Films Recently Watched

enjoyed this, although i wish it remained black & white instead of turning into a pastiche wes anderson / amélie hybrid

Best thing I’ve seen all 2024

  On 3/11/2024 at 9:39 PM, Squee said:

 

Best thing I’ve seen all 2024

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The golden spray painted Godzilla action figure really drove it home for me. I couldn’t really decipher half of what dude was trying to say but was happy to see G get honored like that. Salute to whoever screamed out that “GOJIRRRA!!!” In the audience. 

  On 3/11/2024 at 8:40 PM, Squee said:

I’m so happy I haven’t seen Poor Things. That is all. 

why?

Emma Stone beat Lily Gladstone - HAAHA!

I began last night watching the Lindsay Anderson classic 'O Lucky Man!'

Have not seen in probably a decade. Funnier than I remember, although very sprawling narrative. The film seems to be a satire of British imperialism, with the coffee company that the MacDowell character works for being call Imperial Coffee.

Anderson crams so many different styles, and the dry British wit and absurdity reminded me of Chris Morris. Looking forward to peeping the rest (long movie nearly 3 hours).

Soundtrack is really good too imo

  On 3/12/2024 at 1:12 PM, o00o said:

why?

Right from the first teaser I thought it looked like a mix between Vidocq and Children of the Lost City with the silliness of The Favourite - which is where I really turned on Yorgos Lanthimos - and that is not for me. My girlfriend was really looking forward to it and said I was being silly, so she watched it with a friend. When she came back she said she hated it and I would have hated it even more. My friend who is the constant contrarian laughed at me not wanting to watch it. He saw it and the next time I met him he spent 30 minutes explaining just how much he hated it.

  On 3/12/2024 at 12:03 PM, Hail Sagan said:

“GOJIRRRA!!!”

Watched Poor Things, because I felt like it. Didn't really hate it, didn't really like it. I was bored. Thinks it's sooo fucking clever, but you see right through it. If you really love long form perfume commercials, this will be right up your alley.

BAHAHAHA!

  On 3/15/2024 at 7:18 AM, Squee said:

BAHAHAHA!

 

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Everything has to be so fking edgy emo for the kids

  On 3/15/2024 at 9:56 AM, aderei said:

Everything has to be so fking edgy emo for the kids

For the kids!

This'll be big on Tik Tok.

  On 3/13/2024 at 6:27 AM, Squee said:

Right from the first teaser I thought it looked like a mix between Vidocq and Children of the Lost City with the silliness of The Favourite - which is where I really turned on Yorgos Lanthimos - and that is not for me. My girlfriend was really looking forward to it and said I was being silly, so she watched it with a friend. When she came back she said she hated it and I would have hated it even more. My friend who is the constant contrarian laughed at me not wanting to watch it. He saw it and the next time I met him he spent 30 minutes explaining just how much he hated it.

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solid argument but I have the impression once you fixed yourself on this perspective you never get out if. Like an ex of mine who is working fulltime as a cutter hates the new Dune movies with passion and I can totally see where she's coming from while she is also not very much into fiction and both movies have a pretty weak storytelling but I can just ignore that and still enjoy the new Dune movies at lot. But maybe thats a gift not everybody has nor needs to have. 

  On 3/15/2024 at 7:18 AM, Squee said:

BAHAHAHA!

 

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this one kinda fucks with me.

when the first crow movie came out in 94 it lead to my first huge step into new musical worlds. i was 12 years old and i was intensely drawn to nin's rendition of "dead souls" on the crow soundtrack and the downward spiral had just come out and nin was about to explode into fame. this nin album became an obsession and directly lead me to get into artists like mbm, coil, spacetime continuum, aphex. it was a paradigm shift, from childhood to youth. 

