The Movie House - Part 9

Glory wrote:Manchester by the Sea finally.
8.8/10
Casey Affleck guys. Just Wowww. That subtlety and controlled rage he brought to that role.  Haunting. Not even once we get a feeling he was overplaying his part. Mature, grounded in reality and sincere performance from the man.
The whole movie was just brilliant. Very real and very close to life.
Actually I wanted to talk a lot about this movie, about things I noticed, but nah may be later. Let it sink in first. Its a very meticulously made movie, thats for all to see. Kudos to the director. Anyone seen other films of this guy, Kenneth Lonergan?
And finally Michelle Williams. WhyTf is she not doing more films guys. Every time she comes in front of a camera, even if its just a minor scene, she just oozes class. Girl is easily better than most of those overrated fakeazz chicks we are forced to sit through these days.

There's Margaret directed by Lonergan which is supposedly good. Was thinking of watching it soon before I hopefully go see Manchester By the Sea soon as well.

EDIT: just checked his filmography. He wrote and directed You Can Count on Me, a pretty little good indie film I enjoyed quite much. Apparently he also co-wrote Scorsese's Gangs of New York.

Didn't like Margeret that much. Was a huge mess of movie imo.

Manchester By The Sea is a masterpiece though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3Nl_TCQXuw

M. Nights's career

It's incredible ffs... no idea how the same guy has directed his filmography.

Split is def in his top 3 for me with Signs and Unbreakable.

Diego Luna to be the lead in Scarface reboot.

Can't wait for people to complain that Scarface doesn't need a reboot without realizing that 80s Scarface itself is a remake

I realise that and i'm still gonna complain tbh

arrival is good

the edge of seventeen is good

split is okay / average

manchester by the sea is overrated drama where nothing happens

Dennis Villeneuve to direct Dune movie.

BORUSSIA!! wrote:
manchester by the sea is overrated drama where nothing happens

Its good that you say that, not a lot of people want to admit, the only thing half decent is Affleck's performance but thats about it

Nothing happens?

Yeah okay. Let's just brush off that there's a lot happening combined with one of the greatest portrayals of grief in history with a mesmerizing performance. I don't see how it's overrated. It's rated properly imo.

Also "want to admit"... pls go. Affleck's performance "half-decent".

The nothing happens point raised by guys is understandable. I very much consider MBS an auteur work. There are many minute things in the movie that if we carefully pay attention we can appreciate.

SPOILER:

Its a frikin masterpiece.

Nah I saw Manchester By the Sea this weekend. It's very good and very realistic portrayal of tragedy and depression. I teared up. Affleck's performance was amazing.

8.5/10


My top 10 For 2016
1) Arrival - 8.7
2) Manchester By the Sea - 8.5
3) Sing Street - 8.5
4) Civil War - 8.4
5) Captain Fantastic - 8.3
6) Everybody Wants Some! - 8.3
7) Sully - 8.3
8.) Nocturnal Animals - 8.2
9) Hell or High Water - 8.2
10) Deadpool/10 Cloverfield Lane - 8.2

Haven't seen La La Land, Moonlight, Hacksaw Ridge, Silence, Live by Night, Split, Fences, Hidden Figures, Lion.

Wow, didn't think I would see "Everybody Wants Some!" in a top 10. It's very good though. I'm not sure it makes mine, but if it misses out, it does by very little. Really good film.

So personally I have been hyping myself up for Manchester by the Sea. And I think at the end I just didn't get what I wanted or expected perhaps. Maybe in the overall story, there was something a bit lacking for me. I think I was expecting a natural filmic ending with some form of dramatisation that was present in Blue Valentine.

But make no mistake, I'm not saying it does not have a lot to offer like someone here above said. It of course is a brilliantly crafted film in all departments, and a tragic, yet honest and true character study on how life can break down a man. The constant repressed/low gear grief and anger is not only present in Casey Affleck's face, body and words, but also in the entire movie.

I give it a more than good 4/5

Good to see a movies threads, didnt know theres this section Im a big movie lover, and been trying to see all the Oscars nominated movies. Btw, what do you all think of the awards? Are they usually fair? What about those so called film critics?

Im more just a regular who likes his movies, and have come to appreciate more variety of them as I age naturally, but so often I still dont understand some of those critics loved movies, I just still dont get some of them. Just an example probably up for good debate is Arrival, its overrated and pretentious, not saying its not good, it is, but just overrated. Im a big Nolan fan and loved Interstellar, maybe I shouldnt be directly comparing the two since its about completely different themes but still Arrival is no where near Interstellar, yet most seem to love it?

Lastly just to mention, the least talked about movie probably Lion, I was pleasantly surprised by it, very moving and recommended.

