Rate the Last Film you Watched

[Con 5,703]

Upgrade (2018)

The Awesome: A real fun filled sci-fi action thrill ride. A low-budget film that does what the $200M blockbuster fails to usually do and that is deliver and fully entertain from the opening frame to the last. Logan Marshall-Green as Grey Trace was phenomenal...his facial expressions really sell the illusion that he has no control of his body when the STEM system (voiced by Simon Maiden) takes over and that is the most important part of his performance and he f'en nails it, he almost has to play two characters at once, I cannot overstate how fantastic it is to see a man watch in horror at what his body is doing to another human being and although self-defense was the intention, I f'en LOVED the internal and external conflict that created for our main character. Although some of the narrative borrows from other films like Robocop and John Wick, those similarities are combined and handled superbly to tell an interesting and engaging story. I really enjoyed the script and more notably the dialogue between Grey and STEM, their exchanges are realistic and hilarious as I found myself fully immersed in what was happening and looked forward to what was to come because it could only get cooler. The action scenes are amazing and the fight choreography was excellent and was really fun to watch in context and what really added to it was the dialogue between STEM and Grey before any of the fighting, so much f'en fun. Jeffries' death scene was one of the gory-best in the movie and while the film's deaths are a bit gory, nothing felt over the top and were shock moments that really worked. The voice of STEM is what I want all my devices to sound like...no disrespect to HAL 9000. Low-budget that exceeds the entertainment value proves that creativity and not just $100M thrown at a production is what actually makes things fun to watch. The fight choreography has to be mentioned again as it is absolutely brilliant in its execution as not one move is wasted and again sells the full illusion that the actor is not in control at the same time not making Grey just appear bionic, it was really well done.

The Good: The film is set in the future but not so far ahead that you can't recognize the technology, which seems rooted in realism from our not too distant future. The cinematography and production design was very good considering the budget and liked how I was never distracted by the tech around us and never became the focus and centered around the main character and STEM instead. Enjoyed the story overall and thought the ending was quite good. While the film enters an easily predictable formula after the first act, I felt that Grey's interactions with the bad guys already held a sense of unpredictability on their own and the twist at the end was satisfying and is where I also found the character of Eron (Harrison Gilbert) at his best. The "You now have full control again, Grey." moments are the cherry on top of some of the more intense moments. Time and time again this film made me put myself in the main characters shoes because I found what he was going through so interesting, especially once Grey begins to encounter serious conflict and threat. The hacker scene had a lot more depth than I gave it credit for as I did ask, "what was the point of that?", only to be unexpectedly filled in later. 

The Bad: Where I feel this film is affected by budget is in the duration of the film, we are shown the catalyst appearing to involve many perpetrators but we only are introduced to four of them and I wanted more baddies gone because of the creativity in the encounters they do show us. Here is a film that wouldn't have bothered me if it was longer in order to flesh out some of the supporting characters as that is another place where the film weakens, the enemies are interesting on the surface and is probably why I wanted more substance, at the minimum with the Detective Cortez (Betty Gabriel) character who I felt had a strong presence and was heavily invested in learning the truth herself and her lack of backup also bothered me. Fans of the Venom film are saying negative things about this movie since they find parallels with the Venom story, but until I watch the Venom film, I cannot agree with them that this was a rip-off, but then again, what isn't a rip-off or spin off from something else, isn't that the essence in storytelling, how many new scenarios can mankind find themselves in these days, I cannot think of many, what is the last truly original thing you saw or read? Another thing I wasn't impressed by were the arm guns...just needed better practical effect makeup or perhaps just eliminating the human arm and leaving a gun in its place as I found that weapon design kind of silly because it looked silly.

The Ugly: The budget and time constriction fight against the film because it's not terribly original and could have used more time to explore some of the story details like when we learn about the group of people taken and forced to implant weapons and tech into their bodies since they pose the greatest physical threat to our protagonist. There is a small tease on how advanced some of the enemies are but that tech just leaves us wanting more but the film isn't about the lives of the bad guys. And here is also why the lines of dialogue by the enemies don't always work and just make them come across as cardboard cutouts. People that dislike this film because it has no theme to deliver on or message...(and yet there I was at the end juggling the various messages I got from the film, one which was particularly haunting and shared something with a film i watched earlier in the year whose ending also spooked me). The script isn't especially strong but at least the comedy works better than it did in The Predator (I will never forgive them for turing the Predator into a comedy attempt).

Final Verdict: ...4/5... Interesting revenge story that borrows from other concepts but does them all justice in how entertaining and how much it exceeded my low expectations as i usually expect everything to suck, whether big budget or not. I think the important elements of the story really worked and I liked how it handled giving our main character obstacles on top of him becoming a quadriplegic. The action and kills were done well and never felt like a slasher and I thought the relationship between Grey and STEM was handled intelligently and real as I didn't find myself rolling my eyes and instead thinking, "imagine if that happened to me", so the film did capture my imagination and I appreciated that. I'm giving this such a high score because there were many moments were I had no idea what was going to happen and even when I expected STEM to do it's thing, it always felt fresh thanks to how subtle both Grey and STEM each seem to be evolving...

