Apocalypse Now (Theatrical Cut) - 9/10

I'd seen Redux...and hated it. This however is a film the deserves the reputation. That said its hard to write a review for it since ive seen a version of it. No clue why edited the film again to make that truly terrible Redux version but...they did. Ive spent decades thinking that it was me and i just didnt click with the film. Nope. Its that cut.

I dont think, even with this superior version, in the final analysis that this is the definitive Vietnam picture. I think that's Full Metal Jacket. I say that having not seen Platoon though (I did purchase Platoon and ill be watching it in the next week or so. I want to give some air between these two.)

Watching this film i was thinking on the American War Film Oeuvre in a broad sense while watching this though. The WW2 pictures of the 40s-60s were hero flicks. Good vs bad. Essentially cowboy films.

Juxtapose them with Nam films. There's no hero.no morality. This is the American psyche struggling to admit something. Something darker than the films even allow for. The films want to have a post moralist tilt. I find that dishonest on some level. We were the villain.

The nam films never go that far of course. They cant. The customers fought there, their loved ones died there. There isnt an audience for that film...if the filmmaker even allows themselves to consider the thought let alone accept it.

But it is there underneath it all. Struggle its way to the surface of their minds. These films trend dark, this one literally devolves into a horror picture at the top of the third act. Theyre dark reflections we're struggling to cope with.

Id like to see an honest film on the modern wars. I envision an impressionist film showing them as procedural and disassociated. Wars conducted with automaton like actions. Lifeless and sterile. Gone is the passionate sound track of nam. The roaring heroism of ww2. A transactional presentation. Like a bloody walgreens receipt.

In any event this film definitely has a role in the great American film catalog without question. Im glad i finally gave it a go. After seeing Redux and now seeing this isa great testament, retroactively, to how paramount editors truly are.

Platoon is a quality Vietnam war film, possibly the best. It is undeniably the best thing Oliver Stone ever did.

I have a big hard on for Natural Born Killers

I don’t.

This really is a fucking masterpiece. Freshman year of college, we watched this, and also read Heart of Darkness. We did a "deep dive" on comparing and contrasting, as well as the shit Conrad took for the way he wrote the book. Helluva story, very interesting take on the mental effects horror and atrocities can have on man.


The book is good too, if you've not read it.

Platoon is also very good, but is a different type of movie than this one. Personal ranking would be:


1) FMJ
2) Apocalypse Now
3) Good Morning Vietnam

4) Platoon

I do love GMV. Different kind of film obviously

Casualties Of War is underrated, Hamburger Hill too. Brian De Palma once was a good director as well as an angry raconteur…now it’s just all anger. Redacted was a real nasty piece of work, even though it was supposed to be, it still went too far and had almost no artistic value.

Somebody should do a film about any of the numerous massacres in Vietnam, no single film shows that farce up quite as fully as it should be.
So many rapes and murders…

It comes down to who would finance that picture and how would they make their money back. War films are rarely cheap. They basically an action period piece. And now most of the antiwar people are dead...but i do strongly agree with you.

In the Company of Men (1997) - 8/10

Film takes the romcom trope of 2 guys bet on a girl and twists it. Here they both intend to woo her simultaneously and then break her heart as a vengeance on the female race. As an added bonus theyre both bastards. Chiefly Aaron Eckharts character. They pick a lonely deaf girl and the plot goes from there.

Good script with a lot of clever lines and a complete lack of fear allowing for our co-leads to unspeakably horrid people and letting us explore that space.

One of the things i found particularly intriguing is the lack of female characters. There are only 2 female roles and 1 is a minor chracter. Effectively for the films runtime there's 1. So the film is purely from the perspective of these vile men.

Which it should be noted that Stacy Edwards in incredibly effective and this film wouldn't work without her.

Smart premise, well crafted dialogue, and well acted. This is a very good film with a razor sharp edge.

And id like to point out that at no point does anyone turn to the audience and start moralizing.

Rashomon (1950) - 10/10

I think im a believer i Kurwasawa. I watched Seven Samuri last night/this morning (went to bed at intermission.) Great film but i wanted to see how it stacked up against his non action films. Seven Samuri is a great action. Its the kind of film ive seen from Kurwasawa in the past. Rashomon, while set in the same period, is a psychological thriller about truth and perspective.

These more serious films, even though Seven Samuri does have a serious point to make, are much much better.

This film centers around a man who finds a body in the woods and the trial that follows. Turns out a bandit came across a man and wife in the woods, fell upon them and raped the woman. The film plays out through flash backs of 4 first hand accounts of the same crime.



Outstanding film.

