What film did you watch last night?
- Thread starter Richeh
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Parasite. I went in knowing little about the movie other than the hype and praised it had generated. While I don't think it quite lived up to all that, it was a very well made movie that trod the line between black comedy/drama (without the comedy), while still having enough serious strokes and semi believable scenes to pose some provoking questions of the viewer. Acting was top-notch, as was directing, so I will certainly delve further in to Korean cinema.
Caporegime
If one had a rather unhealthy hatred for jazz, would it still be watchable? We really, REALLY dislike jazz.
My rampage through the Disney 'classics' continues! I like them as they are mostly barely over an hour long and light viewing. There is something to enjoy in all of them.
Really interesting to revisit these and see how the styles changed over the years. First a few generic comments. The most striking thing, as I mentioned in my earlier posts, is how the animation quality dramatically decreases after Sleeping Beauty before improving again around The Little Mermaid. Also, I have long held the view that the old Disney films were really quite terrible in their message to young girls (i.e. wait for your handsome prince, he'll come and find you!) but having watched the below I actually think The Little Mermaid is probably the absolute 'worst' in terms of general tone and message.
(Below are in release order)
Bambi (1942) - Well known and charming in places (mostly that part where the animals all swoon over their female companions and the classic 'Bambi on ice' moment) but sort of wafer thin and I don't think I'll revisit it. It reminds me of Fantasia in places because of its lack of dialogue and story. There is a creepy as **** owl that unsettled me even watching now as an adult. The fire scene at the end is surprisingly intense and the famous tug at the heatstrings moment is sad, but nowhere near as jarring as in the Lion King. Not one of the best but still watchable. 6.5/10
Cinderella (1950) - I never grew up with this so it's interesting to watch as an adult, not really what I expected. It's not particularly whimsical at all (like how Snow White is)... it's mostly either really goofy (speaking cartoon mice, the cat named Lucifer who is actually pretty funny!) or really rather mean....poor Cinderella! The animation is a bit less graceful and generic too, but the sight gags and goofiness make it perfectly watchable. There is one moment where the cat is moving like a caterpillar that really made me laugh. There's also the questionable message aimed at young girls and their prince coming to rescue them but it's hard not to feel sorry for Cinderella and by the end I was rooting for her to marry her (plastic and forgettable) prince! Again, watchable. 7/10
Sleeping Beauty (1959) - Never my favourite as a child but goddamit, what a ****ing masterpiece!!! The animation style in this film is absolutely, earth shatteringly AMAZING. I was rather shocked. Possibly the best looking Disney film or tied with the Lion King. It's quite hard to pin point what I otherwise like about it, so I guess I'll just say it's very well balanced in all regards. Cute, funny, pretty, scary.... great villain. The musical score when she goes up to spinning wheel is terrifying and possible one of the best uses of music in any film I've ever seen. Like Cinderella, it's easy to make the cynical criticism that there is a poor message for young girls BUT the film does actually very expressly deal with how arranged marriages are wrong and that it's right that people should marry for their love (as per the dialogue between the two kings), so in that regard I'm giving it a pass. I will say that this is easily the best of all the 'old style' Disney films (this being what I regard as the last of the bunch). Really, and very surprisingly, good. 10/10
One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) - After Sleeping Beauty, it's hard to believe that this was the next Disney film released from looking at it. The first of the 'new animation' style that you will immediately recognise from Jungle Book. Passable in that regard but relatively cheap looking. As for the film itself, it's sort of has two halves. The first half, up to and including the stealing of the puppies, is really quite fun. The second half, dealing with the rescue of the puppies and returning to London, is really, really boring. There is an absolutely agonising amount of barking back and forth and just a real lack of any sort of fun. Cruella DeVille is a truly brilliant comic villain and just about saves the film. 6/10