 

in different directions.

 Just a real good time if you don't go in expecting a Matrix-like production and budget or some overly profound message or warning about our future, although like I mentioned before, I found my own message as the credits rolled.

This post has been promoted to an article

Edited January 3, 2019 by Con

[Darealjstylez 3]

Aquaman 4/5

I grew up on DC heroes but for some reason the live action movies never seem to amaze me. But we went and gave this one a try and it was freaking amazing.. the only thing that got to me was he reminded me alot of Thor from the rugged look and acting... besides that the oldschool armor at the end was badass!!!

[Fido_le_muet 5,197]

The Incredibles 2 : 7/10

It was fun, had a good time.

Love Edna and Jack Jack  

[Con 5,703]

Venom (2018)

The Awesome: We finally get a Venom movie. The synergy between Venom and Eddie Brock (both played by Tom Hardy) was fun to watch as the dialogue between them enhances their conflict and I found to be a highlight of the film. Some of the set pieces and action really mimicked the comics and although a few times I had to tell myself not to criticize the exaggerated combat visuals. The moments Venom looks awesome in full CGI glory. Stan Lee cameo, although I wasn't thrilled with all his dialogue. That tease at the end credits. It does what it sets out to do in general and that is introduce Venom to audiences.

The Good: Once the film gets going it has a nice steady pace and that helped it not feel the two hours plus. The relentless action after the first act was a surprise since it starts slow making sure we get invested in the main character and some of the people he cares for, so I was fearing more talking and less action but that was not the case once we get rolling. It was better than I thought it would be in some places. The scenes in the labs were eye candy with all the high tech equipment and did enjoy the science elements in the movie, sure they overused the science jargon but I like hearing stuff like "metabolic abnormalities that are making it hard for your body to maintain homeostasis." and "Why are all these hosts showing hyperacute rejection?", but that's just me. 

The Bad: Some of the character arcs are just brutal and so disappointing because there is source material and I felt that some of what I was hearing felt like it was being "Disneyed up" to make some characters likeable and family friendly. The film tries to satisfy two different audiences at one time by restricting it with a PG-13 rating and that hurts the violent scenes because the lack of blood feels so odd, it doesn't match the gruesomeness of what we are being shown. This film had the feel of studio tampering as I can't imagine some of the director's choices as some things seem so rushed that it loses meaning. A climatic battle that should've had me on the edge of my seat with all it's CGI grandeur fell flat because I didn't care if everyone just died by that point since I had lost investment in the characters because of the odd things they ended up saying in the third act. Why does Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) make grunt noises throughout the entire film, it was so strange almost like manly whimpers at times. The real villain in the film is wasted and honestly there is no explanation to his knowledge. Inconsistent Venom powers pop up here, did the writers forget the abilities they show us and then suddenly go away?

The Ugly: Some real bad wacky moments that contradicted the Venom character I had always interpreted from the comics and while they don't go full The Predator comedy route, it comes close with the buddy-comedy element though. There is one character that appears to take six months to get to its destination and there were so many issues with that subplot device because the director or writers should have given us some interesting flashbacks of that character's journey, instead of the cheap shortcut that left me confused as it contradicts one of the most important expository details. Many of the action scenes seem to be there just for the explosions and car wrecks which are usually cool but they are so generic instead of them creating unique action moments. Speaking of chase scenes, there is one involving exploding drones that completely convinced me that this project wasn't a work of passion for the filmmakers because a simple re-read of the script would have told them things in that chase won't make sense. The restaurant scene is one of the most cringe-worthy things I have ever seen in a blockbuster film, I understood it played for humor but the scene went on waaaaaaay too long even in a full length comedy. I mean, it is funny but then it just keeps going and going, like the "You're so pushy" scene in The Predator film (that film is becoming the measuring stick for awful filmmaking for me) and that restaurant joke gets plain stupid as it goes on because it just gets too silly. But while I despised the length of that scene there was one scene that also played for laughs but it just angered me because it went 1,000% against what Eddie had been showing us and what the film was saying about his heart.

Final Verdict ...2/5... While not as bad as I expected due to the critic reviews but I also didn't find it as good as the 98% rating Google users have given it. If the filmmaker and the studio thought that just because I like Venom from the comics that just giving him his own film would be enough for me to overlook how bland the film is with it's senseless climax, almost like this movie was just supposed to be about Venom meeting Eddie but suddenly they realized the film has no payoff or climax, so they rushed some ending together, filled it with CGI, and waited for the sounds of the cash registers and they sure did sound....the film made almost $1B!!! The far superior film Upgrade made $14M worldwide and is why films like Venom will continue to thrive while flushing the source material down the toilet while make billions in profits while pretending they are giving us something good.  I wasn't planning on watching this and probably wouldn't have rushed to see it but after watching Upgrade and hearing about the parallels with that film and Venom, I had to see if the $100M film would entertain me like the $5M did and it's sad to say that in my opinion, Venom wishes it was Upgrade in almost every aspect. Even the Venom film's greatest strength (Venom/Eddie dialogue) is weak compared to what we get in Upgrade (Grey/STEM) and while I resisted thinking about Upgrade while watching Venom, when the credits rolled, it was clear what Upgrade got so right and what Venom got so wrong for me. Perhaps I was supposed to watch this like a comedy and overlook some of the plot points, too late for that. I guess I'll get ready for the sequel.

