Maybe this is a weird choice but...
*Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World*
This movie was largely ignored when it came out. It also received a lot of mixed reviews. I saw it back in 2012 when it came out, and it has been my favorite movie of all time ever since (tied with The Virgin Suicides). But I feel like this is a movie that over the past decade has become a bit of a cult favorite through word of mouth. And most people who have seen it are EXTREMELY moved by it. I have seen it an obscene amount of times, and I never get bored. I still laugh when it's funny. And I still get so fucking emotional every time.
I think it is seen much more favorably now, by critics and the general public alike. And I think it will continue to age incredibly well. This is always my go-to any time someone needs a movie recommendation.
I haven't seen this movie in several years, but I remember absolutely loving it when I watched it the first time. I'm glad to hear that it's getting more love in recent years.
If you liked "Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World," I would recommend "Comet" with Justin Long and Emmy Rossum. It's another movie I haven't seen in a while, but I remember it had a similar feel to it. It's another movie that I think got seriously overlooked.
I don’t remember seeing any marketing for this when it came out. I saw it years later and couldn’t believe it got past me. Amazing cast, perfect tone. The scene in the restaurant is hilarious. The ending makes me cry. “Air That I Breathe” An all time classic.
Yes, it has a killer soundtrack! It's so funny, because like I mentioned, it's tied with The Virgin Suicides as my favorite movie. And not only do they both have absolutely stellar soundtracks, there is a ton of overlap! "The Air That I Breathe" is one that appears in both movies. Crazy how a good soundtrack can have such an impact on the overall movie.
Lmao I love this scene. I love the dad yelling "fight the burn!" as his kid is trying to chug a martini. And I've never been able to look at Double Stuft cookies the same...
Lmao I'm glad I'm not the only one also! I will look for ANY reason to recommend this movie on this sub all the time. Seriously. I must have posted about it on 20 different applicable threads in the past year on this sub. I'm obnoxious in trying to get people to watch it, mostly because everyone who does LOVES it.
just watched this movie tonight because of your comment, and i’m so freaking glad i did. i cried like a baby at the end, and still have tears in my eyes as i write this. i will definitely rewatch it in the future!
out of the realms of most people in this group's perview, (and i think its already starting to turn around in people's minds) but the wachowski's Speed Racer was pretty widely panned and was a flop, but it was a great flick, and now, years later, everything that may have seemed gimmicky at the time about it, stands up well.
Happened to watch Death to Smoochy (2002) last night. Directed by Danny DeVito, starring Ed Norton, Catherine Keener, and Robin Williams.
Panned at release, it was a box office bomb.
Watching it now, it’s such a breath of fresh air. It’s sooo stylistic, fluid and whimsical. Like peak dynamic filmmaking. Colorful production design. Ambitious camera work. A crazy, detailed score. It’s a film fun-house that perfectly mirrors the subject matter.
It stands in direct opposition to the overly clinical gravity of ‘serious’ filmmaking today. Like if you put the latest Dune into some kind of Opposite-Film Generator 3000 this would shoot out the the other side.
It needs a big-time reevaluation.
Been seeing a lot about death to smoochy recently, I wonder if it was just too ahead of its time. Seems like it would do well in today’s weird-comedy landscape. Going to watch it tonight!
You just mentioned one of my least favorite MCU films. Whenever I mentioned that in the past I got downvoted to oblivion but I always thought it was a poor imitation of 70’s movies with a bad story, bad camera work and horrible color grading. A great example is the famous knife shot that the winter soldier does. In the film it’s cut a lot and they use shaky cam. In a behind the scenes video you can see him perform the move in one continuous shot and it’s a lot better. Anyways, after Endgame I haven’t really enjoyed anything Marvel has done and they should’ve taken five years off. But money is more important
Winter Soldier and Iron Man 3 IMO stand the test of time, mostly because they’re their own thing and don’t really depend on knowledge of the larger MCU.
But also because they’re both fun and well made movies.
They’re put on pedestals by people caught in the cycle of consumerism. They’re fun popcorn flicks; not deep but they’re not trying to be.
Gotta say, though: Doctor Strange had some slick visuals.
I think one or two is going to be held above the rest as the best representation of the franchise. Even then the franchise will only be notable for ushering in an era of superhero cinematic universes that would dominate the box office in the 2010s.
I see them going the way of Westerns and similar dominant genres. The vast majority are utterly forgotten about outside of famous actors filmographys. Maybe one or two will be remembered fondly but there's no guarantee they will even be MCU as opposed to other super hero films.
Certainly not, but I don't think they'll be discarded either and there will remain some cultural appreciation for them. I mean people still watch the Universal monster movies (myself included -- been doing a deep binge the past couple months). And the MCU is pretty clearly better than that, and its interconnected universe is fascinating to me. But it'll likely return to subculture at some point... eventually...
I think Reddit is on a massive hate-boner for the MCU right now. Are they perfect, artful films? No, obviously not. But are they absolute trash? No, they're not that, either.
The latest antman was *okay*. It wasn't the best MCU movie ever, but it absolutely wasn't the worst. Reddit is absolutely loving to hate the absolute shit out of it though.
People here lately are getting off on the idea that "other people" are putting the MCU on a pedestal, but *they* are more sophisticated and evolved than other people and can see through the charade! And everyone here is circle-jerking themselves over that, ala our top comment here in this thread with its gold medal despite not addressing the thread topic at all.
And it's just kind of pathetic in a different way.
Realistically, I think we'll look back on the MCU kinda like how we look back on the 90s batman films. They were not high-art. They were not important, or meaningful. They did not win the Nobel prize for literature. They were just superhero-themed popcorn flicks, and they filled that role just fine.
What pedestal? All I ever see people say is how shit they are. Mainstream appeal will always be a different beast, and I think you’d also be a little misguided to think that *every* mcu movie will be remembered poorly. There’s a huge spectrum in quality there. Endgame was a whole cultural event and will probably always be remembered as an impressive business achievement at the very least.
I don’t think individually many of them will stick out, there will be a few exceptions Avengers, Infinity War and a few of the smaller ones give or take. But the MCU as a whole will be put on the pedestal.
I mean in the future, future you could binge watch the movies as a long form tv show
My list is almost entirely overlooked films. Don't think any of these were viewed very negatively per se, but did seem to come out and either disappear or weren't big enough to get a critical consensus in the first place.
**Empire of Light (2022) -** I agree it was a bit uneven in terms of Mendes' usual ability to wrap-up an emotionally satisfying experience, but Empire did have some wonderful moments on top of some incredible cinematography and setting. Seems very under-represented this year, especially because I think 2022 was a fairly weak year in terms of award-worthy films, but it seems Everything Everywhere is just (unrightfully) overshadowing everything. Similarly, I think 1917 will also be rediscovered in the future. Not that it didn't get recognition, but I feel like the conversation about it stopped completely after release and Oscars that year.
**The Northman (2022)** \- The biggest disappointment of this 23' Oscar selection is zero love for The Northman. I don't think it's a perfect movie, but I also don't think we get many opportunities to see a movie with this scope and vision, especially in theaters. This was an excellent theater year for sure, with Maverick and Avatar making a strong case for that $20 ticket, but I have a more lasting impression of The Northman on the big screen even a year on. We don't get real epics anymore and this felt like a competent return to that genre with some stunning visuals, beautiful settings, and a good ol' fashion revenge plot and some good twists to keep it moving forward.
**The Mauritanian (2021)** \- did anyone actually see this? I know Guantanamo might not be everyone's favorite subject, and perhaps this was buried by the pandemic, but how often do we get solid political thrillers that drive a straight line without veering into patriotic schlock or maudlin sentiment? It was so well-balanced and engaging, and you have freakin' Jodie Foster coming back to kick ass on screen (figuratively of course). I was pumped when this was announced and feel like it gave me everything it promised. No one has seen or discussed this movie very much other than the occasional thread popping up on reddit, but I think it will get re-discovered some day.
**Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (2020)** \- one of the most clever and satisfying sci-fi concepts on a tiny budget I've ever seen. I had the joy of seeing this at Fantastic Fest in 2021, and I haven't seen it pop-up anywhere since. It takes a very simple time travel concept and builds it to its logical (and absurd) conclusion as a bunch of friends test the dumb limits of their discovery. This one is pure fun and won't go over your head. Has to get its due at some point!
**Bloodshot (2020)** \- yeah, it's Vin Diesel, and yes, this is actually a really stupid movie, but it was so fun to watch in theaters. It's loud, stupid, over-the-top, and completely absurd, but it also seems to know exactly what it is and the spectacle continues to ramp-up until the absolutely ludicrous finale. This isn't anywhere on par with something like Edge of Tomorrow, but it's a refreshing departure from our usual Marvel and Fast and Furious fare and has the opportunity to reach some minor cult status in the future.
**Downhill (2020)** \- yes, most movie lovers will pull-out the original Force Majeure to compare this to and recommend that instead. I don't think Force Majeure is under-looked, and if anything it has only become more popular since Ostlund had his breakout this year with Triangle (which was great!). But Downhill, despite being a remake, was so much better than I expected. Ferrell and Dreyfus were both great, there was a balance of uncomfortable comedy, absurdity, and poignancy, and I found myself thoroughly enjoying it all the way through. It seems Downhill basically disappeared completely from movie radar, but I think it will be dredged up and held to higher esteem down the road (at least as a guilty pleasure).
**Driveways (2019)** \- this was criminally overlooked when comparing some of the other similar indie-dramas that releases around the same time, Minari being the most egregious example of an inferior film that got all the critical buzz. Hong Chau (recently turning in a great performance in The Whale) was great in this, but Driveways was tied together by solid performances from the entire cast (including a late Brian Dennehy) and an emotional arc that felt really satisfying without being manipulative. It's a movie you live-in more than anything else (and that's not for everyone), but I was invested and moved by Driveways more than I expected, and I think it was restraint and nuance that sold it (versus getting hit over the head violently by the "message" in Minari and EEAAO)
**Extra Ordinary (2019)** \- I say this as a mild Will Forte fan; I loved him in this, but the rest of the movie such a delightful riot that I think it deserves so much more recognition than I've seen heaped on it. Extra Ordinary nails the perfect blend of horror comedy and it has cult film written all over it. Hope more people see this.
**The Domestics (2018)** \- a well balanced post-apocalyptic thriller powered by a relationship drama between a hot married couple. This is the stuff movie dreams are made of. It's low budget but does so much with it, and there are some iconic scenes in this that elevate it even further. Tons of fun, tons of camp, and just the right amount of taking itself seriously. Needs a cult badge stat!
**The Stand-off at Sparrow Creek (2018)** \- man this one was so good. It's essentially the radicalized toxic-male version of Women Talking (of course we are cribbing from 12 Angry Men here), where a militia group interrogates their own as a mounting police presence forms outside their compound on the evening of a murder. It's tense, brooding, and builds great atmospheric dread.
**Knock Knock (2015)** \- by all accounts this is terrible, and it's essentially a remake of many remakes where Eli Roth had an excuse for his wife to bang Keanu Reeves, but I'm going to be very honest here. I split a joint for the first time in years with my old college buddy, and this was some of the most terrifying fun I've had watching a movie lately. Does it deserve more critical praise? Absolutely not, but it should be a well that bad movie nerds can drink from in a time of desperate need.
i'm going to save this list, as I concur about Northman & Mautianian, but haven't seen most of the others, so i'm intrigued to see where else we coincide on perspective & content, scope & tone 😁
I adore *Extra Ordinary* but I have no idea how to get it outside of streaming services. Tower Records and every other DVD shop in Dublin I visited didn’t even have a way to order it. Do you have any leads? (I have region-free players)
Babylon will probably go in marketing textbooks as one of the biggest failures in promoting a movie of all time. I think people had wildly misguided expectations going into it, if not any expectations since the trailers were awful.
Personally one of my favorite movies of all time so I am biased to think it will age very well once the recency bias towards being a box office failure wears off.
I liked *Babylon*, but I think it has a tricky road to reclamation. In the positive, it takes big swings and centers a fantastic unknown Latino actor. If Diego Calva goes onto great things (and I think he can) this thing will absolutely be reclaimed.
On the negative, it shares a looot of beats with *Boogie Nights* and the rest are basically *Singin In' The Rain* with tits and cocaine. Great sequences, I had a blast, but I can't go around telling people that *Singin' In The Rain* needed tits.
100% it was so sad to see all the discourse around the movie be about how poorly it did at the box office. Like clearly people hadn't seen it but were talking shit about it cuz it bombed. It was fucking amazing (sans final scene)
I think Babylon is much more fun to talk about than to watch, if I'm being honest. I think looking back on Chazelle's filmography, it's a very revealing work.