Biutiful (2011) - 7/10

Death is a topic that haunts me to some degree. Maybe as much as it does everyone and maybe more. Who's to say. When i read the description of this film i was drawn to it immediately.

Javier Bardem is the lead here. Street criminal who sells knock off merchandise. His life is a shit show. Estranged drug addict possibly prostitute wife. No family save a brother who is fucking said possible whore wife. Javier has custody of the kids. And he just found out he has cancer with months left to live.

Its serendipitous timing that i watch this having just watched (the masterpiece) Ikiru as there are some interesting parallels. The film ultimately deals with the struggles of death at an existential level but it does it while never talking about it. Instead we get a performance by Bardem that is told often silently. And it is very much an actors film. His film.

If you like Bardems work and this kind of macabre exploration is up your alley its worth a watch. It has a lot to say with out saying it and i very much think its worth hearing. Though i would say its worth watching the superior Ikiru first as this serves as a continuation of the topic in many ways and I'd wager that was intentional.

The Man Who Wasn't There - 8/10

About to do a double feature and for "the diaries" sake i wanted to joty thoughts while they were fresh but dont, sadly, have time to go into detail.

Possibly a top 3 film for the Coen Brothers. No country for old men, imo, is above contestation as their best picture. After that would be, in some order, Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou or this.

Juggernaut casting. Amazing visuals. Superb writing. If i didnt have someone waiting on me id write an essay on how good this picture is.

Platoon- 5/10

There are somethings this film does very very well. Theres an eye for details that truly come from first hand experiences. Ants crawling up their clothes, heat strokes, snakes, leeches. These mundane parts of life in this foreign land. These moments the film feels genuine and authentic. These moments, however, are superficial. Very little else feels genuine or authentic. For a film thats a first hand account, dramatized of course, this film rarely rings true.

This feels as authentic as Predator or any of the Rambo sequels. And i think for that reason its not remembered in the same breathe as the great war film of this or any era.

Willam Dafoe is superb. There's many roles i could point to that established him as a top 50 actor and while this wouldnt rank among his very best he's still far and away the apex of the film.

Compare his performance to the lead, Charlie Sheen, who is as vapid here as he is in Major Leagues. Inauthentic. Uninspired. His lifeless voice overs wax poetic but are void of any real insights.

And thats the film as a whole. Insipid.

And how this won best editing is beyong me. Its completely disjointed.

Its not a terrible film, few major Hollywood films are less than 4s for example. Watch some truly bad art films and your standards for what a bad film is will quickly change... but it isnt a good one either.

It ranks nearly at the absolute bottom of all "classic" war films and I'll say, off the top of my head, its the worst film to win best picture that ive seen. It's a high budget B list 80s action film with an over-inflated sense of artistry.

Feel like Platoon was just "Big Hollywood" jumping on the trend of war movies and fucking it up, kinda like today's MAJOR ACTION MOVIE START CONGLOMERATE MOVIE FILM!!!

I think it was critically acclaimed because since Stone was a veteran and since Stones film said everything the critics said about the war from the outside looking in that it validated their opinions. So instead of judging on the merits of the film they judged by the merits of their own egos.

Well said.

It got the whole "video game" treatment too. The game was worse than the film.

Charlie Sheen is out of his league between Dafoe and Berenger in Platoon. Even the supporting actors regularly lead him as performers, but that’s the whole point really. Charlie Sheen is supposed to look out of his depth and outclassed at every turn. Sadly he literally is in terms of acting quality and that’s where Destor gets it spot on.
That was an excellent review but I disagree with the rating, though I fully understand your position on it.

Tried to watch the Rob Zombie “Munsters” and it made me feel ill.
Seasick specifically.

It’s totally bad.
It is not The Munsters.

The colours are insane…the set design and outfits are fucking bonkers too but at least in black and white they would have looked fantastic.

Rob Zombie is a franchise destroyer.
He cannot be trusted with beloved old media.
He ruins it.

Watch the Paul Newman version please.
It’s obviously not as good but the performance is arguably better.
It’s the darkest Paul Newman film besides Hombre.

The i think on it the less credible i find it. Sheenis the stand in for Stone himself. The sheen character finds his CO to be a scum bag of the highest order and kills him for it. How much of that is Stone thought his CO was a dick so he wrote a script where his CO was a monster of the highest order and then finally gets his win by killing him on the page? The whole thing feels weirdly dishonest and that was the opposite of what i expected from it.

Same title?

Orphan: First Kill: 7.5/10

The first one hit us with a huge plot twist, second one hits because they they put her with a family just as eff up as her.

