Goonies85

D.O.A. (1988) - The Dennis Quaid/Meg Ryan remake. Surprisingly solid neo-noir movie. Some neat plot twists, which mostly make sense...And Daniel Stern and Brion Jones have some good roles...I enjoyed this movie...Well directed, and I liked the Black and White sequences at the beginning and end of the movie...And despite what I said about Meg Ryan in a previous post, she's actually very, very good in this one...The Kino Lorber disc also looked pretty great...

inri222

rogerrobert69

The Daisy Chain (2008)

I was somewhat disapointed by this British horror story set in Ireland. Tale of orphaned girl with 'evil fairy' inclinations saved by young pregnant couple never really takes off. Not bad but we've seen it all before. Plus there wasn't any great use of the beautiful scenery from this part of the world.

rogerrobert69

Ghost Ship (2002)

Another bad movie I like! I must have a thing for secluded haunted locales, be they space ships (Alien, Event Horizon) arctic bases (The Thing) or sea vessels like in this case. What can I say, a guilty pleasure it is!

rogerrobert69

Ant-Man & the Wasp (2018)

Liked it better second time around. Once you get past the nonsensical scientific mumbo-jumbo, the pace and characters are quite likeable and work well together. Nothung too intellectual but hey it's a superheroes movie!

rogerrobert69

Premiers Désirs (1983)

As a kid in the late 70s early 80s, renowned british photograph/director David Hamilton gave us the chance to get our kicks at seeing naked girls without feeling guilty because it was all artistic and respected. As I grew into manhood I did not find this as tittillating as before and sometimes even wondered about the 'artistic' value of filming pubescent (or even pre-pubescent in some cases) girls in erotic or near-erotic situations. As the fashion changed and cases of pedophilia erupted all over the globe, Hamilton's star faded rapidly and people started even wondering about the man. A few years ago 5 women accused him of rape when they were young teenagers (one when she was 13!) and Hamilton commited suicide at 83 years old. So with all those rape and abuse stories coming out with the #MeToo movement, maybe other artists will get a new reappraisal of their work and carreer. We have to thread carefully and I'm not sure if we won't throw away the baby with the bath water. This brings back the old debate should we separate the artist from his art? French writer Louis-Ferdinand Celine was openly anti-semite but wrote beautifully, dramatist Sacha Guitry was collaborating with Nazi occcoying France but is a wonderful playwrite, etc...
Back to Premiers Désirs, pretty much nonsensical story of three teenagers (including a young Emmanuelle Béart) who go an an island and discover love and sex.

rogerrobert69

Snowpiercer (2014)

Nice adaptation of political/post-apocalyptic french bande dessinée about a train going around a world track containing the rest of humanity during another ice age. The class struggle between the overpopulated starving last cars and the leaders in the front ones is well presented. Nice surprise (preferred it second time around too).

JeffTheAlpaca

Some of the best acting ever displayed in the history of TV though the guy who played the adult Corey probably had some acting chops.



Surprised in the blatant stupidity of some of the main characters

Goonies85

The Last Days of Disco - Was initially put off by the bitchy/spoiled characters in this movie, but it slowly grew on me. The dialogue was fantastic, and I got really into the movie about halfway through. Overall? It was okay. I wouldn't say it was anything special but it's an okay movie. Doesn't really make me want to watch other Whit Stillman movies, but oh well. Beckinsale did a great job playing a total bitch. Am actually surprised this is in the Criterion Collection, but whatever. Sevigny was good. The final scene/sequence was actually pretty awesome, and the movie leaves on a high note.

Rounders - Love this movie, and can't believe I found the Blu-Ray for $5.00 (also bought Swingers for $5.00; haven't watched that movie in years but will probably rewatch it this week). Damon and Norton were awesome in this, but so were Malkovich and Turturro. A really solid movie...and smart, too. I also liked Gretchen Mol...I'm sure most people have seen this, so there's not that much more to say...Just a really solid movie...And John Dahl did a great job directing...

Also picked up Ready Player One, The Sisters Brothers, and First Man...Not sure what order I'll watch those in, but I'm looking forward to all of them...Especially The Sisters Brothers...

