Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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R42. Collateral - This movie is underrated. It's just all-around excellent. And holy crap wait.. that was Mark Ruffalo?? I just now found that out as I was typing this. Wow; never would have recognized him; though I knew his voice sounded familiar! The voice is obvious now that I think about it.. but it doesn't look anything like him. Anyway; the film is great. Michael Mann really knows how to set an atmosphere. I love that it takes its time at the beginning before any real action happens. All the back and forth dialogue between Cruise and Fox is great. Cruise makes for an intimidating villain that really gives off a vibe of an unstoppable force. Like The Terminator; there's the total lack of human empathy adds to the sense of dread.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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Gendo wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 3:55 pm R41. School Ties - Pretty good... I think I just really like the "boys coming of age at a preparatory boarding school in New England" genre. Dead Poets Society, Scent of a Woman, School Ties... what other movies are there in this genre? Anyway, this one's not as good as the other 2, but still good.

It did really make me wonder if the antisemitism portrayed was accurate for that time period. While it wouldn't surprise me at all that there would be some antisemitic attitudes among some people and kids; the movie portrays is as just a given that every teenager in the country is automatically going to be strongly antisemitic... even movies about race relation in the 1950s tend to portray it more as "yeah white people were really racist against blacks as a whole, but you just have to find the 'right' white people to hang out with that will accept you anyway". Not saying that those movies were accurately portraying race relations accurately either... but it always seemed like a different presentation of racism; a lot of white people with the attitude of "I don't mind being around black people or anything, I just don't want them to be dating my daughter"; as opposed to the type portrayed in School Ties which was more straight-forward "I hate Jewish people and would never intentionally hang out with one."

I mean, this was the 1950s; we were just coming off a huge World War that we proudly fought against someone who had that sort of attitude against Jews. Was there not some sense of national pride in considering antisemitism as an "evil Nazi Germany" thing? I have no idea what the real history is; it just would surprise me if antisemitism were so rampant that it was automatically assumed that every teenager in New England would hate a kid if they found out he were Jewish.
This isn't a commentary on the movie, but Hitler's views on Jews were not a significant reason why we fought him. We fought him because we considered his aggressive militarism to be threatening. The Holocaust didn't really seep in America's consciousness until a few decades later. I don't think most Americans in the 1950s would have known what the Holocaust was or considered Nazi Germany's treatment of Jews particularly significant. America didn't consider Jews to be an oppressed or subjugated class and wouldn't have considered hostility to anti-Semitism a particularly patriotic or virtuous thing.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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I suppose that doesn’t surprise me at all.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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Is Collateral really underrated? Like its a fantastic movie but I thought people generally liked it.
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Not that I hear people say bad things about it, but it just doesn't seem to be talked about often. I feel like a lot of casual movie-watchers may have not seen it.
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26. The X-Files: I Want to Believe - Hey, an actual new movie for me! This was ok. I think I liked it better than the first movie and the series as a whole. It didn't really feel like much of an X-Files thing; it could have just stood alone as its own thing if they'd replaced the 2 main characters. It's a murder mystery like so many others, but with a small supernatural twist. Pretty good suspense and creepiness at parts.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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Gendo wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 4:02 pm R42. Collateral - This movie is underrated. It's just all-around excellent. And holy crap wait.. that was Mark Ruffalo?? I just now found that out as I was typing this. Wow; never would have recognized him; though I knew his voice sounded familiar! The voice is obvious now that I think about it.. but it doesn't look anything like him. Anyway; the film is great. Michael Mann really knows how to set an atmosphere. I love that it takes its time at the beginning before any real action happens. All the back and forth dialogue between Cruise and Fox is great. Cruise makes for an intimidating villain that really gives off a vibe of an unstoppable force. Like The Terminator; there's the total lack of human empathy adds to the sense of dread.
tieman on Mann's aesthetic in Collateral:
The film is shot in gorgeous digital, Mann's unique nighttime photography punctuated by red braking lights, bleeding fluorescents and the murky glow of midnight LA. Mann replaces the old-school noir aesthetic – see "Crime Wave" and "The Naked City" - with something more modern, lyrical and jazz-inflected, his compositions often unbalanced, with objects and characters spilling off the frame.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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27. The Glass Bottom Boat - Kind of funny... Dom DeLuise was fantastic. The overall story was pretty unfocused; it feels like plotline just got randomly dropped towards the end. The theme song was super annoying and overused.
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28. Swiss Army Man - I had been wanting to see this since I first saw the trailer, so it had a lot of hype to live up to. And it absolutely lived up! It was really wonderful; excellent all around. It's a very artsy movie where the whole thing is just one giant metaphor, and due to the large amount of "dirty" humor and dialogue I can't just automatically recommend it to everyone. But man did I love it. The music, performances, and dialogue kept me engaged throughout.

