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Re: Most Recent Movie You've Seen
Super Dark Times - One thing I loved about this movie is how it shows how random things in life can wind up altering everything... finding the weed in the older brothers bedroom...which of course leads to the sword.
Even though nobody finds out anything until it's too late, it's a miracle that they were able to fly under the radar for so long. The killer stops going to school right after the murder/disappearance.....that's an immediate red flag...and Zach injured his hand that night which leads to a hospital visit. Then Zach becomes obsessed with what happened which leads to making mistakes such as going back to the scene of the crime and talking to the youngest kid who witnessed what happened. That kid was actually the smartest one of the bunch. He wanted to act like it had never happened and wanted no details.
Zach also had the girl he had a crush on falling for him and he lets her slip through his fingers showing very little interest.
While the killer was obviously troubled and a budding serial killer, the final murder(s) during the climax make little sense. He attacks the two girls who are showing interest in him and his best friend?!?
If you've watched this before...
Is Zach dead or alive? It was inexcusable to leave this open. He's the main character!
I lean towards him being dead. While he's clearly still alive immediately after the attack talking to the cops/medics, he is not shown after this.
The final scene is months later and we get to see that Allison recovered and has scars on her neck. The end.
I think Zach died from complications after going to the hospital but it's left open for whatever reason.
Also liked the 90s setting. Most of these types of movies are set in the 80s.
Which leads into...
Summer of 84 - I liked it but it definitely has its faults. For starters, it's a strange group of friends and other than surface level, we see no reason for these guys to be long time friends. Davey(the main character) and the fat kid are the interesting ones.
My favorite part of the movie isn't even the main story.... it's Davey's crush on the older girl next door/former babysitter Nikki and how this subplot plays out. He finds out she actually likes him while at the same time finding out she's going to be moving due to her parents divorcing. A kick in the gut and loss of innocence moment for a boy that age.
Pet Sematary 2 - I kinda liked this one in my youth. Now it just feels like it was thrown together to give Edward Furlong...hot off the fame from Terminator 2.... something to star in.
And yes, I love seeing pre-cleaned/up sanitized NYC.
Me too.
A few great early 80s movies that give you a great view of old New York....
Night Shift
Arthur
Broadway Danny Rose
Hannah and Her Sisters
Re: Most Recent Movie You've Seen
Riding In Cars With Boys - This is great. The problem is that it had the potential to be a classic. It was in desperate need of a rewrite.
Like with Reality Bites, there's a serious drama and realistic story to tell here but it's played for laughs.
This has to be Barrymore's peak. Zahn almost steals the show. This also made me miss Britanny Murphy. She's one of those actresses I love but there's only a handful of movies I like from her.
Secrets in their Eyes - This popped up on Tubi. It got some shitty reviews but I was intrigued. It has a killer cast.
I don't like how the story bounces back every 4-5 minutes between present day and 13 years ago. While it was interesting on the surface, I don't like where it headed towards the climax. The double twist wasn't realistic IMO. Their entire lives had been ruined by this case...but she's going to keep that a secret for 13 years?!?
Sharing the Secret - I watched this when I noticed it has Alison Lohman in it. I remember her as one of THE ' It girls' of the early 2000s. It's about a teen girl dealing with bulimia.
I made it exactly 58 minutes in. I had to shut it off when she went on that huge rant about hating everything about her life.
She's a middle class teen whose had everything handed to her on a silver platter and her life is close to perfect.
She has nothing to whine about.
It reminded me of that 90s TV show My So Called Life.... another girl who has it all but can't stop complaining.
I loathe these types of people/characters.
I wish this girl could have been thrown into my life at 15-16. She'd last 10 minutes before reaching for the nearest rope.
The Boy Behind the Door - This had loads of potential....two boys kidnapped and taken to a house in the middle of nowhere. One gets loose in the house while the other tied in the cellar.
I was on the edge of my seat until the motive appears to just be about child trafficking in general and the novelty of a woman being involved wore off quickly.
Re: Most Recent Movie You've Seen
Cry Macho - This was one hell of a slog to get through.
It's time for Clint to hang it up. He's simply too old to believable in these roles. That fight scene is laughable and when he's supposed to ride a horse, the camera has to be a mile away so you won't notice that it isn't him.
His characters now are just Gran Turismo/The Mule hybrids.
The story is dull.... almost nothing happens. I assume this was because Clint isn't suited for anything else. He originally had the chance to do this film in 1988 !! I guarantee it would have been a much better film back then.