Goonies85

Can't wait to watch it. Checked for it at the video store in the mall but they barely carry any Criterions these days...Will probably have to order from Amazon eventually...I love the chemistry between Falk and Cassavetes...Also love when Gazzara gets thrown into the mix...I still think Gazzara's best movie is TKOACB, although his small role in The Big Lebowski makes me laugh every time...

Goonies85

I agree with your assessment, and I must say that the opening scene is stunning. Even if it is kind of a "bad movie", that opening scene was amazing and shocking. I loved it.

JeffTheAlpaca

It sucked

JeffTheAlpaca

Goonies85

First Man - I actually found this one to be pretty boring. I loved Whiplash...I loved parts of La La Land, but this one left me cold. I also really didn't like how most of the film seemed to be shot in extreme close-ups. That just annoyed me. The acting was terrific. Gosling was good, Jason Clarke was awesome, Kyle Chandler and Shea Wigham were great...But the plot was just dull. Took forever to get to the point. I regret purchasing this one...

L'avventura - Finally got around to watching this Antonioni movie. It was pretty good, albeit wayyyyy too long. In terms of his movies, I much prefer Zabriskie Point (in my mind, his best movie), Blow-Up, L'eclisse, and The Passenger...This one was okay...Maybe if they cut an hour or so, I'd like it more. That said, the Blu-Ray image was absolutely stunning. I couldn't believe how good the film looked...Monica Vitti was good...But again, it's like two hours and twenty minutes, which feels like an hour too long...I am glad I finally watched it, though...

Goonies85

How was it? I love most Wim Wenders films, and hadn't even heard about this one...I also like McAvoy and Vikander...

inri222

Shame - 5/5

Very explicit adult drama about a pair of dysfunctional siblings confronting their demons.

Goonies85

Awesome movie. Fassbender was amazing in that. Probably Steve McQueen's best movie, thus far...

TheMovieman

The Reign of the Supermen (2019) — Not nearly as good as The Death of Superman, but still entertaining enough, but I have to wonder this would play better if/when Warner combines the two (a la The Dark Knight Returns) and it's one feature length film. 3.5/5

rogerrobert69

The Shop on Main Street (1966)

Wow! What a revelation. I'd never heard of this film until I bought a big bunch of Criterion DVD from a guy and he made me a deal for the ones he had left (of which this was one). Very humane and touching Czech film set during WW2 and centered around an aryan man and a jewish old lady. Following new laws under german occupation, Jews were not allowed to have businesses and nice 'aryan' Czechs were appointed to take over their shops. Here, an out of work ordinary man must take over the shop of an old lady who is deaf and doesn't have a clue what's happening. Being good natured, instead of throwing her out, the man pretends to be her new assistant paid by some rich uncle. But as Jews are rounded up he will have to make a choice between hiding her or turning her in.

Very hard and moving with plenty of comic relief for such a dry subject. Whereas in a lot of films (Hollywood especially) things are always clear cut between good guys and bad guys, here, the protagonist's indecision and panic towards the best thing to do are more real and thus striking.

rogerrobert69

Halloween III (1982)

I don't know why I liked this the first time. On second viewing it just falls apart. Rather thin script with silly villain. The song reminded me of "The Itchy & Scratchy Show' for some reasons.

rogerrobert69

Night Corridor (2003)

Very amateurish and confused chinese (Hong Kong) existentialist thriller. Touches on many things - pedophilia, split personality, abuse, homosexuality, expatriation, death, etc - without digging into any of them nor making the characters interesting. Adapted by the dirctor from his book and it shows!

rogerrobert69

The Thing (2010)

Pretty good remake posing as a prequel that doesn't bring anything new (except a spaceship) but works well. Maybe its the setting or the norwegian touch but I like it more every time.

rogerrobert69

Power Rangers (2017)

Although its still mostly dumb, I preferred it second time around. I guess it really is geared towards a young public but there is a nice chemistry between the teen actors. But a super-villain named Rita?

d2cheer

The Last Laugh on Netflix. I thought it was pretty solid flick for Netflix anyway. 3/5.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7427356...=nm_flmg_act_5

inri222