Towards the end I realized how it was actually similar to End of Evangelion, or perhaps closer to episodes 25-26 of Evangelion. Ultimately it's about a guy trying to discover his self-worth and whether civilization is worth being a part of. The main character has many of the same insecurities that Shinji is working to overcome, and he overcomes them in a similar fashion. There's this whole monologue about people being together as one that really reminded me of Evangelion's Instrumentality.

I wasn't a big fan of the very end. I feel like the last 5 minutes could have gone a little differently and it would have been even better. But it wasn't enough to ruin it for me or anything just a bit of a letdown compared to the rest.

R43. Napoleon Dynamite - This hold up surprisingly well. It's stupid, but it's supposed to be. A lot of the lines still get good laughs; and the characters are all really well-written.
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Napoleon Dynamite is another one that probably needs a rewatch from me. I remember absolutely hating it when it was new and being befuddled by its popularity.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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I hated it the first time I saw it as well. I didn't really like it the second time either. For some reason I watched it a third time and I've been a fan ever since. Definitely not for everyone though. I assume you haven't seen Swiss Army Man then?
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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Nope, have not seen Swiss Army Man.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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Man I just can't seem to keep up with movie watching this year.

R44. The Fisher King - An old favorite, and it mostly holds up. There's definitely parts where it feels like it isn't as profound as it wants to be. But it's still great. I'm not sure if it's making any great statements about mental illness or overcoming tragedy, but there are just so many loveable scenes.

But let's just talk about Terry Gilliam. It was only a few days ago that I found out that this same guy did all these different things. Monty Python, Brazil, Baron Munchausen, The Fisher King, 12 Monkeys, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas... man what a list. Having still not seen Munchausen or Brazil, but having heard a lot about Brazil... it's just amazing to me that Fear and Loathing, Fisher King, 12 Monkeys, and Monty Python could all be the same guy. Each one just so drastically different in tone. Granted I did notice this time around some familiarity with Fisher King's visual style and 12 Monkeys. But still. I own The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and will watch it soon. Brazil has been added to my wish list.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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29. Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) - A unique and well-made movie that I just wasn't all that into. Nothing wrong with it, really... just didn't capture my interest. Some great acting and fun stylistic choices.
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I actually watched stuff and have just been too lazy to type it up.

30. Undercover Bridesmaid - A Hallmark movie that rips off Miss Congeniality. It's as bad as it sounds.

31. Slightly Dangerous - Pretty good. A somewhat weird plot with some fun scenes and interactions between various characters.

32. Easy Living - A series of random events leading to amusing outcomes; funny stuff. The actors were all really fun to watch.

33. Wake Me When It's Over - Hilarious. Just a bunch of fun post-war military shenanigans.

34. Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation - Always love James Stewart; but I didn't find much else I particularly enjoyed about this one.

You can always tell when my in-laws have come to visit when I suddenly watch a bunch of Hallmark and/or older classics that I otherwise wouldn't have heard of.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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Man this place is dead. [sad]

I watched a movie over a week ago and just didn't bother posting until now.

R45. Big Fish - One of my favorites, and very much holds up. I'm a sucker for father-son stories for whatever reason; and this one does it so well. It has a good amount of Burton's usual weirdness while still being a very grounded story.
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Gendo wrote: Mon Aug 09, 2021 3:55 pm Man this place is dead. [sad]
I will revive the forum. I have the power to do so.
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I remember when I used to watch movies. No idea what's happening this year with it. My goal was 100 new movies; and here I am at 34 in August.
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Gendo wrote: Fri Aug 13, 2021 4:20 pm I remember when I used to watch movies. No idea what's happening this year with it. My goal was 100 new movies; and here I am at 34 in August.
Yeah I've had a bit of the same thing, though perhaps taking a break from movies for some other hobby might help recharge you. I find I usually cycle between movie watching, marathoning some TV show, games, and reading books these days. Helps change things up.
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Yeah I seem to basically alternate years... every other year I seem to watch a lot of movies; while on alternating years I don't. It just strangely feels like the periods of not watching movies seems less productive; because I'm just doing things like watching YouTube or playing incremental games.

Also watching Frasier with my wife and finishing up Lost again. And some Switch games but not a whole lot of time on that.
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35. Shazam! - I really enjoyed this. A lot of funny moments; but also a lot of heart. Jack Dylan Grazer (that kid from It) really stole the show. Also a good villain origin story, at least compared to a lot of other superhero movies.