I haven't hated Julia Stiles this much since cheating on Bradley Cooper in Silver Lining Playbook, I mean Jesus I'm straight and I would polish prime Bradley Cooper off.

RRR - 9/10

Pretty epic.... pretty long but didn't feel it.

Top Gun: Maverick - 8.5/10

If it had more singing/dancing interludes it could have been 9/10 like RRR.

You have my attention

Hidden Fortress (1958) - 8/10

The film doesnt have as much to say as the deeper films in the Kurwasawa catalog but its not voiceless. Visually its very interesting. The framing is perfect nearly always. Thats been a big treat for me watching his films the last month or so is this lost art of wide shots not overly edited.

Another common strand is his use of perspective. Most of his films toys with it in some fashion. With Rashomon its the central narrative and with Ikiru its through multiple perspectives that the third act is laid out. Yojimbo and Sanjuro both use it in similar ways. Yojimbo allows you to piece together the towns politics through infiltration of both sides. Sanjuro twists that slightly but its very similar in concept. With Hidden Fortress we have a zeppo story that has us follow characters that the story isnt about.

That said this is up there for me with Seven Samurai and Yojimbo/Sanjuro. It doesnt break through the bar set by his more serious pictures but its still outstanding and worth seeing for anyone who loves the medium of film.

Sissy on Shudder. I'm probably the only one with a sub for it but I'll give it a 6.5/10

Very trippy movie... very different to see the social commentary it brought.

Mental health, murder, and LGBT can be bullies, too.

etc.

DC League of Superpets - 4/10

Not sure why/how this exists.... but it could have been a lot of fun. It was not.

Saló Or: 120 Days of Sodom (1975) - NR

A different kind of horror film. A film that uses a paper thin allegory to paint a truly hideous vision of fascism. Reasonably considered pornographic the film pushes every boundary possible to illustrate its rage against the social order in a way that only a post ww2 Italy could. The film essentially is the famous Aristocrats joke but played with out the laugh track.

What leaves me unable to rate the film is i truly dont know how to fee about it. Its message is illuminated clearly for anyone with a brain in their heads but its so incredibly difficult to view. To that end there was an entire sequence i literally couldnt watch and nearly got sick with just the implication of it. I cant fault the film because it's doing exactly what it aimed to do. To make me uncomfortable. The film unquestionably highlights how the writer was made to feel using the most profane metaphors possible. But i cant view it. And since i cant i cant rate it.

It is excellent. It is horrific. It will stick with me.

It’s definitely not excellent. If you want excellence you skip to the wedding night rape-fisting scene in Caligula.

Strongly disagree but i wont debate it. I can see the contention.

I dislike it for aesthetic, not moral reasons.

Where was the joy?

There is none and if thats the metric you're seeking you wont find it in Salo. And i respect that desire. Im a seeker of truth and i think there's a lot here.

All of that debauchery and not one sadist matched up with a masochist?

They ate shit together!

I think we can both agree that it’s an impossible wank

A Serious Man (2009)- 6/10

Im rating this lower because thats my grasp on a first viewing. I think the film is much better but its so deliberately steeped in jewish culture that there's a complete aspect of the film i dont have a handle on. I dont think it makes the film bad it makes my take on the film bad. It isnt intended for me, presently at least.

Haven't seen it, but apparently one of the lead actors is upset that Bro's didn't do so well.


Naturally, it's because "straight people didn't show up."




Question though......


With the gay community being "one of the marginalized" communities, do said communities automagically expect those "on the outside" to give them attention because they yell for it or???


I don't mean this in a bad spirited kinda way..... but like, maybe if the movie was humorous in a funny way and not just "stereotypical gay jokes" it would be better??


Also heard poo poo'ing on the side of the dude trying to say it was 'historic" for a gay movie...... but like....


The Birdcage?
To Wong Fu: Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar?




there's more, but both of those movies are fucking outstanding.


The "outrage" from the dude and saying "the straight people didn't come to see" just....



YOU'RE NOT FUCKING FUNNY K?

I’m not watching films about men ass fucking

mmhmm. apparently we're part of the problem?

I’d watch two women doing it, I’m broad minded like that.

I just think if you watch a couple of gay guys for too long you start to smell cum everywhere. Like when you walk your dog through an area with linden trees.

When life imitates art

Temptation perhaps?

Ed Wood - 4/10


Fine? As far as achieving an aesthetic vision the film meets its goals both visually and in the performances but it just doesnt do anything. None of the characters achieve a meaningful arc and most dont have any arc to speak of. Its not bad its just... a bread sandwich. Looks nice enough at a glance until you realize there's nothing in it.

