Re: Recent movie playlist

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TC wrote:The Devils - "In 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier seeks to protect the city of Loudun from the corrupt establishment of Cardinal Richelieu. Hysteria occurs within the city when he is accused of witchcraft by a sexually repressed nun." yeah, that. also, lots and lots of acid was consumed, i assume. this is one bonkers film. first half is kind of slow burn, not really sure where this is going to go, then it takes a very hard right turn into nutso. everyone should see this at least once. a couple powerful performances flanked by a ton of over the top insanity and what someone assumes to be period dialog. it is quite striking for sure.
Good and bad news on for you DEVILS fans.

The good news is FilmStruck is streaming it now through December 27. (If this movie doesn't say holiday cheer, nothing does.)

The bad news is it's apparently the butchered R-rated cut. Even worse, it's not anamorphic.
This is a snakeskin jacket. And for me it's a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom.

Re: Recent movie playlist

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Hold The Dark - bernard from westworld, a whispering girl, and one of the skaaaaarsgaaaards make a movie. i was really into it, and then the ending happened out of nowhere. it is part crazy soldier hasn't mentally left the battlefield, part native americans make blood sacrifices to the wolf gods, part whodunit murder mystery. they kept building to more and more on the witchcraft/occult side of the story as though it was going to turn into something, and then just didn't. when the credits rolled, it was infuriating. going to have to revisit this one. i'm all for leave events up for interpretation, but this felt like a little much. or i really wanted it to be something it isn't. probably both. be prepared to be completely into this film, giving it the benefit of the doubt, then pissed when you realize it didn't earn that.

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Maniac (Netflix limited series) - this started out great, really sucked me in. about halfway through, it goes so far up its own ass that i am not confident that it's going to even have an ending, let alone a remotely satisfying one. well, it did eventually come back together, but the ending was far from satisfying. recommendation - don't get fooled by the first few episodes. this thing goes off the rails and the only thing it has to say is pretty elementary. not recommended.

Re: Recent movie playlist

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I don't have Filmstruck but do love The Devils. Hold The Dark put me off for a bit, but the more I thought about it the more I liked it. Haven't done Maniac yet, but like you I did march through Castle Rock on Hulu and found it a great representation of what Stephen King is like when he sucks. Lots of ominous buildups to nothingburger reveals, plays with a lot of King elements but never really figures out what the hell it's trying to do, then we find out it's a Fringe scenario and the ending clunks hard. They need new showrunners for S2, there's too much potential there with the concept.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

Re: Recent movie playlist

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Game Night - threw this on last night, figured we'd watch something light after binging the last few episodes of DD S3. this hit the spot. it was ridiculous, silly, and funny in parts. exactly what i expected from a bateman comedy vehicle.

Re: Recent movie playlist

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TC wrote:Game Night - funny in parts.
We rented this a few months back. Certainly amusing, but a real deficit on big belly laughs. I might keep it on if I found it while channel surfing.
This is a snakeskin jacket. And for me it's a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom.

Re: Recent movie playlist

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Murder On The Orient Express (2017) - this movie made me furious. it was fucking enraging. so many issues happening, so much shit that they tried to shoehorn into this film that didn't need to be made in the first place. i like the idea of bring back agatha christie style tales to film, but i think i just can't stand Kenneth Branagh's directing. this made me go look at his imdb page to see if there was anything worthwhile i wasn't thinking of. thor was only ok. too bad too, the guy is a good actor, i don't have issue with that, just that his films are so fucking boring. consistently. and this is one that had no excuse for being so fucking dull. cast was great. christie's story was great. but this film was a pile of shit. i lost count of how many times i was yelling at the TV. and of course he is doing death on the nile now. sigh. i remember really liking both the originals, but haven't seen them in decades. maybe they don't hold up either. this scores less than a point lower on imdb ratings than the original. but this was just maddening.

Re: Recent movie playlist

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The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned from a Mythical Man

Feelgood-documentary of the year, or last few years. A documentary filmmaker is intrigued by the stories of Bill Murray showing up at random places, in random peoples lives and decides to try to understand why he does it.

Really good, really enjoyable watch that will make you feel a little bit better when you're watching it.