The Bad & Ugly Explanation Spoilers: (click here if you have seen the film and want to know why I felt the film failed me)

Spoiler

In the bad i mention how I disliked some of the characters being "Disneyed up" and what I mean by that is Venom, I know he is sarcastic and has a dark sense of humor in the comics but what they have him saying towards the end of the film I felt was silly and out of character, like when he says he likes Anne (Michelle Williams) implying he wouldn't hurt her and tells Eddie to get in the car with her. A better dialogue or setup would have been instead of him saying he likes her, he could have said something like "get in Eddie, i'm kind of hungry." Now that would have the implication that Venom would eat Anne and this would have added so much tension and conflict as what is Eddie to do? Trust that Venom won't eat the love of his life, imagine wanting to be near the person you love but you have an alien living inside you that in a blink of an eye could take your loved ones life. I mentioned the inconsistent Venom abilities and the examples are when Venom is in Eddie's apartment and he tells Eddie not to open the door before we even hear anyone at the door, so Venom has an ability to sense things, but then later at Life Foundation building he takes the elevator down and is then surprised by the SWAT team waiting for him. I was like, WTF Venom, you couldn't sense all those men...and that scene ends so absurdly with Anne watching Eddie almost bite the head off a SWAT member and her reaction is basically..."Eddie what's wrong with you? The hospital, now!" He has a damn alien attached to his body and she suggests the hospital?? 

In the Ugly I mention a character that takes six months to get to their destination, I was speaking about Riot, the only other symbiote that survives along with Venom. We see him in Malaysia enter one body after another until he settles for the body of that one woman and I believe she visits that market and ends up killing some people. Then we cut to this on the screen..."Six Months Later"...we see Eddie and whats happening and then without any explanation, we see the same Malaysian woman that we were shown Riot possessed and now we see she is in San Francisco...so my mind instantly began asking, why did it take that symbiote six months to arrive in San Francisco and what led it to San Francisco and of course we know that Riot is searching for Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) but was it because he knew he was a perfect match as host (and how did he know that?) or was it that Riot had somehow heard when Carlton told everyone he would fly the spaceship himself. Yeah, I feel the same way, it isn't ever explained so it comes across as just a convenient plot line. Instead of me getting invested in what is going to happen to Eddie, I was wondering why Riot couldn't use his symbiote abilities to arrive in San Francisco sooner than six months, instead of the chase scene explosion stuff, I would have liked some flashbacks of people's eyes turning to Riots eyes showing his progression towards San Francisco where we know our hero lives and that would have added some awesome tension this was a missed opportunity because they rather fit in scenes with cars flipping over and  that stupid restaurant scene that should have only lasted 3 minutes to make room for more important exposition and storytelling. But the one scene that basically took me out of taking this serious was when Anne helps Eddie rid himself of Venom at the hospital and the entire time leading up to this moment we are shown how much Eddie loves Anne and regrets being the cause of the breakup, she is the love of his life, but tell me why once Venom is out of him, he literally says, "I'm outta here." and leaves Anne behind with the Venom symbiote trapped in a hospital room and then he easily escapes through the vent in the ceiling. If I loved a woman, I would not prove it by leaving her behind with a killer alien life form. Any romantic attempts after that mess just made me laugh because if there was one moment where Eddie could have proved his love for Anne, thats the fucking moment!!! "No, I'm not leaving without you, Anne." then have Venom escape through the vent and force Anne and Eddie to separate for her safety. But instead they play it for comedy and fail. Now had they established that Eddie no longer cared about Anne because she was already dating someone else....now leaving Anne behind with her new man would have fit tonally and been funny because he is leaving them to find a way to contain the symbiote. I hate when a film spends more time on car stunts and CGI than telling a solid story from all angles. Take the last scene when Eddie gets revenge on the thug extorting the store owner...not only is the floating turd line uncreative, its when Eddie walks through the doors that we should see the thug's body on the ground but there is nothing on the ground in the store, where did the thugs body go? Just bad. 

 

This post has been promoted to an article

Edited February 21, 2019 by Con

[Guest]

 

I watched Birdbox over the weekend (it's on Netflix!) and I have to say my mood swings were literally swinging from anxiety to fear to heartbreak to sadness. I was mesmerized by the cinematographic scenery of the Smith River - so beautiful! That's a definite place to visit when I travel up north!

 

Despite not reading the book yet (my sister has 'cause I bought the e-book for her Kindle and she went off complaining about how the film isn't like the book and yada yada) - the film is still a sight to see! I was surprised to see a few familiar faces of actors/actresses/celebrities which help ease into the movie. It's important to pay attention in the film because all the pieces come together in the end to understand the basic plot of the movie.

