Movies Rate and Discuss the Last Movie You Saw v.16

[Plutoburn]

A solid 7, mediocre for a Fincher movie, but great as far as Netflix movie goes. Fassbender did well. I liked him a lot since x-men first class, good to see him do well in other roles. The plot is pretty straightforward with good pacing. Worth the 2 hours.

 

[RichardPriors]

I love me a good western and this one hits all the right spots. Jeff Bridges is a cinematic treasure and although I'm usually not that big on Chris Pine, he delivered here. The pacing is just right, all fates seem inevitable and it's shot and scored to perfection. Strongly recommended.

 

[BisexualMMA]

BLUE SKY (1994)

Jessica Lange, Tommy Lee Jones and Powers Boothe in a drama about an army engineer involved in nuclear testing after WW2 who has to balance his obligations to following orders and to public health while managing a troubled marriage to a wife with no impulse control. Reasonably good.

6.4 / 10.

 

[ufcfan4]

Amsterdam

It’s sort of a weird movie. Really feels like it’s going in one direction to start with and then veers pretty drastically into a story about a much larger conspiracy that the protagonists have to weed out. It has some typical elements of a David Russell film (particularly in the way it fuses comedy and serious themes) but also feels like he’s channeling the Coens at time.

Insanely stacked cast in this which stands out. And most of them did a really good job. Bale is one of those guys who I think delivers in every role and this was no exception. Not his best work but he really made the character interesting and likable. But Bale with the continual narration in an O. Russell film also made me think of the substantially better American Hustle. The comparison might have hurt it a bit.

I thought Robie’s, Bale’s, and JD Washington’s interaction/dynamic was the best part of the film. Rami Malek and Anya Taylor Joy were legitimately funny. DeNiro was good. The film probably tries to include too much in its 2 hr and 10 min runtime. Whether you find the plot intriguing or too far out there will probably be a big determination of whether you will enjoy this or find it a chore.

6.5/10

 

[revoltub]

I liked it but I would have really liked it if Fassbender's narration / voice over stopped the moment he screwed up and we never heard it again. I thought that was what was happening but then he started up again a little bit later. Would have been a good sort of switch up on the whole movie like Predator or Life is Beautiful...like this guy screwed up, no more arrogant walking the audience through his superior methodology, now it's just business time.

Yeah I liked it but the narration got old for me really quick. I just wanted him to shut the fuck up already.

But a good film overall. Well shot and directed and as was said a good straightforward assassin film. Wasnt big on the ending but it's not the worst.

Also idk if it's just me but every Netflix production seems to have very highly saturated colors. I've been noticing this a lot. Actually every film on Netflix seems more saturated than when the same films are on Amazon or other services.

Around a 7 or 7.2. Like I said good movie but the real "The Killer" is still Chow Yun-Fat.

 

[BisexualMMA]

Around a 7 or 7.2. Like I said good movie but the real "The Killer" is still Chow Yun-Fat.

The real Gladiator is James Marshall.

 

[revoltub]

The real Gladiator is James Marshall.

Idk I'd have to see him stab an 8 foot tall guy while laying down and phase through a sword pointing directly at his neck to be sure.

 

[eddymotto]

Yeah I liked it but the narration got old for me really quick. I just wanted him to shut the fuck up already.

But a good film overall. Well shot and directed and as was said a good straightforward assassin film. Wasnt big on the ending but it's not the worst.

Also idk if it's just me but every Netflix production seems to have very highly saturated colors. I've been noticing this a lot. Actually every film on Netflix seems more saturated than when the same films are on Amazon or other services.

Around a 7 or 7.2. Like I said good movie but the real "The Killer" is still Chow Yun-Fat.

My rule of thumb is that narration is a bad sign because it indicates that what we see on the screen cannot stand by itself. It is the opposite of the old adage "show, don't tell".

that being said, the narration in this film did not bother me at all.