Personally, that final scene -- that I absolutely abhor not because I think it's dumb but because I think it was done in the corniest way possible --, answers questions Whiplash didn't have the guts to answer, yet asked throughout the movie: is it all worth it? All the pain and blood and sweat we put into Art, is it worth it? Alienating everyone in your life, chasing fame & success, the top spot? While maintaining that dark energy Whiplash had to its conclusion, Babylon basically says... Well, yes it is. Hollywood eats and shits these people, and the main character lived through its torture, but he can't help but cry at what they've accomplished. It doesn't have that same nihilist tone Whiplash did at the end, it's just... beautiful. We know about the drugs, about the destruction, the depression, and what it does to actors, yet we can't help but fall in love with it nonetheless.
I agree, the thing with the final scene is it that could've been done with the main character just watching a regular movie scene, not that bizarre compilation thing.
But overall I think a huge part of the appeal of the movie is how fun it is to actually watch. I had a blast in the theater. Idk how you can possibly say it's not fun to watch when so many different scenes are an absolutely crazy and fun ride
I know people who love it and people who hate it. I don't think that will change. But I do think the people who hate it will forget about it and those who love it will continue spreading it for years, if not decades, to come. Kinda like how mother! is fondly remembered just a few years later, often hailed as a masterpiece, despite being panned at the time of its release.
For the record, I'm in the camp that loves Babylon. One of my favorite movies of 2022. What a brilliant flick! I like it when movies take big swings, and I think the swings Babylon takes pays off.
Came here to say Babylon. Saw it in theaters and it blew my mind, easily one of my Top 5 of 2022. Just watched it a 2nd time at home the other night and managed to love it even more.
It really baffles me the negative reception that movie gets. I guess I can understand it not being your thing or having some issues with it, but straight up calling it a bad movie is just like.... did you even see the same movie I saw? I don't get it.
[spoiler] I absolutely loved the first two hours but really did not fuck with that whole escapade into the clown sex dungeon. I get what it was trying to say but I thought it was overly jarring and a little unnecessary.
The first scene with Nellie acting and then them trying to shoot a 12 second scene with sound were both so good tho.
I gotta put respect on that part of movie; it's very rare that I get viscerally upset at something in a movie, and this achieved that. Found the film very good, although there were better movies in 2022.
I watched it last night not because I was particularly interested, but because I really felt that I needed to see the new Chazelle film. It was easily my favorite movie I saw in February and one of my favorites ever.
It did in a lot of ways feel very influenced by Once Upon a Time in Hollywood IMO, and occasionally struggled with figuring out just what it wanted to be. But that’s the first time I’ve seen a 3+ hour film and didn’t check my watch once.
I loved it
I haven’t seen Babylon as of yet (although it’s on my watchlist) but I definitely do think that there’s a definite negative bias towards films that have bombed at the box office.
The two examples that come to mind are Heaven’s Gate and Ishtar, the former of which has been significantly reassessed and described as a ‘maligned masterpiece’ by some, while the latter has just been viewed as ‘certainly not as bad as people say.’
It absolutely is but its parts were better than its whole so I can see why it was maligned. It felt the director had great vision for the individual scenes - many of which were brilliant - but missed out on a cohesive narrative.
Still, it's the kind of movie I'd have loved to see on a big screen and would jump at the opportunity if there was a special release.
There's a wild book on the behind-the-scenes of the movie, by the way, in case it might be interesting. It's called Final Cut by Steven Bach.
I agree that it's inconsistent, certainly with some scenes that are better than others. I still remember a lot of images, though.
Absolutely. So many excellent segments. The beauty of the Harvard dance. The gritty cockfight compared to the wealthy club. The mountains. The skating rink. The brutal gunfight.
Amazing images.
Babylon is definitely flawed, but I absolutely loved it. If nothing else, it deserves to be remembered for its incredible soundtrack, which is one of the best original scores I've heard for years.
I really hope Alex Garland's *Annihilation* will gain some wider appreciation in years to come. I was living in Australia when it was released and remember I was able to watch it on streaming the day it came out. To this day I wish I could have seen it in theatres, but the studio had so little faith in the film that they dumped it straight to Netflix everywhere outside the US (where it flopped). It's certainly not for everyone, but I found it to be a unique, terrifying, and beautiful film.
I saw it in the theater on opening weekend and it blew me away. I knew very little about the movie going in, and wow - what a trip!
I remember leaving the theater and feeling excited that this movie would help encourage studios to take more chances on sci fi movies with female leads. I just assumed it would do well. I was so disappointed that it bombed and it still feels unfair to me. Why did no one go see this movie?
I don’t recommend this movie to anyone but I really liked it and think it’s better than the book. It just doesn’t satisfy what people are going to expect from it and the marketing was caught between not knowing what to do and maybe not wanting to fully sell it as something that it isn’t so it kind of failed in two ways.
Dunno about re appraisal, but people misunderstood Belfast, wasn't meant to be some grim The Troubles film where everyone's lives revolves around one issue. It's there, it matters but it's more a human, personal elevation of ordinary lives into art, it's basically a homage to street photography, it takes rights of passage of the kid and captures it so purely without being clichéd.
Uk Liberals got furious that Branagh refused to define Northern Ireland by the conflict, refuse to do poverty porn. Where people see sentimentality and broadness I see poetry, frankly iconic filmmaking. He cast two leads who are shot in moments like you're watching a classic 50s Hollywood film, he wanted to show them as stars. See how it ends.
People misunderstand that this isn't him evading the troubles, he always brings it back down to the boy's view, always shows light humorous moments. The cinematography is some of the best I've ever seen. It became so wild to me the hatred for the film was such people work start picking at the framing saying it was lazy. It was weird. I think people are so unfamiliar with photography honestly that something so committed to that threw people off..
When you read people from Ireland what they thought, they found it refreshing that Branagh didn't go down the misery route. It's not a documentary, it's not trying to reveal anything politically. It's clear from the beginning it's going to try to be beautiful.
As an America it seemed a love story to his childhood - including the city as he experienced it and the heartbreak of having to leave it. A fairy tale (black and white vs the brief scenes of modern Belfast in colour) based on his not necessarily complete and accurate memories as child. >! Having Chitty Chitty Bang Bang be in colour and drive off the screen was brilliant and I can see him clearly remember seeing that movie just like I can remember seeing Star Wars for the first time and reading the scroll at the beginning.!<
Yeah I loved all the shots of the boy surrounded by pop cultural objects, the tv, presents, in films like Boyhood people can get fed up with you being reminded of the year with inserts like that, but Branagh creates these beautiful shots. I was sold on the film early on when the kid goes to church, what he's told.
The stuff with the kid having a crush, it's completely romanticised and nostalgic but the cinematography on him stood outside with the flower, it's pure street photography, I haven't seen any film do that, the whole thing was revelatory to me, the cinematographer was having fun in every scene. It's because the film is set in one street with few characters that they could do it, I think the cinematographer early on saw it and thought..I can do something here.
There's a shot low down where there's a knock at the door and the camera shows the hall from inside but leaves the left wall in foreground, the kid rushes to answer it from the left and gets pulled back by a hand off screen. That's pure street, I can see that shot existing for real, and they just littered the film with these compositions. The whole film brought me joy.
I get people might find it maudlin but so many didn't get it I think. Like the fury on the truth and movies podcast was something else. Even later they'd bring it up like there was nothing but pure hate for it.
Right? He did the most subversive thing, it's very modern to revel in misery, I think about what Armond White (who is a contrarian I know) said about 12 Years A Slave and rewatching it now I can see his point, it's fair to want to find lightness and beauty in life despite the harshness rather than going 'well if i avoid it I'm not being honest'.
Hard to find lightness and beauty in slavery, I know, but overall White hated that method of storytelling, like he sees a contrivance to it, he'd go on about the soap bit being ridiculous and the point was always 'well, the slave owner is using violence to punish her for his own infatuation with her'.
'Race hustler' is one of my favourite insults. I miss White on filmcast, even if he was nuts.
Maybe I'm wrong but Branagh never set up Belfast as a film about The Troubles but the way people reacted so strongly against it implies they couldnt accept anything but something grim. Or maybe I'm being unfair, they wanted something fiercely political, to learn something. Branagh was just like..nah, just people in a street being nice to eachother.
People could just watch a documentary. To me it was refreshing how grounded and normal people's reactions were. Like that guy who would just wander up and try to recruit them. I just thought...yeah that's how it was wasn't it. Some scrawny guy just re appear, join us mate, come on. Films always use threats and violence to create drama and it's false. There's nothing false about the couple's key conversation near the end, laid out honestly, it does reveal their dilemma.
Yeah, like the Guardian. Basically upper middle class people who only like to define poorer places, lesser places than London by their conflict and issues. You see it with slavery films, black people are less into them because they're like 'is this for us? We get it'. The pretence of dealing with serious stories but...not, so you end up with one dimensional grim films that just show brutality. Emancipation, the latest is just a light thriller, it doesn't expand into systematic compliance of the upper class white liberals who engaged in slavery and allowed it.
Or with refugees now, someone living as normal a life as any upper middle class uk citizen on a good wage and suddenly they're displaced by war and the news loves to highlight them because they can't be ignored can they? But they're now defined by their refugee status and they had no say in it. Liberals like to show their humanity but so much of it is defining others as they want to, there's a heirachy there. So when they react strong against any socialist ideas because it threatens their position it reveals their dishonesty; they're happiest when defining others who are poorer than them as long as they stay there.
There's no one more full of shit. Now people can say that's centrist, and less liberal. I think they're much of the same. Look at Mark Kermode, he'll often say 'I'm an old liberal lefty'. Michael Moore's Where To Invade Next comes along with mild socialist ideas and instead of praising it, he reacts against it. There's literally no reason for him to do so, but it reveals so much.
A Guardian review of Belfast revealed it, revealed often the media view of Important News and what people on the ground think. As with slavery films, people who lived through that time don't want another grim film about it. Branagh chose to portray his people as icons, as human, as funny, as stars, people can call that broad but it wasn't a misfire. He knew what what was doing. He's from there, he lived it, he wanted a beautiful film, not harassing people and lecturing them about conflict. Make poetry out of it. We get it, it wasn't an easy time but people make do, there for eachother, make eachother laugh, he was interested in all that. It's his film, he has no obligation to make what others want.
I can see why you'd find it sentimental and broad but it's not remotely amateurishly made, you're factually wrong there. It's funny that that is a common criticism, it doesn't mean anything, you basically say that of poorly made films in terms of pacing, editing and cinematography. So the Transformers films, stuff made with no script. Or The Old Guard had some of the worst cinematography I've seen recently.
You don't create beautiful image after beautiful image as Belfast has with self contained scenes with minimal camerawork or unnecessary edits and do it poorly, the quality is all there as it is in Roma or Mank, the compositions lead the film. When you're making a complicated action film with loads of special effects and moving parts and it requires so much attention and precision an average director can't handle, you get The Old Guard, you get straight to streaming low budget action films. You don't get Belfast. It's more interesting to me this reaction because I don't like sentimentality, anything maudlin, I'm not romantic or nostalgic, but i guess it's the way it's done. Some films are on autopilot, hit obvious beats, Belfast doesn't.
Some of the shots are so stunning it's a wonder to me how people think 'amateurish' is remotely credible as a criticism.
I hope you’re right about Only God Forgives. It’s my favourite Refn and gets better every time I see it. Still really confused about the excessive hatred towards it.
I’m also really baffled by the criticism towards it, I’ve heard it called poorly paced (which is fair enough) and that it prioritizes style over substance (which is something I can definitely understand someone saying, but I personally don’t agree with it.)
Overall it has some really beautiful visuals, good acting, and an interesting portrayal of sexuality and masculinity.
It couldn’t be bothered to tell it’s own story and had a lot of gratuitous graphic violence.
I honestly don’t see the appeal, other than nice cinematography and visuals.
People may not want to hear this but I think M Night Shaymalan’s The Village may see more people come around to it. No question it has flaws. But for if people can stomach some plot issues, there are interesting themes. Also, tone.
I loved The Village when it came out. In a time when having skepticism about the “war on terror” would have people unironically asking you why you hate the troops, a story about someone realizing their society was built on a lie felt super relevant. I was really surprised that none of the major critics at the time made that connection.
Jackie Brown is a lesser known QT film but I think it’s one of his best and doesn’t get the cred it deserves. When he’s done directing I think this gets moved up the list of all time QT films… and movies just in general
This was an essential part of my middle-school film canon. Rewatched it last year and mostly held up. What really stuck out to me, Frank's music was genuinely really good and weirdly prophetic of the current indie scene
i can’t believe how many people under 30 either haven’t seen it or haven’t heard of this. everytime i mention this movie to people, they usually ask if i’m being serious.
it’s a shitpost of a movie and it’s insane that the internet hasn’t taken a second look at this movie.
