Chariots of Fire: a bunch of unlikeable toffs fanny about at sports.
It's a mystery to me why this film is famous. Watch the first 2 minutes: it has the well known theme tune over the famous scene running on the beach. Spare yourself the rest of this tedious movie.
Letters from Iwo Jima: the companion film to Flags of our Fathers, it tells the story of the battle for Iwo Jima based on letters written by Japanese soldiers. It's in Japanese with subtitles and no dub. I usually find that annoying, but I quickly forgave it. It's thought provoking, and much better than the first film. Also unlike that film it stays with the battle start to finish. Recommended.
#RebelMoon had great potential, the story started on the right track but then didn’t really develop, characters that were interesting either just disappeared or had barely a minute of showtime, and the ending feels rushed, convenient and way too scripted. I also didn’t like the abuse of slow motion for the fight choreographies. What an unfortunate missed opportunity. #MovieReviews
This story has stuck with me over the years. Warning tho, it goes into graphic detail of how meat gets to your table, and the inhumane treatment of animals.
A day in the lives of 22 people in the hours leading up to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy on June 5, 1968. Great job capturing the turbulent times as experienced by fictional characters. Kennedy's speech on the "mindless menace of violence in America," just one month earlier and the day after Martin Luther King's assassination, is referenced at the end of the film. Sad to note the speech is still every bit as relevant today.
Amazing cast of actors in this 2006 film that you will not see in movies today, including: Anthony Hopkins, Harry Belafonte, Emilio Estevez, Laurence Fishburne, Christian Slater, William H. Macy, Sharon Stone, Shia LaBeouf, Martin Sheen, and more. Directed and written by Emilio Estevez.
Classics of Pagan Cinema: Weekend Editor Eric O. Scott takes a look at the new 50th-anniversary release of The Wicker Man and shares new perspective of the classic folk horror film.
The Vancouver International Film Festival #VIFF#VIFF2023 came and went and I got a 10-pack of tickets. Here's a review thread of the films I saw. It's often a gamble at these festivals because most films haven't been reviewed widely yet or even have proper trailers. Nonetheless I was lucky that I didn't end up seeing any complete stinkers, although some were better than others: #film#MovieReviews
It’s Friday the 13th and even though I slept all day, we still managed to watch a horror movie. This one was Lorcan Finnegan’s 2019 film “Vivarium”, starring Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg.
‘Vivarium’ follows a young, happily-unmarried couple who one day find themselves in a strange real estate office, with an even stranger real estate agent. The two decide to follow him to a model home, located in the suburb of Yonder. Here, all of the houses are cookie-cutter, and the young couple quickly become separated from their agent, who seems to have abandoned them inside this suburban labyrinth. Soon, a box is delivered to the couple, which contains their only hope of “release”…
‘Vivarium’ is surprisingly good, and properly spooky. It explores themes of complacency, routine, parenthood, blasé adherence to social contracts, and parasitism. This film is reminiscent of films like ‘Body Snatchers’ and ‘Into the Tall Grass’; it’s not particularly cheesy, but it does have a bit of camp. I do wish the film had spent a bit more time exploring the world within, though it does give a tantalizing glimpse. Fun film that will give me plenty to think about before bed tonight; 4/5 ⭐️.
"I couldn’t help leave the theater frustrated and conflicted that the movie was less about American hegemony and exceptionalism and more about the consequences of - stereotypical - megalomaniac politicians and military generals puppeteering naive “genius” boy-like scientists playing genocidal moneyball."
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"Cynically, the movie treats the human consequences of the atomic bombs as an afterthought, and the film becomes more fascinated by oncoming cold war stresses and mutual destruction fears as the result of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Because the movie is telling you what is after the atomic bombs is sure to be more horrific than the actual bombs, the film further perpetuates American myths about the justifications for the destruction of Japanese cities and the massacring of innocent civilians."
September 29 - October 1, 2023 - Weekend Box Office (Estimates) (i.imgur.com)