anyway, the crow was this very specific little gem of a movie that moved me in a new way, sort of like an initiation into this new youth where darker themes flourished, angst developed, an aesthetic of suffering and moody musical worlds enveloped me. and of course it had this tragic allure. the comic was born out of the many years of suffering o'barr experienced after losing his girlfriend to a drunk driver. and while the film ought to have been a kind of triumph for him artistically and personally, brandon lee's death on the set just deepened the tragedy. it almost feels impossible it all went down like that, like some kind of inescapable web of suffering. i can't imagine how he must have felt. he created a story born of senseless death and loss where he could seek justice in art, only to be delivered another fateful blow like that. imo it feels senseless to approach this material for another film - what could ever be achieved? the original film is it, lee lost his life making that character. it's singular. 

and of course, the soundtrack was a crucial part of the story. o'barr was listening to some of the original songs while he was writing the book. he personally reached out to certain artists to ask them to contribute to the film. and the artists were part of the zeitgeist, as well. growing up during this mtv/radio era, this was the music of the time if you were listening to popular "rock" or whatever. these artists were inescapable. they were in our tvs, in our cars, in our walkmen, all around us. there was a sense of a moment, like this is all happening NOW. so it was like, o'barr was listening to all this dark music while writing the crow and then a number of the most prominent artists of the time recorded new versions for the new film being made from this book. some of the og artists he was listening to while making the book made new music for the film and even covered their own songs for him. it was clearly this unique, layered event linking all this art together into something new and unique. 

when i see this new trailer, it just seems completely senseless. it makes me feel like our culture is so degraded. there is nothing compelling about this remake, no reason for it to exist. throwing post malone or fka twigs into the mix just accentuates its emptiness compared to the original where the music was born from the book's creation. the original experience had depth and relevance. how can this remake do anything like that? it's just gonna be another reboot that can't hold a candle to the original. and our culture is awash with this kind of thing, just worse versions of experiences we've already had. so much endless reproduction, replication. it's maddening. 

i realize this might come across as old man back in my day type stuff. i will say i do not think the 90s was some pinnacle of pop culture or anything. and i have not seen the original crow in decades so i'm not speaking to its significance as a work of art per se. more as an original pop cultural artwork with layers of comic, film, music. but i absolutely think contemporary culture is really crude and degenerate and this obsession with remakes and rebuying the same "content" that just fils space in a senseless way is quite depressing. 

i'm sure the new one is great, 10/10

  On 3/15/2024 at 4:58 PM, o00o said:

solid argument but I have the impression once you fixed yourself on this perspective you never get out if. Like an ex of mine who is working fulltime as a cutter hates the new Dune movies with passion and I can totally see where she's coming from while she is also not very much into fiction and both movies have a pretty weak storytelling but I can just ignore that and still enjoy the new Dune movies at lot. But maybe thats a gift not everybody has nor needs to have. 

Oh no no no, I can totally see beyond my initial impression of something. But I can't deal with cwaaaaazy movies with wacky acting. I find it extremely off-putting and embarrassing.

  On 3/15/2024 at 5:09 PM, Alcofribas said:

this one kinda fucks with me.

when the first crow movie came out in 94 it lead to my first huge step into new musical worlds. i was 12 years old and i was intensely drawn to nin's rendition of "dead souls" on the crow soundtrack and the downward spiral had just come out and nin was about to explode into fame. this nin album became an obsession and directly lead me to get into artists like mbm, coil, spacetime continuum, aphex. it was a paradigm shift, from childhood to youth. 

anyway, the crow was this very specific little gem of a movie that moved me in a new way, sort of like an initiation into this new youth where darker themes flourished, angst developed, an aesthetic of suffering and moody musical worlds enveloped me. and of course it had this tragic allure. the comic was born out of the many years of suffering o'barr experienced after losing his girlfriend to a drunk driver. and while the film ought to have been a kind of triumph for him artistically and personally, brandon lee's death on the set just deepened the tragedy. it almost feels impossible it all went down like that, like some kind of inescapable web of suffering. i can't imagine how he must have felt. he created a story born of senseless death and loss where he could seek justice in art, only to be delivered another fateful blow like that. imo it feels senseless to approach this material for another film - what could ever be achieved? the original film is it, lee lost his life making that character. it's singular. 