Awards are cool and fun. For me at least. I mean I always look forward to the awards seasons rush, the thrills and spills, the entertainment in who might get snubbed, and I always root for my favourites. Yet, people from the various academies sometimes seem to make weird choices in the movies that gets nominated/wins or those that lose out. It's purely content and thematically-based at this point though. I'm sure all of us by now knows what an "Oscar movie" feels like. You don't necessarily have to agree with what "the critics" say, however you also have to take into account if you are just a regular movie watcher (not someone who studies the art, and knows the finer/technical details of it) that these critics usually "know" what they're talking about because they do film critique as a job/specialty (so they usually have a good repetoire of films seen in their life under their belt, that's also another good judge of what makes a good film critic. The more films you have seen that more you know about that art and industry - it just makes logical sense). That of course doesn't go for every film critic out there though, they're so varied these days. You find average Joe's writing for your local newspaper and what not. Usually what I would say is look at a few film critics you more often than not tend to agree on their analysis on films, and settle with those if you want to read more about a film online.

Secondly, Arrival is a beautiful film. I feel like people should have had the linguistics knowledge that the film centres its story around. Not of course that you will fail to understand the film if you don't, it just made it more special to me. I did linguistics last year and I learned about linguistics determinsim and it was just beautiful to me the way they accurately incorporated it into the film, so much so that the film may seemed to have ended in a "magical" tone. Like how can this ever happen? Someone develops another dimension of time just by learning a new language? It sounds sappy, and corny, right? But that's exactly what linguistic determinism states. That your language and vocabulary has an impact on your thoughts and perceptions and their limits. So the filmmakers (and the person who wrote the short story which the film was based on) just played around on that concept in a cool sci-fi filmmaking way.
Interstellar is great as well. I think it's a better film than Arrival. But I hold both in very high regard. Interstellar is much more bigger and ambitious in scope, and therefore you could find more fault in its narrative and structure as many critics and film fans did. Also, Arrival is more of an artistic piece imo (which adds to its beauty), as opposed to Interstellar which is scientific and blockbuster-y (not that that can be a bad thing).

I gave Lion 4/5. Just because of the film's emotion (I teared up at THAT scene near the end) and the acting. Overall it can be a bit wishy-washy in the narrative and structure department with that huge gap in between the two time frames and the underdeveloped characters and arcs in Saroo's girlfriend and his brother.

Watched the trailer for Lion and I was unsure whether it was a movie or a Google Earth ad.

Anyone...didn't like that new Pirates trailer? Seemed a bit off for me, especially with the CGI. Preferred the teaser so much more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xo3af_6_Jk

M99 wrote:Watched the trailer for Lion and I was unsure whether it was a movie or a Google Earth ad.

Finally got around to Arrival and it was definitely one of my favorites of 2016.

Still think this was our generation's "Contact". That said, I enjoyed it immensely.

Other movies I watched:

Excalibur (1981)

Really enjoyed this adaptation of King Arthur (probably the definitive adaptation). Very true to Canterbury Tales and featured an amazing cast of actors who became bonafide stars (Patrick Stewart, Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne, Helen Mirren (hot af  ) and Ciarian Hinds. Shocking how many of the cast is dead though already.

Edge of Tomorrow

Finally got around to seeing this after resisting for year because I hate Groundhog Day scenarios. Very pleasantly surprised. I liked the militaristic Starship Troopers vibe it had and the biting humor. Haven't enjoyed Tom Cruise in anything truly in a while, but he was great in this. Emily Blunt? She's quite bland as an actress and her character's humorless demeanor just brought more of that out. She's literally the female Cillian Murphy. One expression and that's about it.

Justice League Dark

My Constantine fix is appropriately fulfilled. That is all.

Chaplin

Pre-drugs RDJ was pretty damn good in this. Modern Times, the Kid and the Great Dictator are required watching for any of us who are true movie lovers, but like most comedians that came after him, this shines a light on just how complex and tragic Chaplin's life really was. Literally came from nothing, achieved everything and left a ridiculous massive lasting impression.

Ben-hur (2016)

Not as terrible as it was made out to be by critics, but yes it was pretty average. I'm a sucker for historical reboots though so yeah I gave it a go. I ended the movie actually rooting for Toby Kebbell more than for Jack Huston. As soon as I saw Rodrigo Santoro as Jesus and the crucifixion scenes, I knew the Downeys (they did History Channel's "The Bible", its follow up "Son of God" and the sequel series "The Bible: The Story continues) were involved and sure enough, they were producers.

@Mclewis did you watch Rogue Nation. Its one of the best Mission Impossible movies and Tom Cruise is typically great in it. Actually one of the best action movies in recent years too.

M99 wrote:@Mclewis did you watch Rogue Nation. Its one of the best Mission Impossible movies and Tom Cruise is typically great in it. Actually one of the best action movies in recent years too.

Yeah I have. I also watched him in Oblivion as well. I still liked him better in EoT than either of those movies though. MI was the best movie overall of the 3 though, no doubt.

John Wick: Chaper 2 is absolutely amazing ffs

Keanu

Damn it's getting insane reviews.

I'll have to rewatch the first one because I didn't really care for it and didn't even finish it.

Freeza wrote:John Wick: Chaper 2 is absolutely amazing ffs

Keanu

ffs an extra trip to the cinema then.

so that makes it,
La La Land
Moonlight
Silence
John Wick 2