Dude, literally the same exact thing happened to me as a kid! How weird. It stuck with me for years,I haven’t thought about it for an eternity until you brought it up. Still haven’t seen the movie though, I actually didn’t know where the scene was even from for the longest time.

The Nest- The film is much less an examination of the impact of Reagan-era austerity and the financialization of the 1980's on average families and much more a canvas for critics and essayists to project their ostentatious, rambling interpretations and screeds on to. It's one of the few times user reviews are going to be more useful than critics because users aren't interested in proving how good of a writer and how cultured they are. The aesthetics are exquisite (although a few too many wide shots) and the acting is fine, but there's little reason to care about the mundane plights of the film's irritating, self-destructive characters. While it achieved its goal of making a superficial treatise on superficiality and portraying characters who lost their purpose in life and are incapable of getting it back, I'm not entirely sure that's something to be commended. You could make the most perfect drama about cleaning toilet bowls possible but at the end of the day, your movie is still about cleaning toilet bowls.

I get the feeling those who heaped praise on the movie haven't watched many in the FilmMovement collection, as this brand of weepy, abstruse cinema makes up probably 90% of the movies they acquire.

I remember long scenes of legion soldiers working out in the desert, with the camera centering on their crotches, and that weird 'Rhythm of the Night' choregraphy at the end.

That's basically the film right there.

I've watched quite a few since my last posted list:

Gods And Monsters
This has been on my watchlist for over a decade. I feel like this could have been a lot better if it wasn't bogged down by some really bad acting (If Brendan Fraser is in something....). Interesting enough story that falls in the pit of some really bad cliches of its time.

Suspiria (original)
I will admit I am not the biggest fan of horror films, but why is this considered a classic? I wanted to see it before venturing on to the remake, but I found nothing about this scary or even spooky. Not to mention, the DVD copy I was watching (Guillotine Films, 2004) must have been scanned from a horrible source, because it literally looked like a VHS taped off a cable TV network. Within the first 5 minutes I needed to turn the subtitles on, except... the disc didn't have any. I ended up watching it on almost full blast just to hear what the characters were saying. I will still watch the remake, but what is the general opinion on this film vs. the remake?

Gun Crazy
Loved this. A nice little pulp from 1950. Acting is great, story has enough substance without being super predictable. I think John Dall is incredible.

Downhill
One of Hitchcock's very early films, before he ventured into the genre and style he would become famous for. Some really great ideas here, and maybe somewhat provocative for its time? I really enjoyed this. I find it interesting to watch the very early films of the people who became titans.

Hillbilly Elegy
LOL. It's been a while since I laughed this hard at a movie that was not supposed to be funny. Glenn Close does carry the film, but man alive was this bad. Hot take: Ron Howard has done more bad films than good ones at this point.

Eight Men Out
Being a huge baseball fan, I've known this story for 3 decades. I know I had seen part of this film as a kid with my grandfather, but I had never watched it in full. Even knowing the story, the film itself is quite good. The baseball scenes are well done, which I find isn't always the case with sports films. However, I did find myself thinking, "If i was watching this with someone who didn't know the game well, they would be lost in the first 20 minutes."

Chicago
The most current Best Picture winner I had never seen. I stayed away for years, basically, because I don't like modern musicals. but this was highly entertaining. I'm not exactly sure it's Best Picture material, but I'm glad I knocked it off the list.

Gladiator
Speaking of popular films I'd never seen, yeah, I had never seen Gladiator. To answer the popular question: Yes, I was entertained. I really wish they wouldn't have included those cheesy slo-motion shots in battle montages, and there is some bad greenscreen going on at times, but Crowe is really good and I found the films longer runtime flew by.

Onward
Not one of my favourite Pixar films, but the sentimental value of it kind of got me at the end. I have a parent that is going to pass in the next week or so, so I suppose this hit a little harder. Also, extra points for decent job on the animated BattleVest!

Was it a pan-and-scan DVD? That's definitely no way to watch a classic! I love the original Suspiria. Great atmosphere with its use of music and colors. Also, it uses the giallo technique of having the killer just off camera, which means that such up-close, brutal murders have to be filmed creatively. I'll admit it's definitely a style-over-substance type of filmmaking, but I don't mind. And that's most likely the reason I hated the remake; it had a more involved story but none of the style I loved. The ending on the remake is pretty crazy, though... but I don't know if it's worth watching just for that.

I have given the original Suspiria two chances now and I think the remake is better, bloated running time and all. I don't even think the 1977 movie is the best I've seen from Argento's 70s - 80s prime since I liked Opera more.

I liked Hillbilly Elegy. It is one of those feel good movies that I enjoy once in a while and the only worthy movie that Ron Howard made in like ages. Also, honourable mention to Glenn Close who is splendid as a tough love grandma!