and of course, the soundtrack was a crucial part of the story. o'barr was listening to some of the original songs while he was writing the book. he personally reached out to certain artists to ask them to contribute to the film. and the artists were part of the zeitgeist, as well. growing up during this mtv/radio era, this was the music of the time if you were listening to popular "rock" or whatever. these artists were inescapable. they were in our tvs, in our cars, in our walkmen, all around us. there was a sense of a moment, like this is all happening NOW. so it was like, o'barr was listening to all this dark music while writing the crow and then a number of the most prominent artists of the time recorded new versions for the new film being made from this book. some of the og artists he was listening to while making the book made new music for the film and even covered their own songs for him. it was clearly this unique, layered event linking all this art together into something new and unique. 

when i see this new trailer, it just seems completely senseless. it makes me feel like our culture is so degraded. there is nothing compelling about this remake, no reason for it to exist. throwing post malone or fka twigs into the mix just accentuates its emptiness compared to the original where the music was born from the book's creation. the original experience had depth and relevance. how can this remake do anything like that? it's just gonna be another reboot that can't hold a candle to the original. and our culture is awash with this kind of thing, just worse versions of experiences we've already had. so much endless reproduction, replication. it's maddening. 

i realize this might come across as old man back in my day type stuff. i will say i do not think the 90s was some pinnacle of pop culture or anything. and i have not seen the original crow in decades so i'm not speaking to its significance as a work of art per se. more as an original pop cultural artwork with layers of comic, film, music. but i absolutely think contemporary culture is really crude and degenerate and this obsession with remakes and rebuying the same "content" that just fils space in a senseless way is quite depressing. 

i'm sure the new one is great, 10/10

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The 70s, 80s, and 90s were amazing. My friends and I have a document with hundreds of films listed we remember hearing about, seeing at our local movie rental store when we were kids. We're slowly but surely making our way through these movies. So far we've watched 64 of these and they've all been... well... at least better than the majority of shit that comes out today. Oh, and the original The Crow is on the list as none of us have ever seen it.

  On 3/15/2024 at 5:09 PM, Alcofribas said:

…

when i see this new trailer, it just seems completely senseless. it makes me feel like our culture is so degraded. there is nothing compelling about this remake, no reason for it to exist. throwing post malone or fka twigs into the mix just accentuates its emptiness compared to the original where the music was born from the book's creation. the original experience had depth and relevance. how can this remake do anything like that? it's just gonna be another reboot that can't hold a candle to the original. and our culture is awash with this kind of thing, just worse versions of experiences we've already had. so much endless reproduction, replication. it's maddening. 

i realize this might come across as old man back in my day type stuff. i will say i do not think the 90s was some pinnacle of pop culture or anything. and i have not seen the original crow in decades so i'm not speaking to its significance as a work of art per se. more as an original pop cultural artwork with layers of comic, film, music. but i absolutely think contemporary culture is really crude and degenerate and this obsession with remakes and rebuying the same "content" that just fils space in a senseless way is quite depressing. 

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100% 

additionally, I watch that trailer and think “why do we need more films about alienated young males killing tons of people?” because IT IS AN ACTUAL, VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM IN AMERICAN SOCIETY. All we need is another film that will provide a tangible fantasy that will resonate with someone who is teetering on causing harm. Yes, it’s a slipperyish slope to say “artists need to create and we shouldn’t censor them because of our fears, etc” but this is definitely not that. It’s a fuuuuucking remake cash grab. What good can come out from such a tasteless cocktail?

I also remember how the first crow resonated with pre-emo male youth. As far as my memory goes, that was ground zero for the “trenchcoat mafia” phenomenon. As a matter of fact, wasn’t that film the singular inspiration for the all black trench coat on millions of sullen teenagers? It was basically: the crow came out > a handful of kids who already wore black on a daily basis came to school wearing black trench coats the following Monday.

Like you, I am finding myself sounding like an old fart right now, but at the time, I was technically a gen-xer who identified more with the punk rock / heavy metal brand of nihilism so in 1994, even as a teenager, I could actually identify the younger kids (probably within the first crop of millennials) having a strong resonance with the themes in the crow and knowing that it was manifesting in a deeper reflection of their tortured identities and pre/proto-columbine nihilism.

