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[Mr Hyde]

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

I used to love this film as a kid, but upon rewatching it, I found it kinda dull and dated. The story is paper thin and only acts as a means for Terry Gilliam to unleash his imagination with bizarre environments and characters. Nothing inherently wrong with that, I love original stuff like this and Gilliam is one of the best when it comes to surrealism, but the story is unfortunately just boring and doesn't make want to engage with the world and its characters. The Baron himself comes off as a creepy and self centered asshole who it's impossible to relate too. His sidekicks are a fun and diverse bunch of misfits but they have too little screentime to make a lasting impression. The only character I cared for was Sally, portrayed by nine year old Sarah Polley. She's the real MVP of the cast and the heart and soul of this movie.

The most notable thing about Munchausen is the unhinged performance of Robin Williams as King of the Moon. He's basically just a floating head that lusts after his wife and gets jealous when his wife implies that she cheats on him with the Baron. It all takes place on the moon and it's as bizarre as it sounds. Robin Williams however went uncredited for this and is listed as "Ray D Tutto" in the credits, which I've always found very weird since it's not exactly a cameo, but a rather significant role that really stands out. You'd think they'd promote the shit out of it since Williams was a big star even back then. Another notable thing is a nip slip by then 17 year old Uma Thurman, but it's a blink and you'll miss it moment so not sure if it's even worth bringing up, lol. It did cause some controversy though upon release considering her young age.

Other than that Munchausen doesn't really hold up. The effects are dated, the sets are very obvious and cheap looking, characters are offensive stereotypes and the pacing is all over the place. It's a disjointed movie pieced together somewhat coherent thanks to Terry Gilliam being as good as he is. But he has done far better work than Munchausen, such as Time Bandits and Fear and loathing in Las Vegas.

 

[mansoor1980]

civil war

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

★★★★☆ / Weed dealers tend to be good dudes...

 

[Mr Hyde]

Beyond Re-Animator

Re-Animator is one of my favorite horror movies (the short story by Lovecraft is pretty awesome too). It has a perfect mix of dark humor and shocking gore and Jeffrey Combs portrayal of Herbert West is spot on. He was born for that role. Bride of Re-Animator was not as good as the original but it was still a decent sequel. It had it's fair share of memorable moments. Beyond Re-Animator however, is C-tier horror. It's straight trash and effectively kills the franchise. The acting and writing is atrocious, not even Jeffrey Combs seems interested in playing Herbert again. He probably knew how fucking bad the movie was gonna be so he phoned it in. It barely has any gore and when it does, effects are shit and just a repeat of the former films. No creative direction at all. Today, this franchise seems deader than dead. Stuart Gordon is gone and Brian Yuzna is a fucking hack who should stick to producing. I hope some talented director reboots this property again.

 

[pachura]

Oddity - starts strong as an indie haunted-house slow-burn horror in the vein of Hereditary... unfortunately, like most nowadays' movies, it suffers from the same issue: after a really interesting first act, the creators run out of ideas, the quality dips, and the movie ends almost on a kamp note. Just like Barbarian. Major disappointment.

 

[DeafTourette]

I think this movie can be interpreted any number of ways... For me, it's about being so scared to be your full authentic self (whatever that might be) that you choose to exist in something that makes you unhappy rather than take the risk of being different.

 

[AJUMP23]

Gladiator 2 not terrible but not great. Kinda leaves Rome hanging. /5

Our little secret - Netflix Lohan Christmas movie. I was entertained.

 

[Liljagare]

Elevation (2024) ⭐ 5.6 | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller

1h 31m | R

www.imdb.com

Pretty decent scifi, a few questionable events and decisions made by the characters, but a ok flick.

 

[jshackles]

Watched Chain Reaction, with Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weisz. Morgan Freeman was also there being great. Film deserves a lot higher than it's 18% on Rotten Tomatoes would suggest.

 

[bender]

 

[Billbofet]

The Faculty (1998)
Watched this with my daughter. I remember really enjoying this a lot back in the day, but I feel it has aged like milk.
Sure, there's some fun stuff throughout, but if ever a movie was ripe for a reboot/update, this would be it.
My daughter had a good time, though.