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Nightflyers - after reading the book, i was excited to see what they were going to do with this material over a min-series. the answer is, completely undermine the entire point of the book in the first few minutes. over the course of the first episode, everything that made the book interesting and unique was tossed out the window to give us typical throw-away bullshit. so fucking dumb. all they had to do was film what was on the page. i don't understand how GRRM could possibly be involved with this. one episode was all i could take, but they clearly completely missed the entire point of the book. so fucking disappointing.

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Tag - kinda been wanting to see this since i saw the trailer and read the true story. finally rented it last night. laughed my ass off. was well-cast and seemed like they all had fun making it. will watch again. and that stupid fucking crash test dummies song, make sure you watch the credits it's pretty amusing.

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November - someone recommended that i watch this estonian film, saying it's a very weird film set in long-ago pagan times. well, all of that is certainly accurate. i mean, there's some weird sticks-and-blades thing that steals a cow before the opening credits are complete. but it's mostly about the love a girl has for a boy and the things people do for love. i think. i feel like i understood some of the symbolism in this while some i must have missed. like, i don't really understand what happened at the very end. anyway, it's black and white and really beautiful to look at. some great shots, some good witchcraft/pagan stuff, and lots of weirdness. it just never really came together for me. 3/5.

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forgot that last week i watched
The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs - this was such a nice surprise. wasn't expecting such a release to just drop, but it was fantastic. right away i was laughing my ass off and there were plenty of LOL moments throughout, as well as some great stories and action pieces. just well-acted all-around and really isn't getting enough attention. it was great.

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Picnic At Hanging Rock (2018 limited series) - this was very enjoyable. i still haven't watched the original nor read the source material, but this was something i'd recommend about anyone to watch, especially if you don't like answers. it's only 6 hours.

Isle Of Dogs - i'm not a huge wes fan but this film was amazing. i was in constant awe of the stop-motion animation. i can't believe how much work went into this. and the story is fun too. i held off watching it, but i do recommend it.

First Reformed - this was a really good film that went a couple directions i wasn't expecting. another film for lovers of films that have no clear resolution. ethan hawke is great.

Gringo: The Dangerous Life Of John McAfee - i know i'm late to the party on this one, but holy shit is this guy fucking loony toons. highly recommend everyone watch this documentary (that he calls 100% fiction). between the clear ordering of his neighbor's murder and the rape of his lab researcher, i can't believe this guy isn't in jail. murder of his neighbor, ok it was belize and they have no forensics and no witnesses. ok. but the rape of his researcher, they are both americans and back in this country. especially in this "me too" era, how has this not been dealt with? he drugged and raped her. then returned to this country and ran for president.

The Autopsy Of Jane Doe - this was a fun one. wasn't sure what to expect, but did not expect what this was. wish they had gone a little farther with it rather than go up to a point then kind of turn the corner into traditional horror, but it was still a good watch. the very ending was fucking stupid, so be prepared for that.

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Fahrenheit 11/9: This seemed really un-inspired for a Michael Moore-documentary. You can tell he tries to have some sort of through line but he never really commits to it and the movie just felt like it was all over the place in the end. The typical MM stuff, like going to the governor to spray water, and trying to make a citizens arrest, felt like Moore trying to do Moore and it just felt out of place. I get what he wanted to say with the film, I guess, but he needed a more tight a bigger impact with this one.

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The Predator: Well... I thought the Predator franchise hit rock bottom with the AvP-movies but apparently Shane Black took that as a challenge and decided to make the worst one yet. Jesus christ what a shit-show this was. How did someone approve that script? How did someone approve Shane Black as director of said script? Why did they let monkeys edit the film? Why did they audition for the parts with blindfolds on while covering their ears? So many questions.

Re: Recent movie playlist

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_Marcus_ wrote:Fahrenheit 11/9: This seemed really un-inspired for a Michael Moore-documentary. You can tell he tries to have some sort of through line but he never really commits to it and the movie just felt like it was all over the place in the end. The typical MM stuff, like going to the governor to spray water, and trying to make a citizens arrest, felt like Moore trying to do Moore and it just felt out of place. I get what he wanted to say with the film, I guess, but he needed a more tight a bigger impact with this one.
There's so much out there about Trump already, it just kind of all becomes noise. And MM always plays fast and loose with facts for the sake of theatrics to start with, he's our own worst enemy. I'm like, I agree with you in overall principle, but the way you're going about it is causing more harm than good. Which frankly could be said about a lot of the left these days.
Just cut them up like regular chickens