The Films You Watched Thread VI: The Undiscovered Movie

[QualityChimp]

Just going back to "Men" for a minute, a lot of my interpretation was confirmed here:

https://www.thisisbarry.com/film/men-movie-explained-full-plot-and-ending/

(SPOILERS, obviously!)

Although he saw more stuff than me, I enjoyed analysing what was being represented onscreen.
You can take it all at face value, or look further and I find that to be fascinating sometimes.

Ultimately, I believe the film is about:

->Open Spoiler<-

Someone with PTSD, struggling to unpack what they've been forced to deal with.
The first time they get chance to breathe, all the various emotions from anger to guilt catch up with her and she tries to deal with them.

That doesn't change the fact the final section is jeffin' weird!

[randombs]

Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Holds up quite well (not so much the humour as the animation), and Christopher Lloyd is wonderful as the baddie. I remember the cute shoe dipping scene was nightmare fuel when I was young but, just like with Hellraiser and stuff, I wasn’t scared at all this time around. No sirree, Bob (Hoskins).

[fuse]

I've been watching a lot lately so we're going quick-fire for a hot minute. Finger guns at the ready.

Glass Onion - leaned in a bit hard on the silly; fun, but not as good as the first
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio - gorgeous to look at and overall fab version of the story
Amsterdam - huge let down - story wanders, ensemble cast wasted - didn't like this at all
Call Me by Your Name - some great moments and performances, but also found it quite predatory for something held up for its representation
Barbarian - really good; subverts your expectations but also matches what you need out of a horror (expect no Wolf from Gladiators on the box, boo)
Censor - some good in there but a bit thin on ideas; somewhat redeemed by a great ending
Decision to Leave - really interesting cinematography that isn't always helpful in telling the story, the thriller is good rather than great
Possessor - really liked this; gorgeous to look at, good sci-fi concept that doesn't goo too overboard with the dystopian kick, but instead goes quite far with the gore
Breaking the Waves - sigh - heartbreaking, but having watched later Von Trier films I knew it was leading to dark places from the off, precisely how it's going to emotionally manipulate you and so on...
The Handmaiden - liked this story and thought it was told well, the sex scenes though were quite performative and uncomfortably leery though
The Worst Person in the World - not a great or representative title, but an enjoyable movie for sure - it's a romance-centric story, but grappling with the kind of issues around life and love that actually interest me

To join in the with the chat though, I liked The Menu too! I had a certain impression of it from the trailer but instead it was a bit more playful and funny than some kind of serious, pointed takedown.

Best thing I've watched lately though? Aftersun. Oh my god. We finally found the film where my girlfriend comes out relatively unscathed, whereas I was in tears, my voice cracking as I try to talk about it, just... bereft. It connected with me on a bunch of levels and I can imagine those of you with small people will feel it on even more.

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (2004 Via Netflix)
[...]
He's been with them 20 years now!

I caught this in the cinema when it came out, already with the mindset of being long-since done with Metallica. That we've just stacked another pile of years on top of that is... oh dear.

[randombs]

I watched Barbarian with a couple of mates last night and we had a blast.
I'd concur with "The less you know, the better."
Atticus' synopsis is all you need to know.

I enjoyed it:

->Open Spoiler<-

First off, I really don’t like these rapey horror films. Don’t Breathe was another one I didn’t get on with. Having said that, I can appreciate that this film’s themes are dodgy men, blurred lines and slippery slopes. Anyway, I’m not really good with watching films in depth but here’s my interpetation:

The house represented the slippery slope of rapiness:

1) Main House: Scenes in the house above ground are mostly awkward fumbling around but with an air of danger. They’re like a guy getting a girl’s number and then calling to check it’s legit. with Keith who seems receptive when Tess explains what women go through. He mentions the tea (i.e. roofies slipped into drinks at a bar) and opens the wine - wine at a time like this, ffs! - in front of her so she can see it’s not tampered with but there’s still tension and I think it’s to help us understand the tension women experience with strangers. It feels like he had the makings of a rapist so that’s probably why he’s killed off early on (“FML why are all the decent guys taken???”). Perhaps mama sensed sensed this and that’s why she bashed his head in. Mama’s intuition!

2) Basement/dungeon: The dungeon is the next stage. That’s where all the raping and taping goes on. I imagine the rope door and dark tunnel mean something, and I liked how Tess used the mirror to literally shine a light on the horrors that went unnoticed all this time. I like to think the tunnels connecting everything are like the decision trees guys use to justify their behaviour. Also, there’s a lot of looking back while going forward (you can always turn back? Actions follow you around?). Also, lots of doors. I wonder if the doors are like asking for consent. The basement door closes by itself, reminding you that you agreed to all of this. You’re not a tease, are you?

