Board 8 > B8 Movie Club Topic 1 - subtitle

(+) Yeah! (+)

Ok so it looks like In Bruges is on Peacock, What We Do In The Shadows is on Kanopy, and I own Knives out, so those three I'd be willing to watch! I would be a no on the other two since I don't see a streaming option I have available.

Also just to make it official I am skipping The Sound of Metal. I don't have an easy way to stream it, and it has been getting tepid reviews so far here anyway so I think I'll just take this week off.

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Erp, sorry. Mine is not ranked. I am ok with any of those three!

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First batch I've seen 'em all!

I'll nevertheless vote for:
In Bruges (2008)
What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Baby Driver (2017)

Not Ranked

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kateee posted...

@Camden

was your vote ranked?

Yes.

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I've actually watched the majority of these

What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
In Bruges (2008)


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What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
In Bruges (2008)

In Bruges is the only one out of the ones i've already seen i'm interested in revisiting at this time and i haven't seen WWDitS

Suprak the Stud posted...

I don't have an easy way to stream it, and it has been getting tepid reviews so far here anyway so I think I'll just take this week off.

i don't know how everyone else views their own scale but a 7/10 for me is still very good and something i would recommend to most. i would at least say to keep it in mind if you ever pick up prime or something.

also since you mentioned wanting to check out Parasite a week ago, it is on hulu in case you didn't know.

In Bruges (2008)
What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Baby Driver (2017)

Not Ranked

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In Bruges (2008)
Baby Driver (2017)

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In Bruges (2008)

Planning on watching this weeks movie tomorrow.

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What We Do In The Shadows
In Bruges
Arrival
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Yeah I still think highly of 7/10s, it's not necessarily a c minus grade. I might have sounded flippant in my review but I should admit that it had me shedding a tear at one point

1. Knives Out
2. Arrival
3. In Bruges

Just voting for the ones I haven't seen yet
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5 is my "indifferent, no real opinion if it's bad or good", so anything above that is good.

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kateee posted...

i don't know how everyone else views their own scale but a 7/10 for me is still very good and something i would recommend to most. i would at least say to keep it in mind if you ever pick up prime or something.

also since you mentioned wanting to check out Parasite a week ago, it is on hulu in case you didn't know.

I already watched Parasite!

I think I posted in topic it was a 9/10. Ive just been lazy on posting my full thoughts. Maybe I can get to that tonight...

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Knives Out (2019)
Arrival (2016)
In Bruges (2008)
Baby Driver (2017)

not ranked

Seen all 5 but I literally rewatched WWDITS like 2 weeks ago

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Knives Out
What We Do in the Shadows

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I've seen them all so I'll vote for the one I most want to rewatch, Knives Out.

Actually that's not true, I haven't seen Baby Driver but I have negative interest in watching something with Kevin Spacey.

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kateee posted...

early on, he mentions to his sponsor (i'm assuming) that Lou had him call because he had a cigarette which he considers an overreaction because of the circumstances. If Lou, who's seen him during the recovery process felt like that even one cigarette was reason for concern, it suggests to me he may perhaps be more prone to relapsing, that he's shown in the past. like some in recovery might still regularly smoke as a replacement, coping mechanism, etc. whereas some know that even the smallest thing could lead to relapse so they stay away from everything.

yeah! I forgot to mention this. she's worried he's starting to break their routine (we start the movie learning he begins every morning with some exercise and health smoothie) and that they both are at risk of relapse. interestingly, once he's at the camp he just continues smoking. wonder what that's about. my guess is that it's one degree of control he still has left.

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Still have to watch Sound of Metal

As for the current noms, I'll pass. Seen em all. Id enjoy rewatchinv Knives Out the most but its up to you guys!

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I voted for the movies I haven't seen.

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iiicon posted...

yeah! I forgot to mention this. she's worried he's starting to break their routine (we start the movie learning he begins every morning with some exercise and health smoothie) and that they both are at risk of relapse. interestingly, once he's at the camp he just continues smoking. wonder what that's about. my guess is that it's one degree of control he still has left.

All of his old routines and support system are just kind of gone.

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third movie is In Bruges (2008) directed by Martin McDonagh.

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Abacus watched the Sound of Metal

7/10 - I went in thinking I wouldn't like it very much, but it was really good for what it was. I just personally don't watch a lot of slow stuff.

I've never read up about Cochlear implants, was his just funked up, or is that a real issue with the sound being distorted?