 

[Andyliini]

The Foreigner

In this film from 2017 we see Jackie Chan as a devastetad father, after IRA terrorists kill his daughter. He seeks revenge, but needs names. He thinks former IRA boss, now politican, played by Pierce Brosnan knows names, but refuses to give them out.

The circle of vengeance goes deeper and deeper while more and more of Brosnan's characters past (and present) is slowly uncovered. Chan and Brosnan both play their characters well, especially Chan, as he does none of his usual comedy tropes. There's some kung fu, but it's mostly kept in the background. I thought it was a fun thriller, with good direction from Martin Campbell.

 

[DragoonKain]

Saw Blitz on Apple TV recently, and it was ok. It had potential to be a lot better than it was. It's about a mother(Saoirse Ronan) sending her son off to the English country along with many other children to be safe from German bombings of London in WW2. Her son then bails the train midway and the movie is basically about a son's journey back to his mother. I like movies like this usually, but this had potential to be much more emotional than it was. He encounters several characters along the way and no encounter lasts too long and not long enough to carry weight, and then the ending is very abrupt it just kind of ends with very little emotional impact.

I was interested and invested throughout the movie, but I don't think it quite delivered on its emotional potential. The acting was solid though.

 

[bender]

Ran - Some of the most impressive costume designs and location scouting you'll ever see. It's beautifully shot and often lush. It has two powerhouse performances in Kaede and Kurogane. And yet, it often struggled to hold my attention. I'm not the biggest fan of grand epics in the first place. Tatsuya Nakadai's performance of Hidetora just didn't work for me and it often felt overly dramatic like something from a stage play which makes all the sense in the world considering the source material. And for as much as I love the costuming in the movie, his makeup was really distracting. In a lot of ways this movie reminds me of Lawrence of Arabia, often jaw dropping visually with some wonderful performances but as a whole never gets its' teeth into me. But boy some of those vista shots of the opposing armies on horseback are a sight to behold.

 

[bender]

Sanjuro - If Sherlock Holmes was a Ronin with a wallet that had bad mother fucker written on it, that would the character of Sanjuro. Toshirô Mifune has a presence like few others and Tatsuya Nakadai is a foil who is almost, almost, on equal footing. The framing in Kurosawa movies is masterful. The story get s a little too slapstick towards the end, but the final scene is worth those slight missteps.

 

[kurisu_1974]

Conclave I found to be a rather boring watch, the acting was good but I found it very hard to care about these assholes in the Vatican and which old dude wins the vote to continue their scheme. Visually also a bit drab.

The Substance was kinda disappointing, very one note and on the nose, much too long with all the repetition and weak plot. It did look amazing visually, reminded me a bit of Brandon Cronenberg's style.

My Old Ass was way too Gen-Z for me, that lead actress was super annoying for most of the time and Aubrey Plaza was hardly in it.

Smile 2 I actually liked, movie looked great, had great atmosphere and is a rare occurrence of a sequel that is better than the original.

 

[mansoor1980]

good action flick

 

[AJUMP23]

Here 2024 - I think this is supposed to be a heartwarming movie about a regular family in America. But it is just boring and not very good. /5

It isn't poorly written or a bad film, it just doesn't do anything or isn't interesting .

 

[pachura]

I quite liked Conclave. As expected, it was a procedural costume movie with some great actors, not a thriller nor even a psychological drama.

 

[Andyliini]

Unhinged

This film has a very special memory for me. This was the first film I watched after the first Covid-19 lockdowns, after movie theaters shut down for months. I think it was July 2020 when I sat back in theater and watched this. The film tells of road rage, and follows a single mom who then annoys a homicidal maniac. The maniac starts following and later terrorizing the main characters, even killing a few of them. Russell Crow plays the antagonist, and I don't know if he had a fat suit, or did he really get fat for this role, but he was a sight to see.

The film is under 90 minutes long, so it's over relatively quickly. It's a good thing too, as they are running out of new things to do. Of course the usual tropes are there, with everything working in favor of the killer even to the point of it being ridiculous. Like he kills a guy in the middle of the restaurant, and everybody just watches or flees. Surely there would have been some self-proclaimed gunslinger in the crowd. Also, the police are utterly incompetent.

