JeffTheAlpaca

With Hawke and Vincent D'Onofrio directing I thought it would be more entertaining but it is kind of slow.

Hstrybuff1

Intouchables (2011) 3.5/5

A Parisian billionaire rendered a quadriplegic in a paragliding accident hires a caregiver who only wanted a signature to prove to welfare agencies that he was actively seeking work. The friendship that develops changes both men's lives for the better.

The film apparently did exceptionally well in European cinémas which might partially explain its 8.6 rating and #40 ranking on imdb's Top-250 list based on nearly 700,000 votes.



The Upside (2017) 3.0/5

A New York billionaire rendered a quadriplegic in a paragliding accident hires a caregiver who only wanted a signature to prove to his parole officer that he was actively seeking work. The friendship that develops changes both men's lives for the better.

Wasn't expecting much given this is an American remake and groaned when the opening scene duplicated Intouchables. However there were enough differences in storyline and character development to make it an interesting watch for me.


Both films were inspired by a documentary (À la vie, à la mort) about French businessman Phillipe Pozzo de Borgo and his French-Algerian caregiver Abdel Sellou.

The documentary also inspired a third film: Inseparables (2016) -- an Argentinian billionaire rendered a quadriplegic in a paragliding accident ...

Hstrybuff1

Fond memories of the series -- when the LOML was recovering from major surgery we watched the 4 films in sequence followed by the 1993 spoof (Loaded Weapon). If I recall correctly, 3&4 were a bit weaker than 1&2, but nowhere near as underwhelming as a couple of the Die Hard missteps. Will have to revisit someday.

OldBoy

[IMG]Once Upon a Time in Hollywood...another sublime effort by Tarantino. I was just in giddy delight as the buildup climbed to that violent finally that QT is so famous for. Everything was perfect and this was truly great acting by Pitt and DiCaprio. they were perfect and worked so well together. just loved everything about it and it went so fast. loved the dialogue, the limited action, the fictional non-fiction. everything just worked well. i had no idea what was going to happen and i was pleasantly surprised all the way around. will be watching this many times to get everything. just great. [/IMG]

Hstrybuff1

Along with the archival footage I loved the use of TV Broadcast and NASA recordings for all of the audio - gives one the chance to experience the moon mission as those following it 50 years ago were able to.

Read somewhere that 600 million people -- about 1/5 of the world's population at that time -- watched the moon landing live. And less than a year later people had already become so blasé about space missions that networks were unwilling to disrupt regular programming for a live broadcast by the Apollo 13 crew.

JeffTheAlpaca

It seemed everybody who was in this movie had careers in movies and TV after they made this movie.

TheMovieman

The Doors (1991) — I'm not the biggest fan of Oliver Stone but have enjoyed a couple of his movies. I'm also not a great fan of The Doors or Jim Morrison, but liked a few of their songs. I went in not knowing a whole lot about Morrison and left really not knowing much more, other than he was a self destructive figure, which was part of him being a genius musician of course. Val Kilmer delivers an award-worthy performance but in the end, I thought it was just 'okay'. 3.25/5

(Note: I watched "The Final Cut" version)

JeffTheAlpaca

It passed the time

I wonder what kind of deal Mercedes made since their cars are in almost every scene.

JeffTheAlpaca

I saw it on Starz

It was different thought not really funny.

Hstrybuff1

Snowden (2016) 3.5/5

Oliver Stone biopic covering Edward Snowden's life from his '04 army enlistment to his '13 asylum in Russia after having blown the whistle on NSA domestic and global surveillance programs. Extras include a ~ 40 min panel discussion (with Snowden appearing via Skype) in which Snowden shares observations about right to privacy I found interesting.

Goonies85

Paris Belongs To Us - Not anything like what I expected it to be, this was an okay Jacques Rivette movie that featured some pretty strong acting and dialogue. That said, I kept trying to figure out exactly where the plot was going but it didn't seem like Rivette felt that that was a very important part of the movie. It was great seeing shots of Paris from the time, and one particular actor stands out (can't remember his name but he looks strikingly like Sterling Hayden fr)om his film noir period) and the lead actress was phenomenal...I also could've sworn that Godard made a brief cameo. Nevertheless, it's a very philosophical movie that will probably frustrate some...I know some of the longer dialogue scenes just started boring me after awhile...That said, the Criterion Blu-Ray looked great...

Lady Snowblood - I somewhat enjoyed this. Was nice to finally see it after being well aware of its influence on the Kill Bill movies...Loved the over-the-top gore and blood, and there were definitely a few scenes that shocked me...A little boring at times, but glad I finally watched this...

Bully - Recently rewatched this Larry Clark film. Pretty solid, and better than I remembered...I thought Brad Renfro gave a really great performance, and Nick Stahl was also extremely effective...Definitely a disturbing movie, but Larry Clark pretty much specializes in that...I also thought Bijou Phillips was also great...