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it's definitely a possibility from what i briefly looked up. just not sure of how common it is. it seems rare overall? and i think they mentioned this in the movie but it's not "hearing" in the same way so you do have to "relearn" sounds

Alright after two watches of Sound of Metal

I noticed more little things on the second watch (my favorite thing being the scary clown tattoo on his back). Really just an excellent performance, though it's well made all around. I do agree that the guy running the center was frustratingly dismissive, though i also really appreciate how good Lou was as a partner. It tackled the dangers of codependency, and I also love how it showed it falling into bad habits immediately (like the smoking) once he was unable to maintain his routine. Overall just a really solid showing dominated by Riz Ahmed.

8/10, though it's bordering on a 9.

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In Bruges (2008)

I remember watching this when it came out but after rewatching it, it feels like a completely new movie because I didn't remember anything aside from someone jumping from the top of the tower. I never had the urge to rewatch it again but I think I enjoyed it more this time around. This movie has some great dialogue, very Tarantino-esque. There were some hilarious scenes throughout and I enjoyed the banter between Ken and Ray in the beginning half and Ken and Harry later on.

"You're a fucking inanimate object!"

"I heeet a Canadian?"

The ending was kinda left for interpretation. The last sentence in the film had me thinking about the scene between Ken and Ray talking about heaven, hell, and purgatory. Ray's last words in the film are "I really really hoped I didn't die". I believe he says this twice. That line makes me believe that he did die and he is forever stuck in purgatory or hell and even states that maybe hell is Bruges because he truly does not like that place and being stuck there forever would be the worse thing ever. Great acting pretty much all around and ironically the worse actor to me was the racist midget who played an actor in the film. All in all, I really enjoyed it. It makes me want to go to Europe and go sightseeing when all this covid shit dies down.

Rating: 9/10

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Sound of Metal

I enjoyed this movie a bit, but I think it kind of sputtered out.

I liked the transition into deafness. It seemed so sudden, but somehow he kept things together without people noticing for a while. The perspective of how he hears things and how he reacted to it in a sort of montage was pretty compelling. His avoidance of accepting the issue and just ignoring it, playing in the band when the doc says thats exactly what not to do... is exactly what people do, even though it seems so goddamn stupid as he does it.

I like the swap that happens sometimes between what he hears and what normal people hears. It greats sharp contrast and I think makes understanding what hes going through even clearer.

The community he goes to seems a bit culty. The leader seems like he genuinely wants to help him, and his last scene where he has to kick Ruben out was pretty good. It's clear he doesn't want to do it, but he feels he has to.

The scenes of Ruben adapting to the deaf group and beginning to fit in were nice, especially with the kids, but I'm not sure the actual storyline he followed was too good. He seems to be genuinely finding a good place there, but he suddenly decides to leave because of reading about his girlfriend when he sneaks on to the computer. But... that whole situation seems forced. He sneaks in to look at the computer a few times because its a rule that he can't communicate with the outside world? Feels like manufactured drama. He has a friendly community to integrate into, but it doesn't seem like he's getting any kind of counseling to talk out his issues. He just has that room where he's supposed to write and stay still. I like the idea of that room... but does the leader guy really think that's a substitute for someone to talk to when Ruben isn't allowed to communicate with anybody from his life? The whole situation seems underdeveloped.

Eventually, Ruben unliterally suddenly decides to do the cochlear implants (that he clearly didn't try and understand earlier, because it's just a lifeline to his old life that he was grasping for). It felt like this just kind of happened, and it didn't feel too natural to me. I think the whole pawning plot about needing to get his stuff back was a a weak attempt to give stakes to his life but didn't really mean much. It makes him ask the church leader and maybe his gf's dad for money I guess which makes him seem addict like but it matter at all.

I do like that the implants didn't really give him what he wanted. It's just a shadow of what hearing used to be like. He's never going to get that back, and now he's destroyed his place with that community. too. This would have felt a lot more impactful if there had been more insight into Ruben deciding to do the surgery instead of it being so sudden. Then the movie ends when Ruben takes out the implants and realizes he appreciates the silence.

Overall, It was a decent look at seeing someone deal with the sudden development of a major disability that tears away a major passion of their life. I think it handled the initial onset, and the denial and anger stages pretty well, and an ok stage at of the very beginning of acceptance while living in the community. It didn't really go the distance with this though.

6/10. I enjoyed this movie more than Mother, but I don't think it was nearly as well done. I think the second half of the movie wasn't nearly as good as the first half.

Also I expected more Metal to be part of the movie... and better than what we got at the start.