The Aristocats (1967) - A real mixed bag this one. At face value, I dislike a lot of it. The family of cats is annoying. The animation is gross and downright bad at times ('left in' sketch lines all over the place and re-used animations). It's also probably the most politically incorrect of all Disney films other than Song of the South - my wife and I were wincing hard at the 'asian cat' and Duchess has absolutely no personality other than being a 'pretty cat' for the males to swoon at. But, there is a lightheartedness to the delivery of the story, notably the villain and his escapades, that I think is pretty unique in the Disney canon. There is some real Tom and Jerry style slapstick going on with the dogs and Edgar, most of it entirely redundant other than for giggles. I quite enjoyed it. There's also an incredibly strange middle-section with some geese that ends up with one of them being absolutely wasted on booze, which I must admit did have me laughing with bemusement at the spectacle. So yeah, a real mixed bag. 6.5/10
The Fox and the Hound (1981) - This is also completely different from any other Disney film in that it's an emotionally heavy, dramatic, gruelling and pensive affair... actually brought a tear to my eye! In that regard, it's perhaps one of the very best of the whole bunch, but it's also mostly played quite straight and is devoid of fun 'sing-a-long' charm.... so not something I feel I'll be rewatching anytime soon. Bring a pack of tissues with you for this impactful, one-off experience. 8/10
Oliver and Company (1988) - The animation in this has aged very badly indeed. You'd barely believe it was Disney based on the abundance of extremely junky/cheap human looking characters. I must say, it was so uninspiring that we couldn't make it passed the first 20 minutes... one I'll have to finish off, unfortunately..... low/10
The Little Mermaid (1989) - Regarded as the first of the renaissance films and where Disney got 'back on track'. It's not great. There is a surprisingly murky colour palette to the whole thing, but the animation is generally a massive step up and a quantum leap from Oliver and Company. The film's biggest downside is that it's plagued by its horrendous messaging. Ariel herself is likeable aside from her reckless choices but, in short: girls - just be beautiful and give yourself up for a man you don't even know. You don't even have to engage in conversation, just be pretty! Not really helped by Ariel being drawn to be stunningly beautiful with about 1% body fat (us mere mortals have no chance of securing our dreams via our beauty). The supporting characters are pretty irritating (kill the seagull) although the villain Ursula is a great big win, with a classic villain song to boot. The only other remarkable thing is that Ursula's henchmen eels get a surprisingly brutal disintegration death complete with a loose floating eyeball... jeez! 5/10
The Emperor's New Groove (2000) - Superbly light and fun... even funnier on a rewatch with its ace irrelevant humour. Kronk is just an utter genius character. Far more enjoyable than it ever should be on paper. Totally different and altogether just a blast. 8.5/10
Home on the Range (2004) - I think Disney were just aching to do something low key and different on this one but it ended up feeling very middle of the road and forgettable, so much so that I have little to say. Although, it was still watchable. One for completionists only. 5/10
Chicken Little (2005) - Out with the old style animation and in with the new CGI style. Being almost 'first gen' the animation looks really terribly dated now. The film is odd and notably plagued with pop-culture references, perhaps trying to capitalise on the sort of humour found in Shrek? It really doesn't work and is quite agonising in that regard. However, I will praise that they touch upon some of the more 'tough emotional issues' that you started to find in Pixar films from around this time (i.e. family relationships), even if the execution is clumsy... Chicken Little's dad is a ****ing *******! No intentions of watching this again. There was potential for a good film here but they botched it hard. 4/10
Really interesting to revisit these and see how the styles changed over the years. First a few generic comments. The most striking thing, as I mentioned in my earlier posts, is how the animation quality dramatically decreases after Sleeping Beauty before improving again around The Little Mermaid. Also, I have long held the view that the old Disney films were really quite terrible in their message to young girls (i.e. wait for your handsome prince, he'll come and find you!) but having watched the below I actually think The Little Mermaid is probably the absolute 'worst' in terms of general tone and message.