It can be fun, but you seriously have to switch off your brain beforehand. As a return after covid-lockdowns, it was fun. Fun enough for me to buy it on Blu.

 

[V1LÆM]

Mean Girls 2004 rewatch
Mean Girls 2024

yeah. what you gotta say about it ? i quite enjoyed 2024 musical. Renee Rapp is hot. dat ass is thick.



up next is a rewatch of The Breakfast Club

 

[AJUMP23]

Conclave - I thought it was just about electing a pope. But it has a dumb twist that I should have seen from a mile away, but I was only half watching. Movie is well acted but boring. /5

 

[bender]

Two movies that struggled to hold my attention:

Sonatine - I know QT loves this movie, but I was put off at the first gun fight with how blank Takeshi was during it. It's a neat premise and the amount of hats that Takeshi wears is commendable, but this just isn't my cup of tea.

Sword of Doom - Almost worth watching for the snow scene above. Tatsuya Nakadai reminds me of a high school bully not only in appearance but also in his performance. Maybe that's why it didn't resonate with me.

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

Pearl

Really good. Better than X, possibly Ti West's best film. I would need to re-watch The House of the Devil again to decide.

Mia Goth is just wonderful.

Next up is MaXXXine.

 

[Doom85]

Pearl

Really good. Better than X, possibly Ti West's best film. I would need to re-watch The House of the Devil again to decide.

Mia Goth is just wonderful.

Next up is MaXXXine.

Sucks they didn’t send in submissions to the Oscars (likely knew those awards don’t recognize horror films, at most occasional thriller films win an award). Mia Goth deserved a nomination at least for that six-minute monologue with no cuts alone.

Also, the projectionist (who is unnamed) in Pearl is the actor who will be playing the new Superman (he’s obviously been in other stuff, but this film is where I know him from).

MaXXXine is the weakest of the trilogy IMHO, still good but some significant flaws, but Ti West’s directing and Mia Goth’s performance are still on point.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Gladiator 2, and I’ve always loved gladiator 1, the sequel targets the first one this was a safe move, movie was a good experience, the politics of the romans, also the evil twins, the visuals, combat if I had to watch it again I would. The entire movie was done well.

 

[kurisu_1974]

Pearl

Really good. Better than X, possibly Ti West's best film. I would need to re-watch The House of the Devil again to decide.

Mia Goth is just wonderful.

Next up is MaXXXine.

I used to kinda like Mia Goth in earlier movies but her lack of eyebrows and how annoying she was in Infinity Pool turns me off. Didn't like X either, haven't seen Pearl nor Maxxxine for all those reasons.

House of the Devil is my favorite West movie. In this one and The Innkeepers the throwback style is done much more subtle and that works a lot better for me. In a Valley of Violence was great too.

Some of what I watched:

Flux Gourmet was very disappointing. By satirising weird useless art it fell in its own trap by being weird useless art itself. Felt bad since Peter Strickland's previous films are among my all time favourites (The Duke of Burgundy and Berberian Sound Studio).

Megalopolis was just insane. How and why was this made Looked like it was directed by Tommy Wiseau for fuck's sake.

A Different Man is one I really enjoyed, pitch black comedy with some insane twists about a guy fixing his deformed face to appeal to a lady that ends up only liking guys with deformed faces. One of the better movies I watched in a long time. This one dude in it is actually deformed and he is great in it.

The 4:30 Movie was a tad better than Kevin Smith's usual output and somewhat more of a return to doing what he knows, but still well below par.

 

[pachura]

Smile 2 - a pretty decent horror! Maybe not on the level of Hereditary, but almost as good as Talk to me, and definitively better than the first part.
Naomi Scott was really convincing as an ex-addict-celebrity-popstar descending into madness; great, spooky music and sound effects; wide angles;
an amazing opening longshot. A bit too many jumpscares for my taste, and what's with the product placement of Voss water? Still, it was great!

 

[AJUMP23]

weird double post.

 

[WhiteWaterM00se]

civil war

Was this movie good?

 

[mansoor1980]

Was this movie good?

ending was meh.....
rest was 7/10

 

[AJUMP23]

Was this movie good?