36. Ma - I wouldn't have ever bothered checking this out of not for Octavia Spencer being the lead. It was better than I expected; not anything special or amazing but worth watching. Spencer delivered what I'd hoped for; a creepy performance. I also appreciate that basically the entire movie is just about how stupid teenagers are; even if they exaggerated it somewhat. It also feels like there's a message about sexual assault in there, though it's not fully clear whether it was stating that what happened to her character as a kid was just meant as an example of bad bullying, or the rape that it was. It actually somewhat bothered me that the movie is about her getting revenge on the people that participated and allowed it to happen, yet the actual guy that raped/assaulted her isn't seen as an adult; we don't find out what happened to him or see him get what's coming to him. It's a weird thing to care about, it just feels like as horrible as it was what the other kids did, the kid who was actually in the closet seems like the most guilty of them all. But really I don't think that the movie intended to be nearly that deep. It's just something I noticed.
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R46. Philadelphia - Great movie; seen it several times. Denzel Washington really kills it as always.Sad and harsh, but with a huge amount of warmth in it.

37. Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone - Finally getting to these! You would think someone with my screen name would have seen this years ago. Anyway, it's great. At first it looked like it was just the regular first episode of the show; but then differences started gradually popping up, until it's a completely different thing by the end. I like how they get right to a lot of the overarching plots a lot sooner; with talk of Gendo's long-term goals right away. And then Kaworu showing up at the very end completely blew me away; was not expecting him to just pop up.

I think the art as a whole seems like an improvement; I really like the change in styles to the angels so far. Some really beautiful scenery throughout. The music is excellent as well; giving a fair amount of the original background music while also adding in some great new pieces. The changes made to the animation and sound when Unit-01 goes berserk in the first battle are awesome. Finally; various minor changes in dialog I noticed are unfortunately largely things where I don't know if the subtitles were just translated differently, or if the dialog was re-written. My Japanese is not nearly good enough to remember exactly what was really said in each version.

I do get the impression that if I hadn't seen the entire show all the way through several times that I would have a pretty hard time following everything. I mean Evangelion has always been hard to follow entirely, but the beginning was a lot simpler. Taking the basically the first 6 episodes and putting them into a 100 minute movie does make it feel rushed at times, to the point where it's just quickly going from one event to the next; for example I don't really get a sense of how much time has passed between each of the 3 angel attacks. Whereas that information was made more explicit in the show (when the second angel shown in the show attacks they say something like "last time the angels gave us 15 years in between; this time only 3 weeks").

Finally there's the fact that the angel numbering is off by one compared to the original show. Looking forward to learning about who/what angels number 1-3 are.

Part 2 soon!
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Rebuild does assume you know the original series. Like a lot of the changes and recontextualizations of classic NGE elements only make sense with that in mind.

I never really thought 1.11 was rushed though. If anything I think its a pretty economical film. And tbh I thought it was pretty easy to infer there's some days between the Angel attacks in the movie.
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R47. Hook - I've seen this many times, but not in a very long time. It holds up well. The music is wonderful, and Dustin Hoffman was fantastic, though I do think Jason Isaacs may have been better.
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38. Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance - Somewhat mixed feelings about this one. Still a big fan of the animation changes as a whole. But there's a couple things from the show that I really missed. Asuka's theme music was sadly missing, and the few places where music was changed I didn't think it was as good. I've noticed that there seems to be less music as a whole; several scenes that just don't have background music.We get some pieces of Asuka and her character, but not nearly enough time with it.

The corruption of Unit 03 happens to be a pretty important episode for me in the original series, as it was the first episode of the first anime I ever watched. It's the reason I spent the following years going to anime conventions, founding the anime club at my college, and taking on the nickname "Gendo". So it's not necessarily the fault of the movie that I much preferred the original version. But Shinji's discovery as Toji as the pilot was just such an amazing moment; and I don't feel like it had the same weight with it being Asuka and him knowing that it was Asuka all along.

This is also where it really diverges from the series in terms of plot in huge ways. Multiple angels completely left out (though technically I didn't know that until the next movie). The introduction of Mari was very confusing for me; as she just king of comes from nowhere and it isn't really clear why she's there. But still a lot of good stuff in terms of showing off the power and abilities of the Evas. As a whole, very enjoyable to watch just for the great animation and awesome stuff that the evas and the angels actually do. Just not lacking in some of the character growth that you can get from a full 26 episodes.