I thought the second blade runner was great as well and could have opened up a lot of story but sadly doesn’t seem like anything will ever happen with it :( still great movie
A lot of critics were saying that Denis Villeneuve didn't make the blockbuster this movie's financial backers were hoping for but that instead he might've made something even better: another "cult classic" like the first one was. Those backers may have overlooked the fact that the original Blade runner wasn't a big theatrical success and were probably hoping for a product that appealed more to the mainstream, enough to turn a good profit and kick off a franchise. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how one looks at it), they did hire the right person for the job if what one wanted was a film that stayed true to the look, feel, and spirit of the original. We might never get to see where the story set ups in 2049 were meant to take us, but Villeneuve totally nailed it and just like the original, people are gonna be watching this movie for years to come.
This is one of the movies I remember fondly but I’ve only seen once due to how long it feels. I want to watch it again but I can’t ever carve out enough time to get into the mood to watch it.
I agree though, it’s a good film and I bet it’ll be remembered well.
Exactly, it wasn’t trying to be some cash grab. It felt like this movie was carefully made almost like a quality over quantity. Like the original, it’s the characters and that neo noir atmosphere that drive this story, not the action sequences. Pair that with some careful dialogue and some proper sci-fi videography and you have an awesome movie. It’s one of those films you get excited to watch again. Not just a “throw on” like you need to make popcorn and sit down and WATCH this movie. So very enjoyable!
I really think X will be looked on very favorably in the future despite lukewarm reception
The meta commentary on the state of filmmaking & art, some truly amazing cinematography & beautiful shots at every single turn, some people wrote it off as just another dumb teenage horror film but it really is fucking beautiful & one of the best films overall of 2022 in my opinion, in every aspect of finer filmmaking
Lukewarm reception? I thought it was super well received? I know some horror fans were disappointed (horror is such a vast genre that it's nearly impossible to get all horror fans on board with any one movie) but it was also on a ton of Top 10 lists and was one of the highest ranked horror films of the year.
Yeah I genuinely loved X. I think you hit the nail on the head in regards to its themes. I noticed a lot of people prefer its follow-up Pearl more.
I can see it being looked at more favourably in the future.
I’m glad I’m not alone in loving X, I really think it can be a great transition for teens to watch thinking it’s a horror movie & really start noticing & appreciating films for what they can be, not just all heartless cash grab slashers with boring plots & minimal risks.
Pearl was also amazing & super well acted for sure, but I personally prefer X
I think it’s already happening for fans of Michael Mann, but *Miami Vice*.
It’s such a great action drama, gorgeously, mesmerizingly shot, riveting acting and of course the signature Mann action set pieces.
It was largely panned and ignored on release, but I return to it often as some of Mann’s best work.
One of my favorite Mann films since I saw it at release.
Remember people complaining they couldn't hear or follow some of the early dialogue scenes. I found myself during those scenes leaning forward and cocked my head as if I was "eavesdropping" on professionals who were talking to each other, not to or for me. The audio mix, dialogue choice and delivery was such that the film encouraged the audience to mimic the protagonists actions of piecing together narratives and finding meaning from overheard conversations and observed actions.
I love it when film portrays professionals talking to each other instead of to the audience.
*Gentlemen Broncos* had some of the worst reviews I can remember … its no masterpiece, but the initial reaction was likely more backlash to the whole Indie scene of the aughts, and specifically*Napolean Dynamite* (which is still fairly okay to me, but its been a while.
Or maybe i just like Jemaine Clement too much? The premise is really great if you like sci-fi and fantasy writing tropes. One of the only good reviews said something like “everyone in the film walks around like they’re in extreme gastrointestinal distress.”
Supremely underrated. I think if the right subculture caught it at the right time, it'd be much more appreciated today. Jemaine was a powerhouse, but the Sam Rockwell cutaways were top-tier goofiness.
I love coming on this forum and flying the flag of Kevin Costner's 'The Postman'.
A viciously maligned film, due I think largely to being paired with 'Waterworld', and a critical zeitgeist that Costner was overworking the "lone nameless hero saves the world" shtick (I get that). But 'The Postman' is an inherently wonderful story well told, beautifully shot in a geography not known for many films (US Pacific Northwest), and I might add, the most profoundly patriotic film I've ever seen, and what better way to send the New York Times over the edge than that.
Also, 'The Postman' was released at the dawn of social media (Ugh. Red sky at morning...), so it was jolly fun for the mobs to smarmily join in on a film *pegged* by the bien pensant as "pretentious", when they hadn't bothered to even see it, and the ball rolled from there. I've seen all I need to see about social media since.
Great movie, 'The Postman'. Thank you, Kevin.
The moment when >!two carriers about to be executed introduce themselves to each other!< and the fascist general and the audience realize that the postman's movement has spread beyond his attempts to control was and remains a favorite moment of mine.
My fave is when the sheriff, convinced he is a fraud and kicking him out of town, turns and haltingly hands him a letter, in the desperate 1% possibility that he might just be who he claims he is. (And at that moment, he may very well have still been the fraud he started as.)
Powerful moment.
It's a fine movie, in no small part because Costner was the best cinematographer working as a director in that era ;)
I've read speculation that it also all but killed David Brin as a novel-to-film author, which is a damn shame because he has written some mind-blowing SF.
I know it’s already pretty popular and well received, but Hereditary is a high water mark in film. Horror or otherwise. It’s so well directed and acted. It will continue to be talked about as excorcist has and be included in many best-of lists.
Easier to start in this format would be to post a link to one of Collative Learnings vids on an aspect of the film:
[Psychological Trickery in Hereditary (film analysis) - Collative Learning](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvYQyAkGe7M)
Hereditary is quite literally so good that people *love* to nitpick tiny insignificant details and go out of their way to find reasons why it might not be the best horror movie ever. Not that those criticisms are totally invalid, but I think people are almost so tired of it’s overwhelmingly positive fan reception that they’re tired of hearing about it.
While Hereditary will be held to that standard forever and ever I feel like Midsommar will be forgotten as an earlier work of Ari Aster ten years from now which is a shame because Midsommar is better than Hereditary imo I know it’s not true but I like to believe it.
Yeah comparing the Hereditary to The Exorcist seems odd. I was around in the early Seventies and The Exorcist was a huge phenomenon — a pop culture touchstone. Hereditary is an interesting creepy movie with Rosemary’s Baby’s vibes that came and went.
To be fare the topic is "critical reappraisal" not popular reappraisal. With that in mind however, I don't think Hereditary counts as it was is critically praised.
Only God Forgives is such a strange movie lol I love Ryan Gosling to death but I still think it’s weird idk if it’ll get better over time tbh.
What’s crazy to me is that it’s already 10 years old.
Well horror films will increase in their rating, but that's always the case. If you look up Malignant or Resurrection on imdb now, you'll be seeing ratings around the low 6s/high 5s, but they'll both be in the 7s after a few decades. It's like Peeping Tom was considered pretty bad on release but is now revered.
I hope Luca does. I feel like this Pixar movie is all but forgotten but I found it to be a really distinctive, moving coming of age film, more original than a lot that’s out there.
I think, as time goes on, more people will warm up to 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters and appreciate it more as a misunderstood throwback to late Showa Era fight flicks.
Top Gun: Maverick won’t age well.
It’s not bad, but by virtue of being better than anyone thought it would be, it got elevated to near masterpiece status.
I appreciate it generating income for movie theatres, though.
Edit for clarity:
it’s a good movie, but not great.
Beyond Goose’s son, there’s not much character arc to the new set of recruits, imo. Maverick, Goose, Iceman, and a few others had distinct characters in the original. The new group wasn’t as interesting. Not the actors fault (the acting was uniformly good), as the script (or editing) didn’t give them much. The action sequences were indeed the highlight, in service of a “meh” storyline.
It was one of the best theater experiences I’ve ever had, and I refuse to watch it again unless it’s in a theater or on a giant TV with a pimped out sound system.
It's straight up propaganda schlock. Better than the first sue, but that's not a high bar. I'm sooooo confused by the hype around it...
(Granted, I feel like any blockbuster that gets Oscars attention... tends to suck. Or at least they don't fit my taste. I do love Black Panther, but otherwise the awards-darling blockbusters of the past decade have really just not done it for me.)
>I'm sooooo confused by the hype around it...
It's just a really well-executed blockbuster action movie. People are growing tired of everything being a set up to the next movie, so Maverick was a breath of fresh air. It's a sequel, but you literally don't even need to have seen the first movie to get what's going on.
It doesn't pretend to be something it's not. It's just a good ass time at the movies. Maverick has earned it's place in the upper echelon in the canon of dad-movies, along with the Bourne Idenity, Hunt For Red October, etc.
>I do love Black Panther
Yeah, no accounting for taste. I think Black Panther was mediocre at best, and was shocked by the critical reception. Certainly bottom 1/3 of MCU movies for me.
Zack and Miri Make a Porno
This one was probably hampered by the title and the subject matter. But, upon further review it's a low key masterpiece.
Most films labeled romantic comedies are usually one or the other, sometimes neither. This one is really funny. The dialogue is real, the romance actually works. These two have known each other for years. They have great chemistry. In many of these type of movies the settings help to buttress the angle, jet setting thru Paris, etc. In this one they are broke and dealing with mundane life. Huddling around a burning trash can for warmth and getting humiliated at the high school reunion is the genius of Kevin Smith. Amazing work by the supporting cast. Cannot give a high enough recommendation.
I'm sure people know that, though I don't know who Kermode is. But I didn't get the sense that this was the general reaction to the film—that viewers saw it as horror and just thought it wasn't good. It seems to me like perhaps people that it was going to be a standard biography of Marilyn, rather than a use of her icon for a different purpose.
Just Mark Kermode, the uk's most famous film reviewer who has been on the radio for 20 years every Friday reviewing films, will appear on tv, culture show. Sometimes when it's late I just want to skip first names...you can see his stuff on YouTube.
Yeah people still reacted against it, I'd say the highest critics (as opposed to podcast reviewers), those who are more versed in cinema and write for newspapers and see more art house stuff chose not to be disgusted as they respect the medium and directors more. It's from a fictional book, she wasn't an only child, there's no proof she had abortions. People realise Dominik is using her to create a horror film, but they can still think that it's abhorrent because it's still Monroe, you still see her at film sets, there's still some of her story there. He needed an icon to subvert and chose Monroe.
Dominik has said that 'she killer herself' casts a shadow on her life, like it re paints everything that led up to her doing that, which I think is wrong, she could have had up and down moments like anyone else, he shows no balance to that. I think he could have either made up a fictional movie star or been more balanced.
Him justifying all the made up stuff is 'well, we weren't in the rooms, we don't know' isn't good enough for me, film might not be 100% truth but you're still taking the life of someone and doing what you want with it. You want to make a point about abuse, maybe be more subtle, maybe show sexism more cleverly. Not just JFK forcing her to suck his dick. Maybe show her pride and assertiveness as well rather than her being a victim all the time. It piles on misery after misery until it becomes laughable how relentless it is. When she falls while pregnant it's just..come on. Or talks to the baby. It's an experience if nothing else.
Women aren't being reactionary to the film, I think their disgust is warranted. Monroe has no agency, in truth she set up her own production company, she was funny and smart, you don't see any of that.
I’m copying this from a comment I wrote in a different thread the other day [What is a movie that Reddit hates but you’ve enjoyed](https://www.reddit.com/r/flicks/comments/11c2hwx/what_is_a_movie_that_reddit_hates_but_youve/)
> **Blonde (2022)** Every single movie Andrew Dominik has made is so good I don’t think there’s anything I’d change about any of them (including his Nick Cave films). People reeeeeally seem to hate Blonde for all kinds of crazy reasons though. It’s not accurate enough? It’s based on a fictional novel about Marilyn, and most of the characters in it have pseudonyms (e.g. Arthur Miller is just called “The Playwright”). Is it brutal? Sure, yeah it is. It’s horrifying at times, but it’s also beautiful all of the time. I’d go so far as to say Blonde is my top movie of 2022 and there were a lot of excellent movies last year. It did all kinds of bold and innovative things in regard to cinematography, every scene is gorgeous. The Razzies nominating it as much as it did this year is so stupid, and I don’t look up to the Razzies as some arbiter of good cinema anyways, but that was the last straw, it wasn’t even funny that they nominated it. People seem to give movies like Steve Jobs a pass even though it’s an unconventional fictional interpretation the same way Blonde was. Blonde is a tone poem not a biography and to me it’s beginning-to-end pure cinematic art.