 

I initially thought this was a horror film, but it's more a suspense/thriller type. More creepy than anything. Scenes in these movies are relatable and realistic because it's possible to surface which definitely upped the creepy factor for me. Also, some parts of this movie remind me of the concept similar to A Quiet Place with the whole "family/parenting" theme. 

 

I rate this a 4.5 out of 5 only because there are some things I would have liked them to explore more in the movie that was not explained, but either way get something to drink and something to snack on and Netflix and Chill to Birdbox!

[Con 5,703]

Gran Torino (2008)

The Awesome: So many themes to explore and discuss and not just the ethnic factors as the the themes of guilt, involvement, abandonment, trauma, redemption, tradition, family, loneliness, and consequences all add up to a unique film experience. I felt the film would have worked even if Walt (Clint Eastwood) wouldn't have been written as a bigot, because I interpreted the film to be one of sacrifice when it was all said and done. The Walt character was a well written angry persona and yet tolerable because while he was racists towards some people, he had hatred for everyone, including his own family. I love how this film will flow through everyone's mind differently depending on who you are or what you have experienced...and that alone is worthy of serious respectful discussion of the themes presented. Clint did a masterful job at playing this character of Walt Kowolski and especially as we go through the subtle character arc. I thought the themes approached here were gutsy and the controversial topics handled with good intent. Having the priest follow Walt around was always funny since we know how much he despises the young priest and sets up for hilarious interactions, I also found it comical that religion wants you to really love one another, except if someone gay, of course, which is basically the same attitude Walt has towards others that are different, meanwhile he has a priest chasing him around so he can confess his sins, funny stuff! The priest isn't in many scenes but I felt that the element of religion has many underlying implications like, how does a man confess to murder when it's in his job description?

The Good: Cinematography is beautiful and the lighting in some scenes was superb. I liked that every scene whether well lit or dim, always gives you the impression that something is going to happen, especially towards the end of the film where tensions are high and you don't know who Walt has pissed off more along the way. The dynamic between Walt and Thao (Bee Vang) was amusing, especially after they both kind of let their guard down as you can see they both needed one another and how it affects them outside their association. I like that the film doesn't hold back with the main character's dialogue and bigotry because it rings true to how some people really feel about other ethnicities, as "Walt's" can be found in every human community under the sun. I liked that Walt's vocabulary never really changes when he begins to tolerate his neighbors, you hear the change in tone as it takes on more of the one he uses with his Barber Martin (John Carroll Lynch), and I will add that the banter between Walt and his barber is some of the funniest stuff in the film and interestingly enough works in softening up Walt's image for the rest of the film. I really liked how Walt tries to protect Thao from the mental and physical anguish of acting out in violence and all its consequences. 

The Bad: The ultimate sacrifice just did not satisfy me, although I got the crux of the actual sacrifice, it rang pretty hollow for me since there is so much to cleanse in the community that made me feel that in the long term, change will only last for a little while and thought more could have been done but then that would have probably made this a different movie. Some of the acting is bad in how lines aren't delivered in a believable way...take the scene where Walt rescues Sue (Ahney Her) when she is walking with her boyfriend, Sue is given sarcastic dialogue but the actress just didn't have the attitude needed to deliver those lines, so instead of fist-pumping, i found myself saying, "meh" at that scene. Speaking of the gangs, Clint should have hired a gang consultant because every gang portrayed is a bad joke and all come across as wannabe gang members instead of actual gang bangers, none worst than the Asian gang, every time they came on screen I had to laugh because they were so unconvincing and that took away from the tension since I didn't fear them. I think the black gang was the most convincing and even their scene felt forced and seemed to just serve one purpose, to shame the character Trey (Scott Eastwood) because he was embracing a culture not his own. Again the gang members were weak and that scene were Thao is forced to go with them is just so dumb because I don't recall any gangs I was ever around that would literally kidnap someone to be in their gang, I laughed that entire scene when I was supposed to be fearing for Thao and his family.  I also felt that in general there was a missed opportunity with the gangs as we are shown their disdain for one another but that isn't fully utilized which could have led to a richer story and possibly ending. I thought Walt's hate was a bit thick in the first acts of the film that I had a tough time believing he suddenly would start to care for some foreigners. 

