What is The Last Movie You Watched?

[Torris]

Re:Irishman.

45 minutes too long. Pacino was unbelievable as Hoffa. Nicholson did a much better job. Pesci was the best of rhe 3 main stays.

Very disappinted since Goodfellas is my favorite movie of all time. And Casino is in my Top 10 of all time

Robbie Robertson usually does a great soundtrack, but not this time. Can’t recall a single song.

The movie is as tired as the 4 senior citizens involved. Kind of depressing viewing experience.

[Cereal Escapist]

Last movie for myself: Uncut Gems
I was surprised as to how much i liked this film and actually wanted the sleezeball Sandler to get over on everyone. He plays the role unlike others he has had before and, as a new yorker who bought his wife's ring on 47th street, he really is convincing.

Last actual movie: Moana
My daughter decided she had to watch it before going to sleep last night because I left Disney+ after watching the Mandolorian finale.

[Stavros]

Storyville: 'Jonestown: Terror in the Jungle' (2019)

This two part film (each around 80 minutes long) takes the viewer through the history of Jim Jones and Jonestown from its origins in Indiana to the jungle of Guyana where a mass suicide/murder took place that has fascinated or puzzled people since it happened in 1978. The film is based on archive footage of Jones throughout his career, with the compelling evidence of those involved, including two of his 'sons'. On the one hand, it is an object lesson in the ability of charismatic individuals to persuade people to believe what they want to believe, on the other it exposes the lies and the cruelty that enabled Jones to survive as long as he did.
It exposes the lie of faith-healing: a woman with a broken leg who can walk had first been drugged, then told when she came round she had fallen and broken the leg she now saw in plaster, only it wasn't broken so of course she could walk and run when the cast was taken off. Bu there is no clearly stated explanation of what Jones believed, whether it was religious or political, and most of the footage consists of Jones shouting and screaming. There is also no deeper look into the multi-racial claims of the People's Temple and whether Jones sincerely believed in de-segregation of just found it a convenient tool to build his empire.
It also made me wonder why in the US there are so many 'preachers' -many of whom are self-invented or self-ordained- whose careers are based on large scale meetings where they bark, bleat, shout and scream as if they were rock stars inflaming the audience into rapture, rather than religious men delivering sermons on the moral basis of daily life as a preparation for salvation.
Deluded into thinking they were going to live a better life, his flock went to Guyana with him, only to discover that it is actually hard to produce food and drink on a daily basis for nearly 1,000 men, women and children without first investigating the fertility of the land chosen for the Promised Land. A third weakness being the absence of any detailed explanation why the government of Guyana allowed this ridiculous cretin into their country to create a 'state within a state' that they eventually had to deal with.
But fascinating and worth it if you can access the BBC iPlayer.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...ngle-episode-1
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...ngle-episode-2

[Stavros]

Midsommar (Ari Aster 2019)

A stylish film with exquisite detail that concerns the visit some Americans make to a Pagan festival in Sweden, even if three of the main characters are either English or Irish born in America. There are some scenes which I suppose some might find horrific, but you need to buy into the commune living on the basis of ancient rites to sit through to its predictable end. It treads a fine line between intriguing and plain daft, but it is just a film, detail not equalling depth, various homages to Bergman and Tarkovsky which some might find pretentious, but at least I managed to accept it and admire it for its quality -7/10.

[Torris]

Last movie for myself: Uncut Gems
I was surprised as to how much i liked this film and actually wanted the sleezeball Sandler to get over on everyone. He plays the role unlike others he has had before and, as a new yorker who bought his wife's ring on 47th street, he really is convincing.

.

I also thought he was terrific as a manic thrill junkie. I wonder if exposing the seedy underbelly of the NYC Jewish diamond trade hurt the film come award season.

[Stavros]

I also thought he was terrific as a manic thrill junkie. I wonder if exposing the seedy underbelly of the NYC Jewish diamond trade hurt the film come award season.