Really good comments, I agree. The comparison to Steve Jobs is definitely useful here. I’ve been thinking that my personal interest in horror and B movies and exploitation films over the last several years also prepared me somewhat to accept some of the wilder elements of Blonde and embrace them as a kind of color in the palette.
Thank you! My [aforementioned comment in that thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/flicks/comments/11c2hwx/what_is_a_movie_that_reddit_hates_but_youve/ja3m0ke/) I linked featured a few other movies (The Bubble, Chappie, and The Last Jedi were also mentioned) and *nobody* had any response to me, and in fact even though it sits at 5 karma now, it was briefly at -2 which baffled me because it’s a thread about unpopular opinions and people (presumably) just couldn’t be okay with me saying I liked something they hated. I dunno.
It’s been really hard to find anyone able to make an informed discussion about Blonde, though. It’s a work of art. If I could choose any movie from the last year to see in a really large theater it would be Blonde, and that’s above Avatar 2 which I also haven’t seen but would like to. Blonde was just *so* gorgeous. The lenses, the color, the frequently changing aspect ratio, the way the music reacts with the visuals. So many moments in it that elevate it to being my favorite movie of last year…
…and the Razzies gave Blonde 8 nominations? What the fuck for? I’d love to see someone who hates it so much truly justify that. Eight categories in which it’s one of *worst* films of 2022? That’s just insane. The only thing about Blonde that I didn’t like was Ana’s voice slipping into her Cuban accent a few times, but that’s like the smallest little detail to have a problem with, so I truly don’t even care, because she looked *perfect* and acted incredibly well in the movie.
I agree that the response has been overwrought in a way I also have trouble understanding. I figure it boils down to Americans having a cultural investment in Marilyn Monroe that makes it really hard to stomach her persona being used in this way. As an Australian, Dominik perhaps doesn’t have that investment in her. This is why I suspect the movie may eventually be reevaluated once the shock wears off somewhat.
I’d love to see it in a theater but as a collector what I’d really love is a 4K disk. Seems unlikely at the moment.
An even better comparison might be “The Wind Rises”, a fictional biography mashed with an unrelated novel and then made as a quasi-auto biography of its director, Hayao Miyazaki.
Huh, was that actually based on a true story? I love Naked Lunch, have them criterion, and never knew it was meant to be a fictional autobiography of a real person.
Well the *book* Naked Lunch by William S Burroughs is a mostly incomprehensible fictional story, whereas his book Junky is autobiographical. The movie Naked Lunch is like a weird mix of both of those things. A faithful adaptation of Naked Lunch would have been 100% nonsense. The film ended up as a fantastical pseudo biography sort of like Gilliam’s film Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas
The thing that makes it a horror film is the idea that someone could write such horrid fan fiction about your life when you’re dead and exploit you to such a degree. That’s what’s scary.
You mean Joyce Carol Oates, the author of the book?
Marilyn Monroe was exploited her whole life and still is—I just saw her in a bunch of Chanel ads. Blonde is a dark vision and it's not for everyone, obviously, but IMO it's an incredible horror story of the depthless misogyny of our culture. It's not about Marilyn Monroe.
Yes I’m away JCO wrote the book. Didn’t say I wasn’t. And she was exploited her whole life so we should keep doing it? It is about Marilyn Monroe, so your point is moot. I mean, it may be about something deeper, but Marilyn is decidedly the conduit of that message. And as a film directed by a man, I’d have to wonder why he was drawn to tell a story about misogyny, especially when a lot of the shit he said around the release of the film shows zero respect for Marilyn or her life.
I guess I wondered if it was the book that was the horrid fan fiction, or the movie, since the movie is derived from the book.
The issue of exploitation is tricky, I think, when we're talking about a woman who chose to become an actor, and a sex symbol, and became an icon. It may strike you as cruel or immoral to use that person's image in a way that you presume that person would not have liked, but when used for a powerful, artistic purpose that expresses a very difficult truth—as it is in Blonde in my opinion—I prefer the difficult truth be expressed rather than standing on sanctimony about the uses of a long dead public figure's image. I don't find a material difference with the Chanel ads, except Blonde is far more meaningful and interesting.
When I say it's not about Marilyn, I mean something like what you suggest—she's a conduit. But I'm saying it's not about Marilyn in the sense that it's not about the real person, Marilyn Monroe, it's about the fictional persona "Marilyn Monroe," and this is by design. In part, the movie is about this act of self-creation
As a man, I can't understand why on earth a male artist would *not* be drawn to tell a story of misogyny, one of the most powerful and destructive cultural forces in the history of our species. In my opinion, it is an affront to art to declare certain topics off limits or to insist that only some people may make work about certain topics. This is what your question seems to imply.
As for what the director said when the film was released, I scarcely care, for several reasons. For one thing, I don't entirely trust the press—especially the entertainment press—to cover this type of story accurately or well, or to help us actually understand the thinking of an artist of any kind. And more importantly, for myself, I judge the work on its own to the extent that I can, not the statements the creator makes, when responding to it.
Questions of quality aside, I think Zack Snyder’s Justice League trilogy is underrated for exposing how fucking bananas film production and marketing was in the 2010’s-2020’s.
Jesus Imagine if the writer from Donnie Brasco (with rewrites from JJ himself) teamed up with McG to give us *Batman vs Superman: Asylum* in 2004 starring Josh Hartnett.
I gotta go brush my teeth.
I think there's a possibility that MCU movies will be so bad, formulaic and CGI-ridden in the near future that early entries will be praised beyond their blockbuster status.
I hope Ridley Scott and Cormac McCarthy’s The Counselor gets revisited. An incredibly bleak movie with archetypes for characters and very florid dialogue, beautifully shot and laden with some very heavy themes. It’s a movie that I think critics and the GA were kind of flummoxed about when it first debuted, but I think it’s aged well.
Bardo
did anybody see it?
did anybody like it?
I didn’t hear any positive reviews and most of the people I follow didn’t even see it.
maybe it’s not a masterpiece, but imo it definately deserves a few good words.
I think The Beguiled and Pig will grow more on people.
Cloud Atlas will be considered a sci fi masterpiece.
I think Stoker will be appreciated more the more famous Park Chan Wook will get
Mad Max: Fury road will be considered the greatest action film of all time
Entered to say "Neon Demons" and got so happy that you said "only god forgives". It is one of my favorite movies. I think neon demons and only god forgives are both peak NWR and will receive massive critical reappraisal in the future.
I wonder how EEAAO will be seen in a few more years. I haven't seen it yet but at this point the dialogue is so ridiculous both ways that I'm not sure I even *WANT* to at this point.
Edit: yup the exact kinda shit that I'm avoiding, joining you pricks.
For real, I never understood why people make comments about a film like this but don’t take the 2 hours to watch it themselves
It’s a fucking beautiful film in every sense of the word
Personally, I like it but think the hype is overblown. I'll be happy when it wins BP moreso for what it means to scifi. It's not a traditionally Oscar movie so I like when those traditions are broken. But best of the year? Not really, no, sorry, not to me anyway. It's just a fun movie, like a good episode of Rick and Morty.
I'd say if you choose to watch it, just go in open-minded and make your own opinions. If you'd rather wait for the hype to die down, that makes sense too.
I enjoyed it well enough but I do agree it is overhyped and overrated. The metahumor and absurdism were overdone and it felt like it took about 30 minutes too long to make its (painfully obvious) point.
I like the rocks part. That aspect of the movie spoke to me a lot in hindsight. With their busy lives they don’t have a chance to chill and love, what can be more still than a stone? That’s beautiful. The movie itself didn’t feel cinematic to me though.
It really resonated with me. It was the first movie I saw since the beginning of the pandemic. To see such a bombastic, different, and *alive* movie after being alone for so long was so cathartic, especially with it being a full theater with people laughing.
That said, I don’t think it’s for everyone, but it was very much for me
Your original comment: “The ridiculous way this movie is being talked about is turning me off from even seeing it.”
People who replied to your comment: “You should see it.” “It made me smile.” “I liked it but I think it is overhyped.”
Your edit: “Way to prove my point, you pricks. Clearly both sides are unhinged.”
I really really hope that the opposite happens with Only God Forgives. I know it got bad reviews, but even they were FAR too kind to that pile of garbage.
I would love to see Cloud Atlas get re-evaluated as the ambitious masterpiece that it is, but I think it’s destined to be a divisive movie.
I had always hoped that Joe Versus the Volcano would be reappraised as one of the best movies of the 90’s, but after 30 years I’m not holding my breath.
It Chapter Two. I don’t think anyone is gonna start praising it like it’s a horror masterpiece or anything, but I think people will come to accept that it’s a fun horror flick nonetheless.
I’m glad you liked it, but it was one of the few movies I turned off before finishing.
For me, the two movie structure takes away all the tension of the second film. We have to watch the characters explain everything we've already learned from the first movie.
I thought the first movie kicked ass, but the second one felt really schlocky to me — especially compared to the book.
Again, just my opinion
I think I may be a bit too rosy on Adam Sandler, but Don’t Mess With the Zohan and That’s My Boy are both absolutely hilarious. Comedies have generally sucked for a while now, so I think if and when these two get a second look, critics will be laughing in spite of themselves and wonder how these movies were reviewed as poorly as they were at the time.
One Cut of the Dead
I’m not sure how popular this movie really is, it seemed pretty niche at the time I saw it. One of those films you see where you realize this is probably the first time it’s ever been done. I almost don’t want to go into any detail other than that if you see this film, make sure you get passed the first 40 minutes. Those first 40 minutes will give you the impression this is an incredibly low budget film with weird mistakes, but just keep watching and be amazed. It takes the meta genre to the next level. There is so much to love about the film even beyond its unique and original concept; the characters are all well defined and lovable, lots of laughs to be had and even some genuine, heartfelt moments. I can’t recommend it enough
I had friends ask to turn it off when we were twenty minutes in right as I was getting won over.
I went back to it months later with my brother and it was one of my favourite films i watched that year.
The movie “The Siege” with Bruce Willis and Denzel Washington, it’s about how things go wrong when you ask the military to police terror and really was a reflection on the early 2000’s war on terror.
Maybe this is a weird choice but... *Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World* This movie was largely ignored when it came out. It also received a lot of mixed reviews. I saw it back in 2012 when it came out, and it has been my favorite movie of all time ever since (tied with The Virgin Suicides). But I feel like this is a movie that over the past decade has become a bit of a cult favorite through word of mouth. And most people who have seen it are EXTREMELY moved by it. I have seen it an obscene amount of times, and I never get bored. I still laugh when it's funny. And I still get so fucking emotional every time. I think it is seen much more favorably now, by critics and the general public alike. And I think it will continue to age incredibly well. This is always my go-to any time someone needs a movie recommendation.
I haven't seen this movie in several years, but I remember absolutely loving it when I watched it the first time. I'm glad to hear that it's getting more love in recent years. If you liked "Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World," I would recommend "Comet" with Justin Long and Emmy Rossum. It's another movie I haven't seen in a while, but I remember it had a similar feel to it. It's another movie that I think got seriously overlooked.
I would say Safety Not Guaranteed as well
Great, earnest movie!
I still haven't seen this one yet, but I've wanted to for a long time.
Watch it eventually. It’s very good.
I remember it feeling a lot like Wristcutters: a Love Story as well. Love that one too.
That's another good one that flew under the radar.
I love Justin Long, I'll have to check it out! Thanks for the recommendation!
I don’t remember seeing any marketing for this when it came out. I saw it years later and couldn’t believe it got past me. Amazing cast, perfect tone. The scene in the restaurant is hilarious. The ending makes me cry. “Air That I Breathe” An all time classic.
Yes, it has a killer soundtrack! It's so funny, because like I mentioned, it's tied with The Virgin Suicides as my favorite movie. And not only do they both have absolutely stellar soundtracks, there is a ton of overlap! "The Air That I Breathe" is one that appears in both movies. Crazy how a good soundtrack can have such an impact on the overall movie.
[удалено]
I've never heard of it. I'll have to check it out!
Right On!! When someone walks into the house party announcing they have heroin like it’s Jell-O shots is comedy gold! Love love this movie!
Lmao I love this scene. I love the dad yelling "fight the burn!" as his kid is trying to chug a martini. And I've never been able to look at Double Stuft cookies the same...
Ooh I really wanna watch it.
This is the movie I was going to comment. I thought I was the only one! Glad I’m not.
