Cinema and Movie Thread: coming 2 a theater near u

[rjshae]

We went to watch Bugonia, but weren't quite satisfied with the story. I suppose you could call it an unusual character study. There were a couple of unexpected plot twists, but in the end I wasn't sure what message it was trying to communicate (other than maybe humans don't deserve to survive). I suppose if you liked Poor Things then you may enjoy this. But I preferred Emma Stone in Cruella.

Edited November 19 by rjshae

[Bartimaeus]

32A (2007).

Irish film. Writing-wise...it was a little basic, all the beats you'd probably expect, but otherwise I thought it was quite nice. A little silly, a little cringey, a little funny, a little drama, a little sad - all the things you'd probably want in a girl's coming-of-age film, without ever being too much in any particular way, and executed in a nice style with good casting. Jared Harris...probably shouldn't have been in it. Too small and simple a part for him, he sticks out like a sore thumb in an otherwise very natural cast. I didn't initially place him, but I burst out laughing as soon as I heard his voice. A little too recognizable for his own good, I think.

I don't think I wrote about it here, but I watched My Girl (1991), another girl-coming-of-age film, a while back with my nieces, and I can't understate how much better 32A is, despite how much simpler and straightforward 32A is. Hollywood films can just be so painfully dumb and misguided with all the silliness they pre-occupy themselves with in an attempt to earn back the money they cost for their big names, which a smaller foreign/indie film can just ignore in favor of...trying to make a decent film that will resonate with the demographic it's being made for. It's good for this kind of film.

[Amentep]

 

In other news, watched THE RAGE: CARRIE 2 an RITUAL.  Both flawed films, both with thi gs to recommend besides those flaws, and both probably could have been better with more work at the script stage. 

 

 

[Gfted1]

 

[Bartimaeus]

Weapons (2025).

Wasn't sure how I felt about it for most of it, but the hilarious ending pushed me it into liking it overall.

[Amentep]

 

 

[Sarex]

Looks cheesy enough.

[Bartimaeus]

Wolfwalkers (2020).

I'd only heard great things about it, but... It is a gorgeous film, but it was difficult to fully recover from the painful first ~20 minutes. Most every scene felt like it was lingering or outright repeating a few beats too many, I was getting genuinely kinda mad at how poorly edited this felt and how reducing the film by even just...five, maybe ten minutes by chopping off a few seconds from each scene would've helped it feel so much punchier. The script also has a strange way of feeling too kiddie and too adult at the same time, like it can't really quite make up its mind what kind of tone it should have, and I found that...uh, a little weird and off-putting. It could've been great, but I guess it's just one of those movies where a series of seemingly small issues keeps taking you out of it, try as you might. Oh well.

As far as wolf movies go, I liked Princess Mononoke better, and I still don't much like Princess Mononoke despite having seen it four(?) times, so...

Edited 8 hours ago by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Cronos (1992) - Remastered

I think you can sort of file this in the same category as the Midnight Mass miniseries as a world where vampire fiction doesn't exist. Also it takes place during Christmas and New Year's, so I guess it's a holiday thing just like Midnight Mass.

Anyways, I enjoyed it quite a lot. The scenes of the Chronos device remind me quite a lot of Lynch's Eraserhead sequences, and you can hear Lynch's influence throughout the film. It's very much a Del Torro film throughout, and you can see clearly how this is the guy who would go on to make Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy.