What did you watch this week wild thing? (09/29-10/05)

Sorry to hear you had a tough week. Good job pushing through and surviving it. Glad you watched some good movies.

My ratings of what you watched:

The Mask 8/10
You’re next 8/10

I haven't seen Hunt for the wilderpeople yet, but I will have to check it out.

I hope you do a what are you watching this week thread, so we can try to match.

My ratings of what I watched:

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013) 6/10
Daddy Issues (2018) 7/10
Case 39 (2009) 7/10
Baggage Claim (2013) 7/10
Play It Again, Sam (1972) 7/10
Joker (2019) 9/10
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) 8/10
Amazing Grace (2019) 8/10
Pi (1998) 6/10

I did not see any of your movies of the week but I did play M. Bison in Street Fighter and Raden in Mortal Kombat back in my 20’s.

My movies:

Long Weekend (1978)
I haven’t seen many Aussie films other than the big hitters but I happened on this one and I’m glad I did. A couple head out on a weekend camping trip that turns into man vs nature or possibly man vs supernatural with a great score and performances. Definitely recommended.

Shock (1977)
Mario Bava directs this slow burning and stylish Italian Horror film that includes genre staples Ivan Rassimov, John Steiner and Daria Nicolodi. This is probably my 4th viewing over the years and I still enjoy it.

Virus (1980)
A weaponized virus spreads across the globe and the only places that are unaffected are the north and south poles. There were many plot holes and it fell somewhat flat in the end but I still really enjoyed it. There is a scene where Japanese scientist explore an Antarctic outpost where it’s inhabitants had gone insane and killed each other that could have been included in The Thing. It makes me wonder if John Carpenter had ever seen this film.

Black Sunday (1960)
Barbra Steele is absolutely beautiful in this wonderfully shot gothic classic.

Cry of a Prostitute (1974)
This is the most brutal, sleazy and gritty entry to the Eurocrime genre that I’ve seen yet. Henry Silva and Barbara Bouchet give their standard performances here.

Mortal Kombat had the best theme song ever in any cheesy movie.


MORTAAALL KOMMBATTTT!!!!

The United States of Leland (2003) - young man's experience in a juvenile detention center that touches on the tumultuous changes that befall his family and the community in which he lives. a depressing story but a well done drama with an excellent cast. 7/10

Tell No One (2006) - An accidental discovery near a doctor's estate stirs up some painful memories eight years after his wife's hideous murder, and now, things are bound to take a turn for the unexpected. An excellent French crime drama. The plot gets a little convoluted but overall excellent. The lead guy reminded me of a younger Dustin Hoffman. 7.5/10

Finished two TV series:

Deep Water (2016) - When a young gay man is brutally murdered near Bondi Beach, Detectives Tori Lustigman and Nick Manning are assigned to investigate. After more bodies are found, Tori links the deaths to a series of murders of gay men in the 1980s and '90s. Based on true events from Australia. I didn't realize this was a four episode series when I started it. It felt rushed as they introduced all the suspects and then had to wrap it up so quickly. 6.5/10

Bodyguard (2018) - A contemporary thriller featuring the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch of London's Metropolitan Police Service. A very conspiratorial series. The lead actor Richard Madden is very good. UK crime drama its best. 8/10

Sorry SK. Haven't seen any of yours, but Hunt for the Wilderpeople sounds interesting. I'll have to check it out when I re-subscribe to Netflix later this month. The others are not in my wheelhouse.

Our Friends in the North (1996, BritBox, miniseries, 9 episodes) about the personal lives of four friends (Nicky, Geordie, Mary, and Tosker) from Newcastle during the years 1964 to 1995, throughout the uneasy time of massive social and political change in Britain. Episode "1984" about the miners' strike is particularly compelling. A breakthrough role for Daniel Craig as Geordie. 9/10

Country Music (2019, streamed on PBS) Ken Burns' documentary on the origins of country music. I just finished episode five yesterday. Almost unbelievable the extreme poverty that most of the artists came from. Also interesting is the enduring popularity of those who, due to tragic, early death, had short careers. It really leaves you wondering and mourning what might have been. 9/10

Had a lot of chores to do this week so didn't get much in!

Rambo First Blood (1982): I think this has held up pretty well over time. I remember everyone making fun of Stallone's acting in this, but it isn't bad at all and Brian Dennehy did an outstanding job as the villain sheriff; just a great character to despise. Good action as well. I thought the moments with the colonel were kind of comical though, he just comes in and starts rattling off these crazy statements about Rambo and how he is an invincible soldier instead of trying to assist them. 7/10

Cold Case Files (2017), Netflix, episodes 1 and 2: I have always been a fan of Unsolved Mysteries and true-crime or criminal forensic shows. Maybe they are appealing to me because they are true stories. I have really enjoyed the first two episodes of this. I like the documentary style, narrative, and I found it quite satisfying that the case is solved at the end. I think if you are a fan of the genre, you will enjoy this. 8/10

NFL Rams v Seahawks, (TV): Really good game, lots of scoring and came down to the last play. Can't ask for much more than that for a Thursday game. 9/10

Happy Death Day (2017): Not a bad horror comedy. I enjoyed some of the death scenes and it had quite a few funny moments. The lead actress was funny and entertaining. Certainly worth a watch. 6/10

I only realized now that once again I didn't see any movie this week. Too busy!