39. Evangelion 3.33: You Can (Not) Redo - This left me with a few questions. Mostly they were "huh?", "what?", "umm wha?", and "wait, what?" It feels like this jumps right into the middle of End of Evangelion without much explanation of how we got there. That's not all a bad thing, Evangelion has always been known for messing with your mind and making you wonder what exactly is going on. But just randomly jumping 14 years into the future, after 3rd impact has already happened... wow, what a direction to take this in. There's just so much confusing stuff happening, I can't be sure what to make of it. So it was very entertaining in terms of keeping me guessing and interesting in what will happen next at each point, but I just can't tell if it was actually meant to be a cohesive story that I just didn't manage to follow; or if it was just a bunch of random things that they throw at you.

As just one example, Kaworu... of course always been a someone mysterious character, but in this version I feel like no explanation is given whatsoever as to why he does anything he does. Maybe some more will be explained in the final film, but what was he trying to do with Evangelion 13, what made him change his mind upon seeing the spears, and why did he kill himself, if indeed he did? And why did Shinji just randomly believe him when he said that getting the spears would allow them to rebuild the world? I know he identifies himself as both the first angel and the 13th angel, but what does that even mean?

Anyway, looking forward to seeing where it all goes in the finale.
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40. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark - I liked it, and I wasn't really expecting to! It was actually scary in a few parts, and it's interesting just to see the a concept of a horror movie not rated R. The effects were really good and effective at being scary, especially when you grew up on the images in the source material. Except for the final monster; I thought that just looked dumb. The overall story was interesting; and even if not all that unique ahd a few unique elements. Not quite sure what was up with all the 60s and Vietnam War stuff though; felt out of place.
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41. 21 Bridges - Pretty good. Chadwick Boseman was great; with a well-written character. Good suspense throughout most of it. I didn't like the last act as much; the manhunt was more interesting. As much as I love J.K. Simmons, I didn't like him in this role.

42. Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time- I liked it. As expected, I really can't say I knew much about what was really going on plot-wise. A lot of cool but weird visuals mixed in with a lot of random terminology and dialogue that somehow make it sounds like they expect you to know what they're talking about, while clearly also not really actually making sense. But there were so many good moments and scenes. The entire first act in Village 3 was nice; giving the characters time to develop and evolve; while also creating a suspense with knowing that this peaceful existence simply can't continue forever.

Shinji going head-on to take on Gendo as an enemy was simply amazing. Although I wish the battle between Unit 01 and Unit 13 had been a bit longer; what we got was excellent while it lasted. The transition from fighting to talking was good; and the dialog there was excellent. I just wish we had gotten more actual fighting first.

Gendo's character in this version is pure insanity... although he still states that his motivation is to be with Yui again, it comes off a lot more empty-sounding, like Thanos claiming that his motivation is to make the universe a better place. Seeing him taken to the extreme version of his character is just weird, but good. It's fair to say that if this had been the version of Gendo that I had first encountered; I wouldn't have taken that name as my nickname.

The concept of a world without Evangelions is sad but cathartic; the way it ties in with the concept of letting go of Evangelion the anime. This is strangely personal for me; as I can state without any doubt at all that without Evangelion, I would be living an unimaginably different life right now... when I was a senior in high school, I met a girl because I was wearing an Evangelion t-shirt, and she commented on it as a fan of Eva herself. Because of this girl and the long-distance relationship we began; I moved halfway across the country to attend college. If not for Evangelion I never would have attended the college I did; and obviously my entire life would be different had I attended a different school.

What else to say? A beautiful film.
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43. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - Wow, excellent. Apparently this film doesn't seem to be very popular, although it was nominated for Best Picture. It was just really great. Super sad overall; but I found myself crying both tears of joy and sadness at different parts. A powerhouse of emotion. I didn't really like the kid's acting at first, but by the end of the movie I thought he was excellent. As well as a great performance by Sandra Bullock; and I'm not normally a big fan of hers. And Max Von Sydow delivers a spectacular performance despite never speaking.

Also, in weird coincidence land... I had no idea what this movie was about when I sat down and decided randomly to watch it. I must have seen a preview for it or something a long time ago which is why I owned it; but I had no idea of the plot or anything. So there I am, watching a random movie I chose on the 20th anniversary of 9/11... and it turns out to be a movie about 9/11.
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44. Just Mercy - Powerful film. Great performances all around; especially from Jamie Foxx. Hard to watch in some parts; as expected. Very well done and just overall great.

45. Swing Hostess - Cute little musical from the 40s. Nothing special, but not bad.
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46. Mr. Right - A movie I bought just because I like Sam Rockwell. Not bad, but the same basic thing was already done by Gross Point Blank and The Big Hit. Still Rockwell was a lot of fun, and he had good chemistry with Anna Kendrick.

