Last Movie Watched

[LetTigerIn]

First Reformed
I'm not sure how the box office is holding up, but I think this is proving to be a quality movie year (even for the blockbusters). I had to add this one quickly, because, I thought it paired nicely with, of all things, Won't You Be My Neighbor?. About the only thing I knew about this one going in is that it is written and directed by Paul Schrader, and even if his name were not shown on the credits, it would undoubtedly come up in discussing the film. Off the top of my head, I think this is the best written film of the year so far, and the performances are equally brilliant. Ethan Hawke is brilliant. Philip Ettinger is also a standout in the film. Amanda Seyfried and Cedric the Entertainer are good as well. Really glad I caught this in the cinema, because even a small audience really contributed to this film.

[LetTigerIn]

American Animals
There is a big group of movies amassing at the top of my favorite movies of 2018 list, and this one is joining that menagerie. I didn't know too much about this one going in, so I was caught a little bit by surprise, and I was mesmerized by this. Among its other virtues, it includes some really nice performances from a cast that includes Barry Keoghan (The Killing of a Sacred Deer; Dunkirk), Evan Peters (American Horror Story); and Ann Dowd (who is in the list twice now thanks to Hereditary). I was fascinated by this movie on pretty much every level. For the curious, I'd recommend maybe just watching the trailer and steering clear of any spoiler-y reviews. It's in theaters, but it looks like it's also on Vudu, if that's more your bag. However, I'm really glad I caught it at the local cinema.

[santiclaws]

American Animals
There is a big group of movies amassing at the top of my favorite movies of 2018 list, and this one is joining that menagerie. I didn't know too much about this one going in, so I was caught a little bit by surprise, and I was mesmerized by this. Among its other virtues, it includes some really nice performances from a cast that includes Barry Keoghan (The Killing of a Sacred Deer; Dunkirk), Evan Peters (American Horror Story); and Ann Dowd (who is in the list twice now thanks to Hereditary). I was fascinated by this movie on pretty much every level. For the curious, I'd recommend maybe just watching the trailer and steering clear of any spoiler-y reviews. It's in theaters, but it looks like it's also on Vudu, if that's more your bag. However, I'm really glad I caught it at the local cinema.

I liked it quite a bit myself. Interesting story.

[roenick]

My wife and I saw this last night and loved it. Amazing man who stayed on message throughout his life. Very cool to hear what he wanted to do and how to do it and that sometimes he had doubts, fears and concerns but stayed focus on helping children gain confidence in themselves and know that what they are going through and feeling wasn't strange or new. Lived by two simple rules: Love your neighbor and Love yourself. I think we are missing his voice right now and it makes me sad. Have a great day everyone!

[jerseydevil]

Everything I needed this to be. Wet eyes throughout, and I actually made a gut punch noise out loud with one line of dialogue that just ruined me. But, it's gentle with it's sadness...as you would expect. Just lovely really.



We made the mistake of seeing this second. Not that it was bad, but...it was tonally the most inappropriate movie to see after the gentle breeze of Pooh. When I saw the trailer, I was interested. Part of me was leery, because if you saw the 'white voice' part of the trailer, it was easy to predict that this might be heavy handed with it's message. I can honestly tell you that that is the least bizarre part of the movie. I described it as Film school Spike Lee meets Troma studios. Some weird and uncomfortable stuff goes down in the third act, to the point that I had to check with Kingsqueen, 'You saw that too, right?' Lakeith Stanfield is perfectly charismatic as the eye of the weird storm. Tessa Thompson, dependable as usual. And I have NO idea what Armie Hammer was thinking. There is one part of this flick that may go down as one of the most uncomfortable movie going experiences I have had...and that is saying something. It's the kind of nonsensical movie my sister would hate...and that's just one part of why I liked it so much. Definitely not for everyone.

[jerseydevil]

Hurm. Remember when folks bitched about product placement being blatant pandering. Well, now...the wooing and concessions to foreign box office have become so blatant and insidious that they have become laughable. The one export we clearly had has been co-opted. That being said, it's a lot of fun, despite it's flaws. The reason for that, THE STATHAM. Very glad to see him finally get a franchise worthy of his particular skills. It's filled with groan inducing ridiculousness, while feeling like the hard edges were sanded down. So, the tone is a little hit and miss. The shark isn't ever really as frightening as it should be. But still, the STATHAM. Silly fun that could have been magical if they hadn't constantly put the brakes on embracing the madness. Perfect summer film.

[lagwagon0]

A non-existent plot but it didn't really matter because Kate McKinnon stole every scene. B-




JD feeling very generous . I was extremely disappointed by how half-assed the whole film felt. 1/3 of the time they kinda embraced the lunacy within a PG-13 rating, the rest was overlong filler sprinkled with "heartfelt" moments that were beyond cringe worthy. It's awkward watching a movie try to convince you we're having a serious moment following a script that occasionally felt like Sharknado. There was just so many times the movie seemed unaware of what it was trying to be and just took such a neutered line. My disappointment aside(because that's really all it is), there were a few awesome sequences with the shark that looked great in IMAX. C+

Other movies I've watched in the past month or so:
Equalizer 2 - more Denzel destruction, with less cohesiveness and bigger plot gaps then the first film. B-
Antman and the Wasp - Light enjoyable fare that filled in nicely after the intensity of Infinity War. B+
Teen Titans Go to the Movies - Haven't seen the TV series, chuckled fairly often but a little too meta for me and don't expect it to be memorable. B
Skyscraper - Such a lazy action film with zero originality. C
The First Purge - The worst film I've seen this year. F
Unfriended: Dark Web - I actually enjoyed the first, didn't think this was terrible but missing the uniqueness the 2nd time around. B-
I'm not going to talk about Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom because I am still angry almost two months later.

[jerseydevil]

Saw this last night...what a blast. It'll only be in theaters for a minute, so hurry out and watch it with a crowd. Some honestly wonderful effed up stuff. Low budge, as it should be, with amazing practical fx. Now, be warned, when I say amazing I mean in the 'I spent my formative years behind the counter of a video store', so what it lacks in polish it makes up for in over-the-top messy charm. A true homage to the original series and a very good sign that the rebirth of Fangoria is in good hands(the producer is the man who bought the brand and is relaunching the magazine in October. With the viability of horror as the one genre that can still make money, maybe we are seeing a return to the heyday of trash cinema.

[jerseydevil]

Lovely. Good people helping beautiful animals. What's not to like. Imax and 3d, so, yeah it was stunning.



Entertaining. Sometimes the movie got lost in the message...but yeah, Spike Lee's best movie since the other one. Ending quieted entire audience I saw it with. I never trusted Topher Grace. I was right.

[lagwagon0]

Saw this last night...what a blast. It'll only be in theaters for a minute, so hurry out and watch it with a crowd. Some honestly wonderful effed up stuff. Low budge, as it should be, with amazing practical fx. Now, be warned, when I say amazing I mean in the 'I spent my formative years behind the counter of a video store', so what it lacks in polish it makes up for in over-the-top messy charm. A true homage to the original series and a very good sign that the rebirth of Fangoria is in good hands(the producer is the man who bought the brand and is relaunching the magazine in October. With the viability of horror as the one genre that can still make money, maybe we are seeing a return to the heyday of trash cinema.

I have to check this out, especially after seeing who wrote this one. I loved Bone Tomahawk and Brawl.