arugula2 wrote:Me too. I heard someone describe Midsommar like if the ending of Hereditary were made into a movie. But haven't seen it yet... was looking forward to it mostly bc same writer-director.

Mark Kermode said sort of the opposite. He said it remained consistently good throughout and didn't turn into a farce in the second half like Hereditary did.

Once one person in the theatre finally began cackling, the entire audience stopped pretending the film was worthy of being taken seriously and the rest of it was spent laughing and snorting and groaning.

So, I enjoyed the audience.

Rachel Bronwyn wrote:Once one person in the theatre finally began cackling, the entire audience stopped pretending the film was worthy of being taken seriously and the rest of it was spent laughing and snorting and groaning.

So, I enjoyed the audience.

Oh! So it's just like Hereditary then.

I'm not going to fill the thread with spoilers but... being fed pubes. It's a thing. That's supposed to be spooky. I think.

I say we take off and nuke the rest of the Alien movies from orbit.
Alien 2 was ok, I guess.

I second John Cleese. Aliens is an action movie, but it’s generally great.

Mark Kermode is a twit

No.

You cannot follow a statement of fact with a, "no".

I just did.

I always thought Mark Kermode introduced Moviedrome. Now I find out it was Alex Cox and I don't know who I am any more!

Alex Cox is a prick..

I agree with Mark Kermode precisely 87% of the time.

Imperium (2016)... didn't finish it. I suspect (first, based on the atrocious writing in the opening 20 mins, and second upon closer inspection of the positive critic-blurbs on Rotten Tomatoes) that its 85% aura is partly the fever-glow of what I call "Crash syndrome", where any movie that echoes and massages American "liberal" guilt about white supremacism gets a 20-point boost, no matter how stupid the script. If you like dialogue pieced together by copy-pasting Wikipedia, this is the movie for you. Anyway, I was mostly looking for a Daniel Radcliffe vehicle that might re-inform my impression of him as an actor, because he basically sucked so hard as Harry Potter. He's had a lot of intriguing projects since then (on film and on stage), and he's been trying diligently to shed his wizard image. I fast-forwarded to take a look... he's competent here. Not very interesting - just ok. Still has some stupid old quirks (like 'looking down' to convey complex emotion... kinda like Colin Farrell 'looking sideways'* to distract from the fact that he can't act). But he's definitely better than the rest of this movie, which isn't saying much.


*found this on my first try

The Favourite (2018). Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeezus, this was fun. The framing & camera movement alone are more spellbinding than most movies. Flawless performances that are somehow understated and howling at the same time. Dialogue like ice shards to the brain. Gorgeous to look at (I wanted more outdoor scenes though) and to listen to (mostly Baroque music, with silent stretches punctuated by chords that perfectly underline the tension).

I can't overemphasize how good these four performances are (Olivia Colman as Queen Anne, Rachel Weisz as her confidant Lady Sarah, Emma Stone as the intruder Abigail, and Nicholas Hoult as leader of the opposition, Harley). I thought I'd be put off by Emma Stone's accent, but it's drowned in all the goodness.

It's obvious the director has a lot to do with how brilliant this movie is. (I'd tried watching The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer before this... but maybe because Colin Farrell suuuuuuuucks sooooooooo haaaaaaaaard, I couldn't manage. Might have to try again, to discover what I missed.)

(click image)
This is one of several instances where I had to re-watch a scene because I was gobsmacked by how brilliantly it turned out. Laughing out loud 1) because a scene perfectly captures absurdity without losing itself to it, 2) and because it also obviously loves its subject, 3) and because the actors obviously love what they're doing, 4) and because fuuuuuuuuck what great photography and editing... is the best kind of laughing.

Oh, the plot. Stuff happens. No one's sure whom to trust. There are rabbits.

My friend's organising a British film event and I've got a broken leg and therefore a lot of time to watch films. Any suggestions?

I just watched this:



Absolutely great film. I'm trying to get past your classic British social realism and gritty drama. I love Ken Loach, but I don't think anyone will appreciate it if they're forced to watch four of his films in a row.