(Below are in release order)
Bambi (1942) - Well known and charming in places (mostly that part where the animals all swoon over their female companions and the classic 'Bambi on ice' moment) but sort of wafer thin and I don't think I'll revisit it. It reminds me of Fantasia in places because of its lack of dialogue and story. There is a creepy as **** owl that unsettled me even watching now as an adult. The fire scene at the end is surprisingly intense and the famous tug at the heatstrings moment is sad, but nowhere near as jarring as in the Lion King. Not one of the best but still watchable. 6.5/10
Cinderella (1950) - I never grew up with this so it's interesting to watch as an adult, not really what I expected. It's not particularly whimsical at all (like how Snow White is)... it's mostly either really goofy (speaking cartoon mice, the cat named Lucifer who is actually pretty funny!) or really rather mean....poor Cinderella! The animation is a bit less graceful and generic too, but the sight gags and goofiness make it perfectly watchable. There is one moment where the cat is moving like a caterpillar that really made me laugh. There's also the questionable message aimed at young girls and their prince coming to rescue them but it's hard not to feel sorry for Cinderella and by the end I was rooting for her to marry her (plastic and forgettable) prince! Again, watchable. 7/10
Sleeping Beauty (1959) - Never my favourite as a child but goddamit, what a ****ing masterpiece!!! The animation style in this film is absolutely, earth shatteringly AMAZING. I was rather shocked. Possibly the best looking Disney film or tied with the Lion King. It's quite hard to pin point what I otherwise like about it, so I guess I'll just say it's very well balanced in all regards. Cute, funny, pretty, scary.... great villain. The musical score when she goes up to spinning wheel is terrifying and possible one of the best uses of music in any film I've ever seen. Like Cinderella, it's easy to make the cynical criticism that there is a poor message for young girls BUT the film does actually very expressly deal with how arranged marriages are wrong and that it's right that people should marry for their love (as per the dialogue between the two kings), so in that regard I'm giving it a pass. I will say that this is easily the best of all the 'old style' Disney films (this being what I regard as the last of the bunch). Really, and very surprisingly, good. 10/10
One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) - After Sleeping Beauty, it's hard to believe that this was the next Disney film released from looking at it. The first of the 'new animation' style that you will immediately recognise from Jungle Book. Passable in that regard but relatively cheap looking. As for the film itself, it's sort of has two halves. The first half, up to and including the stealing of the puppies, is really quite fun. The second half, dealing with the rescue of the puppies and returning to London, is really, really boring. There is an absolutely agonising amount of barking back and forth and just a real lack of any sort of fun. Cruella DeVille is a truly brilliant comic villain and just about saves the film. 6/10
The Aristocats (1967) - A real mixed bag this one. At face value, I dislike a lot of it. The family of cats is annoying. The animation is gross and downright bad at times ('left in' sketch lines all over the place and re-used animations). It's also probably the most politically incorrect of all Disney films other than Song of the South - my wife and I were wincing hard at the 'asian cat' and Duchess has absolutely no personality other than being a 'pretty cat' for the males to swoon at. But, there is a lightheartedness to the delivery of the story, notably the villain and his escapades, that I think is pretty unique in the Disney canon. There is some real Tom and Jerry style slapstick going on with the dogs and Edgar, most of it entirely redundant other than for giggles. I quite enjoyed it. There's also an incredibly strange middle-section with some geese that ends up with one of them being absolutely wasted on booze, which I must admit did have me laughing with bemusement at the spectacle. So yeah, a real mixed bag. 6.5/10
The Fox and the Hound (1981) - This is also completely different from any other Disney film in that it's an emotionally heavy, dramatic, gruelling and pensive affair... actually brought a tear to my eye! In that regard, it's perhaps one of the very best of the whole bunch, but it's also mostly played quite straight and is devoid of fun 'sing-a-long' charm.... so not something I feel I'll be rewatching anytime soon. Bring a pack of tissues with you for this impactful, one-off experience. 8/10
Oliver and Company (1988) - The animation in this has aged very badly indeed. You'd barely believe it was Disney based on the abundance of extremely junky/cheap human looking characters. I must say, it was so uninspiring that we couldn't make it passed the first 20 minutes... one I'll have to finish off, unfortunately..... low/10
The Little Mermaid (1989) - Regarded as the first of the renaissance films and where Disney got 'back on track'. It's not great. There is a surprisingly murky colour palette to the whole thing, but the animation is generally a massive step up and a quantum leap from Oliver and Company. The film's biggest downside is that it's plagued by its horrendous messaging. Ariel herself is likeable aside from her reckless choices but, in short: girls - just be beautiful and give yourself up for a man you don't even know. You don't even have to engage in conversation, just be pretty! Not really helped by Ariel being drawn to be stunningly beautiful with about 1% body fat (us mere mortals have no chance of securing our dreams via our beauty). The supporting characters are pretty irritating (kill the seagull) although the villain Ursula is a great big win, with a classic villain song to boot. The only other remarkable thing is that Ursula's henchmen eels get a surprisingly brutal disintegration death complete with a loose floating eyeball... jeez! 5/10
The Emperor's New Groove (2000) - Superbly light and fun... even funnier on a rewatch with its ace irrelevant humour. Kronk is just an utter genius character. Far more enjoyable than it ever should be on paper. Totally different and altogether just a blast. 8.5/10
Home on the Range (2004) - I think Disney were just aching to do something low key and different on this one but it ended up feeling very middle of the road and forgettable, so much so that I have little to say. Although, it was still watchable. One for completionists only. 5/10
Chicken Little (2005) - Out with the old style animation and in with the new CGI style. Being almost 'first gen' the animation looks really terribly dated now. The film is odd and notably plagued with pop-culture references, perhaps trying to capitalise on the sort of humour found in Shrek? It really doesn't work and is quite agonising in that regard. However, I will praise that they touch upon some of the more 'tough emotional issues' that you started to find in Pixar films from around this time (i.e. family relationships), even if the execution is clumsy... Chicken Little's dad is a ****ing *******! No intentions of watching this again. There was potential for a good film here but they botched it hard. 4/10
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Yes, it's a remarkable film. Jazz is simply the lead characters 'reason to live'...........