3) Mama’s Nest: Down into the depths we go, where we witness the lasting effects of the dungeon - incest mama; cages with dog food trays; that VHS about breastfeeding. It’s Joseph Fritzl down there. Mama’s room has a pink hue, which must mean something. AJ, currently fighting rape allegations, is completely oblivious to - or doesn’t care about - the underground horror show and gets his tape measure out (dick length metaphor?) so he can size the rooms up to prettify his real estate listing. He learns you can’t add basement measurements to the overall square footage of a house. That probably means something, too. The milk bottle feeding scene feels like BJs. AJ’s the new piece of meat and Tess explains what he has to do to fall in line but he doesn’t listen so mama drops down to titty slap him.

4) Frank’s Hideaway. Holy ****. Even mama doesn’t want to go in here, and for good reason. AJ watches a bit of a rape tape and we see he has a moral compass, but hardly anyone would be fine with that horrific stuff. AJ would never do this horrible stuff but so far we know he raped someone. Also, he’s already told us he’s persistent. He’s not at Frank’s level but he owns the house which is a pretty ****ed up coincidence. Slippery slopes, I tells ya!

Other random stuff:

Police not believing Tess is a thing that happens too often; AJ going through a redemption arc but literally throwing his progress(Tess) away to save his skin; scary homeless guy turns out to be harmless and makes me think about “nice” guys getting upset when women cross the road to avoid them and women saying they can’t take chances. Homeless guy dies, too. Beaten to death with his own arm. Him and Keith were killed in similar ways, but AJ gets an eyeful.

Ok that’s my Bad Influence Datablast, thanks for reading!

[Neon Ignition]

M3GAN
First cinema trip of the year and this was alright, familiarity with both incarnations of Chucky will dilute the mileage you get from this but it's brief and light enough to still be decent even if there's no originality to it.

[Atticus]

My son's been asking to watch The Babadook for a while (it's sat on the shelf, beckoning, like the book in the film). I told him it's not good-time horror. It's bleak and intense. And, after watching it again, it must be said it's amazing too. I enjoyed it even more the second time. Well, I say 'enjoy' ... it's not what you'd call an enjoyable watch, more a super effective horror experience, tapping into real and unreal fears. Looking forward to watching some of the new special features on the Second Sight 4K ... really nice limited edition.

[QualityChimp]

I suspect that's an interesting one to rewatch, knowing the "twist", like Sixth Sense.

[Atticus]

We got round to watching The Menu. The world of pretentious food (had both my boys whinging at the cringe factor) serves as a great foundation. We enjoyed it.

I suspect that's an interesting one to rewatch, knowing the "twist", like Sixth Sense.

It is ... really stands up to a repeat viewing. I think it's one of those films that catches you off guard the first time you watch it.

[Colin]

Banshees Of Inisherin. Brilliant.

[Neon Ignition]

The Princess
Heard this was a decent action film and in the end it's a pretty boring film. A princess wakes up at the top of a tower where she is set to be forced to marry a tyrant, except she's trained to fight and decides to make her escape. The film is essentially her fighting generic soldiers for an hour and half room by room. It's very much a film that feels the constant fighting will do all the work and plaster over the painfully low budget that see's the same 3-4 sets redressed time and time again to badly pretend they're new locations whilst having Knightmare level CG exterior shots. By the 40 minutes marker you're just bored.

[Baseley09]

M3gan. Essentially Child's Play with a cyborg, if that sounds up your street, this is plenty of fun.

[Neon Ignition]

It's been amazing to see it do so well, it's a breezy little film but almost amazing how void of ideas it is especially given Child's Play already covered this angle just 2-3 years prior

[QualityChimp]

The Princess

I enjoyed this more than you, getting a thrill from the reverse Medieval Game of Death premise with a decent lead.

Goldenera (2022 via NowTV)
Really enjoyed this lookback at the highly influential N64 shooter.
It comes from a different age where risks and inexperienced staff were allowed to just try things out.

Second half is less interesting as it focuses on the staff after leaving Rare and then the speedrun community.

Deffo worth watching, though. Especially the first half.

[Neon Ignition]

Glass Onion
I enjoyed Knives Out but held no real hunger for more entries. Eventually we made our way round to this second entry and to be fair to it I might have enjoyed it more than the original. The solution is much more obvious this time out but the film is helped by having a greater sense of humour. Hopefully the third one evens out the focus on the other characters and offers a different approach to its puzzle than these two existing entries do.

[Baseley09]

Who dared watch You People (2023). Absolute toe curler race relations Jonah Hill dramedy. Light on laughs, loaded on cringeworthy interacial tip toeing. High school level writing. One of worst you will see.