47. The Last Man on Earth - The earliest of 3 film adaptations, but the last one I saw. It wasn't all that great. It didn't do a great job at conveying the emptiness and loneliness of the world. The flashback sequence was good but also went on a long time for a movie that was supposed to be about someone being the last man on earth. Vincent Price was fine; and I think this was the first film I'm seen him in outside of Edward Scissorhands and some voice work.

48. Road Show - A musical comedy from 1941. Pretty good. Not much of a plot, but a bunch of funny moments. A travelling circus makes a great set piece for various comedic scenes. There were also a couple uncomfortably racists jokes in there; but I guess that's what you get from a movie made in 1941. And it had Shemp Howard playing a character named Moe, so that was a fun thing to notice.
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Bunch of rewatches because I've been lazy.

R48. Midsommar - I think I liked this more on the second viewing. The overall visuals and cinematography are simply amazing. It manages to be consistently creepy throughout while actually having very few pure horror movie elements. Fantastic acting in it. The story itself doesn't do a lot for me; but the feel of the film is just so good.

I may have said this last time, I don't remember, but I'm still a bit bothered by trying to figure out how Christian is meant to be portrayed. I've seen a lot of commentary about how horrible of a person and boyfriend he is, even to the point where the ending is Dani finally freeing herself from a horrific abusive relationship. But I just didn't get that from his actual words and actions. For sure he wasn't a great boyfriend. He certainly tried to downplay her feelings and make her feel as though she was wrong for feeling them. And he was essentially only still with her at first because he was too much of a coward to break up with her, but later because he couldn't put her through a breakup after her tragedy. But what should he be expected to do at that point? It feels like he did the right thing by staying with her even though he didn't want to, because dumping her on top of what she was going through would have simply been pure cruelty. It seems like he was in an impossible situation at that point.

I just can't quite figure out how to feel about him. It's like he was written to be a bad boyfriend, but not bad enough to make him out to be an obvious villain, and to actually be sympathetic. For example, the sex scene near the end... did he cheat on Dani? I actually don't know, because it's at least possible if not likely that what happened was more akin to him being raped; given that he was drugged first. I can't help but wonder if there are some double standards at play here... if it had been a girl who were drugged in such a manner, then I feel like more people would have looked at the scene as an obvious example of rape. But it's just not clear from the writing whether we are meant to find that Christian actually freely chose to have sex or not.

That's a lot more than I intended to say; but I think it really is a deep film that could be properly analyzed a lot. Also, I just this moment, after writing all that, read an interview with Ari Aster where he basically confirms that everything I was just questioning was intended to be questioned in that exact way. So well done, sir.

R49. Flight of the Phoenix (2004) - I've seen this a lot; still like it. I don't remember if I liked the original 1965 version more or not. Interesting fact, I just learned that the title of the original starts with "The", while this one doesn't. So actually not the same name. Anyway, Giovanni Ribisi completely steals the show here; seeing him in pretty much anything else, you wouldn't guess that he could pull off a role like this, but he really does.

R50. Armageddon - This isn't a very good movie. It has a few good parts, but as a whole it's just too long and filled with too much stupidity, yet tries to take itself seriously. I guess what else to expect from Michael Bay. Deep Impact, which came out the same year, is so much better.

R51. Hellraiser - This is still a great horror film. The acting is fairly bad, which is a shame. I never realized before that Andrew Robinson was the lead; he definitely doesn't fulfill his potential as an actor. But the practical effects are amazing, and the imaginative designs of the scary things work so well.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

Post by Lord_Lyndon »

R50. Armageddon - This isn't a very good movie. It has a few good parts, but as a whole it's just too long and filled with too much stupidity, yet tries to take itself seriously. I guess what else to expect from Michael Bay. Deep Impact, which came out the same year, is so much better.
Last time I saw Armageddon was 15 years ago. I remember enjoying it for what it is. I remember some stuff like Ben Affleck-Liv Tyler romance, that oil rig and the ending. Bit embarrassing but I cried when Bruce Willis sacrifices himself in the end.
R51. Hellraiser - This is still a great horror film. The acting is fairly bad, which is a shame. I never realized before that Andrew Robinson was the lead; he definitely doesn't fulfill his potential as an actor. But the practical effects are amazing, and the imaginative designs of the scary things work so well.
Yeah. That pinhead stuff is awesome.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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49. Gulliver's Travels (1939) - Some pretty animation; a unique charm different from Disney stuff of the era. Not much else to say about it, though.

50. Winchester - This was pretty disappointing. Not scary at all, and every time it tried to be scary it was from a lame jump scare. It did get better by the end. Not scarier or anything, but more enjoyable as a whole. I never quite know how to feel about Jason Clarke; I generally enjoy watching him in most stuff, but he's never come off as amazing or anything.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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R52. Mean Girls - This holds up pretty well. Still a several lines that work to great comedic effect. A few scenes that are pretty dumb or questionable though.

