What films did you watch last week (22/07 - 28/07) CLOSED

Freebie and the Bean - Super fun movie.  7/10

Sharkey’s Machine - It’s been way too long, needs a rewatch.

Everybody Wins - You know I love neo-noir, but this was terrible.  4.5/10

Memento - One of my favorite movies of all time. 10/10

Single White Female - I have a weakness for these trashy low-budget thrillers, they’re fun!  7/10

Coma - 7.5/10

Expend4bles - 4/10

Hypnotic - 5/10

The Skeleton Twins (2014, Craig Johnson) - 7/10

Fruitvale Station (2013, Ryan Coogler) - 7/10

American Gangster (2007, Ridley Scott) - 7.5/10

Thelma & Louise (1991, Ridley Scott) - 7.5/10

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023, James Mangold) - 6.5/10

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008, Steven Spielberg) - 4/10

Bad Lieutenant (1992, Abel Ferrara) - 6/10

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968, Sergio Leone) 9.5

Hello again!

Yours:

Sharkey’s Machine (1981, Burt Reynolds)

Saw this years ago and wasn't personally a fan. 5/10

Memento (2000, Chris Nolan)

Agreed. I think Nolan has gone on to make some better films, but this was a hell of a film, especially considering he had only done Following prior. 8/10

Mine:

Intimate Lighting (Ivan Passer, 1965)

This is apparently considered one of the great films of the Czechoslovak New Wave... and I don't get why. It's a slice film, which I usually enjoy, but here I found it just a meandering mess. I didn't find any of the characters endearing or even interesting. The attempts at humor never particularly worked for me save for literally the final scene. It's one of those films that seems well loved that I just don't get. A shame as I tend to really like everything else I've seen from the Czechoslovak New Wave. 2/10

Tampopo (Jûzô Itami, 1985)

I've seen several of Jūzō Itami's films now. I've at the very least enjoyed them all, and some I really loved, but this is easily his masterpiece. There is a main narrative thread here, about a group of people trying to help a woman set up a ramen shop, but the film breaks from this plot frequently to do random skits all on the subject of enjoying food. Yes, this entire film is a love letter to food. Ramen may be its favorite topic, but it loves it all. We get moments of people enjoying ramen, ordering at a fancy restaurant, eating different cultures' goods and discussing the proper way to eat them. We get last meals and even firsts. Yes, the entire thing is an almost two hour love letter to food. It's often quite comedic in how seriously it takes the topic of food, but it's a charming film from start to finish.Also, the opening scene with a yakuza addressing the audience of a movie theater should be played in front of every screening of every movie. 9/10

Law and Order (Nathan Juran, 1953)

Fairly bland and forgettable western that is only really notable for starring future US president Ronald Regan. 4/10

Flesh and Fantasy (Julien Duvivier, 1943)

Entertaining anthology film all focusing on ideas of premonition in some way. Best story is the second which focuses on Edward G. Robinson as a man who becomes afraid that he might kill someone after having his palm read at a party. Some very nice special effects in this segment which lets Robinson’s reflection talk to him as he debates himself internally. 7/10

Rushmore (Wes Anderson, 1998)

This is the movie where it feels like Wes Anderson became Wes Anderson. Not my favorite of his films, but as someone who like his style, I really enjoy this. 8/10

The Quick and the Dead (Sam Raimi, 1995)

The script to this movie isn't great, but damn if Sam Raimi doesn't make a hell of a film of this. The film looks stunning with his use of light, especially with the shadows of the gunfighters and sometimes with light coming through the holes in them after a shot. Raimi is still in Evil Dead mode here with his frantic camera movements and interesting shots. Visually it is a blast. As noted, script-wise it's not so great. The idea of the tournament is interesting, but aspects like the Kid wanting to get his father's respect in... well, a duel to the death, seem a bit ridiculous at times. The film is a bit of a who's who of 90s actors with a great cast. To no one's surprise, the standout is Gene Hackman who delivers every line as if he's committed to the character no matter how ridiculous aspects of the plot are. Overall, a fun watch. 7/10

Last Embrace (Jonathan Demme, 1979)

Oh man, this one is bonkers. While it's clearly a love letter to Hitchcock, the plot of this movie goes all over the place. There are times you may feel like you need a graph of how we get from one point to the next... but you know what? That's not important here. What is important is paranoia. This may be the ultimate paranoia thriller. Our lead is a special agent, that's made clear early on, but frankly he acted erratic enough that I wondered for a bit if it was all in his head. It's a movie that constantly feels off (I don't mean that as a negative at all), you always feel something is wrong and you don't really know what's happening. Honestly, the seemingly random moments where plot points come together actually work because it feels like such a frantic rush, that sure, paranoid conspiracy works. Why the hell not? Anything's possible. I can't say that it's a perfectly plotted film because it sure as hell isn't, but I love the style it went for and I was entertained the entire time wondering where it would go next. 8/10