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Ok so I should get to In Bruges tomorrow. Before I do that though I really need to write up some thoughts on Mother (not !).

First off, I think I want to lower my score to a 7/10. I was high on the ending when I gave it the 9 and now that I've typed things out, I don't think it really earns a 9.

Ok so first the good stuff. I thought it was shot incredibly well and the cinematography was fantastic. I absolutely loved the ending. The scene of the mother crying at the falsely convicted guy and asking if he had parents was excellent and TRICKED me into giving it a 9 without further reflection. The main actress was excellent. Some individual scenes were amazing. I'm thinking about the one where the mom tip toes through the friend's room while she's trying to sneak out or the police interrogation or the one where the mom crashes the funeral, but there are a lot of strong choices here.

But when I sat down and thought about it for a while, it does feel like the plot struggles to get to the ending. I feel like the director had the ending in mind, and then everything else was a struggle to try and get themselves to the scenes he really wanted to film. I was bored during the earlier portions of the film. At one point I checked to see how much time had elapsed and it was like 30 minutes of the 130 hour film, and it had felt like I was sitting there for over an hour already.

There were a lot of scenes I just didn't like and felt either obvious or pointless or just not very interesting. I think some of the humor was supposed to come from the son's mental problems, but I just could laugh at any of that. And I sort of hated him, as a character. He wasn't interesting to me and neither was the friend character. I honestly didn't even know what kind of characterization we were getting with him at times. He forces them mom to pay cash for...some reason...but then immediately starts trying to help her even though he wasn't really before. And then he's like a fake cop and kicking out some teenagers teeth. I'm not sure if I was missing something, but I was just sort of annoyed whenever he was on screen and I didn't think his role fit into the film all that well.

The plot also suffers because of an over reliance of convenience for the sake of the narrative. The son's magical memory loss always seems to allow him to remember whatever he needs to in order to push the plot forward. It feels cheap and honestly kind of lazy as a story telling device for them to basically go "oh wait I remembered something" when they need to story to move forward in some way. And he remembers this dude's face perfectly, after seeing it through three windows for half a second while he was blackout drunk, and also that guy happens to have slept with the underage prostitute so his face is in her phone in order for the mother to be able to track him down? It is too much coincidence and I wound up not caring a whole bunch about the specifics of the plot because of it.

So, yeah. Like a 7. I enjoyed it and the ending was great and is worth watching for the final 30 minutes or so of the film alone. Too many issues along the way though for me to stick with my 9, or even an 8.

On to In Bruges!

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In Bruges

This has always been a personal favorite of mine. It's a great example of the perfect script, everything set up and paid off, almost business-like, but throw in two leads with excellent chemistry, just the most in-your-face crass, obscene, and offensive black comedy, and genuine reflections on religion and faith and now have yourself a film that bursts with personality and each scene more unexpected, hilarious, and heart-wrenching than the last. With its Christmas setting (I like to think of it as a Shane Black nod), In Bruges does not allow you escape from its deliberately Catholic background, and meditates deeply on the nature of redemption, showing that it does not come from established institutions or tourist trap nonsense like touching Jesus' dried blood but from true change only within the self. By the same token, religion is nonetheless an inescapable monolith with constant reminders of the past at every corner. We are shown this best with Ray's character development; he initially embodies the traits of a child, as if some part of him has taken up what he has taken away and through this he ignores all responsibility for his actions. This facade quickly melts away however with Ray left only with the pain of his past actions even as he tries everything in his power to change and make up for it, Bruges literally taunting him with portraits of the afterlife as if they weren't already playing 24/7 in his head. I like this because it tells me it doesn't really matter whether you believe in religion or not; the concepts will still always be there, it's all a matter of how you interpret it and decide what to do with those concepts that makes you who you are.

A less-pronounced but nonetheless interesting angle of the film is how it maligns the concept of a fairy tale. The film plays loosely with magical realism concepts, the inclusion of a major dwarf character being one of the more on-the-nose elements, but also points like the Christmas fog or the angelic raining of coins that give the film an unnaturally dreamy vibe that ties into the whole "dream but I'm awake" thing. I also see a lot of Aesop's Fables in here, particularly the many themes of disproportionate punishment and retribution.

However, I think it's also a commentary on how sort of "hitman" movies are fairy tales in their own regard. The kind of movie where a pair off a target and head out for burgers and fries while discussing the latest popcorn flicks as if nothing phases them. In Bruges viciously rips that narrative apart as unrealistic and worst of all emotionally unsustainable, a childish fantasy where even more responsibility and consequences can be skirted, totally disconnected from reality. Sure, In Bruges isn't the only film to attempt this kind of deconstruction but I do think it does it one of the most grounded ways they could.