The Ugly: The term lovable bigot was overused in many of the reviews I came across post-viewing, I found Walt tolerable but not lovable as he wasn't planning on becoming a different person nor was he seeking change. A lot of scenes looked like they were rehearsing and the filmmaker used that rehearsal footage instead as I found some scenes to have awkward blocking (like the actors didn't know where to stand), this could be attributed to the lack of acting experience by the cast but in a film that deals with such complex and controversial themes, better acting would have left me with the same impact the film "American History X" left with me with. The Asian gang member Smokie (Sonny Vue) was just awful, I basically cringed anytime the Asian gang shows up but when Smokie opens his mouth, I just want to tap out. The stereotypes were a bit heavy in places. Not giving using subtitles during the Hmong speaking scenes I felt was a bad move since we don't get insight on what's being said by them and I felt hurt their characterization since it really makes them come across as just  being obnoxious to give Walt something to snarl about. Now I have read about how the Hmong community felt they were portrayed and upset about inaccuracies or exaggerations of their culture and that may be true but they had to know this was a film, things have to be changed for dramatic effect and should not be taken so seriously. I mean, if you watch this film and walk away thinking all Hmong people don't speak English, are gang bangers, and rape their own cousin's then you are one dumb ass fuck, that being said, I will maintain my opinion that giving the Hmong subtitles during their lines could have helped them not come across as helpless and misinterpreted as the film left the real life community to feel. 

Final Verdict...3/5...We all have our own prejudices and the key is seeking how to untangle them and never let them knot back up inside you. Now that is easier to do when your experiences have been mostly positive, but what happens when your experience is a negative one, do does it create generalizations and unwavering opinions about people? Although some people just watched this film and fist-pumped at Walt giving those minorities invading his "land" what they deserved, I saw a much richer film through the eyes of a character that probably never did any research on the contributions of others to the success of "his" country. I didn't grow up in a household where there was a tradition of hate and prejudice so disliking someone because of their race is a foreign concept to me and generalizing an entire group because of one negative encounter just never made sense to me. Which leads me to Walt Kowolski, where does his racism come from? Was he raised in a household where he was taught to look down at others? Was his service in the Korean War where he learned to hate other races and naturally, a hatred towards anyone appearing Asian? Well its that and the fact that he lost his Ford manufacturing job due to foreign cars growing in popularity in the USA...but I had to ask myself, whose ultimate fault was it that allowed the infiltration of these cheaper made foreign cars? Where immigrants forcing American citizens into buying cars made in Japan? I doubt that. I laugh at how time and time again us Americans always forget to look in the mirror and instead quickly look to blame the outside world. If no one bought a single exported car, guess what, guys like Walt Kowolski could have kept his job at the Ford plant, as I felt that the snow-ball effect of changes in his life forced him into bitterness. I recommend this film if you like discussing themes that no doubt divide and yet unite us at the same time. We always look for a common enemy when sometimes, it's just us that we need to find. Gran Torino is a cool character study that left me thinking about a lot of things one of them being when people say, "this movie couldn't be made in today's sensitive climate.", I don't agree with that at all because I feel it's only a small handful of people that actually get offended by something they see and get up and do something about it, a lot of people just go with the flow and media doesn't make money unless there is a buzz about something. This movie could have been made in any decade because not all of us have been sheltered from the real world. Another phrase that this movie made me think of was "...my generation was this and that." I mean, every generation has it's greatness, some generations were forced to fight in wars we had no business being involved in and how is that the younger generation's fault? This whole generational divide thing is silly to me because it all comes down to parenting the youth that are in reach. We can be taught to be compassionate and tough. Teach self-worth while having respect towards others. I think the greatest generations are the individual ones that every year have a full understanding of the past and teach unity when others are teaching the opposite. 

This post has been promoted to an article

[Con 5,703]

I'm really going to try and watch all the Best Picture nominees this year...

And the 2019 nominees are...

BEST PICTURE

Black Panther

BlacKkKlansman

Bohemian Rhapsody

The Favourite

Green Book

Roma

A Star Is Born

Vice

 

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Yalitza Aparicio, Roma

Glenn Close, The Wife

Olivia Colman, The Favourite

Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born

Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

 

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Amy Adams, Vice

Marina De Tavira, Roma

Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk

Emma Stone, The Favourite

Rachel Weisz, The Favourite

 

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Christian Bale, Vice

Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born

Willem Dafoe, At Eternity's Gate

Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody

Viggo Mortensen, Green Book

 

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Mahershala Ali, Green Book

Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman

Sam Elliott, A Star Is Born

Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Sam Rockwell, Vice

 

DIRECTOR

Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman

Pawel Pawlikowski, Cold War

Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite

Alfonso Cuarón, Roma

Adam McKay, Vice

 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Favourite

First Reformed

Green Book

Roma

Vice

 

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

BlackkKlansman

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

If Beale Street Could Talk

A Star Is Born

 

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Incredibles 2

Isle Of Dogs

Mirai

Ralph Breaks the Internet

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

 

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Cold War

The Favourite

Never Look Away

Roma

A Star Is Born

 

COSTUME DESIGN

Black Panther

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

The Favourite

Mary Queen of Scots

Mary Poppins Returns

 

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Free Solo

Hale County This Morning, This Evening

Minding the Gap

Of Fathers and Sons

RBG

 

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

Black Sheep

End Game

Lifeboat

A Night at the Garden

Period. End Of Sentence.