No not really. You expect it to be about a civil war in modern America. It is really about reporters and how hard their lives are coving difficult topics. Reporters are the true heroes is the message. When they are actually the villains.

 

[GreenAlien]

Mars Express

Very good animated scifi film. If you liked Ghost in the Shell you might like this one too.

 

[Andyliini]

Greenland

Another one from time after first Covid lockdowns. In this, Gerard Butler plays a dad, who has had problems with his family. Suddenly a planet-killing meteorite appears, and his family is chosen for evacuation. All kinds of shit happens, but they get there eventually.

That might sound very basic, but the film has a lot of heart, and the actors do their job well, keeping wiever at the edge of the seat all the time. Fun film all around, even the kid character wasn't too annoying. Also damn, Morena Baccarin is super beautiful. One of the most beautiful women I have ever seen.

 

[AJUMP23]

Mars Express

Very good animated scifi film. If you liked Ghost in the Shell you might like this one too.

This is on my list. Did you watch an English dub or the French.

 

[Billbofet]

Yacht Rock: A Documentary:
Really enjoyed this and had no idea how all this music was interconnected and related. Michael-fucking-McDonald is the GOAT!

 

[Mr Hyde]

Mother!

I had no idea what this movie was about. Didn't know the plot or anything like that. I just bought it because I like Darren Aronofsky. He's the master of the surreal and it's this particular element that shines through in this movie. I didn't know what the fuck was going on for the entirety of the movie. It's just a crazy rollercoaster ride that adds layers upon layers of insanity. It wasn't until the end and subsequent credits that I understood that it was a biblical allegory about God and the creation and destruction of mankind. I think it is but Im not sure. Regardless of story and allegories the movie itself is very unpleasant and quite disturbing. It hits kinda hard, especially the whole concept of getting your house invaded by a bunch of strangers and you can do nothing about it. Jennifer Lawrence does some exceptional acting here and you can feel how terrified and confused she is about what's happening to her. Her emotions rubs off to the viewer and I feel that is the movie's greatest strength.

It's crazy to think that mainstream actors and directors such as Aronofsky. Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer made something this surreal and cerebral. The movie just sucks you in and never lets up. At times, it's hard to comprehend what is actually happening and it's kinda frightening to watch. I've honestly never seen anything like it, in terms of structuring and how a movie unfolds like this. It's nightmare fuel and I love it. One of Aronofskys best work and that is saying something considering this man's impressive body of work.

 

[GreenAlien]

This is on my list. Did you watch an English dub or the French.

German Dub. It was pretty good so I didn't try the French one.

 

[pachura]

Juror #2 - a variation of 12 Angry Men, directed by Clint Eastwood. A decent television movie, but nothing grand nor epic about it. The central plot idea/moral dilemma is not bad, but all the rest is quite dull - like JK Simmons' cameo. No comparison to Presumed innocent, which was keeping me at the edge of the seat the whole time...

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

I think this movie can be interpreted any number of ways... For me, it's about being so scared to be your full authentic self (whatever that might be) that you choose to exist in something that makes you unhappy rather than take the risk of being different.

This might be my movie of the year

 

[Tams]

Everything Everywhere All at Once - biggest piece of shit I've seen in recent years... Not funny at all, not surprising Reddit crowd loved it so much "wow so random and quirky, wow sex toys!11, wow hot dog hands hahaha, MULTIVERSE GUYS, REMEMBER MULTIVERSE!!?? JUST LIKE IN ANY OTHER CAPESHIT MOVIE #451541" couldnt get through 40 min of this retarded crap.

On the other hand, Perfect Days is such a fantastic slow movie. I was in japan last year and I could "feel" so much of those streets, parks through this movie. Loved how it didn't cross a line with romantising being content with being alone. This is cinema - Martin Scorsese, 2024.

Thank you for summarizing exactly how I feel about Everything Everywhere All At Once. One of the most overhyped movies I’ve ever seen. Hated it. It was like if Scott Pilgrim vs The World pretended it was philosophical and deep.

Finally got around to watching Everything Everywhere All At Once.

What a chaotic, cosplay mess.

