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Midweek Movie Free Talk
Have you watched any movies recently you want to discuss? Any films you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.
Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.
Does anybody want to talk about any of the following?
My Neighbor Totoro (1988): ★★☆
This was my third Ghibli movie after having good experiences with Spirited Away and Kiki's Delivery Service. Tbh I read that this is where Ghibli's mascot comes from and was curious to see that character. It's a kid's movie, but still worth watching. I'm still looking for a blu-ray of Princess Mononoke, since I see that it is the least kidsy movie from Ghibli.
Paprika (2006): ★⯪☆
I am too dumb to understand this movie.
Top Gun (1986): ★★⯪ (rewatch)
Pew pew pew, MiGs go boom! Is it bad that I seem to enjoy movies like this more than complex movies where the plot has a bit more meat on the bones?
Black Bag (2025): ★★☆
Nothing special, but not bad either. This is a satisfying spy drama that is accessible to idiots like me.
The Godfather (1972): ★⯪☆
I saw The Godfather in the theater, and it was the first time where I think I might have enjoyed it more at home. One guy in the seat in front of me was on his phone as often as not. Several people got up and went to the bathroom mid-movie. That wouldn't be an issue - it is three hours long after all - if they didn't all slowly walk across the screen when they left. A couple people in the row behind me had snacks with noisy wrappers, especially during the opening monologue and the first time you have to try to understand Marlon Brando's raspy voice. After the slow opening and wedding scenes, I struggled to keep up - what's the relation between the guy who just died and that other guy? And now what about the other guy who also just died? Wait, now who is this? Is he gonna die too? So certain emotional beats didn't land because I was a step behind trying to understand the plot, and maybe all the distractions contributed to me missing or losing track of things. I need to watch it again and hopefully understand it better to get the full experience.
TL;DR my low rating is more because of the theater than the movie itself.
Your taste is your taste -- don't let anyone try to dictate what you should or shouldn't enjoy.
And for what it's worth, Top Gun is a great movie. It's my retired Air Force Captain dad's favorite film of all time.
Has he seen the new one, too? I thought it was also pretty good.
Oh yeah, several times. He likes it -- it's a good movie. I think they did a fine-enough job creating a situation where it's believable for Tom Cruise's character to come back to the flight school. The last like 30ish minutes are a bit beyond belief, but overall it's enjoyable.
My Neighbor Totoro is a great movie for all ages. I think more of it as a movie that is told through the eyes of kids, rather than a kids movie. Especially compared to many commercial western animation movies, that are just plain kids movies. I also have two daughters that remind me quite a bit of Satsuki and Mei, and what pulled me in was the incredible display of childhood glee, imagination, curiosity - and not the least their need for comfort. I like their father too, with how he simply acknowledges and encourages their curiosity. I have also seen it a couple of times with my daughters and they also love it, and just confirms for me that movies aimed at kids don't have to be this fast paced action galore fest that most other modern animations are these days. If it is good, slow paced stories can still grab their attention.
I watched A Real Pain over the weekend, and all I knew about it going in was that Jessie Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin went on a trip to Poland together.
I really loved this movie. It's quiet and not too complex and it utilizes every minute of its runtime. I think the way certain details are withheld or revealed at points in the script really make this work.
Spoilers about some significant plot points/character details.
Like for instance, a lesser version of this movie might've included a beat in the first scene, when Eisenberg's character is trying to get a hold of Culkin's character to make sure he's at the airport in time, where Eisenberg's character calls his wife to worry about the trip and the fact that his cousin had overdosed just a few months ago. That clues the audience in for something to look out for, but instead of burdening us with that first, it lets us understand the dynamics between the characters first. And it keeps that information close to its chest for a long time too -- Eisenberg's character is uncomfortable sharing this and has a hard time opening up about his feelings, so it works -- but as soon you learn this, it recolors the entire movie, really. It's a great move, and hard to pull off without feeling like the audience has been misled, but damn.Without making this too much about myself, but I really saw a younger/older version of myself in both characters, which I think is maybe part of why the movie resonated so much with me. When they're on the rooftop toward the end of the film smoking a joint and Eisenberg says he'd give anything to know what it's like for everyone to light up when he walks into a room -- like damn, that hit me so hard.
The Sacrifice - 6.5/10
Watched this a couple of weeks ago, forgot to post about it.
It's a movie taking place a single night during the Korean War in which a battalion has to cross a river. I have no clue if it's based on a true story or if it's even historically accurate at all but it was pretty cool to see the other side's take on it - in which the PLA are of course the good guys and not the US/UN.