51. Drive - This was great. I had no idea at all what the movie was about going into it; I had heard good things about it. It manages to say a lot with very little dialogue. There are long periods of silence, to the point of being unrealistic, but that works for the film. The plot always kept me in the dark as to where the main story was actually going. It was quite series and relatively dark in tone throughout; I would have liked just a little levity. The performances and music were also great.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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Sure I could have watched about 30 films in the same amount of time, but spending over 60 hours playing Hollow Knight in the past month has been fun too.

52. Black Widow - I liked this more than I expected to. It's not perfect or anything, but it is overall entertaining. David Harbour and Florence Pugh were especially great.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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Finally finished Hollow Knight after 100+ hours of gameplay. So I watched a movie!

53. The Lemon Drop Kid - Pretty good; funny. I think this is the first Bob Hope movie I've seen. The plot was pretty straight forward, but Hope's character was charming in all the right ways. Some great other characters and actors as well.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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Gendo wrote: Wed Nov 10, 2021 5:07 pm R52. Mean Girls - A few scenes that are pretty dumb or questionable though.
Which ones?
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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Trying to remember what specific things made me say that, and I really can't. I think one thing was the ending with the bus injury; just seemed unnecessary. I think some of it was just a joke or two that I didn't find funny. The running joke about the coach having a sexual relationship with students was something that maybe shouldn't have been made light of like it was.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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If I remember correctly Booksmart did a joke essentially like that with the pizza delivery guy with the guilty conscience, only funnier because it was quicker and more subtle. I think Mean Girls slowly got worse as it went on. The first half or whatever of it was pretty good, the second was just ok.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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54. X-Men: Dark Phoenix - Pretty bad, as expected. Not all around terrible or anything, just very bland and lacking in anything that good. Except for Nicholas Hoult, who gave a great performance. The scene between him and Professor X immediately after Raven's death was actually really good. I did like the way they made Professor X out to be quite flawed. All the McAvoy X movies have to some extend, but it seems moreso here. And Michael Fassbender was great as always, though wasted here.

55. Uncut Gems - Mixed feelings on this one. It was very well made; overall a great film. But not at all enjoyable to watch. It is fascinating to have a protagonist who is so thoroughly unlikeable, where every bad thing that happens to him is clearly his own fault. And yet I still did find myself hoping that things would get better for him. Great acting; I always enjoy Sandler's dramatic roles and he kills it here.

56. Parasite - Great. Such an interesting tension throughout, even before it was clear why at all things should be tense. I had no idea what the plot was going into it; and it really keeps you guessing where things are headed. The themes and symbolism were a bit in-your-face; I think "Us" actually addressed some similar things more subtly.

57. Rent - This was fine. The chemistry between the characters works really well, but the music didn't do a lot for me. Other than the famous song that everyone knows; I don't expect that I'll remember much of the music going forward. The story itself reminds me of St. Elmo's Fire; one of my favorite movies. But I think the characters are actually more interesting in Rent.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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I know I'm a bit late, but...
R52. Mean Girls - This holds up pretty well. Still a several lines that work to great comedic effect. A few scenes that are pretty dumb or questionable though.
I remember Rachel McAdams being really great in this one.
51. Drive - This was great. I had no idea at all what the movie was about going into it; I had heard good things about it. It manages to say a lot with very little dialogue. There are long periods of silence, to the point of being unrealistic, but that works for the film. The plot always kept me in the dark as to where the main story was actually going. It was quite series and relatively dark in tone throughout; I would have liked just a little levity. The performances and music were also great.
Yeah this one was awesome. Do you know that Refn and Gosling did another movie together? It's called Only God Forgives. I haven't seen it yet. It got relatively bad reviews unfortunately, but I'll check it out eventually.
52. Black Widow - I liked this more than I expected to. It's not perfect or anything, but it is overall entertaining. David Harbour and Florence Pugh were especially great.
I haven't seen this one yet, but I'm really looking forward to it. I love Scarlett Johansson.
54. X-Men: Dark Phoenix - Pretty bad, as expected. Not all around terrible or anything, just very bland and lacking in anything that good. Except for Nicholas Hoult, who gave a great performance. The scene between him and Professor X immediately after Raven's death was actually really good. I did like the way they made Professor X out to be quite flawed. All the McAvoy X movies have to some extend, but it seems moreso here. And Michael Fassbender was great as always, though wasted here.
I know I'm in the minority, but I really liked this one. I thought it was very good.
56. Parasite - Great. Such an interesting tension throughout, even before it was clear why at all things should be tense. I had no idea what the plot was going into it; and it really keeps you guessing where things are headed. The themes and symbolism were a bit in-your-face; I think "Us" actually addressed some similar things more subtly.
This one was very good, but my favourite Bong film is Memories of Murder (2003). It is a truly fantastic serial killer film. I recommend it strongly.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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58. The Ledge - What an oddly terrible yet fascinating film. It's as if the director intended there to be some brilliant metaphor happening between the plot and the theme, yet no such metaphor can be found. It was bad, but an a very interesting way. The basic plot is simple enough... Gavin has an affair with his married neighbor, and when the husband finds out he threatens to kill the wife unless Gavin kills himself. The whole movie is told as a flashback with Gavin telling his story to a cop while standing on a ledge to kill himself.