I can see why a certain group of people love it, because oh golly gosh, they're redditors. Gotta get those updoots!

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Thank you for summarizing exactly how I feel about Everything Everywhere All At Once. One of the most overhyped movies I’ve ever seen. Hated it. It was like if Scott Pilgrim vs The World pretended it was philosophical and deep.

Hated the fuck out of this movie. Had the unfortunate experience of seeing the movie in a theater. Was pretentious as fuck

 

[Andyliini]

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Not sure what I just saw. Felt like I watched almost two and a half hours of just random shit happening, and it just kept going. I was afraid I wouldn't understand, and turned out I didn't. Onto to next one.

 

[Doom85]

 

[kurisu_1974]

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Not sure what I just saw. Felt like I watched almost two and a half hours of just random shit happening, and it just kept going. I was afraid I wouldn't understand, and turned out I didn't. Onto to next one.

Yeah it was nonsense and also annoying.

Some of what I have watched:

Juror #2 was a nice watch, amazing what Eastwood still manages to do. Could have been maybe a tad more exciting but it was a quality movie.

Syriana looked great, Clooney and Damon and Wright were very good and it was very interesting, but a bit hard to piece it all together especially the CIA plot.

The Apprentice was interesting too, and Sebastian Stan is for me the discovery of 2024 (in this and A Different Man). Not sure how much is made up which always annoys me a bit in these dramatised biopics.

 

[Andyliini]

Excalibur

I've had this in my shelf for a while, mainly due there were some interesting actors featured in this. Turned out there were quite a lot of familiar faces, some of them not becoming mainstream yet: Helen Mirren, Liam Neeson and Patrick Stewart, for example. The film turned out to be quite fun adaption of The Legend of Arthur, with much of the most well known content screened. I read that this project began as an adaption of The Lord of the Rings instead, and I can quite see that, with some of the sets and scenery. Ireland could have made quite an interesting Middle-Earth.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Civil War

I'm a huge fan of Alex Garlands movies. Ex Machina and Annihilation are some of my favorite movies. Civil War is a very different movie compared to his sci fi outings, but it's still equally gripping and thought provoking. It doesn't delve too much into politics and why America is fighting a Civil War, instead we get to follow a couple of journalists that chases the big juicy story. It's a dangerous job, obviously, and they are put in some really harrowing situations. I really like this angle. It's something that rarely gets explored. You gotta be wired differently to freely run around taking photos amidst an all out War. An adrenaline junkie who stops at nothing in order to get the money shot.

Kirsten Dunst is very good in the lead role. She looks rugged and tired, like she has seen some awful shit during her career that can't be easily forgotten. All of the cast is great and everyone plays their part to perfection. Jesse Plemons makes an uncredited role in the movies best and most tense scene. Had me at the edge of my seat. Overall, Civil War is s good movie. Not Garlands best work, but it's fascinating and well made. It's beautifully shot, has an interesting premise that feels very relevant in todays polarized political climate. A great cast of characters that you can relate to. The road trip they make across America feels genuine and adventurous, but also dangerous and depressing. Civil War is definitely worth a watch. Probably hits harder if you're an American.

 

[AJUMP23]

Yacht Rock - Really great documentary about smooth jazz rock. I don't know why Joseph Williams of TOTO doesn't do interviews in this doc or in the one about his dad, but he has great vocals.

All the people that are interviewed, all the musicians tell some great stories.

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

10/10. One of the few films I consider perfect. I do a rewatch every few years. Definitely worth a watch if you haven't seen it.

 

[kruis]

Yacht Rock - Really great documentary about smooth jazz rock. I don't know why Joseph Williams of TOTO doesn't do interviews in this doc or in the one about his dad, but he has great vocals.

All the people that are interviewed, all the musicians tell some great stories.

Joseph Williams joined Toto in 1986, four years after the band released its biggest hit singles and at a moment when the band and "yacht rock" was on the wane. Since the Toto musicians were so instrumental to Yacht Rock and already featured heavily in the documentary, there probably was no point in adding a short interview with Joseph Williams, especially since the biggest song from Fahrenheit (on which he debuted) was I'll Be Over You, a song with Steve Lukather on vocals with backing vocals by Michael McDonald.