 

FILM EDITING

Barry Alexander Brown, BlacKkKlansman

John Ottman, Bohemian Rhapsody

Patrick J. Don Vito, Green Book

Yorgos Mavropsaridis, The Favourite

Hank Corwin, Vice

 

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Capernaum

Cold War

Never Look Away

Roma

Shoplifters

 

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Border

Mary Queen Of Scots

Vice

 

ORIGINAL SCORE

Black Panther

BlacKkKlansman

If Beale Street Could Talk

Isle of Dogs

Mary Poppins Returns

 

ORIGINAL SONG

All the Stars, Black Panther

I’ll Fight, RBG

The Place Where Lost Things Go, Mary Poppins Returns

Shallow, A Star Is Born

When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings, The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs

 

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Black Panther

The Favourite

First Man

Mary Poppins Returns

Roma

 

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Animal Behaviour

Bao

Late Afternoon

One Small Step

Weekends

 

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

Detainment

Fauve

Marguerite

Mother

Skin

 

SOUND EDITING

Black Panther

Bohemian Rhapsody

First Man

A Quiet Place

Roma

 

SOUND MIXING

Black Panther

Bohemian Rhapsody

First Man

Roma

A Star Is Born

 

VISUAL EFFECTS

Avengers: Infinity War

Christopher Robin

First Man

Ready Player One

Solo: A Star Wars Story

[Fido_le_muet 5,197]

@Con My money is on Green Book for Best Picture.

Into the Spider-Verse for Best Animated

 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,176]

@Con here's my picks (for the categories that matter )

Best Picture - Roma

Leading Actress - Olivia Coleman 

Supporting Actress - Regina King

Leading Actor - Rami Malek

Supporting Actor - Mahershala Ali

Director - Alfonso Cuaron

Original Screenplay - Green Book

Adapted Screenplay - If Beale Street Could Talk

Animated Feature - Into the Spider-Verse

Cinematography - Roma

Original Score - Isle of Dogs

Original Song - Shallow

[Con 5,703]

2 minutes ago, LimeGreenLegend said:

@Con here's my picks (for the categories that matter )

Best Picture - Roma

Leading Actress - Olivia Coleman 

Supporting Actress - Regina King

Leading Actor - Rami Malek

Supporting Actor - Mahershala Ali

Director - Alfonso Cuaron

Original Screenplay - Green Book

Adapted Screenplay - If Beale Street Could Talk

Animated Feature - Into the Spider-Verse

Cinematography - Roma

Original Score - Isle of Dogs

Original Song - Shallow

How many of the Best Pics have you watched?

I have not watched any of the Best Pictures but will start tonight. I'm surprised a Marvel film made it into Best Pic category, I didn't see that coming. 

[Con 5,703]

46 minutes ago, Fido_le_muet said:

@Con My money is on Green Book for Best Picture.

Into the Spider-Verse for Best Animated

Quite a few people have told me Green Book is a must watch. I learned about the Green Book a few years ago and the sad reality of it all, so I can only imagine people learning about it through the film, it has to have some impact for sure. I probably wont watch the animated noms but have a Making of Spiderverse video lined up on my "To Watch" Youtube list.

[LimeGreenLegend 4,176]

@Con I’ve seen all of them except Vice.

[Con 5,703]

The Favourite (2018) - 4/5 - Great little period piece with great acting and hilarious characters.

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) - 4/5 - A good Hollywoodization of Queen and Freddie Mercury that serves to give us a glimpse at what made them so iconic.

A Star Is Born (2018) -4/5 - Great insight into the lives of a performer reaching stardom and one descending from stardom.

[Con 5,703]

On 1/22/2019 at 11:01 AM, Fido_le_muet said:

@Con My money is on Green Book for Best Picture.

Into the Spider-Verse for Best Animated

 

YOU FUCKING NAILED IT!!!!!!! 

[Con 5,703]

On 1/22/2019 at 11:41 AM, LimeGreenLegend said:

@Con here's my picks (for the categories that matter )

Best Picture - Roma

Leading Actress - Olivia Coleman 

Supporting Actress - Regina King

Leading Actor - Rami Malek

Supporting Actor - Mahershala Ali

Director - Alfonso Cuaron

Original Screenplay - Green Book

Adapted Screenplay - If Beale Street Could Talk

Animated Feature - Into the Spider-Verse

Cinematography - Roma

Original Score - Isle of Dogs

Original Song - Shallow

I believe you only missed Three!! Way to go!!! 

I was very happy with most of the winners but when Olivia Colman won her Oscar, I was genuinely pumped!!! I know Gaga was good but she was playing a role she experienced in real life so was it really "acting"...while Olivia played a Queen and she played her brilliantly. 

[Fido_le_muet 5,197]

Cool to see Black Panther winning three statues ! 

[Con 5,703]

1 hour ago, Fido_le_muet said:

Cool to see Black Panther winning three statues ! 

Well deserved Oscars too. I mean, I loved the costumes in The Favourite but BP needed to create fashion for an imaginary country and it all looked beautiful. 