A Perfect Murder- AKA Dial M for Monotonous, this remake of the Hitchcock classic neither offends nor impresses. Therefore it carries the dubious title of Least Bad Hitchcock Remake I've Seen. Sorry Christopher Reeves's Rear Window, you've been displaced by a movie with Gwyneth Paltrow, truly the most ignoble of usurpations.

The joys that 41 years of hindsight can offer

A Hard Day- These critically acclaimed Korean crime thrillers just can't stop underwhelming me. Definitely better than the other two I've watched recently (the abominable Crying Man/No Tears for the Dead and the well below average A Company Man), in fact, there are scenes that could stand toe-to-toe with the best of the genre. The problem is that it's a great 80 minute movie and a goddamn masterpiece of a 40 minute short film stretched to nearly two hours. There's just not enough happening to justify the runtime; by the 1 hour mark you've seen everything the movie has to offer, yet you're barely past the halfway mark. Watch Andhadhun to see how to escalate the stakes to keep the viewer engaged. Apparently the guys behind the brilliant Amazon series The Family Man are cooking up a Hindi-language remake. Usually Bollywood remakes are the worst the country has to offer, but with such a flawed gem like A Hard Day, this is one to keep an eye on. With the right set of polishing tools, the movie could sparkle.

Forgotten- Another day another dour, draining and utterly dogshit Korean movie. There's nothing wrong with a movie that carries an intriguing setup that's functionality hinges on a plot twist. There's also nothing wrong with garbage science/psychology in a movie; I do love Indian films, after all. The problem is that plot twist is completely ridiculous and relies on junk science to justify it, all within the trappings of a stone serious movie that literally ends with

This isn't so much pissing on your face and saying it's raining as it is pissing on your face while explaining the thermodynamics of why the rain is warm, the PH levels of smog to explain why it tastes salty and the pigmentation retention of city rain to explain its yellow hue.

Unless you're a misery porn aficionado who loves deadly serious movies, I'd skip it.

Bulworth- Where has this movie been all my life? I'm not going to say it's a masterpiece; honestly speaking it's probably about a 6/10. You can tell where the movie's going within the first 15 minutes and if you were even remotely surprised by the ending you've probably not seen many movies. But for me, the movie's an 11/10 and by far my favorite American political satire to date. This isn't a heavy-handed liberal excoriation of conservativism e.g. Bob Roberts or an extrapolation so abstract you can barely recognize it e.g. Election and Rushmore, nor does it carry a terminal case of South Park bothsidesitis. The film is a leftist critique of Democrats/neoliberalism and their failure to provide for their constituency (namely, poor people and black people). Very few of the truthbombs dropped throughout the film would surprise anyone today, but at the time it was simply unprecedented. Huge recommendation.

Cimarron (1931)
I am in the process of watching any Best Picture winner I've never seen in a random order, and due to length the night I chose to watch something, I picked Cimarron. Kind of an unfocused western (I guess?) starting with the Oklahoma Land rush in the late 1800's. The centre of the story is mostly on a drifter of a man, but the narrative kind of changes a few times a long the way as he is a newpaper editor but also a lawyer? I guess for 1931, I can see why it won best picture at a time when they were mostly giving the award to whatever production was the most grand and scaling. The opening tracking shots of the horses running across the barren land is pretty good for its time.

Braveheart (1995)
Yep. I had NEVER seen Braveheart start-to-finish. Upon watching it, I realized I had seen almost all of it in different bits and pieces. It's entertaining, but it absolutely too long in my opinion. Every single battle scene is basically the same thing over and over. Almost every single one could have been cut in half, and it would have made the film about a half hour shorter. Once again, kind of a product of its time, where the academy was giving the big prize away to big, bloated (often war related) epics.

Wings (1927)
The first film to ever win best picture (at the time, named Best Production) and I am still bewildered at how this was made in 1927. War in the sky, bombs going off, planes crashing into buildings, machine guns firing, vehicles flipping, a very funny scene with some special effects relating to carbonation of champagne not to mention BLOOD (gasp!) and a woman's breasts in the late 20's (pre-code). Really impressed with this film for the time in which it was released.

Promising Young Woman (2020)
I'm not even sure if I'm allowed to have an opinion on this film. I'll say I enjoyed it, and I can see how it is very cathartic for a lot of women. Speaking STRICTLY to the filmmaking aspect of it, it was solid. That's all I will say to stay away from a massive debate about the content.

Super Fly (1972)
Again, I'm not sure I am the right demographic to speak about the content of this, but Priest is one hell of a character.