Ultimately, In Bruges is one of the best takes on how ending another's life, whether on purpose or accidentally, can truly take a toll on you. It's also a film that shows how skirting one's responsibilities in life can only lead you down a never-ending spiral of violence, lies, and debauchery. Yes, it's a movie that wants you to laugh with it, but at the same time, doesn't want to make you forget the true darkness that lies in every alcove of every person's soul, the same darkness we all must face up to eventually, whether we like it or not.

10/10

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great writeup!

In Bruges

this was a rewatch for me and I ended up feeling kind of the same about it? I didnt remember most of it (like i completely forgot that bit about the priest being Ray's first job) but i had it at a 7/10 and i think that rating's going to stay for now. like the only thing i vaguely remembered was that it was supposed to be really funny? and there were humorous moments for sure but also a bunch of times where i didn't find the intended comedic elements that funny. this might have been distracting overall since i diverted part of my attention to look for the funny moments lol. so yeah maybe i went in with a mindset that was a bit one-dimensional.

like obviously there's more to the movie than the comedic elements but i just got hung up on that for some reason

so kind of a tangent but i started to think about what i thought were the consistently funniest movies so i'll ask everyone else that as well.

What do you think are the consistently funniest movies of all time?

i'm phrasing it like that because there's a lot of popular comedies where there are definitely small moments but the rest of the movie just drags for me and i couldn't really think of anything where i remember thinking "this is funny the whole time"

maybe i'll have to watch a full Neil Breen or something instead of just clips

kateee posted...

great writeup!

Thank you! Despite the film's reputation as a comedy I do tend to think of it more as a drama with most of the humor extremely mean-spirited and supremely dark rather than straight up side-splittingly hilarious. Like I think a lot of films bill themselves as black comedies but don't really commit all the way and are just content to throw jokes in there about someone's death or some sexually inappropriate scenario with not a lot depth or grace to it. Just dark for the sake of being dark. To me, the best black comedies use the style to genuinely highlight real-life hypocrisies, tragedies, and issues in a way that still takes the main points seriously while providing a fresh if sometimes extreme or outlandish take that still makes you laugh from the extreme absurdity of it. In Bruges is an excellent black comedy to me because of the way it tackles race and culture to provide one example, where it's shown that whether American, Canadian, Irish, Black, White, or what have you, there are no distinct lines on how our personal human experience is going to play out, and this is demonstrated to us through a drug-fueled rant I bet many would take a lot of issue with. I guess what I'm trying to get at is black comedy doesn't really concern itself with if its funny or not, just in the point its trying to make, if that makes any sense.

kateee posted...

What do you think are the consistently funniest movies of all time?

I personally struggle too to find a lot of films "funny". I would say my favorite comedies are genre parodies like Shaun of the Dead or Deadpool 2, where they're still excellent examples of the genre they're lampooning but also take the opportunity to poke holes in itself wherever it can. I also like films that inject comedy into what would be a serious plot in another film, Burn After Reading an excellent example of this.

I think my top 5 TRUE comedies would be (as in, to me it sets out to be COMEDY first and whatever other genre if any second, it's extremely subjective I know):

1. Shaun of the Dead
2. Burn After Reading
3. Mean Girls
4. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
5. This is Spinal Tap

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My first thoughts were Hot Fuzz and Blazing Saddles

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Funniest consistently?

Tropic Thunder, Shawn of the Dead, and Blazing Saddles are the only ones I can think of.

**Edit: I don't know how I forgot it, but Monty Python and the Holy Grail as well

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The Other Guys, its become one of my favorites.

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In Bruges

Hadn't seen this one before, but I feel like this is the kind of movie that would be better on a rewatch. That's not a bad thing, it's just that there was so much going on with symbolism and call-back jokes that I don't think I can do a good write-up because there's too much stuff worth noting that I probably didn't even notice. Definitely a great film that I'll watch again at some point.

9/10

kateee posted...

What do you think are the consistently funniest movies of all time?

Off the top of my head: Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Life of Brian, Blazing Saddles, The Emperor's New Groove all came to mind right away.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "most consistently funniest", though. Is your problem more with pure comedy movies that just aren't that funny, or with movies that aren't just comedies having things other than jokes?
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In Bruges watched.