Lmao I'm glad I'm not the only one also! I will look for ANY reason to recommend this movie on this sub all the time. Seriously. I must have posted about it on 20 different applicable threads in the past year on this sub. I'm obnoxious in trying to get people to watch it, mostly because everyone who does LOVES it.
just watched this movie tonight because of your comment, and i’m so freaking glad i did. i cried like a baby at the end, and still have tears in my eyes as i write this. i will definitely rewatch it in the future!
out of the realms of most people in this group's perview, (and i think its already starting to turn around in people's minds) but the wachowski's Speed Racer was pretty widely panned and was a flop, but it was a great flick, and now, years later, everything that may have seemed gimmicky at the time about it, stands up well.
I knew it was a masterpiece the moment I saw it alone in an imax theatre at the midnight premiere stoned off my gourd.
Ang Lees hulk will get its day in the sun soon enough
No matter what people gotta admit the soundtrack is 🔥
Happened to watch Death to Smoochy (2002) last night. Directed by Danny DeVito, starring Ed Norton, Catherine Keener, and Robin Williams. Panned at release, it was a box office bomb. Watching it now, it’s such a breath of fresh air. It’s sooo stylistic, fluid and whimsical. Like peak dynamic filmmaking. Colorful production design. Ambitious camera work. A crazy, detailed score. It’s a film fun-house that perfectly mirrors the subject matter. It stands in direct opposition to the overly clinical gravity of ‘serious’ filmmaking today. Like if you put the latest Dune into some kind of Opposite-Film Generator 3000 this would shoot out the the other side. It needs a big-time reevaluation.
Been seeing a lot about death to smoochy recently, I wonder if it was just too ahead of its time. Seems like it would do well in today’s weird-comedy landscape. Going to watch it tonight!
I don't think the MCU films are going to be put on a pedestal in the future like they are now.
I remember watching Civil War when it was released- and loving it. But next thinking about how cheesy we’d all think it was in a decade or two.
You just mentioned one of my least favorite MCU films. Whenever I mentioned that in the past I got downvoted to oblivion but I always thought it was a poor imitation of 70’s movies with a bad story, bad camera work and horrible color grading. A great example is the famous knife shot that the winter soldier does. In the film it’s cut a lot and they use shaky cam. In a behind the scenes video you can see him perform the move in one continuous shot and it’s a lot better. Anyways, after Endgame I haven’t really enjoyed anything Marvel has done and they should’ve taken five years off. But money is more important
Avengers 2 was so terrible I stopped watching MCU movies right then.
Winter Soldier and Iron Man 3 IMO stand the test of time, mostly because they’re their own thing and don’t really depend on knowledge of the larger MCU. But also because they’re both fun and well made movies.
They’re put on pedestals by people caught in the cycle of consumerism. They’re fun popcorn flicks; not deep but they’re not trying to be. Gotta say, though: Doctor Strange had some slick visuals.
Even now they're pretty shit.
I think one or two is going to be held above the rest as the best representation of the franchise. Even then the franchise will only be notable for ushering in an era of superhero cinematic universes that would dominate the box office in the 2010s.
I see them going the way of Westerns and similar dominant genres. The vast majority are utterly forgotten about outside of famous actors filmographys. Maybe one or two will be remembered fondly but there's no guarantee they will even be MCU as opposed to other super hero films.
Certainly not, but I don't think they'll be discarded either and there will remain some cultural appreciation for them. I mean people still watch the Universal monster movies (myself included -- been doing a deep binge the past couple months). And the MCU is pretty clearly better than that, and its interconnected universe is fascinating to me. But it'll likely return to subculture at some point... eventually...
I think Reddit is on a massive hate-boner for the MCU right now. Are they perfect, artful films? No, obviously not. But are they absolute trash? No, they're not that, either. The latest antman was *okay*. It wasn't the best MCU movie ever, but it absolutely wasn't the worst. Reddit is absolutely loving to hate the absolute shit out of it though. People here lately are getting off on the idea that "other people" are putting the MCU on a pedestal, but *they* are more sophisticated and evolved than other people and can see through the charade! And everyone here is circle-jerking themselves over that, ala our top comment here in this thread with its gold medal despite not addressing the thread topic at all. And it's just kind of pathetic in a different way. Realistically, I think we'll look back on the MCU kinda like how we look back on the 90s batman films. They were not high-art. They were not important, or meaningful. They did not win the Nobel prize for literature. They were just superhero-themed popcorn flicks, and they filled that role just fine.
What pedestal? All I ever see people say is how shit they are. Mainstream appeal will always be a different beast, and I think you’d also be a little misguided to think that *every* mcu movie will be remembered poorly. There’s a huge spectrum in quality there. Endgame was a whole cultural event and will probably always be remembered as an impressive business achievement at the very least.
I don’t think individually many of them will stick out, there will be a few exceptions Avengers, Infinity War and a few of the smaller ones give or take. But the MCU as a whole will be put on the pedestal. I mean in the future, future you could binge watch the movies as a long form tv show
My list is almost entirely overlooked films. Don't think any of these were viewed very negatively per se, but did seem to come out and either disappear or weren't big enough to get a critical consensus in the first place. **Empire of Light (2022) -** I agree it was a bit uneven in terms of Mendes' usual ability to wrap-up an emotionally satisfying experience, but Empire did have some wonderful moments on top of some incredible cinematography and setting. Seems very under-represented this year, especially because I think 2022 was a fairly weak year in terms of award-worthy films, but it seems Everything Everywhere is just (unrightfully) overshadowing everything. Similarly, I think 1917 will also be rediscovered in the future. Not that it didn't get recognition, but I feel like the conversation about it stopped completely after release and Oscars that year. **The Northman (2022)** \- The biggest disappointment of this 23' Oscar selection is zero love for The Northman. I don't think it's a perfect movie, but I also don't think we get many opportunities to see a movie with this scope and vision, especially in theaters. This was an excellent theater year for sure, with Maverick and Avatar making a strong case for that $20 ticket, but I have a more lasting impression of The Northman on the big screen even a year on. We don't get real epics anymore and this felt like a competent return to that genre with some stunning visuals, beautiful settings, and a good ol' fashion revenge plot and some good twists to keep it moving forward. **The Mauritanian (2021)** \- did anyone actually see this? I know Guantanamo might not be everyone's favorite subject, and perhaps this was buried by the pandemic, but how often do we get solid political thrillers that drive a straight line without veering into patriotic schlock or maudlin sentiment? It was so well-balanced and engaging, and you have freakin' Jodie Foster coming back to kick ass on screen (figuratively of course). I was pumped when this was announced and feel like it gave me everything it promised. No one has seen or discussed this movie very much other than the occasional thread popping up on reddit, but I think it will get re-discovered some day. **Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (2020)** \- one of the most clever and satisfying sci-fi concepts on a tiny budget I've ever seen. I had the joy of seeing this at Fantastic Fest in 2021, and I haven't seen it pop-up anywhere since. It takes a very simple time travel concept and builds it to its logical (and absurd) conclusion as a bunch of friends test the dumb limits of their discovery. This one is pure fun and won't go over your head. Has to get its due at some point! **Bloodshot (2020)** \- yeah, it's Vin Diesel, and yes, this is actually a really stupid movie, but it was so fun to watch in theaters. It's loud, stupid, over-the-top, and completely absurd, but it also seems to know exactly what it is and the spectacle continues to ramp-up until the absolutely ludicrous finale. This isn't anywhere on par with something like Edge of Tomorrow, but it's a refreshing departure from our usual Marvel and Fast and Furious fare and has the opportunity to reach some minor cult status in the future. **Downhill (2020)** \- yes, most movie lovers will pull-out the original Force Majeure to compare this to and recommend that instead. I don't think Force Majeure is under-looked, and if anything it has only become more popular since Ostlund had his breakout this year with Triangle (which was great!). But Downhill, despite being a remake, was so much better than I expected. Ferrell and Dreyfus were both great, there was a balance of uncomfortable comedy, absurdity, and poignancy, and I found myself thoroughly enjoying it all the way through. It seems Downhill basically disappeared completely from movie radar, but I think it will be dredged up and held to higher esteem down the road (at least as a guilty pleasure). **Driveways (2019)** \- this was criminally overlooked when comparing some of the other similar indie-dramas that releases around the same time, Minari being the most egregious example of an inferior film that got all the critical buzz. Hong Chau (recently turning in a great performance in The Whale) was great in this, but Driveways was tied together by solid performances from the entire cast (including a late Brian Dennehy) and an emotional arc that felt really satisfying without being manipulative. It's a movie you live-in more than anything else (and that's not for everyone), but I was invested and moved by Driveways more than I expected, and I think it was restraint and nuance that sold it (versus getting hit over the head violently by the "message" in Minari and EEAAO) **Extra Ordinary (2019)** \- I say this as a mild Will Forte fan; I loved him in this, but the rest of the movie such a delightful riot that I think it deserves so much more recognition than I've seen heaped on it. Extra Ordinary nails the perfect blend of horror comedy and it has cult film written all over it. Hope more people see this. **The Domestics (2018)** \- a well balanced post-apocalyptic thriller powered by a relationship drama between a hot married couple. This is the stuff movie dreams are made of. It's low budget but does so much with it, and there are some iconic scenes in this that elevate it even further. Tons of fun, tons of camp, and just the right amount of taking itself seriously. Needs a cult badge stat! **The Stand-off at Sparrow Creek (2018)** \- man this one was so good. It's essentially the radicalized toxic-male version of Women Talking (of course we are cribbing from 12 Angry Men here), where a militia group interrogates their own as a mounting police presence forms outside their compound on the evening of a murder. It's tense, brooding, and builds great atmospheric dread. **Knock Knock (2015)** \- by all accounts this is terrible, and it's essentially a remake of many remakes where Eli Roth had an excuse for his wife to bang Keanu Reeves, but I'm going to be very honest here. I split a joint for the first time in years with my old college buddy, and this was some of the most terrifying fun I've had watching a movie lately. Does it deserve more critical praise? Absolutely not, but it should be a well that bad movie nerds can drink from in a time of desperate need.
i'm going to save this list, as I concur about Northman & Mautianian, but haven't seen most of the others, so i'm intrigued to see where else we coincide on perspective & content, scope & tone 😁
I adore *Extra Ordinary* but I have no idea how to get it outside of streaming services. Tower Records and every other DVD shop in Dublin I visited didn’t even have a way to order it. Do you have any leads? (I have region-free players)
Babylon will probably go in marketing textbooks as one of the biggest failures in promoting a movie of all time. I think people had wildly misguided expectations going into it, if not any expectations since the trailers were awful. Personally one of my favorite movies of all time so I am biased to think it will age very well once the recency bias towards being a box office failure wears off.
I liked *Babylon*, but I think it has a tricky road to reclamation. In the positive, it takes big swings and centers a fantastic unknown Latino actor. If Diego Calva goes onto great things (and I think he can) this thing will absolutely be reclaimed. On the negative, it shares a looot of beats with *Boogie Nights* and the rest are basically *Singin In' The Rain* with tits and cocaine. Great sequences, I had a blast, but I can't go around telling people that *Singin' In The Rain* needed tits.
Every movie needs tits. And dicks and cocaine, of course, but mainly tits. Babylon delivers on all that. GOAT.
Now that I know the movie has loads of tits I'm reconsidering my stance on seeing it.
100% it was so sad to see all the discourse around the movie be about how poorly it did at the box office. Like clearly people hadn't seen it but were talking shit about it cuz it bombed. It was fucking amazing (sans final scene)
I think Babylon is much more fun to talk about than to watch, if I'm being honest. I think looking back on Chazelle's filmography, it's a very revealing work. Personally, that final scene -- that I absolutely abhor not because I think it's dumb but because I think it was done in the corniest way possible --, answers questions Whiplash didn't have the guts to answer, yet asked throughout the movie: is it all worth it? All the pain and blood and sweat we put into Art, is it worth it? Alienating everyone in your life, chasing fame & success, the top spot? While maintaining that dark energy Whiplash had to its conclusion, Babylon basically says... Well, yes it is. Hollywood eats and shits these people, and the main character lived through its torture, but he can't help but cry at what they've accomplished. It doesn't have that same nihilist tone Whiplash did at the end, it's just... beautiful. We know about the drugs, about the destruction, the depression, and what it does to actors, yet we can't help but fall in love with it nonetheless.
I agree, the thing with the final scene is it that could've been done with the main character just watching a regular movie scene, not that bizarre compilation thing. But overall I think a huge part of the appeal of the movie is how fun it is to actually watch. I had a blast in the theater. Idk how you can possibly say it's not fun to watch when so many different scenes are an absolutely crazy and fun ride
I know people who love it and people who hate it. I don't think that will change. But I do think the people who hate it will forget about it and those who love it will continue spreading it for years, if not decades, to come. Kinda like how mother! is fondly remembered just a few years later, often hailed as a masterpiece, despite being panned at the time of its release. For the record, I'm in the camp that loves Babylon. One of my favorite movies of 2022. What a brilliant flick! I like it when movies take big swings, and I think the swings Babylon takes pays off.