I was afraid it would be a propaganda piece, and it mostly was lol. There were a few moments where it was in your face obvious, a lot of moments that were pretty silly where it was shot to look like actual propaganda posters, and then there were a lot of moments that reminded me of especially older Hollywood movies. These things were all brief moments and overall the movie was without it, but it definitely took me out of immersion when they happened. Just couldn't take it serious - not to mention the credits which are like 5 straight minutes of news reports and military parade footage. With the exception of that in particular, I think that if it was an American film, a lot of people would just call it patriotic. And that's intended to be a "both sides" thing, just I do think it interesting to try to see it from both perspectives. For example, I didn't watch it but heard so much about it: is American Sniper less propagandistic than this?
Anyway, as to its merits as a film and putting aside the political aspect: plot, story, acting, effects, etc., all very good. You can really feel how deep the relationships between characters are. There are so many helicopter shots going over the landscape above and towards it, which makes the scale feel huge even though it's focused on just a bridge. There were funny moments throughout too, as well as emotional ones bordering on Spielberg levels of sappy: the AAA has only a couple dozen rounds of ammunition left but they make it work, the engineers have really simplistic tools but they make it work, people are dying left and right but they rise above. It's an against all odds type of movie and while they do pull it off, it's often too overly dramatic. An interesting watch in any case, definitely recommend!
Next up: The Battle at Lake Changjin
Just watched Society of the Snow (La Sociedad de la Nieve) on Netflix and fuck me what a great film. Kind of hard to talk about it without spoiling it, but given that it's a very faithful retelling of a famous incident (members of a Uruguayan Rugby team survive for over two months after crashing in the Andes), I think it's fair game.
Apparently the movie is extremely faithful to the original events. The director, actors, and staff interacted heavily with the survivors and their families to accurately portray the events. They filmed at the actual site of the crash and in the same time of year too. One of the survivors said of the film: “I was immersed in that place again.... I was back to the fuselage.”
Anyways, the movie is getting a lot of praise and IMO it deserves all of it and more. Felt like a survival drama, but was really a documentary in disguise. Would love to see more 'documentaries' with such attention to detail and respect for the source material. If you watch it, I highly recommend the original Spanish audio. The actors did a great job!
I took a random chance yesterday and saw Faith Akin's Auf der anderen Seite (The Edge of Heaven) from 2007. It won for best screenplay in Cannes. I basically just watched it because I saw it will be removed from Mubi in a few days, and I am really glad I took such a random chance. This is very much a film about characters or personal portraits if you will. Every person in this are full of life and personal history. They are not just there to drive the plot forward. The narrative structure reminds me very much of one my favorite directors - Kieswlowski, with how it deals with random encounters and how all destinies are interlinked. This makes for a rather constructed plot, which I am usually not a fan of, but the plot is not the main point here - it is the characters and they all draw you in from the first second on screen.
It is a very tragic story, but in a strange way since you know the tragedy before it occurs. We see "Lotte's death" on screen, without knowing who Lotte is yet. When someone says "I am Lotte", the sadness instantly hits, even though it hasn't happened yet. Just waiting for the inevitable outcome. It adds an anxiety to the narrative that I don't think I have seen done like that before.
The different narrative threads sort of blends together, then drift apart, giving closure but also leaving things unresolved. I love films that does that.
Watched two movies in the past week, one great, one just ok.
First up, Mickey 17 (2025). Honestly, this movie was just meh to me. The trailer really caught my attention but the actual movie left me disappointed. It's certainly not a bad movie; Robert Pattinson did a great job in his role, the set design was great, and the direction was solid. The writing, however, lets it down for me. The first half does a lot of setup that then goes nowhere. The second half is just completely disconnected from the first half and drags on for just a touch too long. Overall, I'd probably save myself the money and just watch this on streaming.
Second, Sivaji: The Boss (2007). This is a classic South Indian movie that is basically a live action anime. The director of this movie is known for making movies that address contemporary social issues and have vigilante themes and this movie does all of that. In short, this movie is about a software engineer who, after becoming wealthy in the US, returns to India to use his wealth to serve and improve the lives of the poor. However, he faces constant roadblocks from a corrupt government and dangerous political leaders and decides to do things on his own. The movie does a great job of highlighting the corruption you'd see in India. Excessive regulations, complicated tax/licensing systems, layers upon layers of opaque bureaucracy, etc. are all things you see the titular character Sivaji faces as he tries to make his dream a reality. Watching from an American perspective, the movie does have a lot of questionable aspects to it, like colorism and sexism, but it's still an interesting watch.