I did think a lot about what this film would be without any narration and... I think it is a better film. Fassbender would have been a much more cryptic and probably interesting character.

I assume that Fincher makes films exactly how he wants to make them but part of me does wonder if he would have done it differently if this was a theatrical movies vs. a Netflix original. Part of making a successful streaming movie is to accept that half of your audience has another screen in their hand. Therefore making things easier to follow is an advantage.

 

[revoltub]

My rule of thumb is that narration is a bad sign because it indicates that what we see on the screen cannot stand by itself. It is the opposite of the old adage "show, don't tell".

that being said, the narration in this film did not bother me at all.

I did think a lot about what this film would be without any narration and... I think it is a better film. Fassbender would have been a much more cryptic and probably interesting character.

I assume that Fincher makes films exactly how he wants to make them but part of me does wonder if he would have done it differently if this was a theatrical movies vs. a Netflix original. Part of making a successful streaming movie is to accept that half of your audience has another screen in their hand. Therefore making things easier to follow is an advantage.

I know it's based on a graphic novel so maybe it was because of that...maybe a lot of a inner dialogue in there. Havent read it.

I think narration can work but like you said sometimes it's too much tell over show. I sometimes feel the same way about too much exposition.

In both cases I think there needs to be a balance. I felt this movie had about 30% too much.

Would he have made it differently if it was only a theatrical release? I dont know but you might be onto something. I do think people are treating films on streaming as sort of a background or noise activity than the full attention experience in the theater or back when you rented films and felt more pressure to pay attention.

 

[BisexualMMA]

If directors with the status of David Fincher are making movies in a manner to compensate for people cooking or playing Candy Crush on their phones at the same time then things have gone a bit off the rails somewhere.

 

[revoltub]

If directors with the status of David Fincher are making movies in a manner to compensate for people cooking or playing Candy Crush on their phones at the same time then things have gone a bit off the rails somewhere.

If anything it seems hes accepting it moreso than other directors or tom cruise. Mank was Netflix only right? Maybe I'll watch that one next.

 

[BisexualMMA]

If anything it seems hes accepting it moreso than other directors or tom cruise. Mank was Netflix only right? Maybe I'll watch that one next.

Well maybe he's accepting it but his work is going downhill. Mank is easily his worst movie in my opinion and The Killer is fine but nowhere near the top.

 

[revoltub]

Well maybe he's accepting it but his work is going downhill. Mank is easily his worst movie in my opinion and The Killer is fine but nowhere near the top.

What did you think of mindhunter?

 

[BisexualMMA]

What did you think of mindhunter?

I guess I see it as similar to The Killer. Good show...but just good. Doesn't compare to something like Chernobyl or True Detective Season 1 etc. Same as The Killer doesn't compare to Zodiac or Seven. There wasn't much about Mindhunter that made me think it required or was the product of David Fincher at the top of his game.

 

[BisexualMMA]

Anyway the world is still better with some 7/10 David Fincher movies in it than without. Virtually nobody but Kubrick hits triples and home runs every step of the way. Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Coppola, Scorsese...they all lost a step some time ago and have been averaging 7/10 at best for a long time.

 

[revoltub]

I guess I see it as similar to The Killer. Good show...but just good. Doesn't compare to something like Chernobyl or True Detective Season 1 etc. Same as The Killer doesn't compare to Zodiac or Seven. There wasn't much about Mindhunter that made me think it required or was the product of David Fincher at the top of his game.

Yeah I thought it was a solid show. Casting and acting was really good I thought. I would've liked another season.

You know I'm not really huge on Fincher anyway so the killer doesnt seem like a huge step down to me. I mean I like or in some cases really like his films (minus panic room which was just kinda decent imo) but I dont really love any of them. Maybe I connected with "the game" the most.

I agree something about mindhunter and the killer doesnt seem like they are naturally born of Fincher the way his other films are. I'm left wondering why he wanted to direct this film at all since it's a pretty standard genre film and now that I think about reminds me of Bangkok dangerous.

