StarTopic Kino |ST| Let’s talk about films!

[GJ]

I felt like we need to get a film thread going.

What did you last watch? What did you think of it? Any recommendations? Feel free to share! And if you're on Letterboxd, feel free to link your profile below.

Also; we definitely need a better title, but it’s 5 in the morning here so I’m sure someone else could come up with something better than me right now .

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I just watched The Many Saints of Newark and as a big fan of The Sopranos I really enjoyed it. Of course it’s not as good as the show, but it does a great job in setting up that universe. I thought the trailer I saw a couple months ago looked pretty bland, so I was surprised I liked it this much. Definitely worth watching if you like the show.

3/5

 

[Mr_No_U]

Let’s see.. last film I saw was OG Insomnia (1997). I liked it way more than Nolan’s version. Next one will be The Many Saints of Newark for sure.

 

[Red Monster]

I haven’t watched a ton of movies over the past few years, but since I’ve been unemployed the past month and a half I started watching them again. Because I have all the time in the world, I watched all the MCU movies. What a time commitment! I’m glad I finally caught up with them though.

My takeaways are that Civil War and Endgame are good, and both Ant Man movies are boring.

 

[Josh5890]

I just watched The Many Saints of Newark and as a big fan of The Sopranos I really enjoyed it. Of course it’s not as good as the show, but it does a great job in setting up that universe. I thought the trailer I saw a couple months ago looked pretty bland, so I was surprised I liked it this much. Definitely worth watching if you like the show.

3.5/5

I just got done watching this and you pretty much nailed it. I had pretty much the same expectations that I had two years ago for the Deadwood movie. I will say that all of the actors/actresses did a great job of nailing down their characters.

3~3.5/5 sounds about right.

 

[GamerJM]

I watched the Green Knight tonight. It's.....not good. Style over substance in the worst possible way and horrendous pacing. The last 15 minutes or so are pretty cool, but they also don't justify the rest of the movie.

 

[eli]

Last thing I watched was Free Guy and it’s an abomination. It’s a total slap in the face towards both industries and everything it does has been better by something else.

Looking forward to watch The Green Knight next.

 

[EvilChameleon]

Bondtober begins this week for me with my seemingly annual rewatches of GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, Casino Royale, Skyfall, and Spectre.

 

[GJ]

I watched the Green Knight tonight. It's.....not good. Style over substance in the worst possible way and horrendous pacing. The last 15 minutes or so are pretty cool, but they also don't justify the rest of the movie.

Sucks that you didn't like it. It's currently my third favorite of the year out of 75 2021 releases . I can see how people don't like it though. It's really not for everyone.

I just got done watching this and you pretty much nailed it. I had pretty much the same expectations that I had two years ago for the Deadwood movie. I will say that all of the actors/actresses did a great job of nailing down their characters.

3~3.5/5 sounds about right.

It is very much a screenplay by Chris Moltisanti, lol.

edit: Just watched Green Room. Wow, this was tense! It’s labeled as horror (and crime/thriller) on Letterboxd, which doesn’t really fit imo, but it’s definitely a great watch if you like suspenseful films.

 

[eli]

Talking about kino, I wonder when Atlanta season 3 is gonna air. 1 was really good and 2 was absurd but in a good way. For 3 I saw they went to Amsterdam.

or is this not the place to talk about series

 

[Dardan Sandiego]

I watched three movies the other week: Blue Bayou, The Man Who Sold His Skin (both at the Zurich Film Festival) and Dune.

If someone had told me that I'd enjoy Dune the least, I'd have called them crazy… yet here we are. It felt like the most competent of the bunch yet somehow the least human. Gorgeous photography, great performances, breathtaking scale but absolutely nothing that stuck with me after I walked out of the theatre. Good movie yet I can't help but feel disappointed after Arrival and Blade Runner.

 

[GJ]

Talking about kino, I wonder when Atlanta season 3 is gonna air. 1 was really good and 2 was absurd but in a good way. For 3 I saw they went to Amsterdam.

or is this not the place to talk about series

Atlanta is kino, so sure. They were in Amsterdam not too long ago. They might still be working on it. I thought they were going to shoot 4 right after, but I'm not sure about that. If it was gonna air this year I think we would've heard about it by now, so I'm putting my money on early 2022.

You should check out Reservation Dogs. I haven't been able to watch it yet, but people have been comparing it to Atlanta a lot.

 

[eli]

Also, if you care remotely about cinema. The Hollywood Reporter has quite a few interesting roundtables on their youtube channel.
This is my favorite;


This one is excellent too, one of my favorite moments happens a bit before minute 22:

 

[Josh5890]

The Man Who Sold His Skin

Excellent choice. I remember watching that a few months back. It was very powerful all the way through.

 

[Dardan Sandiego]

Excellent choice. I remember watching that a few months back. It was very powerful all the way through.