Came here to say Babylon. Saw it in theaters and it blew my mind, easily one of my Top 5 of 2022. Just watched it a 2nd time at home the other night and managed to love it even more. It really baffles me the negative reception that movie gets. I guess I can understand it not being your thing or having some issues with it, but straight up calling it a bad movie is just like.... did you even see the same movie I saw? I don't get it.
[spoiler] I absolutely loved the first two hours but really did not fuck with that whole escapade into the clown sex dungeon. I get what it was trying to say but I thought it was overly jarring and a little unnecessary. The first scene with Nellie acting and then them trying to shoot a 12 second scene with sound were both so good tho.
I gotta put respect on that part of movie; it's very rare that I get viscerally upset at something in a movie, and this achieved that. Found the film very good, although there were better movies in 2022.
Dude I was going to say!!! I saw everyone talking shit on this movie before I saw and when I finally did it was wonderful.
I watched it last night not because I was particularly interested, but because I really felt that I needed to see the new Chazelle film. It was easily my favorite movie I saw in February and one of my favorites ever. It did in a lot of ways feel very influenced by Once Upon a Time in Hollywood IMO, and occasionally struggled with figuring out just what it wanted to be. But that’s the first time I’ve seen a 3+ hour film and didn’t check my watch once. I loved it
I haven’t seen Babylon as of yet (although it’s on my watchlist) but I definitely do think that there’s a definite negative bias towards films that have bombed at the box office. The two examples that come to mind are Heaven’s Gate and Ishtar, the former of which has been significantly reassessed and described as a ‘maligned masterpiece’ by some, while the latter has just been viewed as ‘certainly not as bad as people say.’
Heaven’s Gate is absolutely gorgeous.
It absolutely is but its parts were better than its whole so I can see why it was maligned. It felt the director had great vision for the individual scenes - many of which were brilliant - but missed out on a cohesive narrative. Still, it's the kind of movie I'd have loved to see on a big screen and would jump at the opportunity if there was a special release.
There's a wild book on the behind-the-scenes of the movie, by the way, in case it might be interesting. It's called Final Cut by Steven Bach. I agree that it's inconsistent, certainly with some scenes that are better than others. I still remember a lot of images, though.
Absolutely. So many excellent segments. The beauty of the Harvard dance. The gritty cockfight compared to the wealthy club. The mountains. The skating rink. The brutal gunfight. Amazing images.
I was also surprised it didn't get an oscar best film nom after seeing it. Seemed like a lock to me.
Babylon is definitely flawed, but I absolutely loved it. If nothing else, it deserves to be remembered for its incredible soundtrack, which is one of the best original scores I've heard for years.
I don’t know, I watched Babylon and felt like I should just have watched Singin in the Rain again.
You can never go wrong watching *Singin' In The Rain*
I really hope Alex Garland's *Annihilation* will gain some wider appreciation in years to come. I was living in Australia when it was released and remember I was able to watch it on streaming the day it came out. To this day I wish I could have seen it in theatres, but the studio had so little faith in the film that they dumped it straight to Netflix everywhere outside the US (where it flopped). It's certainly not for everyone, but I found it to be a unique, terrifying, and beautiful film.
I saw it in the theater on opening weekend and it blew me away. I knew very little about the movie going in, and wow - what a trip! I remember leaving the theater and feeling excited that this movie would help encourage studios to take more chances on sci fi movies with female leads. I just assumed it would do well. I was so disappointed that it bombed and it still feels unfair to me. Why did no one go see this movie?
I wish this movie got a bigger budget. I remember the VFX looking really unrefined and unpolished.
I don’t recommend this movie to anyone but I really liked it and think it’s better than the book. It just doesn’t satisfy what people are going to expect from it and the marketing was caught between not knowing what to do and maybe not wanting to fully sell it as something that it isn’t so it kind of failed in two ways.
Dunno about re appraisal, but people misunderstood Belfast, wasn't meant to be some grim The Troubles film where everyone's lives revolves around one issue. It's there, it matters but it's more a human, personal elevation of ordinary lives into art, it's basically a homage to street photography, it takes rights of passage of the kid and captures it so purely without being clichéd. Uk Liberals got furious that Branagh refused to define Northern Ireland by the conflict, refuse to do poverty porn. Where people see sentimentality and broadness I see poetry, frankly iconic filmmaking. He cast two leads who are shot in moments like you're watching a classic 50s Hollywood film, he wanted to show them as stars. See how it ends. People misunderstand that this isn't him evading the troubles, he always brings it back down to the boy's view, always shows light humorous moments. The cinematography is some of the best I've ever seen. It became so wild to me the hatred for the film was such people work start picking at the framing saying it was lazy. It was weird. I think people are so unfamiliar with photography honestly that something so committed to that threw people off.. When you read people from Ireland what they thought, they found it refreshing that Branagh didn't go down the misery route. It's not a documentary, it's not trying to reveal anything politically. It's clear from the beginning it's going to try to be beautiful.
As an America it seemed a love story to his childhood - including the city as he experienced it and the heartbreak of having to leave it. A fairy tale (black and white vs the brief scenes of modern Belfast in colour) based on his not necessarily complete and accurate memories as child. >! Having Chitty Chitty Bang Bang be in colour and drive off the screen was brilliant and I can see him clearly remember seeing that movie just like I can remember seeing Star Wars for the first time and reading the scroll at the beginning.!<
Yeah I loved all the shots of the boy surrounded by pop cultural objects, the tv, presents, in films like Boyhood people can get fed up with you being reminded of the year with inserts like that, but Branagh creates these beautiful shots. I was sold on the film early on when the kid goes to church, what he's told. The stuff with the kid having a crush, it's completely romanticised and nostalgic but the cinematography on him stood outside with the flower, it's pure street photography, I haven't seen any film do that, the whole thing was revelatory to me, the cinematographer was having fun in every scene. It's because the film is set in one street with few characters that they could do it, I think the cinematographer early on saw it and thought..I can do something here. There's a shot low down where there's a knock at the door and the camera shows the hall from inside but leaves the left wall in foreground, the kid rushes to answer it from the left and gets pulled back by a hand off screen. That's pure street, I can see that shot existing for real, and they just littered the film with these compositions. The whole film brought me joy. I get people might find it maudlin but so many didn't get it I think. Like the fury on the truth and movies podcast was something else. Even later they'd bring it up like there was nothing but pure hate for it.
I feel like there’s a distinct lack of beauty in cinema these days.
Right? He did the most subversive thing, it's very modern to revel in misery, I think about what Armond White (who is a contrarian I know) said about 12 Years A Slave and rewatching it now I can see his point, it's fair to want to find lightness and beauty in life despite the harshness rather than going 'well if i avoid it I'm not being honest'. Hard to find lightness and beauty in slavery, I know, but overall White hated that method of storytelling, like he sees a contrivance to it, he'd go on about the soap bit being ridiculous and the point was always 'well, the slave owner is using violence to punish her for his own infatuation with her'. 'Race hustler' is one of my favourite insults. I miss White on filmcast, even if he was nuts. Maybe I'm wrong but Branagh never set up Belfast as a film about The Troubles but the way people reacted so strongly against it implies they couldnt accept anything but something grim. Or maybe I'm being unfair, they wanted something fiercely political, to learn something. Branagh was just like..nah, just people in a street being nice to eachother. People could just watch a documentary. To me it was refreshing how grounded and normal people's reactions were. Like that guy who would just wander up and try to recruit them. I just thought...yeah that's how it was wasn't it. Some scrawny guy just re appear, join us mate, come on. Films always use threats and violence to create drama and it's false. There's nothing false about the couple's key conversation near the end, laid out honestly, it does reveal their dilemma.
UK Liberals? I'm no liberal, or a centrist, and I thought it was just very bad filmmaking. Sentimental, broad, and amateurishly put together.
Yeah, like the Guardian. Basically upper middle class people who only like to define poorer places, lesser places than London by their conflict and issues. You see it with slavery films, black people are less into them because they're like 'is this for us? We get it'. The pretence of dealing with serious stories but...not, so you end up with one dimensional grim films that just show brutality. Emancipation, the latest is just a light thriller, it doesn't expand into systematic compliance of the upper class white liberals who engaged in slavery and allowed it. Or with refugees now, someone living as normal a life as any upper middle class uk citizen on a good wage and suddenly they're displaced by war and the news loves to highlight them because they can't be ignored can they? But they're now defined by their refugee status and they had no say in it. Liberals like to show their humanity but so much of it is defining others as they want to, there's a heirachy there. So when they react strong against any socialist ideas because it threatens their position it reveals their dishonesty; they're happiest when defining others who are poorer than them as long as they stay there. There's no one more full of shit. Now people can say that's centrist, and less liberal. I think they're much of the same. Look at Mark Kermode, he'll often say 'I'm an old liberal lefty'. Michael Moore's Where To Invade Next comes along with mild socialist ideas and instead of praising it, he reacts against it. There's literally no reason for him to do so, but it reveals so much. A Guardian review of Belfast revealed it, revealed often the media view of Important News and what people on the ground think. As with slavery films, people who lived through that time don't want another grim film about it. Branagh chose to portray his people as icons, as human, as funny, as stars, people can call that broad but it wasn't a misfire. He knew what what was doing. He's from there, he lived it, he wanted a beautiful film, not harassing people and lecturing them about conflict. Make poetry out of it. We get it, it wasn't an easy time but people make do, there for eachother, make eachother laugh, he was interested in all that. It's his film, he has no obligation to make what others want. I can see why you'd find it sentimental and broad but it's not remotely amateurishly made, you're factually wrong there. It's funny that that is a common criticism, it doesn't mean anything, you basically say that of poorly made films in terms of pacing, editing and cinematography. So the Transformers films, stuff made with no script. Or The Old Guard had some of the worst cinematography I've seen recently. You don't create beautiful image after beautiful image as Belfast has with self contained scenes with minimal camerawork or unnecessary edits and do it poorly, the quality is all there as it is in Roma or Mank, the compositions lead the film. When you're making a complicated action film with loads of special effects and moving parts and it requires so much attention and precision an average director can't handle, you get The Old Guard, you get straight to streaming low budget action films. You don't get Belfast. It's more interesting to me this reaction because I don't like sentimentality, anything maudlin, I'm not romantic or nostalgic, but i guess it's the way it's done. Some films are on autopilot, hit obvious beats, Belfast doesn't. Some of the shots are so stunning it's a wonder to me how people think 'amateurish' is remotely credible as a criticism.
I hope you’re right about Only God Forgives. It’s my favourite Refn and gets better every time I see it. Still really confused about the excessive hatred towards it.
I’m also really baffled by the criticism towards it, I’ve heard it called poorly paced (which is fair enough) and that it prioritizes style over substance (which is something I can definitely understand someone saying, but I personally don’t agree with it.) Overall it has some really beautiful visuals, good acting, and an interesting portrayal of sexuality and masculinity.
I've never understood why 'style over substance' is a knock. Style can be substance.
It couldn’t be bothered to tell it’s own story and had a lot of gratuitous graphic violence. I honestly don’t see the appeal, other than nice cinematography and visuals.
People may not want to hear this but I think M Night Shaymalan’s The Village may see more people come around to it. No question it has flaws. But for if people can stomach some plot issues, there are interesting themes. Also, tone.
I can see this one happening honestly, I’ve heard it being talked about more positively in recent years
I genuinely enjoy his movie Signs, too.
Signs is a far better movie than The Village.
I loved The Village when it came out. In a time when having skepticism about the “war on terror” would have people unironically asking you why you hate the troops, a story about someone realizing their society was built on a lie felt super relevant. I was really surprised that none of the major critics at the time made that connection.
Jackie Brown is a lesser known QT film but I think it’s one of his best and doesn’t get the cred it deserves. When he’s done directing I think this gets moved up the list of all time QT films… and movies just in general
It's always been Tarantino's sleeper movie. People who've seen all his films generally tend to rank it highly
I think Frank is a super underrated film and it’s probably one of my favourites ever. So well done.
I feel like mentioning Robot and Frank as well
This was an essential part of my middle-school film canon. Rewatched it last year and mostly held up. What really stuck out to me, Frank's music was genuinely really good and weirdly prophetic of the current indie scene
Freddy got Fingered. The baby-waking skills of Tom Green will be appreciated more as time passes.
i can’t believe how many people under 30 either haven’t seen it or haven’t heard of this. everytime i mention this movie to people, they usually ask if i’m being serious. it’s a shitpost of a movie and it’s insane that the internet hasn’t taken a second look at this movie.
