennifer Lopez gives a great performance as the stripper who was the ringleader. Constance Wu was less believable as the reluctant stripper who does it to support her family, but she was still charming. It was also cool to see Cardi B and Lizzo in cameos as well as Julia Stiles playing the journalist who was interviewing the girls for the story. The film did a great job of blending humor and providing social commentary on the dynamic between the strippers and the fat cat Wall Street types whom they were drugging. 7/10
Yeah, it’s essentially this generations version of a TV special, except not as gay as The Brady Bunch Goes to Hawaii or something like that.
Zombieland2 If you enjoyed the first movie, you will like this one. Say through the end of the credits.
Just got done with. It exceeded my expectations. I laughed a lot and was thoroughly entertained. Plus . . . Emma Stone.
The Lighthouse Saw it Friday night. Ive never seen a movie quite like this one, and Im still digesting the whole thing. It’s one of the most uniquely weird, unsettling and unnerving movies I’ve ever seen. It’s hard to call it “scary” because it’s not really that even though it’s technically a horror film. It’s also funny at a few points also. Dafoe was excellent and Pattinson, whom I've always associated with twinkly vampires, is really a fantastic actor. The story is about two lighthouse keepers spending time with each other, succumbing to cabin fever, which includes various fantasy/mythological elements. I loved the entire thing and it’s worth the $13 theater ticket. 10/10
Dolemite is my Name Electric, funny, exciting. Eddie does his first R-rated comedy in twenty years and the entire film is injected with likeable characters, feel-good vibes and a hero to root for. The fact that this was a true Cinderella story only helps add to it appeal. A PERFECT soundtrack, amazing period detail and a past side of America that historical films have never shined much focus on. This is a true winner. One of the best Netflix films ever AND one of the best movies of the year. 9/10
Fully agree. There are a couple comments posted over in the Netlfix thread. I wasn't sure where to post the other day. I think it got a small theatrical release. So, I'd love to see Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Lady Reed) nominated, too. I thought she was fantastic.
She was a stand out and probably has the best chance at award nominations. I honestly don't see this as a huge Oscar buzz type movie though. The actual dramatic beats, aside from lady Reed's story, aren't that deep. Think Martin Landau in Ed Wood, written by the same writing team btw*, to get what I mean. He pretty much vanquishes all obstacles with relative ease. It's definitely fun as much positivity is shown through out but I don't think it ends up translating to actual awards for Murphy. Doesn't showcase his range as well as it could. Costumes and score seem like likely nominations though. Given the politics of the Oscars these days it could well be a shoe in for more. I also loved Wesley Snipes he was great. I wish they'd have given him a bit more screen time or at least a conclusion where he showed up at the premier or something. *If you want to hear more behind the making of the movie Dana Gould's latest Halloween Podcast has an interview with the writing team of this movie. Gould is a fanatical Ed Wood fan and has had them on a few times before. They detail how Murphy came to them in the early 2000s to write the script not knowing they were already huge Rudy Ray Moore fans and Eddie introducing them too Rudy.
Joker Spoiler All I've been hearing about this movie is "It's really dark," and "Mentally prepare yourself" (whatever the hell that means). Okay, yeah, it's not something you'd want to show to a Christian youth group, or someone who thinks "Friends" is a great show. This movie is bleak as hell, set in 1980's New York, er, I mean Gotham City. But I really don't think it's AS bad as people are making it out to be. It's no worse than "Taxi Driver," "A Clockwork Orange," or "Requiem for a Dream." But what do I know? Like my user title says, I'm emotionally jaded. When I kept hearing all the hoopla about how dark it is, you know what I thought? Spoiler I thought that Arthur Fleck was going to get raped. Because really, rape is like the last frontier as far as disturbing film making goes. I really thought that he was going to get beaten up and gang-raped, and that would be what pushed him over the edge. Phoenix deserves an Oscar for this role; he really captured what mental illness can look like; I've been to prison, and I've been locked up in the same room with guys like that. Jungle Julia did an internship in a state psychiatric hospital, and she can attest that this is what real-life crazy can look like. A lot of people have been comparing this to "Taxi Driver," and I have no arguments with that, but you know which movie it really reminded me of? "The King of Comedy," also by Scorsese, also starring DeNiro.If you haven't seen it you should check it out. I'm going to give this a 9/10, mainly because there haven't been any good Batman-Universe movies lately (fuck Marvel), and they didn't try to candy-coat this for the fucking under-18 audience.