Man I've been thinking about at least getting a sub to shudder for a little while for like 3 years just to see Blood Machines lol

I think the same guy upset over Bros (I might be wrong cuz I suddenly cannot remember the name, but he was a main role in Bros) not doing well went off about how it's not right for Brendan Fraser to be in The Whale because he's straight and not fat and they could have gotten a fat gay guy to play the role better.....

I think he just walked into a trap of backlash he isn't ready for with that one.

Guy Branum is the dude I'm talking about upset at Brendan. Think he's the same one drave referenced.

Screw it, starting a new tradition of signing up for Shudder in October every year. Blood Machines it is.

The Master (2012) - 8/10

This film is incredibly deep and is a film I'll inevitably peel layers off over repeated viewings over my lifetime. In one viewing I'm completely incapable of sussing out its deeper meaning. There is one there but its out of my grasp. As that process goes on this could easily, and likely, be much better than an 8.

Ill focus on what its obtainable. There are few finer films for actors to act. Jaiquin Pheonix, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Rami Malek and Jesse Plemmons. Really talent all. Pheonix Hoffman and Adams all have the most room to move around in and they all deliver in big ways.

The film is beautifully shot. One scene i found particularly striking was a scene in a jail cell. Shot is slightly angled in just a way we cant see as much as we want and just far enough away creating this voyeuristic visual tension where we feel like we're eavesdropping all the while eagerly wanting to overhear more. The film is full of these kinds of moments where the camera is used in a way that adds a lot to the scenes.

The surface level plot is very interesting with L Ron Hubbard derivative and in that role Haffman is as compelling as it gets. The relationship between Pheonix and Haffmans characters is dynamic and compelling and think on a metaphorical level they might be the same person, but again im no where near able to really analyze it deeply at all.

Strong film. I wish i could go deeper with it but i dont think its meant to be digested in one sitting, and at the very least i wasnt able to do it.

Actors acting like things they arent??? HATE CRIME

I think about this string of posts sometimes

slik demands to see the penetration

I would watch that movie

My orientation is ambiguous but I intend on seeing Bros in theater next week,,,love that guy,,bill from the street. Y’all ever watch

I saw Barbarian also a few week ago and it was bad???

Okay I guess it was “okayish”, horror is my 2nd least favorite genre only ahead of “stupid ass comic book movies”

I guess there were some parts I liked though

If I were that chick I would have totally hooked up with Keith after he waited to open the wine bottle

I kinda wanna see Amsterdam

I’ll fuck a guy for the hot spot on Netflix two weeks running.

Final Offer.

Hellraiser (2022) - 8/10

What a great return to form for the series. This is OG hellraiser through and through, and they don't shy away from any of the gore the series is known for.

First act is a little slow to get in, but once it picked up I was all in. Theres no replacing Doug Bradley's Pinhead, so it's good that they don't really try, and instead offer a different take on the character. The actress lacks the presence and gravitas of Bradley, but she's creepy and disturbing, and still has her own unique aura of hellish nobility.

Mind you I have a very heavy bias towards horror dealing with hell, demons, and cosmic horror, so a more meticulous veiwer might find more issue with it. But I would put this second only to the original 87 film.

Bullet Train was solid as fuck, a great comedy.

Slik have you seen “Deadstream” yet?
Get on it if you have not.

The Bidges of Madison County - 8/10


Ive spent a large portion of my life as drifter you could say. This film brought a lot of memories to light. The particulars struck me in a way thats probably pretty unique. In the abstract though this idea that there was one moment we have and once that moment is gone its gone forever really rings true. Outside of Eastwoods famously weird kissing its phenomenal and Streep is just as great.

X- 7/10

Great homage to 70's style slashers. Some really great shots, and fun foreshadowing.

Probably would rate it higher if I was really into slashers, but I've always preferred supernatural horror.

Psychological horror is the best

High and Low (1963) - 9/10


Kurwasawa man. The insight into the human condition. Timeless. Film explores classes and how status effects perspective. If i werent so tired id say more but its a must see for anyone who loves film.

Not really a movie but a documentary

Trainwreck: The story of Woodstock 99.

Just floored by the story and everything that happened during it.

I’m holding off on that one. It feels like that should be a Dark Side Of The 90’s episode.

Dumbo (Tim Burton) - 8/10

Was an enjoyable kids movie.... a lot more plot and story than the original Dumbo. Dumbo doesn't get blackout drunk and hallucinate though, so loses some points.

Based how well a lot of the best ones are put together, I'd say you're right from a purely objective standpoint.