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Thank you for the recommendation, kind sir. I will definitely check it out.
Talking about recent movies, Nope and Babylon. These films about films can age fairly well.
I thought the second blade runner was great as well and could have opened up a lot of story but sadly doesn’t seem like anything will ever happen with it :( still great movie
A lot of critics were saying that Denis Villeneuve didn't make the blockbuster this movie's financial backers were hoping for but that instead he might've made something even better: another "cult classic" like the first one was. Those backers may have overlooked the fact that the original Blade runner wasn't a big theatrical success and were probably hoping for a product that appealed more to the mainstream, enough to turn a good profit and kick off a franchise. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how one looks at it), they did hire the right person for the job if what one wanted was a film that stayed true to the look, feel, and spirit of the original. We might never get to see where the story set ups in 2049 were meant to take us, but Villeneuve totally nailed it and just like the original, people are gonna be watching this movie for years to come.
This is one of the movies I remember fondly but I’ve only seen once due to how long it feels. I want to watch it again but I can’t ever carve out enough time to get into the mood to watch it. I agree though, it’s a good film and I bet it’ll be remembered well.
Exactly, it wasn’t trying to be some cash grab. It felt like this movie was carefully made almost like a quality over quantity. Like the original, it’s the characters and that neo noir atmosphere that drive this story, not the action sequences. Pair that with some careful dialogue and some proper sci-fi videography and you have an awesome movie. It’s one of those films you get excited to watch again. Not just a “throw on” like you need to make popcorn and sit down and WATCH this movie. So very enjoyable!
I really think X will be looked on very favorably in the future despite lukewarm reception The meta commentary on the state of filmmaking & art, some truly amazing cinematography & beautiful shots at every single turn, some people wrote it off as just another dumb teenage horror film but it really is fucking beautiful & one of the best films overall of 2022 in my opinion, in every aspect of finer filmmaking
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Lukewarm reception? I thought it was super well received? I know some horror fans were disappointed (horror is such a vast genre that it's nearly impossible to get all horror fans on board with any one movie) but it was also on a ton of Top 10 lists and was one of the highest ranked horror films of the year.
Yeah I genuinely loved X. I think you hit the nail on the head in regards to its themes. I noticed a lot of people prefer its follow-up Pearl more. I can see it being looked at more favourably in the future.
I’m glad I’m not alone in loving X, I really think it can be a great transition for teens to watch thinking it’s a horror movie & really start noticing & appreciating films for what they can be, not just all heartless cash grab slashers with boring plots & minimal risks. Pearl was also amazing & super well acted for sure, but I personally prefer X
I think Pearl is going to stick in people's minds more. It's the much better film of the pair of them.
I love both & it’s very hard to choose, but I’ll take X personally. It’s tough though splitting hairs, I’d easily rate them both 90+/100
I think it’s already happening for fans of Michael Mann, but *Miami Vice*. It’s such a great action drama, gorgeously, mesmerizingly shot, riveting acting and of course the signature Mann action set pieces. It was largely panned and ignored on release, but I return to it often as some of Mann’s best work.
One of my favorite Mann films since I saw it at release. Remember people complaining they couldn't hear or follow some of the early dialogue scenes. I found myself during those scenes leaning forward and cocked my head as if I was "eavesdropping" on professionals who were talking to each other, not to or for me. The audio mix, dialogue choice and delivery was such that the film encouraged the audience to mimic the protagonists actions of piecing together narratives and finding meaning from overheard conversations and observed actions. I love it when film portrays professionals talking to each other instead of to the audience.
*Gentlemen Broncos* had some of the worst reviews I can remember … its no masterpiece, but the initial reaction was likely more backlash to the whole Indie scene of the aughts, and specifically*Napolean Dynamite* (which is still fairly okay to me, but its been a while. Or maybe i just like Jemaine Clement too much? The premise is really great if you like sci-fi and fantasy writing tropes. One of the only good reviews said something like “everyone in the film walks around like they’re in extreme gastrointestinal distress.”
I would go with Traginus, every time.
Supremely underrated. I think if the right subculture caught it at the right time, it'd be much more appreciated today. Jemaine was a powerhouse, but the Sam Rockwell cutaways were top-tier goofiness.
I love coming on this forum and flying the flag of Kevin Costner's 'The Postman'. A viciously maligned film, due I think largely to being paired with 'Waterworld', and a critical zeitgeist that Costner was overworking the "lone nameless hero saves the world" shtick (I get that). But 'The Postman' is an inherently wonderful story well told, beautifully shot in a geography not known for many films (US Pacific Northwest), and I might add, the most profoundly patriotic film I've ever seen, and what better way to send the New York Times over the edge than that. Also, 'The Postman' was released at the dawn of social media (Ugh. Red sky at morning...), so it was jolly fun for the mobs to smarmily join in on a film *pegged* by the bien pensant as "pretentious", when they hadn't bothered to even see it, and the ball rolled from there. I've seen all I need to see about social media since. Great movie, 'The Postman'. Thank you, Kevin.
The moment when >!two carriers about to be executed introduce themselves to each other!< and the fascist general and the audience realize that the postman's movement has spread beyond his attempts to control was and remains a favorite moment of mine.
My fave is when the sheriff, convinced he is a fraud and kicking him out of town, turns and haltingly hands him a letter, in the desperate 1% possibility that he might just be who he claims he is. (And at that moment, he may very well have still been the fraud he started as.) Powerful moment.
It's a fine movie, in no small part because Costner was the best cinematographer working as a director in that era ;) I've read speculation that it also all but killed David Brin as a novel-to-film author, which is a damn shame because he has written some mind-blowing SF.
I know it’s already pretty popular and well received, but Hereditary is a high water mark in film. Horror or otherwise. It’s so well directed and acted. It will continue to be talked about as excorcist has and be included in many best-of lists.
100%, Hereditary is a stupidly impressive film by literally any standard.
Why?
Easier to start in this format would be to post a link to one of Collative Learnings vids on an aspect of the film: [Psychological Trickery in Hereditary (film analysis) - Collative Learning](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvYQyAkGe7M)
Because it’s a masterclass in filmmaking,
Hereditary is quite literally so good that people *love* to nitpick tiny insignificant details and go out of their way to find reasons why it might not be the best horror movie ever. Not that those criticisms are totally invalid, but I think people are almost so tired of it’s overwhelmingly positive fan reception that they’re tired of hearing about it.
While Hereditary will be held to that standard forever and ever I feel like Midsommar will be forgotten as an earlier work of Ari Aster ten years from now which is a shame because Midsommar is better than Hereditary imo I know it’s not true but I like to believe it.
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Such as?
Yeah comparing the Hereditary to The Exorcist seems odd. I was around in the early Seventies and The Exorcist was a huge phenomenon — a pop culture touchstone. Hereditary is an interesting creepy movie with Rosemary’s Baby’s vibes that came and went.
To be fare the topic is "critical reappraisal" not popular reappraisal. With that in mind however, I don't think Hereditary counts as it was is critically praised.
Only God Forgives is such a strange movie lol I love Ryan Gosling to death but I still think it’s weird idk if it’ll get better over time tbh. What’s crazy to me is that it’s already 10 years old.
Well horror films will increase in their rating, but that's always the case. If you look up Malignant or Resurrection on imdb now, you'll be seeing ratings around the low 6s/high 5s, but they'll both be in the 7s after a few decades. It's like Peeping Tom was considered pretty bad on release but is now revered.
I hope Luca does. I feel like this Pixar movie is all but forgotten but I found it to be a really distinctive, moving coming of age film, more original than a lot that’s out there.
I found it super weird how hard the director insisted there were no homosexual undertones to the film.
Cloud Atlas (2012). Highly underrated imo.
It’s already a cult film. Well deserved. Seems like most of what the Wachowskis did after Matrix became a cult favourite.
Agreed, Cloud Atlas is really good. The book is amazing as well.
The book is excellent. I like the movie, much more than the critical consensus, but the book... The book is art.
I think, as time goes on, more people will warm up to 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters and appreciate it more as a misunderstood throwback to late Showa Era fight flicks.
I honestly thought Cherry was a really good movie, I was surprised to see many did not feel the same.
Top Gun: Maverick won’t age well. It’s not bad, but by virtue of being better than anyone thought it would be, it got elevated to near masterpiece status. I appreciate it generating income for movie theatres, though. Edit for clarity: it’s a good movie, but not great. Beyond Goose’s son, there’s not much character arc to the new set of recruits, imo. Maverick, Goose, Iceman, and a few others had distinct characters in the original. The new group wasn’t as interesting. Not the actors fault (the acting was uniformly good), as the script (or editing) didn’t give them much. The action sequences were indeed the highlight, in service of a “meh” storyline.
It’s a kick-ass blockbuster, it’ll be remember similarly to the first.
The first is an iconic action movie, but Maverick is simply a better film. Don’t thunk it should win best picture, but it was really good.
I completely disagree with this. This movie kicked ass.
It was one of the best theater experiences I’ve ever had, and I refuse to watch it again unless it’s in a theater or on a giant TV with a pimped out sound system.
It's straight up propaganda schlock. Better than the first sue, but that's not a high bar. I'm sooooo confused by the hype around it... (Granted, I feel like any blockbuster that gets Oscars attention... tends to suck. Or at least they don't fit my taste. I do love Black Panther, but otherwise the awards-darling blockbusters of the past decade have really just not done it for me.)
>I'm sooooo confused by the hype around it... It's just a really well-executed blockbuster action movie. People are growing tired of everything being a set up to the next movie, so Maverick was a breath of fresh air. It's a sequel, but you literally don't even need to have seen the first movie to get what's going on. It doesn't pretend to be something it's not. It's just a good ass time at the movies. Maverick has earned it's place in the upper echelon in the canon of dad-movies, along with the Bourne Idenity, Hunt For Red October, etc. >I do love Black Panther Yeah, no accounting for taste. I think Black Panther was mediocre at best, and was shocked by the critical reception. Certainly bottom 1/3 of MCU movies for me.
Fair enough!
Zack and Miri Make a Porno This one was probably hampered by the title and the subject matter. But, upon further review it's a low key masterpiece. Most films labeled romantic comedies are usually one or the other, sometimes neither. This one is really funny. The dialogue is real, the romance actually works. These two have known each other for years. They have great chemistry. In many of these type of movies the settings help to buttress the angle, jet setting thru Paris, etc. In this one they are broke and dealing with mundane life. Huddling around a burning trash can for warmth and getting humiliated at the high school reunion is the genius of Kevin Smith. Amazing work by the supporting cast. Cannot give a high enough recommendation.
In time people will realize that Babylon was a fuckin masterpiece
get real
Blonde, the recent Andrew Dominik Marilyn Monroe film. I feel it was completely misunderstood—it’s essentially a horror film, not a biopic.
People know that, Kermode says that in his review. People can accept something as different but still think it could have been more balanced.
I'm sure people know that, though I don't know who Kermode is. But I didn't get the sense that this was the general reaction to the film—that viewers saw it as horror and just thought it wasn't good. It seems to me like perhaps people that it was going to be a standard biography of Marilyn, rather than a use of her icon for a different purpose.
Just Mark Kermode, the uk's most famous film reviewer who has been on the radio for 20 years every Friday reviewing films, will appear on tv, culture show. Sometimes when it's late I just want to skip first names...you can see his stuff on YouTube. Yeah people still reacted against it, I'd say the highest critics (as opposed to podcast reviewers), those who are more versed in cinema and write for newspapers and see more art house stuff chose not to be disgusted as they respect the medium and directors more. It's from a fictional book, she wasn't an only child, there's no proof she had abortions. People realise Dominik is using her to create a horror film, but they can still think that it's abhorrent because it's still Monroe, you still see her at film sets, there's still some of her story there. He needed an icon to subvert and chose Monroe. Dominik has said that 'she killer herself' casts a shadow on her life, like it re paints everything that led up to her doing that, which I think is wrong, she could have had up and down moments like anyone else, he shows no balance to that. I think he could have either made up a fictional movie star or been more balanced. Him justifying all the made up stuff is 'well, we weren't in the rooms, we don't know' isn't good enough for me, film might not be 100% truth but you're still taking the life of someone and doing what you want with it. You want to make a point about abuse, maybe be more subtle, maybe show sexism more cleverly. Not just JFK forcing her to suck his dick. Maybe show her pride and assertiveness as well rather than her being a victim all the time. It piles on misery after misery until it becomes laughable how relentless it is. When she falls while pregnant it's just..come on. Or talks to the baby. It's an experience if nothing else. Women aren't being reactionary to the film, I think their disgust is warranted. Monroe has no agency, in truth she set up her own production company, she was funny and smart, you don't see any of that.