I really hoped to see more stuff, usually do at least 5 movies every year but I simply didn‘t have the time :/

 

[GJ]

This was disappointing. It's still a mixed bag of hit or miss horror shorts. It has some cool ones, some awful ones, it's worth a watch if you're into horror, but overall I wasn't too fond of it. The 90's aesthetic does help in making it all feel more believable.

2.5/5

After that not-so-good horror film I felt the need to watch one that never disappoints me, which is House. It's more wacky than scary, but it's so, so good. What a gem.

4.5/5

 

[VHS]

Cujo was honestly a really great horror based in reality. We all love our dogs, but what if our dogs go wild with rabies and can't control themselves? The animal handlers did a great job getting Cujo to act deranged but also sympathetic at parts where you can tell he's not in control of himself and he knows it. There are a few hangups with this movie, more to do with shlock of the age than anything else, and the kid is fucking annoying but that's kind of the point to put us in the mothers shoes.

Overall this movie was a really solid 7/10 for me, think it still holds up quite well.

 

[GamerJM]

Sucks that you didn't like it. It's currently my third favorite of the year out of 75 2021 releases . I can see how people don't like it though. It's really not for everyone.

My favorite release of the year thus far is Judas and the Black Messiah, though nothing has truly blown me away just yet.

 

[Sailor Moon]

I’m looking forward to Dune. Every adaptation so far has had their own quirks, so even if Villanueve didn’t quite nail it, I’m hoping it will still be worthwhile in its own flawed way.

 

[Mekanos]

Huge Sopranos fan but my expectations were low for Saints Of Newark. It had some alright scenes but overall felt pointless with a totally unearned ending.

Count me in for Dune though.

 

[Ultrapop]

Last film i saw was ' The dark and the wicked' and i cant say that i loved it, but it certainly was good, very atmospheric, If you're into that sorta thing. Very much looking forward to Lamb!

 

[GJ]

I’m looking for some good horror recommendations outside of the regular stuff. What are some great, lesser known horror films? Preferably 90-120 mins.

 

[Aniki]

I watched the Seventh Son recently. It was an enjoyable watch, nothing special or rememberable though. I came for Kit Harrington and Jeff Bridges and stayed for Ben Barnes. I didn't know him by name and it took a while before it clicked but i remembered him from Shadow and Bone where he played Kirigan.

 

[Seacat]

Last few movies I watched were Whispering Corridors, 301/302, and Sorcerer.

Whispering Corridors had good social commentary with regards to the cruelty of the South Korean school system and the misogyny embedded in such a patriarchal, hyper-capitalist society, emotionally and viscerally through it fell completely flat. I was just not into it at any point during the watch.

301/302 was much the same, though even more egregious because of some of its ridiculous dialogue choices. It did have really compelling potential with some of the themes it was exploring.. I felt very similar themes were explored to much greater success in a novel called The Vegetarian (also from South Korea, the similarities are strong enough that I wonder if its author was inspired by the film at all). So mostly while watching the movie I was just thinking about how much I'd rather be re-reading that novel.

Sorcerer though. Now that was something. The utter inanity of the profit motive brought to absurd, nerve-wracking heights. The big set piece of the film had me leaned forward and anxious in some awful posture. It also had many other great scenes, like with the Indigenous family. I was tuned into this one from the start and it remained compelling throughout. Really great movie that I waited too long to get to.

I need to dig into more Friedkin. He's a strong three for three for me alongside The Exorcist and Killer Joe,

At some point this month I'll be trying to get around to Pulse, Legend of the Mountain, and Demons for certain, ideally The Innocents and Carnival of Souls as well to wrap up my horror watches (I thought Sorcerer was a horror film).

I’m looking for some good horror recommendations outside of the regular stuff. What are some great, lesser known horror films? Preferably 90-120 mins.

With the caveat that I haven't seen it in a long time, (also I don't know if this even qualifies as lesser-known, but at least, it feels lesser-known to me lol) I'd recommend Vampyr. It has a lot of very memorable scenes and imagery, and I recall it having a strong atmosphere, though I wouldn't say it was especially scary. Very short at just over 70 minutes.

 

[GJ]

With the caveat that I haven't seen it in a long time, (also I don't know if this even qualifies as lesser-known, but at least, it feels lesser-known to me lol) I'd recommend Vampyr. It has a lot of very memorable scenes and imagery, and I recall it having a strong atmosphere, though I wouldn't say it was especially scary. Very short at just over 70 minutes.

I haven’t seen that yet, so it’s definitely going on the list. Thanks!

 

[Chie]

I’m looking for some good horror recommendations outside of the regular stuff. What are some great, lesser known horror films? Preferably 90-120 mins.