Ghosts and demons are still my personal favorites, though.

Solaris is the scariest film.

Drebin gets it.

Fignuts if you have a spare 90 minutes please watch Deadstream(I can link you if you can’t find it) and tell me what you think.
I like a good horror comedy and I found that one by looking for a film in which I recognised nobody.

It is good.

it was way better than i thought it would be. the lead annoyed the piss out of me but that was the idea so well done on that. i have enjoyed most of these social media/influencer inspired movies. superhost was a lot of fun, too.

Raya and the last dragon - 6.5/10

Really wanted to like this more but the messaging of "Trust people who intend to hurt you" brings it way down.

There really should be a prequel game adaptation

The lead was pretty great, he reminded me of an AEW wrestler.
Any of them really.

Admit you had the pirate dvd, we all did!

RUFUS

I actually just saw this mentioned in the horror subreddit in a thread about found footage.

Found Footage is a guilty pleasure for me. They get shit on a lot, but I love the POV experience.

I watched a horror comedy with Mark Proksch(Colin Robinson) called “Another Evil” that was basically “Creep” with a really weird atmosphere. I liked it though.

Deadstream was tremendous. Very reminiscent of Evil Dead with how it balances silly humor with genuine terror, as well the claustrophobic setting.

Prepare your anus, Seanny, cause you're getting that long awaited fignuts rep.

I’ve had better

Oh you little slut.

He was excellent. The way he captured the cringey overreactions of actual streamers, and then transitions seamlessly in legit fear when shit goes down was brilliant.

The way it shaped up to be an obvious comedy then threw it sideways was nice. I think it was so well made because it was the lead that wrote it. I do enjoy a good auteur film, especially since the independent scene is so strong right now.

Gotta look up what Linas Phillips is up to later. Ain’t seen him much lately…

Black Adam - 6/10

Pretty damn poor..... had the potential to be great if they really leaned into the comics and tried to do a more faithful comics adaptation of the JSA "Black Reign" storyline.... sucks that the Justice Society had to get introduced like this.... hopefully not the last we see of them... Gonna read the "Black Reign" storyline right now to was the bad taste outta my mouth...

So The Rock being The Rock with powers was no bueno?!

Yeah, I guess I shouldn't have been expecting anything too "deep" with The Rock....

But come on, it is like suuuuuuch a tease to choose to include the JSA and those characters in particular and not even TRY to do a half decent Black Reign adaptation.....

I don't disagree.


From the trailers, I got the vibe that he was just the dude from Fast & Furious with superpowers.

Dude from Fast & Furious has more character/personality

Bullet Train (2022) - 7/10


Real fun time. Im not sure if i should praise the screen writer or the author of the novel. Likely both. The film has outstanding rhythm. The dialogue is sharp and flows at a beautiful pace. The action has that same consistency. The plot itself is clever and the whodunnit nature of how information is revealed to the audience is very satisfying. Its very clever visually. All the characters are really well conceptualized. It has a ton going for it. If you're in a good mood and want some action comedy you wont go wrong with this.

Perfect escapism and finally ATJ actually looks like an adult.
That took far too long.

The Deer Hunter (1979) - 4/10

Fuck subtext i guess you kids want some overt propaganda? Im the most antiwar person ive ever met and i found this forced and contrived. There is nothing honest in this script. Its just Hollywood lecturing for a painful 3hrs. This is the kind of writng we get today, abliet less elegant not nearly as well acted.

Thats the real tragedy of this picture. Fuck the war. These performances are so fucking good. And this film just isnt. Here they sit trapped in a 3hr bumper sticker.

I hate war. I hate the vietnam war more than most wars as far as rank ordering such things goes. I hate being told what to think more. This script is basically a writer lazily going down a checklist.

And that fucking ending. Fuck you. There's nothing honest about it. Its so forced everyone who watches this picture should press charges for rape.

Was it no good then?

Lol

Cimino spent an hour on the prelude which was mostly wedding footage and then raced through important sections of storyline because so much time was spent just looking at things…Then when it comes time to find out what happened to John Savage they just show him suddenly missing limbs!

The plot is really just an outline, nothing in the story is well conceived or particularly well planned out. The entire thing seems to be an excuse for Michael Cimino to be a cinematographer but get called a director.

I gave it 3/10 and I was mad when I finished watching it.

There’s a tremendously enjoyable documentary about “Heaven’s Gate” the doomed frontier epic Cimino chose to direct next. It’s important to understand exactly why this idiot sucks balls, and this documentary gets right into it.

I think it stands alongside the great production disaster documentaries, there are a lot of them now…