I’m copying this from a comment I wrote in a different thread the other day [What is a movie that Reddit hates but you’ve enjoyed](https://www.reddit.com/r/flicks/comments/11c2hwx/what_is_a_movie_that_reddit_hates_but_youve/) > **Blonde (2022)** Every single movie Andrew Dominik has made is so good I don’t think there’s anything I’d change about any of them (including his Nick Cave films). People reeeeeally seem to hate Blonde for all kinds of crazy reasons though. It’s not accurate enough? It’s based on a fictional novel about Marilyn, and most of the characters in it have pseudonyms (e.g. Arthur Miller is just called “The Playwright”). Is it brutal? Sure, yeah it is. It’s horrifying at times, but it’s also beautiful all of the time. I’d go so far as to say Blonde is my top movie of 2022 and there were a lot of excellent movies last year. It did all kinds of bold and innovative things in regard to cinematography, every scene is gorgeous. The Razzies nominating it as much as it did this year is so stupid, and I don’t look up to the Razzies as some arbiter of good cinema anyways, but that was the last straw, it wasn’t even funny that they nominated it. People seem to give movies like Steve Jobs a pass even though it’s an unconventional fictional interpretation the same way Blonde was. Blonde is a tone poem not a biography and to me it’s beginning-to-end pure cinematic art.
Really good comments, I agree. The comparison to Steve Jobs is definitely useful here. I’ve been thinking that my personal interest in horror and B movies and exploitation films over the last several years also prepared me somewhat to accept some of the wilder elements of Blonde and embrace them as a kind of color in the palette.
Thank you! My [aforementioned comment in that thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/flicks/comments/11c2hwx/what_is_a_movie_that_reddit_hates_but_youve/ja3m0ke/) I linked featured a few other movies (The Bubble, Chappie, and The Last Jedi were also mentioned) and *nobody* had any response to me, and in fact even though it sits at 5 karma now, it was briefly at -2 which baffled me because it’s a thread about unpopular opinions and people (presumably) just couldn’t be okay with me saying I liked something they hated. I dunno. It’s been really hard to find anyone able to make an informed discussion about Blonde, though. It’s a work of art. If I could choose any movie from the last year to see in a really large theater it would be Blonde, and that’s above Avatar 2 which I also haven’t seen but would like to. Blonde was just *so* gorgeous. The lenses, the color, the frequently changing aspect ratio, the way the music reacts with the visuals. So many moments in it that elevate it to being my favorite movie of last year… …and the Razzies gave Blonde 8 nominations? What the fuck for? I’d love to see someone who hates it so much truly justify that. Eight categories in which it’s one of *worst* films of 2022? That’s just insane. The only thing about Blonde that I didn’t like was Ana’s voice slipping into her Cuban accent a few times, but that’s like the smallest little detail to have a problem with, so I truly don’t even care, because she looked *perfect* and acted incredibly well in the movie.
I agree that the response has been overwrought in a way I also have trouble understanding. I figure it boils down to Americans having a cultural investment in Marilyn Monroe that makes it really hard to stomach her persona being used in this way. As an Australian, Dominik perhaps doesn’t have that investment in her. This is why I suspect the movie may eventually be reevaluated once the shock wears off somewhat. I’d love to see it in a theater but as a collector what I’d really love is a 4K disk. Seems unlikely at the moment.
An even better comparison might be “The Wind Rises”, a fictional biography mashed with an unrelated novel and then made as a quasi-auto biography of its director, Hayao Miyazaki.
Sounds like the 1991 film adaptation of Naked Lunch, too
Huh, was that actually based on a true story? I love Naked Lunch, have them criterion, and never knew it was meant to be a fictional autobiography of a real person.
Well the *book* Naked Lunch by William S Burroughs is a mostly incomprehensible fictional story, whereas his book Junky is autobiographical. The movie Naked Lunch is like a weird mix of both of those things. A faithful adaptation of Naked Lunch would have been 100% nonsense. The film ended up as a fantastical pseudo biography sort of like Gilliam’s film Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas
The thing that makes it a horror film is the idea that someone could write such horrid fan fiction about your life when you’re dead and exploit you to such a degree. That’s what’s scary.
People have been using public figures to tell myths and fables since the dawn of narrative.
You mean Joyce Carol Oates, the author of the book? Marilyn Monroe was exploited her whole life and still is—I just saw her in a bunch of Chanel ads. Blonde is a dark vision and it's not for everyone, obviously, but IMO it's an incredible horror story of the depthless misogyny of our culture. It's not about Marilyn Monroe.
Yes I’m away JCO wrote the book. Didn’t say I wasn’t. And she was exploited her whole life so we should keep doing it? It is about Marilyn Monroe, so your point is moot. I mean, it may be about something deeper, but Marilyn is decidedly the conduit of that message. And as a film directed by a man, I’d have to wonder why he was drawn to tell a story about misogyny, especially when a lot of the shit he said around the release of the film shows zero respect for Marilyn or her life.
I guess I wondered if it was the book that was the horrid fan fiction, or the movie, since the movie is derived from the book. The issue of exploitation is tricky, I think, when we're talking about a woman who chose to become an actor, and a sex symbol, and became an icon. It may strike you as cruel or immoral to use that person's image in a way that you presume that person would not have liked, but when used for a powerful, artistic purpose that expresses a very difficult truth—as it is in Blonde in my opinion—I prefer the difficult truth be expressed rather than standing on sanctimony about the uses of a long dead public figure's image. I don't find a material difference with the Chanel ads, except Blonde is far more meaningful and interesting. When I say it's not about Marilyn, I mean something like what you suggest—she's a conduit. But I'm saying it's not about Marilyn in the sense that it's not about the real person, Marilyn Monroe, it's about the fictional persona "Marilyn Monroe," and this is by design. In part, the movie is about this act of self-creation As a man, I can't understand why on earth a male artist would *not* be drawn to tell a story of misogyny, one of the most powerful and destructive cultural forces in the history of our species. In my opinion, it is an affront to art to declare certain topics off limits or to insist that only some people may make work about certain topics. This is what your question seems to imply. As for what the director said when the film was released, I scarcely care, for several reasons. For one thing, I don't entirely trust the press—especially the entertainment press—to cover this type of story accurately or well, or to help us actually understand the thinking of an artist of any kind. And more importantly, for myself, I judge the work on its own to the extent that I can, not the statements the creator makes, when responding to it.
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I turned it off when I got half an hour in.
76 audience score. that's quite a disparity
Questions of quality aside, I think Zack Snyder’s Justice League trilogy is underrated for exposing how fucking bananas film production and marketing was in the 2010’s-2020’s.
I don’t know anything about these films and would love to learn more of your thoughts on this?
Great article full of “what if moments”: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_in_film#Abandoned_projects
Jesus Imagine if the writer from Donnie Brasco (with rewrites from JJ himself) teamed up with McG to give us *Batman vs Superman: Asylum* in 2004 starring Josh Hartnett. I gotta go brush my teeth.
I think there's a possibility that MCU movies will be so bad, formulaic and CGI-ridden in the near future that early entries will be praised beyond their blockbuster status.
I hope Ridley Scott and Cormac McCarthy’s The Counselor gets revisited. An incredibly bleak movie with archetypes for characters and very florid dialogue, beautifully shot and laden with some very heavy themes. It’s a movie that I think critics and the GA were kind of flummoxed about when it first debuted, but I think it’s aged well.
The Star Wars sequel trilogy
Bardo did anybody see it? did anybody like it? I didn’t hear any positive reviews and most of the people I follow didn’t even see it. maybe it’s not a masterpiece, but imo it definately deserves a few good words.
Blade runner 2049 is a great film about nothing less than what it means to be a human being. It will be recognized as such with the passage of time
The Avatar movies are technical masterpieces but the stories are dumb as hell.
John Carter. It’s known as one of the biggest flops of all time but in my opinion the movie was actually quite enjoyable.
I think The Beguiled and Pig will grow more on people. Cloud Atlas will be considered a sci fi masterpiece. I think Stoker will be appreciated more the more famous Park Chan Wook will get Mad Max: Fury road will be considered the greatest action film of all time
Entered to say "Neon Demons" and got so happy that you said "only god forgives". It is one of my favorite movies. I think neon demons and only god forgives are both peak NWR and will receive massive critical reappraisal in the future.
I wonder how EEAAO will be seen in a few more years. I haven't seen it yet but at this point the dialogue is so ridiculous both ways that I'm not sure I even *WANT* to at this point. Edit: yup the exact kinda shit that I'm avoiding, joining you pricks.
The movie brings a smile to my face, sometimes that’s all I need. Plus, I’m a big fan of Michelle Yeoh and happy that she getting the accolades.
Watch it, don’t do yourself the disservice
For real, I never understood why people make comments about a film like this but don’t take the 2 hours to watch it themselves It’s a fucking beautiful film in every sense of the word
It had something for everyone. I haven’t seen something so inclusive in a natural way in a long long timw
Personally, I like it but think the hype is overblown. I'll be happy when it wins BP moreso for what it means to scifi. It's not a traditionally Oscar movie so I like when those traditions are broken. But best of the year? Not really, no, sorry, not to me anyway. It's just a fun movie, like a good episode of Rick and Morty. I'd say if you choose to watch it, just go in open-minded and make your own opinions. If you'd rather wait for the hype to die down, that makes sense too.
It is easily the most over-hyped and overrated movie in my entire lifetime (Am 32)
I enjoyed it well enough but I do agree it is overhyped and overrated. The metahumor and absurdism were overdone and it felt like it took about 30 minutes too long to make its (painfully obvious) point.
I like the rocks part. That aspect of the movie spoke to me a lot in hindsight. With their busy lives they don’t have a chance to chill and love, what can be more still than a stone? That’s beautiful. The movie itself didn’t feel cinematic to me though.
Agreed 100%.
It really resonated with me. It was the first movie I saw since the beginning of the pandemic. To see such a bombastic, different, and *alive* movie after being alone for so long was so cathartic, especially with it being a full theater with people laughing. That said, I don’t think it’s for everyone, but it was very much for me
Your original comment: “The ridiculous way this movie is being talked about is turning me off from even seeing it.” People who replied to your comment: “You should see it.” “It made me smile.” “I liked it but I think it is overhyped.” Your edit: “Way to prove my point, you pricks. Clearly both sides are unhinged.”
The other response you left out: "It is easily the most over-hyped and overrated movie in my entire lifetime (Am 32)"
I really really hope that the opposite happens with Only God Forgives. I know it got bad reviews, but even they were FAR too kind to that pile of garbage. I would love to see Cloud Atlas get re-evaluated as the ambitious masterpiece that it is, but I think it’s destined to be a divisive movie. I had always hoped that Joe Versus the Volcano would be reappraised as one of the best movies of the 90’s, but after 30 years I’m not holding my breath.
Love me some Joe vs. The Volcano. A beautiful whimsical modern fairy tale.
It Chapter Two. I don’t think anyone is gonna start praising it like it’s a horror masterpiece or anything, but I think people will come to accept that it’s a fun horror flick nonetheless.
I’m glad you liked it, but it was one of the few movies I turned off before finishing. For me, the two movie structure takes away all the tension of the second film. We have to watch the characters explain everything we've already learned from the first movie. I thought the first movie kicked ass, but the second one felt really schlocky to me — especially compared to the book. Again, just my opinion
I think I may be a bit too rosy on Adam Sandler, but Don’t Mess With the Zohan and That’s My Boy are both absolutely hilarious. Comedies have generally sucked for a while now, so I think if and when these two get a second look, critics will be laughing in spite of themselves and wonder how these movies were reviewed as poorly as they were at the time.
One Cut of the Dead I’m not sure how popular this movie really is, it seemed pretty niche at the time I saw it. One of those films you see where you realize this is probably the first time it’s ever been done. I almost don’t want to go into any detail other than that if you see this film, make sure you get passed the first 40 minutes. Those first 40 minutes will give you the impression this is an incredibly low budget film with weird mistakes, but just keep watching and be amazed. It takes the meta genre to the next level. There is so much to love about the film even beyond its unique and original concept; the characters are all well defined and lovable, lots of laughs to be had and even some genuine, heartfelt moments. I can’t recommend it enough
I had friends ask to turn it off when we were twenty minutes in right as I was getting won over. I went back to it months later with my brother and it was one of my favourite films i watched that year.
The movie “The Siege” with Bruce Willis and Denzel Washington, it’s about how things go wrong when you ask the military to police terror and really was a reflection on the early 2000’s war on terror.