The diamond trade has had a bad reputation for as long as I have been alive, and that includes the blood diamond scene where, for example, Robert Mugabe and his Generals helped themselves to whatever they could grab in the Democratic Republic of the Congo when the situation there was worse than it might be now. Lebanese merchants were instrumental in facilitating the flow of uncut diamonds from West Africa to Israel, it is a global problem, and these days I am not even sure if Jews dominate the trade in Hatton Garden in London as once they might have done. Other than their use in medical instruments and other industries, I have understood that diamonds are useful, but as ornaments for the human body or an insurance against divorce, no, don't understand that.

[broncofan]

The diamond trade has had a bad reputation for as long as I have been alive, and that includes the blood diamond scene where, for example, Robert Mugabe and his Generals helped themselves to whatever they could grab in the Democratic Republic of the Congo when the situation there was worse than it might be now. Lebanese merchants were instrumental in facilitating the flow of uncut diamonds from West Africa to Israel, it is a global problem, and these days I am not even sure if Jews dominate the trade in Hatton Garden in London as once they might have done. Other than their use in medical instruments and other industries, I have understood that diamonds are useful, but as ornaments for the human body or an insurance against divorce, no, don't understand that.

The movie started with a scene in Ethiopia but for the most part it didn't include too much controversial information about the acquisition of diamonds or in this case opals. What could have been controversial, but really didn't generate much controversy was that the main character was Jewish and a hustler who pawned things that weren't his, gambled with money that wasn't his, and was mostly a self-destructive, selfish loser.

I agree with cereal's review. I enjoyed it and found it to be a thrilling ride. If I had to guess, I think the lack of awards is probably because it was not a film for everybody. Its reviews among critics were generally very good whereas the audience response was mixed on most sites that track these things. If you don't know anything about basketball, don't know who the weekend is, or don't like loud movies with profanity you might not enjoy it.

[waterbed]

Star Wars 9 - It Coulda Been a Contender...

Went in with low expectations. Left thinking "I can leave star wars behind now".

It's just getting money for the curiosity factor of George Lucas having declared Loooooong Ago that it was supposed to be a 9 part story, so we want to see it wrapped up at the end of 9.

It wasn't done in service to the story setup in the first 6 movies, it was done in service to the new characters and new merchandising, and was rushed through, and could have been 25minutes shorter. A sad day for lovers of stories and movies to see this rich property turned into a business opportunity. The original 3 had enough story and character to get people to care enough to want merchandise. This one just seems like a merchandise maker with little thought to character developement or story telling...

[steviedresses]

Got to make multiple posts because I've seen multiple good movies lately:

Star Wars 9. eh. Ok. Not sure what we expected. Wasn't great, wasn't terrible. At least they wrapped up who the heck Rey was.

Knives Out. Man that was fun. Actual character development and old fashioned movie making. Really enjoyed this movie.

Once Upon a Time. Again, just a fun movie. And how in the heck to you make a movie that is leading up to a horrible heinous crime fun? You let Quentin rewrite history that's how.

1917 The Great War was fought in black & white, right? But from the opening scene the movie reminds us that these were real people, fighting a gruesome, awful, war in vivid technicolor with real blood and guts being spilled. Aside from the historical aspect the film is a must see for every movie fan to witness this fine ONE LONG SHOT.

Wow. How did they pull that off?

[waterbed]

Star Wars 9 - wasn't great wasn't terrible, 3.6 out of 15,000

Knives Out - it's on my "to watch" list

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood - another tarantino movie I have no interest in watching, too much controversy over showing Bruce Lee wrong, among other things. I think he lost whatever touch he used to have.

1917 - GREAT movie, it will win awards, I didn't like some parts of it that distracted from the dialogue. The cuts between takes are there if you watch for them, like going through a dark doorway early on. It DOES feel like one really long shot though

Fans of 1917 should definitely watch Peter Jacksons 2018 "They Shall Not Grow Old"