But the part that makes it so bizzare is that the husband is an ultra-fundamentalist conservative Christian, while Gavin is a liberal atheist; and a good portion of the dialogue in the movie is Gavin and the husband having debates over religion. But these debates are so shallow and cliché, with only the most stereotypical arguments being presented on either side. It seems most likely that the writer/director simply hates Christianity and made the film to show how dangerous fundamentalism is... yet the atheist character doesn't exactly come off as being good or right either. What makes it so strange is that the religious aspect doesn't appear to fit into the actual plot in any way; it's just shoehorned in randomly. Like if you took Rocky IV and had it so that in between rounds of boxing, Rocky and Drago just had debates about evolution vs creationism.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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59. The Big Short - Excellent! An interesting true story, and very well told. Carell and Bale were both excellent as always. Some parts of the economic/financial dialogue was hard to follow; even when it seemed like they were trying to specifically dumb it down for the audience. But also it seemed like maybe that was part of the point, that most people have no idea how any of this works. It was just super entertaining and engaging throughout.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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Gendo wrote: Thu Dec 16, 2021 5:49 am 59. The Big Short - Excellent! An interesting true story, and very well told. Carell and Bale were both excellent as always. Some parts of the economic/financial dialogue was hard to follow; even when it seemed like they were trying to specifically dumb it down for the audience. But also it seemed like maybe that was part of the point, that most people have no idea how any of this works. It was just super entertaining and engaging throughout.
I'm really looking forward to Adam McKay's next flick this month, a metaphor for climate change denialism called Don't Look Up. I've heard the directing style is similar to The Big Short, which I also found delightful.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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I found The Big Short to be pretty muddled tbh, not really doing a good job at all of explaining what the hell went down with the financial crash. The fourth wall breaking bits not only didn't help clarify things either, I think they actually hinder the film by making the cameos more memorable than whatever it was they were talking about. Like I remember Margot Robbie taking the bubble bath, but not whatever it was she was trying to explain.

McKay I think just isn't a particularly strong director. Vice isn't a very good film either, and while I enjoy Succession the bland visual style he set for the show by directing the pilot is easily the weakest part of that series.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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60. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings - Quite good. The action scenes borrow heavily from a lot of really great Chinese cinema such as Crouching Tiger and Hero, and it does it relatively well. The story as a whole is pretty solid, and it has a great villain. A man who can't face the death of his wife, so is willing to use and abuse his own son and kill anyone who stands in his way just to try and see her again? Reminds me of a certain other character whom I happen to be quite fond of. The CG and overall Marvel over-the-top-ness gets to be a bit too much; especially towards the end.

61. Spider-Man: No Way Home - Have been really hyped to see this since part 2 ended; and even with all that hype it did not disappoint. Really great film; easily the best MCU since End Game. It managed to have the grant epic feel of End Game while also being a small-scale personal story. Spider-Man isn't fighting to save the universe here; really he's just trying to save himself. But it works because it's a very character-driven movie. It's primarily about Peter Parker and the relationships he has with others. I am also very impressed that they managed to keep Maguire and Garfield's involvement a secret. Sure there were rumors about it pretty much forever, but no solid actual leaks came out, at least not that I saw. Even though I knew it was a real possibility that they would be there, it was still a shockingly wonderful moment when it happened. And then it's not just a cameo; but they have a real part throughout the third act.

62. Pawn Sacrifice - A pretty interesting story, but just an ok movie. In terms of true stories about chess prodigies, I much prefer Searching for Bobby Fischer. Maguire did fine, but didn't really wow me in the role.

63. Devil - Surprisingly good! Don't remember if I had heard bad stuff about this or what, but I wasn't expecting much. I originally thought it was a Shyamalan film, but he was just a producer. It had some good tension throughout, and some genuinely scary moments. The ending twist about what Janekowski had done was well done and surprising.