Shadow in the Cloud. What the heck was that!
No plot, random horror thing with no context with unlikeable characters. Seems like a film was made to just hate men to the point that the 'twist' is another reminder to how bad white men are.
A female WWII pilot traveling with top secret documents on a B-17 Flying Fortress encounters an evil presence on board the flight.
...so the evil presence is thegremlin misogynistic flight crew. Throw in some shooty action bits, then straight back to the feminist agenda. "What's a girl doing on a plane!" urgh.
A female WWII pilot traveling with top secret documents on a B-17 Flying Fortress encounters an evil presence on board the flight.
...so the evil presence is the
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Soldato
Hmm, I did wonder if it was why I didn't get hooked in. I was losing interest and looking at my phone a few times, which of course then led to me not thinking it was as great as everyone else thought.
CHiPs - 7½/10
My next Dax Sheppard movie. Really enjoyed this too, switch your brain of type. Michael Peña is quite entertaining and works well with Dax, some great comedy lines.
There is literally next to zero jazz
Soldato
The empty man 6/10
Horror mystery film with a pretty good story for this type of thing. Could have done with some editing and reduction of runtime, but overall better than I expected.
Horror mystery film with a pretty good story for this type of thing. Could have done with some editing and reduction of runtime, but overall better than I expected.
Bullitt. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062765/
I didn't realise the late Robert Vaughn and Robert Duvall was in this, nor the lovely Jacqueline Bisset either.
I can see why people rate it so highly. Great car chase!
I didn't realise the late Robert Vaughn and Robert Duvall was in this, nor the lovely Jacqueline Bisset either.
I can see why people rate it so highly. Great car chase!
Brilliant film, would love a sequel with Urban returning.
Agreed, but Ryan Reynolds was able to get Deadpool made after the earlier misadventure so never say never.
Associate
Police Academy - 7/10 I haven't seen it in ages, but always a good laugh
Hercules (1997 Disney) - This is a fun romp but very shallow. It feels more aimed at children than the usual and wider ‘family’ audience (other than the wise-cracking villain Hades who provides some amusement for the adults). The animation is crisp but backgrounds very minimalist (Sleeping Beauty this is not), although there is an interesting CGI mix-up in the hydra fight that’s worthy of note. Otherwise, stylisticly a bit too cutesy and grating (particularly their portrayal of Zeus, who is dying to be something beyond ‘obnoxiously cheery’). A few decent songs with fun gospel backing singers tip the scales towards passable.
6/10
6/10
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Associate
- Joined
- 11 Sep 2020
- Posts
- 278
Fatman - was alright.
I'd not heard anything about the film anywhere other than in this thread, but I was fancying another movie after really enjoying Tenet so figured I'd give it a whirl ... I'm not the biggest fan of Mel Gibson nowadays, but he's definitely the star of the show in this one. It's an interesting premise and quirky enough to get you through it, but I felt like it was kinda missing something.
I'd not heard anything about the film anywhere other than in this thread, but I was fancying another movie after really enjoying Tenet so figured I'd give it a whirl ... I'm not the biggest fan of Mel Gibson nowadays, but he's definitely the star of the show in this one. It's an interesting premise and quirky enough to get you through it, but I felt like it was kinda missing something.
Green Book - currently ranked 126 on the imdb top 250 and it was really pretty good. Amazing back story based a real book 'The Negro Motorist Green Book' with real people and events quite moving and disturbing that life was like that in the most powerful country in the world only fifty odd years ago. 4/5
Caporegime
Dawn of the dead (1978), not sure what made it so great to be honest, seems fairly generic by todays standards.
Got around to Wonder Woman 1984 over the weekend with very low expectations based on the online vitriol. Overall, not absolutely terrible, could have been much better of course, i'd say it's a 5/10 movie, last hour really let what was a half decent build up down.
For me, it hasn't managed to remove the crown from Aquaman as worst DCEU movie - i'd still be placing it in the bottom 3 alongsideMan Of Steel though. EDIT: I forgot about the HQ movie, that's the 3rd of the bottom 3.
For me, it hasn't managed to remove the crown from Aquaman as worst DCEU movie - i'd still be placing it in the bottom 3 alongside