Re: Most Recent Movie You've Seen
Night Shift is great.
Speaking of Ms 45, there was another rape-revenge film a lot like I Spit on Your Grave that I saw when I was a kid on late night Cinemax (holy shit that was a great period of cable) where this woman is raped while her parents or in laws were there. I remember it being really graphic and she ends up tracking them down with a gun, a lot like the Jodie Foster film. For the life of me I can’t remember what it was called and I never saw it again, but it’s always stuck with me. It was early 80s. One of the things I remember was the old lady, her mom or mother in law (I want to say her husband is dead) and she throws herself on top of her to try to stop the gang rape. I have not been able to find this film for thirty years!
Another one impossible to find is an ultra raunchy sex comedy called Wimps. It came out the same time as Revenge of the Nerds but with even more nudity.
Re: Most Recent Movie You've Seen
Julia - This had so much potential. Tilda Swinton hits a home run as an out of control alcoholic who meets someone at AA and gets involved in a kidnapping...that immediately goes wrong.
The problem is when they don't keep it simple. The story did not need to veer into Mexico...and when the boy gets kidnapped from Swinton by what's essentially the Mexican mafia, my mind has already checked out of the story and I'm just waiting for it to end.
That ending is atrocious. It's inexcusable for a two and a half hour film to have an ending like that. It doesn't end... it's just a continuation of the story but the audience will never get to see how it's resolved.
The first hour or so is amazing. It's all downhill from there.
Tusk - I love this movie but it's a tad too over the top. It would be better to go into this film not knowing anything about it.
Analyze This - I liked it better than the first time I watched it 20 years ago. It's like if The Sopranos was a comedy. I might watch the sequel tonight.
Re: Most Recent Movie You've Seen
Triangle: slasher/time travel film.I found it pretty fun just to watch how the main character was going to get out of the loop. I'm not sure about the ending since there are a lot of meanings/interpretations of it. Retroactive a 1997 is sort of similar to this. But Triangle takes place on a boat which makes it interesting.
Network--the last time I saw this was in the early 2000s. And it's more relevant NOW than it was back then. Basically, online/the internet could be substituted for Television. I had no idea how funny this film is, especially Faye Dunaway's Diane character. Oh, it basically predicted/forecasted the mergers and the harmful intersection of business/big money and the news, which is still felt to this day. And the rise of live shot/homemade footage would become popular. As well as glamourizing crimminals/questionable people and making celebs out of them. Oh one of the best parts (and best acted) of the film is near the end where Max (William Holden) just tells Diane how hollow, shallow and a sad person that she is. I totally glossed over this the last time I saw this. Faye Dunaway had a great prime from like late 60s-late 70s. Apparently, the wreck that was Mommie Dearest torpedoed her career along with the fact that she was extremely difficult to deal with.
Trapped--kidnapping film with Kevin Bacon and Charlize Theron, Stuart Townsend, and Courtney Love. It's pretty good. Not great or a classic. Just watchable especially if you turn your brain off. It was going well 2/3 of the way, then the last 30 mins went off the rails plot wise. Shoot outs and ridiculous over the top stuff. There's one key plot that is revealed that gets totally lost and thrown away in favor of the car crashes and etc. I turned off my brain at that point and just enjoyed the stupidity.
V for Vendetta-I saw this in the theater in 2006 or 2007. I think it holds up pretty well. I found the middle slightly long. They could have probably edited out. Also I'm not sure whether or not the point where they stage Evie's abduction and captivity is neccesary. This is basically a modern version of 1984. There are some nice touches like the jukebox, film posters, watching old fims, in the place where V lives. And really at this point, I'm not sure it's that far fetched that a nation would kill it's own citizens on purpose to gain power. Still I really enjoyed the beginning and end of this film.
Re: Most Recent Movie You've Seen
I have Trapped on my Tubi list. Maybe I'll watch it tonight.
I'm also long overdue for V for Vendetta. Haven't watched it since it came out.
American Beauty - I liked it but this has to be one of the most overrated movies ever. Great cast but Thora Birch is the weak link here.
Damn Mena Suvari was hot back then.
Prisoners - This was amazing. Can't believe I had never watched this before. I was glued to my seat the entire film. The plot got a bit wacky there towards the end but didn't go completely off the rails.
What Lies Beneath - Yikes. I barely made it through. It can't decide on whether it's a ghost story or some sort of murder mystery...it tries to be both.
It's also way too long. I am not a big fan of Michelle Pfeiffer and she's forced to carry the film. Harrison Ford is not realistic as a bad guy.
Bound - Great movie. I used to watch this a lot in the 90s. It's the only movie I can stomach Jennifer Tilly.
It Comes At Night - This was awesome. A really good slow burn. You expect it to build up to a huge climax with outside invaders but it doesn't happen. It's a bleak story. I knew it was a mistake bringing in that family.
I have a couple days left on my Showtime free trial on Amazon. I may have to watch Hereditary before it expires. That's one of the best films of the past decade.
Re: Most Recent Movie You've Seen
What Lies Beneath - Yikes. I barely made it through. It can't decide on whether it's a ghost story or some sort of murder mystery...it tries to be both.
It's also way too long. I am not a big fan of Michelle Pfeiffer and she's forced to carry the film. Harrison Ford is not realistic as a bad guy.
Bound - Great movie. I used to watch this a lot in the 90s. It's the only movie I can stomach Jennifer Tilly.
I'm a fan of Pfeiffer but she can be hit and miss. Agree on Bound. The supporting players are pretty strong too, Joe Pantoliano is great so is pre SVU Chris Merloni. I love how Tilly deceives/lies/manipulates both guys. This is probably the best Wachawhatever Brothers film to me.
Goodfellas--I find this slightly overrated but still fine. For pure Mafia movie, Casino made a few years later is better. For better or worse, Goodfellas is a coming of age story and look at the mafia. I got kind of antsy waiting for the mafia violence parts. Casino also has Vegas as a backdrop and the casinos and how the Mob had control of a major US city which is more interesting to me. Back to Goodfellas, from the part where they do the huge robbery to the end, it's pretty much all aces. Especially, the sequence of the cocaine fueled day. The hilarious and ironic part of the film, Goodfellas assumes stand up/loyal blood brother type of guy, at the end everyone and their mother was either trying to save their own ass or whack anyone who stood in the way. Great soundtrack.
Street Smart--ugh. this one annoyed me despite the cast. I think part of the problem is the plot. It's weird. There are two paths you could go with this: go parody/for laughs or go dark. They chose neither or some middle ground. I ended up nodding off in the middle waiting for some sort of energy from this. Part of this is the cast of the main lead: Christopher Reeves. While Morgan Freeman who plays the pimp Fast Black is excellent (and his performance is wasted), Reeves doesn't really match this intensity and I wondered whether someone else (Mickey Rourke?) would be better in this. Freeman goes from smooth talking to someone who would cut you over $20 and it's totally believable. Oh the ending is a total crock. I think they just wanted a happy ending to send the audience home satisfied.
Re: Most Recent Movie You've Seen
I love those food scenes in Goodfellas. The "bust out" scenes with the restaurant one of the highlights as well.
Yeah Casino deserves more praise. I like it now a lot more than I did back then. I can't stand Sharon Stone but she hit a home run here.
The Last Movie Star - This got some shit reviews but I loved it. It does have a bit of a B movie vibe but I think that's part of its charm.
Burt Reynolds couldn't have asked for a better swan song than this. This is the type of film Clint Eastwood should have ended his career on instead of that Cry Macho bullshit.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)- Pure tripe. I almost turned it off 15 minutes in when they became outraged by seeing a Confederate flag and minutes were spent having to get rid of it.
I'm so sick of this Woke crap infesting everything. If you are outraged by the sight of an old Confederate flag hanging on some old building in a Texas ghost town, go see a psychiatrist.
The plot is atrocious. They had the nerve to bring back the Sally character from the original...and then she dies.
The ending sucked. Only decent thing was seeing the actress from that movie Eighth Grade. Sad that just a couple years after that film she is reduced to this nonsense.
Hereditary - The first 90 minutes of this film... flawless. It just goes completely off the rails towards the end with a ridiculous climax.
I just love how it nails family dysfunction in the first half. The way they walk on eggshells around the mother and how a black cloud hangs over everything... especially that scene at the dinner table.
Capote - Philip Seymour Hoffman puts in one of the all time great performances here. He literally becomes Capote. Unbelievable.
Re: Most Recent Movie You've Seen
Hereditary is just so disturbing. I think it’s the closest I’ve seen to The Exorcist in terms of a great dramatic horror film. It made me really uncomfortable. I’ll agree the third act is a bit absurd, but without giving spoilers, I would have never guessed THAT character was the chosen one, for lack of a better word.
Casino is fantastic, just not as cool as Goodfellas. Pesci was absolutely fantastic, and so was Sharon Stone.