64. Wakefield - A very interesting idea with a so-so execution. I had been looking forward to seeing this for a long time, since seeing the preview. Maybe just because of Cranston. Anyway Cranston was indeed great. I liked that the movie was doing something different; movies almost always get extra points from me if they're doing something I haven't seen over and over. As Rax said several year ago in his review, it works because it's a character study. However, the movie plays it off as though what Wakefield is doing is completely real and actually happening. I kept waiting for some hints to drop that this was all just his fantasy escape from reality as opposed to a real thing. I think actually that Swiss Army Man does the same basic thing but much better... if you look at both of them as the story of a character trying to get back to a place where he feels he can rejoin society and no longer be afraid of human contact. But without more solid hints that Wakefield could be imagining the whole thing, we're left with a guy who is an irredeemably horrible person to do such a terrible thing to his wife and kids.

R53. A Christmas Carol (1984) - One of the best versions out there, mayabe second to Alastair Sim's. George C. Scott plays something of a more wicked Scrooge, who delights in his misdeeds more-so than just acts miserable about life. The Ghost of Christmas Present likewise is almost delightfully cruel at times; enjoying taunting Scrooge when he does. And it's a pretty full version in terms of the various scenes and dialogue we get; I can't think of a lot of things that I've seen in other versions that are missing from this one.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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I enjoyed Spider-Man: No Way Home. So much fun. I went in for the nostalgia and I got what I went for.

However, I can't tell if it really is... great. I have these rose-colored glasses on, and I can't tell if the movie really holds without all these amazing actors coming back to reprise their roles from decades ago. Is it as good without all the meta layers? I loved the experience, but at the end, I also felt that the emotion was... superficial. Maybe that's okay. At least, it nails the humor for the most part.

Anyway, let's see what the director of Spider-Man 2 (one of the best comic book film ever) does with the next Doctor Strange.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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Bunch of Christmas stuff.

R54. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - It's fine. I think you may have needed to grow up watching it to have it be an all-time Christmas classic for you. I do like how relatable the main character and issues he faces are; just a regular guy wanting to provide a good Christmas for his family. Doyle-Murray is great too.

R55. Holiday Affair - I liked this even more this time around. It has a really solid story. The whole “affair” part didn’t bother me this time as much, mostly because it’s just done really well.

65. Moms' Night Out - Not bad; not good. Standard “bunch of crazy stuff happens to people just trying to have fun” story. Date Night and Game Night both did it better. It’s also a movie with something of a Christian message behind it, but not completely to the point of being an in-your-face religious film.

R56. A Christmas Story - Now this one is an all-time Christmas classic. I don’t always watch it every year, but I do more years than not. It has a lot of really good dialogue, and several hilarious moments.

66. Angels and Ornaments - It’s a Hallmark Christmas movie, what else is there to say? Pretty standard romance story, not very good. It did have a neat twist that is revealed a little more than halfway through.

67. A Season for Miracles - Another Hallmark Christmas movie, though an older one from before they were so set in their Hallmark ways. A more serious story, with some good moments.

R57. White Christmas - Some good music and heartwarming story. It’s good, but not one I’m all that in to.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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Final movies of the year. Top 10 post later.

68. Sucker Punch - It had some interesting ideas, but shame it had to be Snyder trying them out. I loved the concept of the fantasy worlds within the fantasy world; and the action scenes replacing the dance was a neat concept. But the action itself was mostly boring, and filled with the same Snyder stuff I never like. The characters were all shallow and not developed. Oscar Isaac made a great villain though.

R58. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope - A lot of creative and imaginative stuff here. Easy to see why it became such a big thing. Yeah the actual filmmaking was somewhat lacking; in terms of dialog and action choreography. But the final attack on the Death Star was a great sequence with some great shots.
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Re: Running out of thread titles - Gendo's 2021 movie list

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So I watched 136 movies in 2021; 68 for the first time. Less than half of what I accomplished last year; and rather than reaching my goal of having fewer than 200 remaining in my to-watch pile; I still have just under 300. Oh well.

Just finished looking through this thread and noting down things that I really loved, and remember well. Ended up with 15; which I'll weed down to my top 10:
  • Resolution (2012)
  • The Miracle Worker (1962)
  • Tenet (2020)
  • 41 (2012)
  • Swiss Army Man (2016)
  • Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011)
  • Just Mercy (2019)
  • Drive (2011)
  • Parasite (2019)
  • Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Honorable mentions:
  • Soul (2020)
  • Shazam! (2019)
  • Suddenly (1954)
  • Upgrade (2018)
  • The Big Short (2015)
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