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Leave the World Behind (2023)
It could've been better
I'll start with the very simple ending, because a lot of reviewers here somehow can't figure it out. It's intended to be abrupt thought-provoking. When the credits suddenly start to roll, you're supposed to think to yourself "ok, a war has started. What would happen next? What is the future of these people?" Some of you said there was no climax. No climax? If you think a major city exploding isn't a climax, then you missed something.
That said, it could've been done a lot better. The story starts out great, and kept me interested due to its mystery. Once I realized what was going on, I was even more interested because it is a truly terrifying scenario that really could happen. But that was the first hour. The stuff that happens between then and the ending is lot of overdone TV dreck. Oh look, they're getting along now. Didn't see THAT coming! Oh look, the milksop of a husband finally gets somewhat brave. Didn't see THAT coming! The main adult characters each get their own soliloquy to tell us about the human condition. Boring. There were some things that were never addressed fully: What was the Spanish woman screaming about? Subtitles would've helped here, but I assume it was a conscious decision not to have them in order to amplify the woman's fright. The thing with the animals was truly confusing and never resolved. Flamingos in the pool? Why? It was never explained how the circumstances of this story would cause animals to behave this way. What was even the purpose of the entire scene with Rosie and Archie in the shed?
Character-wise it was just meh. Predictable through and through. Angry wife, soft husband, dumb kids. It's been done. The entrance of G. H. and Ruth started out as if they were a couple nefarious people who would be key to the plot. Nope. That whole thing died into plain unsatisfying normalcy. I guess the fact that I didn't like a couple of the characters means that the actors did their jobs well.
Worth a watch, but don't get your hopes up.
The Sudbury Devil (2023)
Not good
I'm guessing the high-star reviews of this film are from friends of the filmmakers. If there is a story hidden somewhere in this movie I couldn't find it. The acting is very good, I must say, but without a coherent (or interesting) plot it's all for naught. Other reviews here tout,or warn about, the sex and gore. There is very brief nudity, and any sex is between fully clothed people, so fear not. Most of the gore is during the laughable penultimate scene, and it is not realistic. If you can deal with the carnival blood in Kill Bill, then you'll cruise right through this. Perhaps I expected too much from this movie, but that would be because of the previous reviews I have read. Lesson learned.
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)
Well, the soundtrack is OK, anyway
I understand that this movie is supposed to be groundbreaking, but nothing about it is good. It's terribly acted, terribly shot, terribly directed, REALLY terribly edited. The scenes cut from one to another abruptly, with no sense of forward motion. It's an hour and a half of a mostly silent guy running through the desolation of Los Angeles, having sex in poorly lit locations along the way. If you like 70's era funk, though, then the music might interest you a bit. It's just an awful movie.
The House That Jack Built (2018)
It's supposed to be hard to watch
I love that vonTrier is always willing to go where others fear to venture. To those who knock the film for being merely the work of a sick mind, I say no. Humans (some of us anyway) have a fascination with the fact that we have the capability to do terrible things to each other. The scenes that are tough to watch are tough to watch exactly for that reason. This stuff actually happens, and we're always given the sanitized story in news reports. Here it is in stark terms. Sometimes kids are victims. Do we *need* to see this portrayed in cinema? That's up for debate, but films such as this are there to remind us. I think this film does a great job of showing us how the mind of a lunatic might work. And credit that to Matt Dillon. IMHO this is his greatest role.
The Hateful Eight (2015)
Not typical Tarantino, but still good
It seems that a lot of the negative reviews here have a theme of people comparing 'Hateful Eight' to other Tarantino flicks. If you do that and expect the same sort of movies he made in his younger years, you will be disappointed. Tarantino is one of those filmmakers whose very name gives a certain level of expectation to the viewer before walking into a theater (same goes for Scorcese, Coppola, etc). If the preconception isn't lived up to, he's crucified out-of-hand for making useless garbage. That's really too bad. If you're truly a Tarantino fan, then you won't mind the lengthy dialog and anything else other reviewers have ranted against. I guess I'd say that if you liked 'Death Proof', you'll like 'Hateful Eight.' I very much enjoyed this film, and would definitely recommend it if you're able to disassociate it from the name and just watch the movie.
Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
I want that part of my life back
Perhaps I'm the wrong person to review a horror movie, as I don't really care for them anymore. I loved them as a kid, and the more extreme, the better I liked them. This is why I was intrigued to see Cannibal Holocaust. I had read so much about it and the trouble it caused that I had to see what the big deal was. I'm still waiting to find out. This movie is a joke. The directing and acting are terrible (go figure...bad acting in a horror flick), the characters unlikable. Since I knew ahead of time that there are real animal killings, I was able to stay on the lookout, and I forwarded past them. Call me a wimp, but I see no reason to watch animal slaughter for cinematic purposes. So, excepting the animal cruelty, I have NO FREAKIN' IDEA why this movie was barred in, what, 5 countries? I fail to see the controversy. The gore is absolutely laughable, and is no worse than any of the Faces of Death movies. The cannibal people apparently had no language of their own, because all they did was grunt and scream to communicate. This gives these scenes the air of being conceived and acted by teenagers with clubs. Governments arrested the director for indecency? People actually thought this was snuff? Ridiculous. Maybe for 1980 this was a little tough to take, but audiences today should know better. It really ain't that bad, so don't believe the hype. The movie, on the other hand, is that bad.
The Fall (2006)
See This Film!
I cannot possibly say enough about how well this movie was made. The photography and cinematography are the best I've ever seen. The locations chosen are beautiful, and the film is very striking visually. Even the simple inside scenes are so expertly photographed, I couldn't believe it. The story is a wonderful tale of fantasy and friendship, the actors pulled it off superbly. While there are no real twists in the plot, as the film progresses the viewer is made aware that some things that were seen previously and passed over as usual and insignificant were, in fact, important to understanding the story. In some of these scenes, as realizations came to me, my emotions were at once happy, sad, and angry, and that is testament to stellar writing and directing. See this movie.
The Ten (2007)
Meh...
It was OK. That's all I can give it. After seeing the trailer and noting the outstanding cast, I expected a lot more from this film. I think it was *trying* to be edgy and irreverent, and it may have achieved bits of that here and there, but for the most part it just seemed silly. (For the life of me, I can't figure out why some religious folk are in such an uproar over this movie. Well, OK, MAYBE the Gretchen Mol-Justin Theroux Jesus story.) There were some really funny scenes and offbeat dialog, and overall I like how the film put modern twists on the ideas behind the ten commandments. I wish the vignettes had been better written, though, for this could've been a truly hilarious set of skits. What I found very annoying and completely un-funny were the introductory breaks between the sections. Maybe I'll see it again and it'll grow on me. I really did want to like this movie.
Waking Life (2001)
Easily one of my favorites.
Loved it, loved it, loved it! So many thoughts that I have had regarding my philosophies of life, being, dreams (and controlling them), direction, death....never telling anyone about them for fear of being labelled a pretentious and oddball thinker...all in this wonderful movie! Anyone who "gets" this film will be blown away. I feel very lucky to be one of those people. The content is fantastic, and the creativity of the way the film was produced is dazzling. The decision to make this an animated film was brilliant: At the outset I couldn't really figure out why they chose to animate, but after having seen it, I'm sure that the movie wouldn't make as much sense if the characters were shown in real-life.
Baise-moi (2000)
It's about time!
Those of you who decry the sex and violence of any film should probably not write reviews of those films. One thing I've noticed about your type is that you can't get past the fact that there's sex and violence in the movie, and you can't see the picture for what it is. It's like a person who doesn't like country music reviewing a Hank Williams album. I just have to believe you knew what you were getting yourselves into when you went to see Baise-Moi, so get off the pulpit. In case anyone has forgotten, this movie was taken from a book. It is telling a very brutal story, so how could the film NOT be brutal? This is the type of film that I can only hope will eventually be made here in the States, and allowed to be released. I love that it is so stark and bold in it's story-telling. The graphic scenes, having been shot under natural lighting, have a certain realism to them that Hollywood just can't duplicate. It brings to mind another French film, "Irreversilble," with an equally disturbing and unflinching rape and murder scene. Americans have a problem seeing on film the things that they perpetrate against themselves. Even Tarantino violence has a certain amount of "staged" look to it. This movie forces you to watch things that make you uncomfortable; in a way that it really might look if it were to happen to you. I say Bravo to this team of filmmakers for bringing this to the screen.