[CASUAL] January Movie Challenge

[Galron]

6. The Great Escape (1963) -- WWII POW camp in Germany. Allied troops decide they're going to escape 150+ prisoners in one night. It's a drama with quite a bit of humor. And packed with stars. Richard Attenborough, David McCallum, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Jim Garner, Donald Pleasance. Another top 10 for me. I've seen it at least 30 times. I always keep in mind that this was made just 17 or 18 years after WWII ended, and that makes it more authentic than a lot of period piecies in my opinion. 5/5

[Galron]

*If anyone is interested in the transatlantic accent that Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn and others had, TCM is showing a 5-minute short on its development and place in early-mid 20th century.

[VashtaNeurotic]

14) THE Suicide Squad (2021)
Much better choices. Like holy shit this movie is still sooooo good. The characters, the editing, the needle drops, very very happy.

[xofelf]

12) The Suicide Squad (2021)
James Gunn understood the assignment. Honestly this was just beautifully shot, good script, good characterization. Just all around real good enjoyable film.

[Porkens]

Mad max - a no breaks action adventure thrill ride with
Laughs and touching scenes

Matrix revolutions - still doesn’t really make any sense but still cool also us the train man who was in mad max.

Lord of the rings fellowship of the ring extended edition - pretty fun but wildly white. Also has Hugo weaving who was in matrix.

[Malkon05]

29) It Chapter Two

Again, another thing I can get out of my backlog. Honestly this was kind of lackluster in comparison to the first. I actually laughed more than I was scared which was not the case with chapter one. This movie involves the reunion of the losers as adults to stop Pennywise the Dancing Clown from killing a bunch of children. However, rather than be spooky, Pennywise or "It" has resorted to using hilarious means to attack people, such as a giant paul bunyan statue, a bunch of evil fortune cookies, and at one point a bunch of tiny hands. This movie I guess had some suspense, but most of the time I just ended up laughing more than I was scared and I'm kind of bummed about that. It was also semi predictable which bummed me out, though I guess for anyone who actually watched the original or read the books none of these movies would surprise you, but this was my first dive in, and I was underwhelmed. Not bad, but nothing I'd probably watch again. 3/5

[Kublai Khan]

Mobile Suit Gundam I (Yoshiyuki Tomino, Ryôji Fujiwara-1981)

A classic anime from the early 1980s that I always knew about, but I've never been curious enough to investigate it until now. This is the first of three movies where they used tv show footage and re-edited it to tell the story slightly differently. The animation itself isn't great. It's very much an early 80's style where they don't really capture perspective accurately and there are lots of moments where moving makes everything look awkward. Because of the editing, the action sequences are repetitive and new units are being constantly introduced which felt very much like they were are trying to sell toys (which a lot of cartoons did at the time). I appreciate that it did have a more negative presentation of war, with characters being extremely reluctant to engage and seeing direct consequences like bystanders seeing loved ones die in front of them. But still, I don't think I'll bother with the sequels.

[Kublai Khan]

Don't Look Up (Adam McKay-2021)

I love good satire and this is good satire. There is an impending disaster and this movie satirizes our culture's current inability to focus and deal with the disaster. It was intended to be prescient in describing our reaction to climate change, but instead it's a commentary on our inability to handle a pandemic. Recommended.

[Kublai Khan]

Bright Star (Jane Campion-2009)

Yes! This is period romance done extremely well. A story about a brief romance between poet John Keats had with Fany Brawne just before he died. I have no idea about the historical accuracy, but everything about this felt right. Great performances by the main cast.

[Kublai Khan]

Raya and the Last Dragon (Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Paul Briggs-2021)

I enjoyed this quite a bit up until the ending, which I feel did not make sense.

