Talk About Movies: Part 4

My thought is both those movies were ones a certain demographic’s parents were told their children ‘NEEDED’ to see. Ask them about Kids too.

I point blank refused to see Kevin (Blanchett is GOATish but life is too short), but there were parents w/teenagers when I saw the other two.

Elephant was decent. I'm not crazy about Larry Clark but his film Bully is quite good and I preferred it to Kids.

Didn’t like Bully, loved Kids. The book about the Bully case is fantastic. The stupidity of everyone involved was truly awe inspiring. I really liked the cinema verite of Elephant but the rest of it meh.

I had the pleasure of meeting LDP once and he was happy to talk to me about Larry Clark and Another Day In Paradise, a movie that should’ve been better. It was fun drunkenly shouting “hey, that’s Lou Diamond Phillips!” in the theater during his cameo though.

There should be a documentary called Another Pulp Fiction Wannabe.

I didn't mind Paradise either actually and was surprised at LDP's cameo in it, particularly his character.

i started to say that Memento was the classic non-linear movie, but it's not -- it's simply going in both directions in one-space.

wnttak was a pretty big film and on most people's top 10 lists of the year

i don't watch many art house films in general but i'd seen this and would have never known it wasn't a big and successful film (i was living abroad and just randomly downloading what i wanted to see)

Finished off the nominees this weekend with Marty Supreme.

Bugonia 3/5 - Plemons got snubbed. I think we all need a collective break from Yorgos and Emma Stone collabs for a bit.
F1 2/5 - about as routine of a Memorial Day blockbuster as you could imagine. Why was this nominated. Yes Maverick was way better.
Frankenstein 3/5 - A pretty film and I am fond of the story. Not great but good.
Hamnet 3.5/5 - Great acting, very intense for any parent. Buckley is well deserving to win, and Mescal impressed me too.
Marty Supreme 3.5/5 - Decidedly Safdie-esque, a fun watch but just a miserably unredeeming protagonist. I guess Chalamet is a fine winner but I think Leo was better. I like Uncut Gems more.
One Battle After Another 4/5 - really great, maybe a 4.5/5. Nothing bad to say about it, whole cast was awesome as was the story and so much of the cinematography.
The Secret Agent 2.5/5 - still unsure why this is as lauded as it was.
Sentimental Value 3.5/5 - Skarsgaard was fantastic as always. Something about hard and honest Scandinavian culture just hits right.
Sinners 3.5/5 - I think this is a 4 if I was unspoiled going in, hard to ignore that when evaluating. For sure the fun movie of the year.
Train Dreams 3/5 - very beautiful movie with not much of a plot. Does make you think about your own humanity.

OBAA was easily the best for me this year, think it will be a travesty if it somehow doesn't win.

RIP Robert Duvall.

Oscars in memoriam going to hit hard this year.

Predator: Badlands was great fun...incredible creature effects and VFX...good story, too. Dan Tratcheberg has really revitalized the Preadtor IP with his three film: Prey, Killer Of Killers, and this one. Very good mythology of the "Yautja" species of warriors, as well as keeping the universe of Alien/Blade Runner alive with the Weyland/Yutani Company. Elle Fanning was great, too.

Never thought I'd be rooting for a Predator lol.

Nouvelle Vague, Richard Linklater, 2025

Interesting, fun movie...the kind that Linklater makes. About the making of Breathless and the French New Wave/Cahiers du Cinema of the late 50s/early 60s. I just love how irreverent the French filmmakers were, while also being completely serious about philosophy and their art. Zooey Duetch plays Jean Seberg, and man, she's both a dead ringer for the actress and gives a great performance.

I didn't like Prey, just didn't work for me and I've no real interest in seeing Badlands, from the trailer.

Anyway I revisited Robocop. It's still awesome and gets a 10/10

Rewatched this maybe a few days ago. It's even better on rewatch. I think first watch I went in with expectations along the lines of 'how will they sustain a full length movie where a predator is the protagonist?' .... in fact, they do it marvellously.

Titicut Follies is what you start with....Hospital, National Gallery...so many lol

Crazy talk, if you will.

Good movie

Name an actor whose performance takes an average movie to the next level.

There's obviously better examples, but the first one that comes to mind for me is Ben Stiller in Dodgeball. He was so over the top but perfect in every way.

I'd go for Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast I really found the film itself merely so-so but his performance was awesome and the film was worth seeing just for him.

They could make a new one every few years, and I'd still look forward to watching.

Haven't watched in a long time, but Val Kilmer in Tombstone was so great.

fassbender in the alien films
kingsley (again) in iron man 3 (but agree that sexy beast is a great example)
everyone in tyranosaur (horrible film but great acting)
dennis hopper - super mario bros
sean penn - carlitos way (i loved it the first time i saw it, but it's a derivative film that on rewatching is lackluster except for any scene with penn which is one of the all time greatest roles ever - he ties the film together and the parts without him are no bueno)
olivia thirlby - dredd
maybe it's the anime aesthetic - but i fell in love with her in this role, she captivated me and i couldn't take my eyes off her - film was bad

sadly this was a one off as i began looking for other films she was in and she never recaptures that same magic again

28 Years Later The Bone Temple (2026)
I personally thought 28 Years Later (2025) was crap and went into this one with some trepidation, especially as it was directed by Nia Dacosta, as I found her Candyman (2021) downright awful. However all is forgiven Nia as Bone Temple was a pleasant surprise and far better than its predecessor, with some genuinely nasty sequences and a truly wtf moment involving Ralph Fiennes rockin' it to Iron Maiden's Number of the Beast😆 Jack O'Connell is great in it too as an unhinged Satanist.

Sisu: Road to Revenge (2025)
Plot? Who needs it? Our Indomitable hero, after killing boatloads of Rotten Nazi swine in Sisu (2022), this time kills a boatload of rotten Soviets, led with relish by Stephen Lang, in what is basically a series of action set pieces in this totally ridiculous but really fun live action cartoon of a film. Switch your brain off and enjoy the show.

Platoon (1986)
Hadn't seen this in a good 20 years or so and it still packs a punch 40 years later, chronicling the tour of duty of Charlie Sheen who goes from a naive idealist to grizzled war veteran. Has a genuinely impressive final battle scene and a stand out performance from Tom Berenger as a scary Sgt Barnes.

Thirlby was who I thought of, too...great role, great movie...she was also great in the first season of Goliath, but I haven't really seen much of her since then.

Peter Cushing is one of the greats for elevating every single movie he's in.

and Donald Sutherland