The Fly (1986)
Decided to stick with the theme of seeing big name films I had never seen before. I know this is considered a sci-fi/horror classic, but it just wasn't for me. I keep trying Cronenberg's films (I've seen almost half of them now), and the only ones I've really liked were Dead Ringers and Eastern Promises. I haven't seen Crash yet, which is on my list.

Soul (2020)
Pixar got me again. I don't exactly know who the audience is for this film, because it isn't a children's movie at all. I mentioned in my previous post, I have a parent that is palliative, so something like this just hits a little harder right now.

The Age Of The Medici (1972)
Historical Italian film that is like watching paint dry in history class. Good lord, I bailed on this about a third of the way in, and thank goodness I did, because it's over four hours long. Not to mention the horrible dubbing job, since it was filmed in English with the intent to release it in the states. No shock that it didn't get picked up, and ended up being dubbed in Italian to be shown on Italian television.

Mirror - Tarkovsky delivers this dreamlike sort of jumble in which you really just have to go with the flow. Lots of disparate scenes and memories all stitched together. Very artful, a nice thing to watch for sure. I'm not sure I really got it. I am gonna have to see it again.

Judas and the Black Messiah - Films like this, steeped in history, I always get the idea there's a lot missing and have heard as much here - I'd like to read some more about the real life case. That said it's a tremendous film. Very epic and full of heart and rage. You'll be fucking angry watching it. I admire that we've come to a place where characters can talk about socialism and the cops can be portrayed as so nakedly craven and evil. This is powerful stuff and the themes resonate today. That's why it had to be made.

Promising Young Woman - Very mixed feelings on this. It's a real cold, harsh look at rape culture and how the world is, on one hand. On the other it's a sort of over the top Hollywood revenge tale that is pretty entertaining at first. Good acting from Carey Mulligan and Bo Burnham, and a stylish directing look, go a long way. I just wasn't convinced by the ending, which I felt tried too hard to be both the cold reality and this super stylized Hollywood thing in a way that I wasn't really sure of the point anymore. I'm not sure I'd see it again really.

I Care a Lot - Really quite a wicked movie. This is of one of my favorite types of film recently in that it lacks any moral center, instead just showing the naked lust for power and control, in the mode of Nightcrawler or Wolf of Wall St, that motivates these characters as a duplicitous state guardian squares off against the mob. Rosamund Pike and Peter Dinklage are on fire here, the pacing is fast and tight, and the story is full of rapid-fire twists and action. I really didn't find much fault with it. Gleefully fucking entertaining.

In the Shadow of the Moon https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8110640/ loved it. anything i might say will spoil it :/ the trailer spoils most of the movie, and there's a spoiler on the imdb page as well :/

slight/sideways spoiler that gives it an edge


Sacrifice (2020) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10004108/ was garbage.

I liked Promising Young Woman. very poetic.

Ma Rayney's Black Bottom - I'm not sure I loved the movie, it's not really a subject that really spoke to me, but the performances were really good - Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman, of course, but even the supporting characters were great. It made me even sadder to lose Chadwick Boseman because he showed here he was really talented - I had seen him only in Black Panther (and assorted MCU movies) before, and while he did a good job, I mean it's just a superhero movie. At least, I hadn't seen him in something else till I saw...

Da 5 Bloods - Coincidentally, another Boseman movie, although here he plays a really small role. I really liked this. It's about the Vietnam War, PTSD, the way African-Americans were used (and are used) as pawns in useless wars, while remaining an entertaining movie with good, visceral action sequences. Not a short movie but it could have been even longer that it would not have overstayed its welcome. Can't say if I preferred it over Black KKKlansman, maybe not, but close. Boseman's short performance is also really good, but I feel his short screen time means it's overshadowed by all the other good performances all around. It's also a product of its time, as it features Trump and BLM, so it's a "now" movie.

To echo Curious_dead above me, if they gave out an oscar for "best ensemble cast", those two films would be hard to pick between. All the parts of the band members in Ma Rainey were incredible, and the pals in 5 Bloods were also really, really good.

lol. what are you talking about? nobody gets banned for (dis)liking a certain film, for god's sakes.

i liked the film, gave it a 7/10.

rape culture, what is that?

i just see this as a quirky revenge movie. just remember the plot of "i spit on your grave". that was a straight revenge film. same goes for "death sentence" with kevin bacon, or "death wish" with charles bronson.

You never heard the term rape culture before? Plenty of this movie was directly in conversation with that - the way frat boys react, the way society reacts, etc. It was all over this thing. A very modern take on the revenge movie as you say.

I just liked other revenge flicks better (The Nightingale, Blue Ruin - I tend to like ones that really seriously ruminate on what revenge means) and found this one to be a little tonally confused and weird the more it went on. Liked the first act a lot though.