TV Shows:

-Relic Hunter - marathon

-The Bold and the Beautiful - marathon of very old episodes

-Twilight Zone (1959) - marathon

-Murder She Wrote - marathon

i gave hunt for the wilderpeople a re-watch last night, inspired by your review. it remains 100% fun & sweet & charming. & i like you're next a lot, one of my favourite low budget horror/thrillers of recent years.

my week:

the peanut butter falcon (2019) 4 sports some cliches & some short cuts (she found them how?) but who cares when you're dealing with a film so thoroughly good-natured. not mawkish at all, yet incredibly sweet & funny & genuinely touching.
will surely be one of my favourites of the year.

my life without me (2003) 1.5 dying woman plans the rest of her life & what her family will do when she's gone. i can't believe i wasted movie viewing time on this.
it's silly & i think it's possibly a bit evil in spirit.
i hated it.

hide your smiling faces (2013) 3.5 low key drama about young brothers facing the aftermath of a friend's death. nicely meditative indie. leaves a lot of plot details off the table, in a way that might frustrate or annoy some, but i quite enjoyed going along for the ride. brought to mind we the animals & beach rats in some ways, though it's not quite as ambient & dreamlike as those two.

the purge: election year (2016) 2 yeesh, what a slog to get through. the other purge films aren't unrecognized classics or anything, but they have a bit of drive and energy. this is terribly inert, and too long.

an inconvenient sequel (2017) 2.5 a rather pointless sequel, & somewhat self-serving i'd say. it's comparatively light on detail & data, & heavy on gore talking.

true stories (1986) 3 at one time i had a lot of love for this film, but time seems to have robbed me of my appreciation for its quirkiness. the music is still enjoyable, though i'd say the best material is front-loaded.

operation avalanche (2016) 4 incredibly fun & shockingly well done fake moon landing comedy/found footage/thriller. a genuine & very pleasant & completely enjoyable surprise.

fat (2013) 3 overweight man struggles to navigate his way through work, girls, health. there are some great great moments here, & i certainly applaud the attempt at telling this kind of story. there are all manner of movies that claim to speak for the outcast & the isolated, but how many truly focus on people that others just don't like to look at or think about? not many. so hats off to the people involved certainly.

but my gosh there were some terribly awkward, cringey moments that i found impossible to watch. & some wretched singer-songwriter songs that reeked of sarah mclaughlin-like sincerity on the soundtrack absolutely made me want to vomit in disgust.

i really wanted to like & applaud this, it's far too much of a mixed bag to unreservedly admire.

exists (2014) 3 teens are tormented by bigfoot. pretty fun, though i got very tired of all the camera shaking at the end.

the killing of a sacred deer (2017) 4.5 i swear, yorgos lanthimos's dialogue feels like it was pulled straight from the thoughts that are rattling through my head at any given moment. this is exactly what i want movies to be like. if i had the ability, i'd make films like this.

zombieland (2009) 3.5 fun, though i'd say not quite worthy of the cult status that seems to have developed around it.

joker (2019) 4 the bad stuff first:
at times it feels like the tribute band version of taxi driver & the king of comedy i feared it might be. the classism portrayed is 100% subtlety free. & the ending speech felt wrong to me, like the script needed about three more passes to work out some of the more trite, cliched lines.

but it was still absolutely great to me. almost felt too real, in that i saw the worst parts of myself on the screen at times, not to prattle on about myself. it's sad & tragic & very efficient in the way it moves and doesn't overstay its welcome.

pyewacket (2017) 4 another of my favourite low budget horror films of recent years. liked it even more on a re-watch. low on shocks & cgi, long on a genuinely involving story & quite strong acting. slightly abrupt ending, though.

pasolini (2014) 3.5 a look at the last day of the italian filmmaker. no traditional biopic here, mostly for the better. as someone who doesn't know a great deal about the guy aside from salo & a few details of his murder, i can't really say this added much to my understanding of him, but it's a weird, unpredictable watch.

in the tall grass (2019) 2.5 too long, for sure, and it doesn't land any of the emotion it tries for, but it passes the time fairly efficiently. it's the kind of thing that you would have grabbed off the bottom of a vhs shelf back in the 90s and had a good time watching, while never ever recommending to anyone else.

has one neat visual flourish in the last third that seemed to come out of a much more ambitious, imaginative film.