[Malkon05]

30) Dallas Buyers Club

Another movie I wanted to get through my back log. I...don't know how to feel about this movie. There are parts that were impactful, there were parts that were frustrating, and ultimately it left me with a confusing message. I think Jared Leto was incredible. Like wow he went to a really dark place to do parts of that role and it was kind of transformative to say the least. I've never seen him act like that and it was quite something to watch. I think Matthew McConaughey was at the top of his game and he too took a really transformative journey. Everyone else was...okay. The story was...okay. It's not like my favorite movie ever. I don't hate it, but I am glad it didn't get picture of the year that year. The story has to do with treatment of HIV/AIDs and the sorts of crazy loopholes that people had to go through just to fight for the right to get actual treatments that kept them alive longer. It was also in texas. I do like that it finished with an advancement of the way it started involving rodeos, that was very symbolic and a nice touch. The message at the end of the credits I feel like should have been highlighted more in the movie. It almost felt like an afterthought. I dont' know, it's a good concept and topic, I was just underwhelmed by the overall story itself. 3.6/5

[Kublai Khan]

Crimson Peak (Guillermo Del Toro-2015)

Weird that xofelf also watched this this month. Their review is pretty spot-on. It had beautiful cinematography and interesting camerawork, but Del Toro definitely prioritized style over substance. I definitely want to see more of Burn Gorham in weird interesting roles. He has such an interesting face and vibe to him.

[xofelf]

You probably missed it, but their, not her. <3

[Kublai Khan]

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Pedro Almodóvar-1988)

Foreign comedies can be a bit of a mixed bag because sometimes the comedy is very culture-specific. But Almodovar has a really good knack for having a well-paced comedic structure to his movies (along with the excalatingly silly comedic situations that are occurring. Also a bit of a thrill to watch young Antonio Banderas in comedic form (as a straight man).

[Kublai Khan]

You probably missed it, but their, not her. <3

Crap. Sorry. I fixed it.

[xofelf]

You probably missed it, but their, not her. <3

Crap. Sorry. I fixed it.

It's all good <3

[Kublai Khan]

Level 16 (Danishka Esterhazy-2018)

A good low-budget sci-fi about a prison-like boarding school that is not what it seems. It uses a limited cast and location, but since the information is given out on such a slow burn, it really does a great job keeping you engaged. The final reveal is interesting and sadly plausible. On Netflix and worth a watch.

[Porkens]

Moneyball - not bad not great

[Malkon05]

31) We Bought A Zoo

...Why did I choose to make the unfortunate decision to lose sleep to watch this movie? I seriously have had this movie as a free one I got from a cereal campaign years ago as it was the only choice of movie I didn't already own and it was otherwise going to waste. This honestly was like watching the hallmark version of a movie. You have the widowed father trying to piece together his family by doing something crazy and moving to a new place, you have the really attractive person who has a weird amount of knowledge of a specific topic who greets and fixes the family with open arms and ridiculous amounts of wisdom, the moody teenage kid who can't express "feelings" except through really weird dark drawings of decapitation (I'm not even making this up), although there isn't a nosy mayor there is a "park inspector" who basically serves the same function, you have the crazy crackpot "this guy was famous for being an expert years ago and somehow ended up here" know it all who like is half parts coherent drunkard and half parts raving lunatic, you have like the random girl who falls insanely in love with a boy she just met and is kind of quirky I guess?, you have the daughter who never has any emotions except happy (eat your heart out Inside Out), and last but not least the nefarious accountant who is doing everything to undermine the operation (even though she's actually not wrong and the guy was way in over his head). Honestly there was so much wrong with this movie, but like at the core there was a very intimate heart about a family becoming whole again...so basically the plot of every hallmark movie. Anyways the guy buys a zoo...which...is somehow still "barely" functioning because the "state" is paying the place money to like...barely keep it afloat? So this rando dude and his daughter go to this place and are like "fuck it we know nothing about exotic animals let's buy it!" And...well...shocker, it all works out perfectly somehow. Yes, even despite a bunch of poisonous snakes roaming free at one point that literally bite no one (what?), a bear who gets away and romps around in town and somehow no one sees and he walks back to the zoo property, despite a lion encounter that should have ended in a bloody death when the maintenance man has to go inside and repair the lock while the zoo manager distracts the lion by yelling at it, despite quite literally spending his dead wife's last penny just to barely pass an inspection, and despite the weirdest random "coming to jesus" moment between the guy and his brother involving a car full of dead fish, everything magically works out. And I know this is actually based on a true story, but even if this is how things went, it was incredibly hallmark which is just not my thing. If you are looking for a feel good movie with nothing but perfect resolutions to everything, this is your movie. Matt Damon and Scarlett Johannsen honestly could not carry this movie despite being big name hollywood actors and their kiss in almost every other movie would have been something of legend, but here, it was just like...as awkward as the movie itself.