The End of the Tour - Rewatched this movie about David Foster Wallace and an interview he once did for Rolling Stone (the reporter is played by Jesse Eisenberg). I really loved this movie the first time I saw it, and like it even more now. I thought that Jason Segel really, really proved his acting chops in this movie (although I also thought he was excellent in Freaks and Geeks, Knocked Up, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall)...In fact, I liked the movie so much I finally went out and purchased Wallace's so-called magnum opus, Infinite Jest, which I'm currently making my way through...Might take a little while though, as it's massive at 1000+ pages...

JeffTheAlpaca

Anthony Edwards could have picked a better project to direct

Goonies85

Dirty Pretty Things - Pretty solid movie directed by Stephen Frears and written by Steven Knight (writer of the great Eastern Promises, a fantastic movie set in the London Underworld, specifically the Russian Mob, but I'm sure most people have seen that Cronenberg film)). Ejiofor was great in this (as usual) and I thought Audrey Tautou was really effective. A nice suspense movie in which the shocks throughout the movie kind of sneak up on you...And it has a great, bittersweet ending...Benedict Wong was also really solid in his somewhat understated but vital role...

The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi - The Takeshi Kitano film. It was merely okay for the most part (I really didn't care for the CGI blood and effects), but it had its humorous moments, and the film really picks up towards the end. And the very end, just before the credits roll? Just sublime. Kind of like his movie Sonatine (and others), Kitano really knows how to make truly unique endings that really stick in the viewers' minds afterwards...I also loved the song that rolls over the end credits...

Another Day in Paradise - Really solid Larry Clark film starring James Woods and Melanie Griffith. Really dark, depressing movie about drug addicts that team up with a group of drug addict teens and proceed to go on a crime spree...Like all Larry Clark movies, there's plenty of disturbing scenes and characters, but the narrative is actually really strong and its hard to look away from the movie...I thoroughly enjoyed this one...And this one also has a great ending...And two of my favourite actors, Peter Sarsgaard and Brent Briscoe have small roles...And Woods delivers a powerhouse performance, much like his great performance in Scorsese's Casino...

inri222

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - 4.5/5

Another solid film from QT with great performances from the two leads.

TheMovieman

The Assault (2019) — Poorly made crime-thriller where Tom Sizemore, who at least doesn't look bad, stumbles through his lines, not that the supporting cast was any better. Or the script. Or direction. Worse yet, it's just kind of dull... 1.25/5

TheMovieman

Critters Attack! (2019) — I guess I enjoyed the first two Critters movies, #3 and 4 were pretty bad and this one didn't have much to offer, other than I was kind of bored than anything and something about the editing felt off. I guess it was better than Critters 4... 1.5/5

JeffTheAlpaca

Hard to believe he could fool a big publishing company. It would be nice if the book was released and classified as fiction.

JeffTheAlpaca

Thanks Epix for the free preview

Finally got a chance to see this since you can't rent the Blu-ray at Netflix.

Lithgow was a major prick in this movie.

The ending WTF?

DJariya

The Farewell (2019)

Probably my favorite movie of 2019. Easily top 5. Star making performance by Awkwafina.

Inhumans99

Cellar Door

Battle Angel Alita - I liked it. The story was entertaining and the visuals and action scenes were pretty great. The ending is a little anticlimactic and they obviously intend this to be the first in a series. I hope they are able to continue.

rogerrobert69

L’auberge rouge (2007)

Pretty lame remake of a 50s Fernandel dark comedy where a family of hostel owners in a remote mountain location kill their rare guests to steal their money. But when on a stormy night a whole group arrives and a priest is amongst them, they get remorses.
I had seen this at the cinema when it came out and loathed it but I'm enough of a masochist to watch it again to make sure it was that bad! And it was...

rogerrobert69

The Guillotines (2012)

So-so chinese historical action epic (which it seems they churn out like Hollywood churns out action films) where a secret elite squad of the emperor's guards - who use an improbable weapon that through the push of a button and thanks to the marvels of gears and metal creates rotating flying disks that behead their opponents - faces extermination when the emperor prefers his new squad of gun-carrying soldiers.
Too stylish over content and the usual confusing plots in asian films (that may be from bad subtitling) but watchable if you're bored.

rogerrobert69

Seul Contre Tous (1998)

Gaspard Noé's first feature film is as nihilistic and depressing as his other opus. An out of work butcher goes down in a spiral of hate and violence after he thinks someone raped his mentally handicapped teenage daughter. I can see why people like Noé's films but boy what a pessimist view of humanity!

*

rogerrobert69

Sector 7 (2011)

A terrible terrible corean horror/monster film. Bad in every way, I can't believe sShout Factory released that in North America!