But honestly if a director with the reputation of Fincher wants to make a simple but solid assasin film I cant say I'm complaining since those films are in my wheelhouse.

 

[BisexualMMA]

STALINGRAD (1993)

Bugsy is kind of like the forgotten very good gangster movie of the early 90s and Stalingrad is maybe the forgotten good war movie. A young Thomas Kretschmann stars in this story of some soldiers on the German side in the battle of Stalingrad in WW2. Aside from one silly death that looks like it was from a George Romero zombie movie it is all done pretty well.

7.2 / 10.

 

[eddymotto]

If directors with the status of David Fincher are making movies in a manner to compensate for people cooking or playing Candy Crush on their phones at the same time then things have gone a bit off the rails somewhere.

I was just speculating.

Finch has used quite a bit of narration in films before. Fight Club and Benjamin Button had narration throughout. Seven has some at the beginning and the end. I think that Gone Girl used some as well in spots (I liked the movie but I can't remember what was in the novel vs. film version).

But the overall "second screen" thing is definitely real. I have industry friends who have gotten notes to that effect on streaming shows. They have to work in little recaps and reminders of who certain characters are, etc. I get it. But I hate it.

 

[eddymotto]

Breakfast at Tiffany's (USA, 1961)

Classic American romantic comedy starring Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, a young society girl living in New York City. Holly is the quintessential cool girl - beautiful, chic, and fashionably eccentric - she has a cat called "Cat", keeps her phone in a suitcase, and climbs into her neighbour's apartment from the fire escape when it suits her.

Holly makes her living dating rich men but she doesn't fuck them, much to their disappointment. Her other sideline is visiting a mob boss in prison once a week and then taking his coded messages to the boss' lawyer afterwards. This is all a holding pattern for Holly until she finds the right rich husband.

Holly becomes friends with her new neighbour Paul (George Peppard). Paul is a kept man to an older socialite (he actually does fuck for money) but is trying to be a novelist. So far all he has accomplished in selling a few short stories 5 years earlier.

Holly and Paul embark on exactly the sort of relationship you would expect in a romantic comedy.

The film itself is well executed but its enduring status as an iconic film is due almost entirely to Hepburn. She is beautiful and charismatic and fills almost every scene in the movie.

Any discussion of the film would be remiss not to mention "Mr. Yunioshi", one of the most racist caricatures to ever appear in a mainstream film. Not only is the character completely unnecessary to the plot - he exists entirely as a stick-in-the-mud foil to party girl Holly - but he is portrayed as a bumbling, buck-toothed, myopic moron. And they cast Mickey Rooney for the part! If it had not actually happened, I would not believe it. (I went down an entire rabbit hole about the character. Suffice it to say, some reviews at the time said that "it could be offensive to some viewers" but generally people thought it was funny).

Rating: If you want to watch a classic Hepburn film, this is a good choice.

 

[revoltub]

Apocalypse now theatrical cut
-
Came up recently in another thread so I felt a little forced to rewatch it.

It's great, I appreciate more things about it than I did when I saw it last. But I also now understand why I rarely revisit it. It feels kinda slow.

And what's crazy is I dont feel the same thing when watching godfather 1 and 2 even though their pacing gets brought up


So I cant really place or explain why I think Apocalypse now feels slow. Closest thing I can get to an explanation is that every scene goes on just a bit too long and it all adds up.

The production value and direction is insane though. And the cinematography and shots and the way it slowly gets darker and trippier is really incredible. Gets around a 7 on that alone. And the performances get it at least an 8. The tiger scene is top tier too.

MVP for me....Duvall. And I really like the whole surfing gag, a lot. i could watch a whole comedy film about Duvall in the Vietnam war just trying to surf while there is chaos around him.

8 range or higher. Alright I'll give it around an 8.5 @The Good The Bad The HBK but I'm still not saying its top 5 70s yet. It was cool seeing Chevy Chase as Col. Lucas too.