The Movie House - Part 5

M99 wrote:What exactly was it that sucked about Vader?

Don't call me James wrote:Completely agree ElGee. Vader is the most overrated villain of all time. Terrible villain in A New Hope. He was sooooo bad in that. Got better in the rest but still overrated as shit.

Don't call me James wrote:Only seen A New Hope so far and didn't like it. My perception on it thus far is that it's one of the most overrated franchises of all time.

Don't call me James wrote:Completely agree ElGee. Vader is the most overrated villain of all time. Terrible villain in A New Hope. He was sooooo bad in that. Got better in the rest but still overrated as shit.

gb wrote:Recently just finished all 3 LOTR movies for the 1st time and it was GOAT. Can't believe it took me so long to watch them but it was well worth it. I suppose The Hobbit trilogy is next!

gb wrote:On the topic of Star Wars, I would have to side with El Gunner and Hames. I've always felt the original trilogy to be way overrated but I wouldn't go as far as saying Darth Vader was a terrible villian but he was incredibly mediocre imo. Hans Solo and Chewie were GOAT!

Don't call me James wrote:Watch the Godfather 1 and 2 RG already ffs.

RealGunner wrote:Airplane! (1980)


Can't believe so many iconic quotes and scenes were in this film

Fantastic movie with some of the most hilarious scenes I've seen in any film. That "calm down" scene broke me

Really enjoyed watching it.

8.4/10

M99 wrote:Anyone watching or watched Straight Outta Compton? Seeing it this weekend.

My name is Lester Burnham. This is my neighborhood; this is my street; this is my life. I am 42 years old; in less than a year I will be dead. Of course I don't know that yet, and in a way, I am dead already.

If you read my Gone Girl review you would have noticed I said that I think it is the most complete film since American Beauty.
So why do I draw parallels between the two movies?

Well both films deal with characters that are repulsive in a way. Gone Girl takes it to another level, but it doesn't get much better in American Beauty. This film has characters that are in deep emotional distress and they don't even know it. They cover their unhappiness with sarcasm and cheap thrills like quitting ones job and smoking weed with your neighbour.
Both films deal with characters that are liars and use their lies and emotional problems to drive the story of their respective films forward. Even though American Beauty might not be that plot driven like Gone Girl, at the end of the day both still tell their stories: the former conveys a strong message in its dramatic, satirical style and the latter spoils us with twists and turns in its suspenseful, thrilling style.
Both films are beautifully shot with crisp and neat cinematography, adding visual brilliance to the respective features.

And if you are wondering how the hell the above points is supposed to do enough for you to constitute an understanding as to why I say I think these films are two of the most complete films I've ever seen? Then let me try to express myself a bit more:
As already mentioned, both deal with emotional drive, and what makes this more impressive is that it is underlying, suppressed feelings. And when these feelings come up and reveal themselves it's obviously more explosive and effective.
It also shows us characters that are psychologically damaged, and I always believe those are the best characters in films. There's just a certain something that adds a spark to films that have characters that are mentally challenged and derive emotional problems from those exact mental challenges. We then have characters who deal with two sets of inner problems (mental and emotional).
Both films play around with their genre and the feel that they give off. They are a mix of dark comedy, drama and suspense. And both have their one instance of a blood spilling moment. This is when the character(s) are at their climax and explode!
Both are wonderfully layered and directed, and have dialogue that never lets go of your attention.
So basically, these two films have a bit of almost everything that I love in film. Their characters are strong and powerful and when the climax comes, you definitely know it came! [sexual pun intended]

Now with all of that out of the way, I must also say they are still two very different films, but I'm not going to go into any of that. Instead, let's talk a bit more about American Beauty, the debut feature of a very good director named Sam Mendes.
Lester (played brilliantly by Kevin Spacey) is at the peak of his mid-life crisis. He is married but finds no more joy in his love - and sex life,
Lester: “Look at me, jerking off in the shower... This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.”
he has a daughter, Jane, who he doesn't seem to worry much about. Jane has her own problems and the wife has her problems as well. We meet their neighbours - a family made up of a father, mother and son. Ricky is the son, and he starts to befriend both Lester and Jane. His first interaction with Lester ends up with them smoking weed together. He then becomes the weed seller of Lester. He shows interest in Jane and Jane founds it annoying at first, but later she starts to like it. Ricky though, has problems as well, and they seem to stem from his ex-military head father, who is probably the most challenged character in the film. So problems, problems and more problems. That's what this film is. It's a humoristic melancholy on modern day life in American suburbia.

Early on in the film Lester is blown away and mesmerised by the beauty of one of Jane's friends, Angela, when he first lays eyes upon her at a basketball game where they were cheerleading. And who can blame Lester? Who wouldn't become infatuated with that golden American face of Mena Suvari? [rhetorical question] Throughout the film he fantasises about Angela, and Angela who is the slutty, popular girl at school who can't stop blabbering on about her sexual experiences with boys, doesn't back down as her actions around Lester is flirtatious and inviting. Jane starts to connect with Ricky and Lester's wife is sexually interested in a business competitor in the real-estate industry. Added into the mix is Ricky's relationship with his father. His father is constantly worried about his 'cleanness' and constantly reminds him to stay off drugs, and he shares his hatred towards homosexuality with Ricky, almost in a way compelling him to never 'turn weak' or 'go soft'. Ricky's father plays an important part at the end of the film as we get to see his deep-rooted problems exposed and him going beyond boiling point.

The other day I read fellow Letterboxd member, Gustav's review on this film, and he absolutely slated it! He made a lot of reasonable and valid points and I understood where he came from with a few of those points. This film deals with a clichéd narrative that goes by the name of "family in distress". It deals with the washed up story of everything turning out bad for our troubled characters. And it doesn't particular suave in it's build up in storyline and character arcs. But for what American Beauty is, it absolutely glitters in that respect. It is a drama and a satire that sews its threads together perfectly to send the message that it wants to send. As I said, it's not that plot driven and many of those threads don't lead to an eventual revelation on their own, but TOGETHER they show what the film wants and needs to show.

Winner of 5 Oscars in the categories of Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Cinematography at the 2000 Academy Awards, American Beauty is indeed a beauty... even if it is in a weird way.

Oh and hooray to 1999 in film, the year in which characters found courage to speak up to, and threaten, their bosses and then going on to quit their jobs.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:" My name isn't Shirley"