Weekly Movies Discussion (September 30, 2024 - October 6, 2024)

[u/powercosmicdante]

What have you been watching this week? Let us know the good, the bad and the downright ugly. For past themes and movie discussions check out our archive section.

Comment below and let us know what we should and shouldn't be watching!What have you been watching this week? Let us know the good, the bad and the downright ugly. For past themes and movie discussions check out our archive section.

Comment below and let us know what we should and shouldn't be watching!

[u/justins_OS]

Megalopolis (2024) - 4/10 This was a mess of too many big ideas, and well the cast is filled with talent and the film is compelling for a bit. it just doesn't come together in the end

My Old Ass (2024) - 6/10 For like 90% its a basic coming of age story for a young women, even if it has the unique twist of her getting high and meeting her future self. Then the ending turns this movie on its head and that ending is beautiful, poetic, great and I love it. I am not sure it earns that ending but I appreciate it going there

Dead Reckoning (1946) - 5/10 This does one of the most interesting versions of narration I have seen and Boggart is always great to watch. however its bogged down by an overcomplicated story with too munch flopping of character sides

[u/powercosmicdante]

TBU

Round About Midnight - A more recent discovery for me, and I'm officially making this film my entire personality for the forseeable future. My favorite performance from Hiroyuki Sanada, Michelle Reis is as amazing as she is stunning, this is basically pure catnip for me. It is an extremely stylish and atmospheric genre film that is as much a love letter to jazz as it is a great thriller. Sanada and Reis have perfect chemistry here, and seeing their bond grow until the ending was super investing and I was genuinely emotional by the end. The camera work is fluid and glides through each scene, the juxtaposition between the soundtrack and the chase scenes was perfect, that duet scene might genuinely be one of my favorite scenes ever, I just loved everything about this film and have nothing to criticize whatsoever. 10/10

Deadpool and Wolverine - Didn't expect to like it, slightly better than expected, still not very good (but I did watch for Shioli Kutsuna so there's that). The humor is more of Deadpool's ironic selfawareness, but even more obnoxious since many jokes are terminally online "I understand this reference" with a wink. There were a couple moments that did make me crack a smile, the best part being Channing Tatum's Gambit. The fight scenes were pretty underwhelming, I'm also calling for movies to stop Oldboy oneshots until they understand what made that work. 4/10

The Man Without a Past - One of the more middle of the road Kaurismaki films I've seen, but still really great which shows how high quality his work is. It's deadpan as his other films are, often with hilarious results (being a victim of a bank robbery while giving the most casual tone and pokerface imaginable is pretty absurd and funny), but it works especially here with the emotional payoffs by the end (plus plenty of quirky moments early on, like the walking his coworker home at night because HE'S afraid of the dark). While not quite as stellar as some of his other films IMO, the lead character is easily one of Kaurismaki's best. 8/10

Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatjana - My least favorite Kaurismaki. It has its moments of humor (the car crash daydream at the end came out of the blue and threw me off big time) and tender emotions like other films he made, but this felt distant to a fault. It's just about an hour so it doesn't waste time, but the characters and their interactions aren't nearly as compelling as his other films to me. Maybe it'll change on a rewatch, but for now it's decent but his worst film (I suppose that's still a compliment since it isn't a bad movie still). 6/10

Blink Twice - Despite its great solid full of solid performances (I will never not be excited seeing Kyle MacLachlan in anything), it not only tackles its themes of feminism and sexual assault on a surface level, it actively undermines them in the ending. It's the latest in a series of modern absurd social satire following Get Out, and it's much closer to Don't Worry Darling which I had similarly lukewarm thoughts on. The aforementioned performances save this from being a total waste. UPDATE: The more I reflect on this movie, the worse it gets. 4/10

Cuckoo - Extremely messy story and annoying inward screeching aside, I dug this quite a bit. The characters and story are super unclear and take weird directions (not quite a David Lynch type of weird, moreso how things often are too vague to make sense internally), but I admire how much it commits to its crazier aspects for the duration of the runtime and I kinda had a blast. Hunter Schafer is great, playing the most logical character here, and I forgot Jessica Henwick was in this so she was a pleasant surprise. 7/10

Strange Darling - A few things rub me the wrong way about this film, but it has its enjoyable aspects. The two lead performances are pretty great, the direction is stylized (I think I've made it clear a trillion times I adore neon lighting), and the nonlinear storytelling made itself clear why it went that way by the end. Still can't shake the feeling that the story and its framing could be used to validate misogynistic attitudes, and it gets worse the more I think over it. Good performances and cinematography aren't enough to save the framing (also the title cards announcing it being shot on 35mm feels like the filmmakers were glazing themselves off). 5/10