What I've Been Watching: The Catch-All Film Thread

JDR13 said:
Though I'm not sure if it's as weird as an Italian director doing a film about the American Civil War.
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Didn't Italian directors make most of the best Westerns? I have no facts to back this up, but I heard this somewhere.
 
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Saw Conclave on Tuesday night. Nothing exciting about it, but a very thoughtful drama.
 
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Tony said:
Didn't Italian directors make most of the best Westerns? I have no facts to back this up, but I heard this somewhere.
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Italian movies were at their height in the 60's and 70's so it is not suprising. They had great movies in pretty much every genre - westerns, drama, horror etc. In the 80's the quality of movies coming out of italy declined but they still made some good flicks.
 
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Tony said:
Didn't Italian directors make most of the best Westerns? I have no facts to back this up, but I heard this somewhere.
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If you like Spaghetti Westerns, yeah. I'm not a big fan of them myself, although I do think some of Sergio Leone's film are good.
 
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I've started watching Dr. Sleep, since I'm a huge fan of the two books involved, the first more than the second yet I find both enjoyable to read. As this film clocks in at over three hours, it'll take a few days for me to get through. So far it's good.
 
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I watched Joker 2. It was pretty decent but also uneven. At least until the last act when they didn’t really know what to do with it. It was also pretty messy throughout. But Joachim was still as great as ever in the role. Some very cool and subtle moments from him. I liked some of the singing scenes. Others not so much. But the main fault of it I would say that it’s pretty messy and didn’t really stick the ending. But if you loved Joachim’s performance it’s still as great as ever. Also, the movie is nowhere close as bad as people are making it to be, imo.
 
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JDR13 said:
I enjoyed Dr Sleep a lot. I'd say it's one of my favorite King adaptions in recent years.
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Another Doctor Sleep movie fan here. Mike Flanagan is my favorite horror director right now.

I watch most of my horror around Halloween and Dr. Sleep was my favorite by far.

Other movies I saw: The Thing (original), Haunt, Terrifier 1 & 2, Oculus, Aliens, Speak No Evil (original), X, Pearl, Maxxxine, American Werewolf in London, Bone Tomahawk

I tried watching but couldn’t finish: Nightmare on Elm Street (original), I Saw the TV Glow (one reviewer said it relishes in “passionate ambivalence” and I couldn’t agree more; the horror is the direction itself)
 
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soola said:
Other movies I saw: The Thing (original), Haunt, Terrifier 1 & 2, Oculus, Aliens, Speak No Evil (original), X, Pearl, Maxxxine, American Werewolf in London, Bone Tomahawk.
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The Thing is one of my all-time favorites. The prequel is also worth watching if you haven't seen it yet. It's not as good as the original, but I like how they tie together. I'm eagerly awaiting the remaster of the PC game.

I've tried watching Terrifier, but I couldn't get into it. Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood. It felt too over-the-top for me. I rewatched Bone Tomahawk recently. Good flick.
 
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JDR13 said:
I've tried watching Terrifier, but I couldn't get into it. Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood. It felt too over-the-top for me. I rewatched Bone Tomahawk recently. Good flick.
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I got you. Slasher flicks in general are like Hot Dogs for me; I forget how much I don’t like them every few years and consume them again then remember I don’t like them. I wanted to give the second one a chance because it was intended as more story-driven but it’s still pretty hollow. Guess I wanted to give it a chance since the third movie just came out too.
 
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JDR13 said:
I enjoyed Dr Sleep a lot. I'd say it's one of my favorite King adaptions in recent years.
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I'm not sure if he was involved but the Castle is based on his works and season 1 is fantastic. All the seasons were pretty good but season 1 stands out in my mind. Dr. Sleep is pretty great too.
 
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1852979930055036990
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I think the more I think about Joker - Folie à Deux the more it nestles into my heart.
It's definitely got issues with feeling uneven and sometimes maybe too subtle or maybe directionless, and doesn't have the climax that the first one did, but it's growing in my heart.
Of course it could be that I'm looking much more into it because of the general negativity around it. Time will probably tell, if I see it in 5-10 years, with different eyes.
What is undeniable though is that Joaquin's performance is still as master-class as ever.
 
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I finished Dr. Sleep last night and yup, it's pretty good. The cast was spot-on, obviously they couldn't cover everything from the novel and changed/omitted some things, yet overall I think they didn't waste a moment of the three hours plus. I'll likely reread both books later this year yet again, they're just that darn good!
 
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danutz_plusplus said:
I watched Joker 2.
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Just watched it for the first time as well. I went in with an open mind, but it just fell flat for me. From the impromptu musicals interrupting any semblance of a narrative, to the ending which basically had me affirming that I had just wasted 2 hours of my life, it had none of the first's atmosphere or even a compelling story.

4/10.
 
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Drithius said:
Just watched it for the first time as well. I went in with an open mind, but it just fell flat for me. From the impromptu musicals interrupting any semblance of a narrative, to the ending which basically had me affirming that I had just wasted 2 hours of my life, it had none of the first's atmosphere or even a compelling story.

4/10.
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I liked most of the musical sequences. Felt dreamlike and a sort of extension of the short dance number Joker does in the bathroom in the first film. Besides these I really enjoyed Joaquin once ahead. Somehow he makes it seem so easy and natural. And that amazing smile he does is just amazing. So I'm sure my enamourment with his potrayal probabil did a lot for me.

On the ending I was kind of split.
I would've loved if they had continued the initial thread and not effectively killed the fantasy. At least for maybe one more film ... since I like his portrayal. But since there's no way they would do a 3rd one they went and basically did a similar thing that Last of us 2 did to Joel.

They effectively poisoned the mythos built around him. Now as to how they did it, I'm a bit torn as well. I'm sure there could possible be a better way, but somehow I also like the idea that his little dwarf friend broke into his psyche and brought Fleck back to some humanity, at least for a moment that would allow Fleck to effectively kill Joker in front of everyone. I kinda like that idea, that even a deranged lunatic can have some moments of humanity and clarity. The way I interpreted that ending was not that Joker is not real, but just that he came out in certain times and took over.

But I did not like that after that he runs after Lee. That didn't make much sense, so I'm not sure if it just went over my head, or they just didn't know what to do next. He surely couldn't have expected for Lee to still want to stay with him. Not sure it even made sense for him to want that since he surely knew she was just part of the crowd that was feeding off his myth. But maybe it can be explained that he just lost his mind and for some reason was still hoping Lee would protect him

So, definitely a messy film but I kinda liked what they were going for. I can understand why most would not like it. And maybe I'll have a different opinion upon re-watching it some years down the line. As I said, I might also be coping because I just love how Joaquin plays him.

Btw, I watched some other reviews and analysis, and some had an interesting explanation for the very ending. Not sure i like it, but it definitely flew over my head. I did not notice that.
Some are saying the dude that kills Fleck at the end, after he kills him he proceeds to do something to himself while he's not in focus for the camera. And they said he was probably cutting his face, and that he's actually the one that becomes the real Joker.
I don't really like that. It's kind of hoaky. I'll just assume that's not what they intended since it's just too stupid.

Since I didn't grade it, I think I'd give it a 6 or 7/10.
 
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Alien Romulus - Boring intro and teens only, the big negatives. Overall enjoyable but didnt feel like an Alien movie to me, more like Dead Space the movie :alien:.
 
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