Add late-stage capitalism and it’s fairly objective that this whole fucking thing is the crystallization of our society in free fall. 

fucking hell, that trailer. I thought that was Nicholas Hoult at first, very relieved to find it's not.

Finally watched "Mid90s".  Reminded me how incredibly depressing and lonesome adolescence is, something I don't really care to be reminded of lol.  Enjoyed the Underground Hip-hop in some scenes though.  That shit made up my teenage years so it's nice for it to see some love for once.  

  On 3/15/2024 at 8:10 PM, lyst said:

Finally watched "Mid90s".  Reminded me how incredibly depressing and lonesome adolescence is, something I don't really care to be reminded of lol.  Enjoyed the Underground Hip-hop in some scenes though.  That shit made up my teenage years so it's nice for it to see some love for once.  

Weird. I was just thinking about finally watching that film. 

  On 3/15/2024 at 10:41 PM, Squee said:

Weird. I was just thinking about finally watching that film. 

I completely ran out of shit to watch, now I have to go back and find stuff I was semi-interested in seeing at the time.

  On 3/15/2024 at 6:11 PM, J3FF3R00 said:

100% 

additionally, I watch that trailer and think “why do we need more films about alienated young males killing tons of people?” because IT IS AN ACTUAL, VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM IN AMERICAN SOCIETY. All we need is another film that will provide a tangible fantasy that will resonate with someone who is teetering on causing harm. Yes, it’s a slipperyish slope to say “artists need to create and we shouldn’t censor them because of our fears, etc” but this is definitely not that. It’s a fuuuuucking remake cash grab. What good can come out from such a tasteless cocktail?

I also remember how the first crow resonated with pre-emo male youth. As far as my memory goes, that was ground zero for the “trenchcoat mafia” phenomenon. As a matter of fact, wasn’t that film the singular inspiration for the all black trench coat on millions of sullen teenagers? It was basically: the crow came out > a handful of kids who already wore black on a daily basis came to school wearing black trench coats the following Monday.

Like you, I am finding myself sounding like an old fart right now, but at the time, I was technically a gen-xer who identified more with the punk rock / heavy metal brand of nihilism so in 1994, even as a teenager, I could actually identify the younger kids (probably within the first crop of millennials) having a strong resonance with the themes in the crow and knowing that it was manifesting in a deeper reflection of their tortured identities and pre/proto-columbine nihilism.

Add late-stage capitalism and it’s fairly objective that this whole fucking thing is the crystallization of our society in free fall. 

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The Crow was a film that should never have become a franchise. The sequels cheapened Brandon Lee’s life and made him seem replaceable.

i watched Jurassic World (3rd time i think?) and it's still a fun romp. the middle parts of action reminded me of some Aliens type vibes, with the multiple 'soldiers' in the dark getting picked off by the dinos, with their individual cameras/life signs monitors getting taken out one by one. schmaltzy and leans into the cliches obv, but makes for a fun watch.

also for some reason decided to try Post Grad which was....unsurprisingly boring. i saw the cast thinking maybe there was going to be some fun quirky weird twists to the coming of age/rom com thing it presents itself as but...nope. it's just about this character getting out of college, with cutesy hijinks (all bland as fuck), boring 'romance' shit, just really bad.

and last week i watch The Spy Who Loved Me which was kind of cookie-cutter Roger Moore era Bond, probably around when they'd figured out the formula that really worked for the franchise and were just churning them out. it was okay, not very engaging, but not bad or anything.

been catching some weekly VHS online watch parties via Mastodon which have been silly/fun. 80s/90s direct-to-video trash. and watching Svengoolie most Saturdays the past few months (varying degress of 'watching' there) so filling up my catalog of mid-20th century horror schlock and such.

i watched The Pyramid https://m.imdb.com/title/tt2799166/ last night and it was…okay. better than i expected, was genuinely a little scary at moments just due to claustrophobia of them running around in an old Pyramid. plot/story/dialogue was mostly schlock, but if this had another $50mil in budget + a big star attached it could’ve been a decent summer/fall kinda big horror/action thing. the setting allowed for them to get away with the small budget tho. 6 creepy kitties out of 10