Are you familiar with Vincent Price? Dude made some excellent horror movies back in the day. A few of his 60s films I could recommend:

The Fall of the House of Usher (1960)
The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
The Haunted Palace (1963)
The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

All are about 90 minutes or a bit shorter so they are all quick watches. Price did a number of Edgar Allan Poe movies in the early 60s and these are 4 of them. Haunted Palace is really a Hp Lovecraft movie but it was marketed as a Poe movie. I'd recommend those in any order. If you like them check out some of his other movies. Masque is my favorite of those 4 with usher just below it.

 

[GJ]

Are you familiar with Vincent Price? Dude made some excellent horror movies back in the day. A few of his 60s films I could recommend:

The Fall of the House of Usher (1960)
The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
The Haunted Palace (1963)
The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

All are about 90 minutes or a bit shorter so they are all quick watches. Price did a number of Edgar Allan Poe movies in the early 60s and these are 4 of them. Haunted Palace is really a Hp Lovecraft movie but it was marketed as a Poe movie. I'd recommend those in any order. If you like them check out some of his other movies. Masque is my favorite of those 4 with usher just below it.

Thanks! I’m not too familiar with pre-80’s and -70’s horror films so I’m very happy with this. I watched Night of the Living Dead the other day, which is from ‘68, and I really enjoyed that. Godzilla from ‘54 as well, although I had seen that before in the past.

 

[Chie]

Thanks! I’m not too familiar with pre-80’s and -70’s horror films so I’m very happy with this. I watched Night of the Living Dead the other day, which is from ‘68, and I really enjoyed that. Godzilla from ‘54 as well, although I had seen that before in the past.

No problem at all. Hope you enjoy those. I'll give another recommendation just for more films from that era and that would be Hammer Films, a British film studio that produced a lot of Horror movies from the late 50s through the mid 70s. Three movies of their I would call essential:
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
The Horror of Dracula (1958)
The Mummy (1959)

All three of those films star Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars) and Christopher Lee (Count Doku in Star Wars and Saruman in Lord of the Rings). They were in a lot of Horror films for both Hammer and other companies. Lee, Cushing, and Price are on my Mount Rushmore of Horror. The 50s/60s/70s are my favorite era of Horror and they defined it. I'm always around for recommendations.

 

[GJ]

No problem at all. Hope you enjoy those. I'll give another recommendation just for more films from that era and that would be Hammer Films, a British film studio that produced a lot of Horror movies from the late 50s through the mid 70s. Three movies of their I would call essential:
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
The Horror of Dracula (1958)
The Mummy (1959)

All three of those films star Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars) and Christopher Lee (Count Doku in Star Wars and Saruman in Lord of the Rings). They were in a lot of Horror films for both Hammer and other companies. Lee, Cushing, and Price are on my Mount Rushmore of Horror. The 50s/60s/70s are my favorite era of Horror and they defined it. I'm always around for recommendations.

I’ll add ‘em all to the watchlist. I think I’m golden for now for the rest of the month, haha. Gonna dive into the other four first, but I’m looking forward to checking them all out over time.

 

[Phosphorescent Skeleton]

Been watching horror films everyday naturally. Last night watched an old favorite, Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan, a classic of J-horror about very bad samurai who gets exactly what he deserves.
Also, does anyone have a letterboxd?

Sadie DeForest’s profile

Sadie uses Letterboxd to share film reviews and lists. 2,226 films watched. Favorites: F for Fake (1973), The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter (1984), House (1977), Don't Let the Riverbeast Get You! (2012).

letterboxd.com

 

[GJ]

Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan, a classic of J-horror about very bad samurai who gets exactly what he deserves.

This sounds awesome. I'll check it out!

Here's my Letterboxd profile:

GJ’s profile

GJ uses Letterboxd to share film reviews and lists. 1,337 films watched. Favorites: Shin Godzilla (2016), House (1977), The Handmaiden (2016), Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (2021). Bio: Favorites are current favorites. All-time favorites can be found here. Appelmoes bah.

boxd.it

 

[takriel]

Gonna watch this one tonight:

 

[Phosphorescent Skeleton]

Watched a movie last night called Alien Beasts as part of my Halloween viewings.
It was, uh, a real brain buster.

 

[GJ]

Watched a movie last night called Alien Beasts as part of my Halloween viewings.
It was, uh, a real brain buster.

Would you recommend it? Looking at the trailer, I’m not sure I could watch 75 minutes of that.

 

[Phosphorescent Skeleton]

Would you recommend it? Looking at the trailer, I’m not sure I could watch 75 minutes of that.

If your intrested in extreme amateur shot on video horror that verges on experimental film making, yes, it's an experience unlike anything in cinema. But for casual viewing, absolutely not. I think everyone should see at least one movie like this, but I would recommend something like Things or Winter Beast first.

 

[Phosphorescent Skeleton]

Watching an all time fave tonight