El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie - Discussion thread
The followup movie to Breaking Bad, focusing on the character of Jesse Pinkman after the events of the show, released on Oct 11 (PST). So, what'd you all think of it?
The followup movie to Breaking Bad, focusing on the character of Jesse Pinkman after the events of the show, released on Oct 11 (PST). So, what'd you all think of it?
We have about a million films showing vampires, zombies, werewolves, and ghosts.
But despite rich folklore traditions we see very few films about other creatures. There is a handful of films dealing with leprechauns, pixies, trolls, fairies, witches, goblins, gnomes, etc. And that's just the western traditions. We have huge range of unexplored creatures from around the world. If I had to sit through yet another vampire film I'd rather it was based on adze traditions than Bram Stoker reinventions.
Why are there so many films that tread the same ground about vampires, zombies, and ghosts, and so few films about everything else?
Seeing as there's no discussion post about this movie yet, and especially in the light of the hype (both positive and negative) I was curious to hear everyone's thoughts on the movie.
Here's the IMDB page for The Souvenir (distributed by A24). https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6920356/
IMDB users give the score as 6.6, and the user reviews are stuffed full of people who hate it. The critic reviews are almost entirely positive though.
Here's the Cherry Picks page for The Souvenir. https://www.thecherrypicks.com/films/souvenir
They use reviews from "female-identifying and non-binary film critics", and as a result the film gets good reviews.
I find the reviews surfaced by Cherry Picks to be more thoughtful, more considered, and more useful to me than those surfaced by IMDB or MetaCritic (even though they all pull critic reviews from many of the same sources).
I've found some great films via Cherry Picks.
Some of the works of Peckinpah had been on my watch list for months, sitting there in a subfolder of a subfolder. From the choice of Straw Dogs and Cross of Iron, I chose the aforetitled, liking the idea of embarking on a bit of a journey through Mexico with a gritty protagonist as we experience splatterings of violence and negotiate the thoughts of a down and out vagabond making a ran for his riches.
The film left me with mixed feelings. I enjoyed the path of Benny, experiencing how his character is unwavering in his desire to take that last lucky ticket out of debauchery street, but didn't care much for his journey's partner. While I appreciated the dynamic of the relationship, the understanding they both had that they weren't in love with each other, but all they both had, the chemistry and dialogue didn't really resonate with me at parts. I actually was rather glad when this relationship came to its abrupt end as the film entered its final 3rd.
On top of that, there was major issues with the sound which made it difficult to fully immerse myself in the journey at times. I found myself feeling I was watching a caricature of a 70s movie now and again, as opposed to be engrossed in a gritty noir-esque adventure.
But all in all, an enjoyable film which has left an impression. I always appreciate watching unpolished characters navigating circumstances plotted outside their usual courses, then watching how they deal with the inevitable implosion. From what I've read since, the film was one which perhaps accurately portrayed the director's life at the time of filming; dealing with various booze-infused demons. That rawness definitely shows, as does the inevitable imperfections in this movie's execution.
7.5/10
Used to love reading the IMDB boards after checking out a flick. Up until, of course, Amazon's takeover and purging. Now I feel dirty using the site to check out info about films, and am trying to break the habit of using it as my 'go-to' site.
Letterboxd and TheMovieDatabase seem to be the 2 most credible alternatives. Any other suggestions on the Web3.0 (or 2.5) solution to a great community to kick back, contribute and learn with others about film?
Have you watched any movies recently you want to discuss? Any movies that you'd like to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here!
Spoilers are okay, just give fair warning so people who care about them can participate too.
Have you watched any movies recently you want to discuss? Any movies that you'd like to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here!
Spoilers are okay, just give fair warning so people who care about them can participate too.
Since we're fast approaching the second half of the year, I think it's a good time to look back on the first half, to the movies that came out this year and to share our favorites. I'm giving my favorite 10 (though in no particular order) but if more or fewer stood out to you and you want to share all of them, feel free! Blockbusters, indies, comedies, dramas, whatever stands out to you from 2019 so far. Don't feel pressured to write anything but the title or a basic synopsis if you don't want to.
I have a list of all the 2019 movies I see that I consider "good" here (29 films at the time of writing this) if anyone wants to take a look at all of them.
@007: Daniel Craig returns as James Bond, 007 in... NO TIME TO DIE. Out in the UK on 3 April 2020 and 8 April 2020 in the US. #Bond25 #NoTimeToDie https://t.co/qxYEnMhk2s
Thanks to @dubteedub for doing this up until now, let's bring em back :)
Have you watched any movies recently you want to discuss? Any movies that you'd like to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here!
Spoilers are okay, just give fair warning so people who care about them can participate too.