Do you like hallmark movies? This is your movie. Enjoy. I want my 2 hours back. 2/5

Edit: Oh and I think a new drinking game for this movie should be "take a shot every time someone asks the protagonist why he bought a zoo". Actually wait no, if we do that then we would all be dead from alcohol poisoning, since the forced plot of the movie decided to remind me every 52 seconds almost on the dot via a question from one of the 20 forgettable side characters who I'm pretty sure have a name, but like their roles are mostly pointless.

[Nero Cain]

*Matt Damon

[Malkon05]

*Matt Damon

haha thanks. I was very tired when I wrote that

[Malkon05]

32) Scary Stores To Tell In The Dark

So this was a movie in my netflix log I decided to finish. It's a hard one to grade. There was an interesting premise, a group of stereotypical high schoolers go to a haunted mansion and accidentally unleash the fury of a dead spirit who likes to write stories in blood. One by one those were present when the book of her stories was taken start vanishing without a trace. Along the way, we learn about the nerdy girl who has abandonment issues, the rebel who is dodging the draft, the skeptic who has to be proven wrong in a weird gross way, the loyal friend who is a scaredy cat, the sister who is a cheerleader and kind of useless, and the mean jock who gets his just desserts before anyone else. The cast wasn't actually horrible, and the premise was intriguing. However, there's a giant plot hole at the end that I just sat there and realized they would never resolve.

A cop literally dies next to a jail cell and the only two people in the room escaped and...somehow neither of them are questioned or brought back to jail. If you don't believe in supernatural shenanigans at the very least it would seem to me that these two should be probably held for murder of a cop because how else do you explain where his body was and where they were?

If I ignore the big gaping plot hole, it's kind of like a modern day goosebumps and it favors a couple jumpscares and sort of creepy "things" rather than outright terror or horror. I think this was horror designed for a younger audience and it mostly delivers. However, I enjoyed the Fear Street trilogy much more than this and would have to strongly recommend that first. Okay, but the lack of actual horror and the sort of weird gaping plot hole that any basic person can comprehend is an issue by anyone's modern legal standards drive this score down. 2.8/5

[Kublai Khan]

PK (Rajkumar Hirani-2014)

As an atheist, I have to admit that I really enjoyed the fact that this was an extremely popular movie in India. In a setup reminiscent of "The Invention of Lying", this is the story of an alien who comes to Earth and has a hard time understanding the concepts and message of religion until he figures out what lying is. It's a rebuke of religiousness, but it's a satirical rebuke. Though I admit I did spend most of the movie annoyed at Aamir Khan's exaggerated weirdness.

[Kublai Khan]

Explorers (Joe Dante-1985)

I don't remember ever seeing this or even hearing about this. Stars that later went onto acclaim (Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix), a recognizable director, a Spieblergian story of young boys finding solace and companionship in technology and each other in a world with disappointing role models and bullying peers? Shouldn't this have been a staple in my upbringing?

Then about two-thirds of the way through I figure out why nobody would recommend this. it has the goofiest, cringiest aliens I've seen in a long, long time.

[Ythan]

32) Scary Stores To Tell In The Dark

The illustrations from these books still intrude into my thoughts in the dark.