This was the first time in my life that I watched all of the Best Picture nominees and it made watching the awards so much more rewarding and entertaining. I watched Green Book right before the H2H and then watched Blackkklansman afterwards and when the awards began I was still watching it. My wife played along on her phone with the Oscars app and the only time my picks disappointed her were the two sound awards...I liked BR but I felt Roma had the best sound out of all eight best pics. I mean, take when they show the clips of the films up for the sound awards, the BR clips were just Queen songs.  I felt that Roma was robbed in that category with its amazing sound editing. 

 

Edited February 25, 2019 by Con

[The_Lady_A 1,280]

Alita: Battle Angel

I won't even pretend to be impartial here. It almost feels like everything about this film was tailor-made for my personal taste.

The setting, a classic cyberpunk free market dystopia, could be considered a cliche. Built in the ruins of the old world from the junk tossed away by the ultra high-tech floating metropolis above, I absolutely adored the wretched hive that was a character all on its own. The detail that went into the backgrounds was nothing short of amazing. During the day it's a bright, colourful patchwork of cultures and fantastical architecture. At night it's an oppressive human hive with monsters lurking in the shadows.

Alita herself is an absolute gem, her actress gives by far the most captivating performance in the film. But what makes her character truely stand out is the amazing CGI that gives her a super-human range of expressions without losing that humanity in the process. In still images the character model does look a bit uncanny valley with her large anime eyes, but on-screen it was flawless.

The cybernetic designs in general are all brilliant. It felt like every limb was unique and helped bring the world to life. The sheer variety of them all was taken full advantage of in some very entertaining and exciting action sequences. And the actors portraying the cybernetic characters have an absolute blast chewing the scenery and being larger than life.

The action is pure Waif-Fu. Alita moves with such grace and dexterity that there was always a beautiful rhythm to everything. The film was at it's best in these action sequences, and again managed to showcase a lot of creativity in this world of superhuman cyborgs without losing the sense of weight and force behind it all. I didn't even notice the soundtrack a lot of the time because the flow of movement onscreen was captivating.

Where the film struggles is with it's human characters. The cyberneticist who finds and repairs Alita and becomes a father figure is quite bland. The male love interest is quite bland. The human villains are quite bland. It is all even more jarring because of how expressive the cyborgs are. It felt like the non-CGI characters were the ones who weren't really there. The plot related dialogue is nothing new or particularly inspiring.

Finally there isn't much closure to be found in the ending. Somewhat understandable as it's adapted from a nine book long Manga, but I really felt the execution of the 'sequel bait' should have been handled better.

I still loved it overall and I am considering going to see it again while it's still showing on the big screen.

[Squirrel 5,180]

Captain Marvel seems to be dividing opinions. Personally I enjoyed it. Loved the soundtrack. I had no idea what to expect as she’s a character I’ve never read much about so I went into the film with a complete open mind. 

As the film went on I was wondering why this slightly powered woman was the answer to Thanos. By the end of the film I could see why Fury gave her the call. 

The soundtrack was fantastic, the film was set when I was a teenager so the music was exactly to my taste and suited the scenes well. 

As with any Marvel film, don’t overthink things and just sit back and let yourself enjoy the film! 

[Fido_le_muet 5,197]

@Squirrel

I enjoyed it as well. Not the best Marvel but very good nonetheless. 

SPOILER WARNING !

I knew Carol had awesome powers but that carnage at the end was really something. I can see how she could turn the tide against Thanos, maybe even too easily. But I'm sure they will tone her powers down a bit for Endgame or let Thanos use some Infinity Stones shenanigans on her. 

I loved that it was also a kind of origin story for Fury. Wished there was a bit more Coulson and (wishful thinking) a nod the the Agents of SHIELD TV show that's long overdue. Would have been a great place for it. 

When I saw the cat, I knew it would have something to do with Fury's eye.  

[Squirrel 5,180]

@Fido_le_muet the best part for me was the Stan Lee cameo. The tribute at the start was perfect but the cameo was something else. 

My mates didn’t spot it at first but it was Stan Lee actually being himself for once practicing his lines for Mallrats. It’s going to be strange when they no longer have footage for him. 

[Con 5,703]

The Lobster (2015)

The Awesome: Beautifully shot and directed. The themes in the film could be analyzed for months, take for example the "loner" community that has been banned into the woods, you know who real life society rejects to the point of forcing their existence into the woods? the homeless.  What if we  treated single people like we do the homeless or view them as useless...or the theme of "are relationships real or just a conformity between two humans blindly following a set of traditional societal steps?"...all these things and more can be debated for hours and i think is where you find the key and strength of the film: everyone will have their own views or interpretations. The filmmaker did a great job of making me feel just as trapped as the characters appeared throughout the film by confining the spaces and even once we get out into the open, I still felt trapped. The Maid (Ariane Labed) almost stole the film and the screen lit up every time she was in a scene, I felt she was the most human and realistic character and wish the film was about her instead. 

The Good: Interesting concept of a society focused on relationships. The acting was top notch as Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz chew up the scenery like piranhas despite I assume being asked by the director to deliver the lines as if they were still in high school plays. After recently watching John C. Reilly as Mr. Cellophane in Chicago, watching his character in The Lobster being asked if he dances and sings really brought a chuckle to me cause without this film club there is no way I make that association otherwise. The concept of this film has a strange way of resonating because of real world parallels it seems to mock. The whole "nose bleed" element was cool as a parody of real life compatibility traits and the shallowness of what we normally reject in others but now in this film's universe, the flaws we reject in others and in ourselves can literally save our lives. I laughed every time the ladies talked about fucking in the ass...like why was that a thing in this film, there has to be an analysis on the anal sex thing. If i get all psycho-babble, I can come up with some way anal sex fits into the film and this is what I mean about there being so much to debate in this film...from anal sex to shooting of a donkey on the side of the road...what the fuck does it all mean? Well watch it and find someone who is willing to talk about it. The forest dance party scene was hilarious. The "sex scenes" were some of the funniest I have ever seen.

The Bad: This is not for everyone and I found the story kind of weak and extremely art house in character structure (why did the characters speak like robots!) and is basically a relationship drama in the woods and found myself really bored a few times. The film really lost momentum for me once we find ourselves with the "Loners" and I think that was due to the constructs of the "loner" society which for me made that entire portion pointless. If you aren't in the mood for a strange satirical take on societal relationship standards in a normal world then you should healthfully skip this one. I felt that the film slows down at the worst times possible but that could be that I wasn't in the mood for a relationship drama set in some strange society, now this is not the film's fault as I decided not to read anything about the film prior to watching it. 

The Ugly: I know the characters are living in a strange society with the relationship rules but they all come across with very little emotion and yet this is a film about finding companionship and love but the inhabitants of this movie universe have almost no emotions, they come across as robots looking for a robot match. What I'm trying to say is I had a hard time caring or wanting anything to work out for the characters as I found them a bit weak in spirit and I think that's because they just accept this relationship protocol of the society. The ending, I get the meaning and the impetus for character behavior but even in the most futuristic society, the idea of what David is considering doing at the very end came across as absurd. Why would a society care more about companionship than logic? And I hated how certain horrible things just are accepted by the victims all while guns and weapons are available and even when there is revenge, it never felt satisfying...if there was ever a film that needed some gore to shake me up a bit, it was this one and the revenge moments would have been great with some gore in them. The film is set in a universe where masturbation is sinful but terrorizing people in the woods is not. Where flirting is punishable but kidnapping and forcing a murder attempt isn't and one where cruelty and meanness is considered a matching characteristic trait but genuine attraction is not. 

Final Verdict...3/5... As an allegorical piece, it really works but as a functioning story it felt a bit too dull for me. I liked the themes presented in the film, just didn't fully like how they were packaged. The second act felt like the writer's took ideas from watching the shows "Bachelor in Paradise", "The Bachelor", "Survivor", and "Days of Our Lives" and set that part of the story in the woods.  Even when I entertain the notion of..."what if society was really like this" , I still found the concept a bit weak and wish we had some type of catalyst to explain this society, i think I would have wanted to know where this society came from, was it created because of something like low-birth rates and high divorce rates that we see in real life around the world today? Cause that's juicy, you know, where society does a study and finds out that the reason for high divorce rate is basically long-term incompatibility and has to find a way to change that or the species will die off hence the relationship protocols of this society. But I also know the filmmakers wanted to leave many things open to interpretation, just think about that ending. The best word to sum up my experience is: Distracted. I think the film is right on the border of being set in a believable universe but I was distracted at how many times I would say, "Just run, get the fuck out of there...keep running and don't stop, fuck is wrong with you people." Had I reviewed this right after watching it, I would have given it a 2/5, but after letting my brain halves have some time to sort it out, I found that it makes for fun group watching as I felt there was so much to analyze. The problem is I don't know that I would want to sit through it again. I usually don't give films I don't plan on watching ever again scores of 3/5, but I think that someone who is going through a tough single life might really get a solid message out of this film. I have read reviewers say that this movie changed their lives....I respect that, even if for the most part I just wanted to get to the end once I lost interest in the main story. 

Edited May 21, 2019 by Con

[LimeGreenLegend 4,176]

A Serbian Film

I could have happily lived my entire life without seeing the image of a newborn infant, fresh from the womb, being brutally raped, crying in fear, pain and confusion, while her mother lies there watching and smiling.

Then I watched A Serbian Film.

0/10 never watch this film.  Never talk about this film.  I will try to forget this film.

Edited May 27, 2019 by LimeGreenLegend

[Fido_le_muet 5,197]

1 hour ago, LimeGreenLegend said:

I could have happily lived my entire life without seeing the image of a newborn infant, fresh from the womb, being brutally raped, crying in fear, pain and confusion, while her mother lies there watching and smiling.

WTF ? I don't even know what to say. 

Wow. 

This shouldn't be allowed in movies. Or ever. 

[LimeGreenLegend 4,176]

8 minutes ago, Fido_le_muet said:

WTF ? I don't even know what to say. 

Wow. 

This shouldn't be allowed in movies. Or ever. 

Yeah, I won’t be nominating it for the film club any time soon.