Any Given Sunday (Oliver Stone, 1999)

This film was a huge surprise to me. I’ve mostly heard very middle ground things about it, and personally I’m not a big football fan at all (as in I actively dislike the game and go out of my way to not watch it). As such I went into this figuring it wasn’t going to be my thing, but what the hell, I like Oliver Stone and Pacino, I’ll give it a shot. Well, not only did I really like this one, I’ll go so far as to say that as of right now, this is my favorite Stone film. It’s almost three hours, but I found it perfectly paced, the cast all extremely strong and was riveted by it. It has some standard sports cliches, but damn if it wasn’t done to perfection. I’m genuinely shocked that this isn’t listed with Stone’s best films. The fact that a movie about my most hated sport won me over... well, that’s pretty shocking I would say. 9/10

Ninja Wars (Kôsei Saitô, 1982)

Not going to lie, I had fun with this one. probably for all the wrong reasons though. Sure, some of the fights were cool, but mostly I enjoyed the over the top/ridiculous nature and special effects failure moments. This is most certainly not a great movie, with a borderline incoherent plot that feels like it's missing scenes (and that's watching the 100 minute cut rather than the 95 minute cut that IMDb says is out there). I cannot recommend this except to fans of bad 80s Japanese movies... for those of you out there, you could certainly do worse than this. 4/10

The Lure (Agnieszka Smoczynska, 2015)

A very dark take on the Little Mermaid story, turning it into something of a fantasy musical with a few horror elements. I liked it overall, but never felt it lived up to what it could have been. it felt like it could have been bigger and bolder, and instead it got lost somewhere in the process. Still good, but not great. 6/10

Diamonds of the Night (Jan Nemec, 1964)

This is a film that I'm very impressed with on a technical level. I respect the artistry and thus will not give it a terrible rating despite the fact that I hated watching it. It's 67 minutes of pure misery. Artistic misery, but nothing I want to ever experience again. 4/10

Training Day (Antoine Fuqua, 2001)

Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke are both great in this crime drama taking place over one very long and unpleasant day for both of them. I don’t quite love it as much as many seem to, but it’s well worth a watch. 7/10

Morocco (Josef von Sternberg, 1930)

I never really got the appeal of Marlene Dietrich until I watched this and Shanghai Express. I never thought she was a bad actress, but I didn’t get the star appeal. Well, seeing her walk out in a tuxedo and singing... yeah, I get it now. With that said, man I wished I liked this movie more. Cooper is surprisingly dull in this. I don’t know it’s due to him being bored or if he just was a poor choice in the role, but he’s nowhere near as charismatic as I generally expect him to be. Dull is actually a very good word for the film's plot as well. It never really held my attention and I found myself growing uninterested every time Marlene Dietrich wasn't on screen. This film is really only worth a watch for two reasons in my opinion... and those two reasons keep it at a pretty good score. The first is the excellent use of shadows in the night clubs and on the streets at night. Those scenes are beautifully filmed and a joy from a technical standpoint. The other reason is obvious; Marlene Dietrich who really shines in a role that really isn't that great, but with her work here, somehow it is. 6/10

Maniac Cop (William Lustig, 1988)

Stupid slasher about... well, a manic cop. Bruce Campbell is in it though, so it is automatically at least a little better. There’s some fun to be had, but they explain the cop as if it’s a mystery movie, but one without clues. Would have been better if they had gone full mystery/horror or just said “supernatural cop” and ran with that only. 5/10

The Running Man (Paul Michael Glaser, 1987)

A nice slice of 80s cheese, with Arnold giving classic one-liners after killing someone. "Subzero, now plain zero." It's so awful I can't help but love it. That said, there's actually something very close to an interesting commentary about television in it. It's lost under all the explosions and violence, but it almost made a point. Good fun. 6/10

Freebie and the Bean - 5/10

Sharkey’s Machine - 5/10

Everybody Wins - 1/10 Boring as hell.

Deer Camp ‘86 - 3/10 Saw this two weeks ago. Disappointed.

Memento - Needs to be rewatched.

Single White Female - 5/10

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Mine: This is a record for me. Only two this week. Had a really busy week.

Licence To Kill (1989) - 10/10
My favorite Bond film.

Bloody Trip: The Equinox Killer (2024) - 2/10
Really lame slasher film.

This was my second viewing of Bad Lieutenant and I liked it a lot more this time. I loved Keitel's performance, but the movie itself I thought was just okay. This time I still loved Keitel's performance, but got a lot more out of the rest of the movie.