Recently Watched Films

Pretty great. Sci-fi meets noir. 

Possibly the best anime movie I've watched yet. Surprisingly graphic on the blood details for an animated PG title (Japan, eh?). 

I agree that it has a good atmosphere. It probably have looked better if the film has been in HD when I saw it. Unfortunately bugger all channels are in HD on Freesat. Price you pay for cheaper TV. I'd even agree that it has intrigue and mystery about it. I did keep watching it after all. 

My biggest issue with it is that it probably could have accomplished everything it did without losing a damn thing and comfortably shed an hour or more of the running time. It's over 2.5 hours long and that feels really unjustified to me. That the director pandered about with the shots, drawing them out far more than was necessary, instead of keeping the film moving. I do get that it is supposed to be contemplative, but personally I think it overdid it. For me it all proved more of a distraction than a complement to the narrative, which also made me constantly feel like I'd much rather read a book.

I like the atmosphere and the mystery of it.  Not every detail in a story has to be handed to you on a plate.  I think it's more compelling if you have to make some assumptions on your own

also the cinematography is just fantastic

80's comedy and early Tom Hanks role. The plot is a bit dumb and far fetched, but Hanks is good. 

My first 2020 movie and it's a weird as fuck one. I was engrossed by it but can't really make head to tail of what was real or what wasn't. 

This film, for example! Excellent historic drama

For those interested, here's my list of good russian films: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls056018940/

 

Nice to see some Studio Ghibli films getting some love here. I love those movies. Some may say they are much more for kids than some anime, but I think adults should not ignore those movies. Studio Ghibli is kind of like Japan's Disney in that regard. Proper fun for all the family.

Speaking of Disney, I recently got around to watching The Lion King remake. I shan't be watching it again. Not sure why Disney is hellbent on all this hybrid remakes lately. They all pale in comparision next to the original animated movies. They're fucking with their own legacy. I will give each of them a fair shot but I think Walt must be turning in his grave. The only half decent one so far was The Jungle Book.

Seems like it's trying to be the 2010s answer to The Road, but it doesn't have as bleak visuals as that movie. Overall I have mixed feelings on this one. It's biggest plus is that it is very well acted drama between the two leads, but actual plot development moves along at a snail's pace with little actually happening across the duration and when things do happen they are very generic plot points for this type of post-apocalyptic movie, including it's ending. 

Solid 50's western with three strong leads. 

A good movie but also has some wasted potential, like it felt a lot more like a noir when it started and then got rid of that element after a while completely. The beginning was generally a lot better than the whole movie in fact and could have worked well as a short. 

Not bad. Seen better but not bad. I feel like Jessica Chastain could have been given a bigger role rather that focus most of the attention on the two male leads. 

Mental 80's comedy. 

This psychological thriller could have done with being a lot darker than it was and filmed more compellingly. 

Utterly charming fantasy anime. 

See the Russian 1972 version, they all said, after I said I didn't rate the Clooney version too highly. It's much better, they said. Fuck I don't remember much about the Clooney version now but I know I liked it more than this. This has to be the most overly long, arty-farty, boring and uncompelling sci-fi movies I've seen since 2001 A Space Odyssey. Falls into that special category of 'Worse than Paris, Texas'. Actually concerned over watching the director's Stalker now which I had lined up next.