First off, it is crazy how much this feels dated already. This was just over a decade ago, and I can't seen like half of this stuff getting into a modern film. "We're going to spend a large chunk of the film where the lead character thinks the concept of midgets are funny and then in the end the 'villain' will kill himself because he confuses a midget with a child." I was watching chunks of this film and just going like "geez remember when stuff like this was routinely in movies?!?"

That said, I THOROUGHLY enjoyed this. I agree with kateee that it wasn't like laugh out loud sort of funny, but it was this witty sort of humor that had me genuinely smiling throughout. Some of the stuff is just subtle little things that shouldn't make me laugh but do. Like when Ray is offering the dwarf and the hooker cocaine and Ken's head just pops over his shoulder with this weird look on his face. That's just such a great comedic shot. And the movie felt like it was endlessly quotable. Like "YOU'RE AN INANIMATE OBJECT!" is absolutely something my wife and I would fake yell at each other if we saw this movie together. The dialogue here was just amazing. Like I was into every single scene, comedic or otherwise, and the dialogue was just so damn good that the movie flew by for me.

The whole Ray being in purgatory (not literally, of course) thing was maybe a little too on the nose with that scene where they're in the art museum and they basically explain the plot of the movie in case you weren't paying attention or didn't know what purgatory was. But even that scene was great because of the two leads, who were amazing, and the dialogue and chemistry between them. I was invested in what was going to happen and wanted Ray to get some sort of happy ending out of this even if he wasn't a great guy.

The final 20 minutes or so was phenomenal and I didn't want it to end. I loved the ending lines and even the ambiguity of the ending. There really was almost nothing about it i didn't like. Maybe a couple of scenes could've been removed, but the film overall was so clever about things coming back that even the stuff that feels pointless before sort of ties back in by the end. Just a really fun, clever movie and I think it is probably in my top 25 (at least 50) all time.

9/10

Rankings thus far:
In Bruges - 9/10
Mother - 6/10

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Oh something that I thought was hilariously weird:

The fat American character had no American accent. Like they didn't even try. He was clearly from somewhere in the UK because that accent was not American. They couldn't find a fat American dude for that role? Like he shows up in a Yankees cap and I knew he was going to be some fat American dumb dumb and then he talked and I was confused until they pointed out he was a yank like two minutes later.

Not a huge issue, obviously, but it made me look up the actor to make sure I wasn't crazy and he wasn't actually American.

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ooh add Scott Pilgrim v. The World and The Emperor's New Groove to the consistently funny list

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In Bruges

9/10

This move rules and I've been meaning to give this a rewatch for years. Dark comedies are one of my favorite genres and I think this is one of the best examples. The dialogue is the true standout -- it has a ridiculous amount of quotable lines that had me laughing throughout.

Watching this makes me want to rewatch Seven Psychopaths as well. McDonagh is a great writer (read The Pillowman!).

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I think I like Seven Psychopaths even better than In Bruges.

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gonna try and watch this tonight. been pretty busy the last few day!

but also hitman 3 is out and if the servers actually start working then... well, there will be a decision to make

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i def like Seven Psychopaths more than In Bruges

Xeybozn posted...

Is your problem more with pure comedy movies that just aren't that funny, or with movies that aren't just comedies having things other than jokes?

i don't know if i would call it a "problem" but i think it's more like "i expected to physically laugh more but didn't and ended up confused about my experience with comedies and laughter". Going into In Bruges with the mindset of "i remember this was supposed to be funny" was so inexplicably distracting because the whole time I'm thinking "that line was funny" or "that was clearly intended to be funny but i didn't find it funny" and shit like that. i don't know why i got so hung up on this but idk i guess i just wanted to laugh?

to clear up, there are still movies classified as "comedies" (Monty Python, Princess Bride, etc.) that i think are great, have humorous moments, but i wouldn't say are "consistently funny." i guess i'm equating that with the memory of me laughing or something. i kind of feel like some fucking weird alien who is trying to learn how to understand what the concept of "funny" is. because i would see moments like "oh that was amusing" or like a minor "heh" but not actually laugh and then think "would i describe this as 'funny'" the way i think of the word?

like I KNOW this might sound weird lol but whatever

and looking through stuff i've seen, i'd say my answer for "consistently funny" would be Big Lebowski, Burn After Reading and Black Dynamite. maybe Hot Fuzz. and i haven't seen Shaun of the Dead in ages. i do like Mean Girls and Clueless but i don't think they're the "consistently funny" i was thinking of. i know it's super popular but i'm pretty lukewarm on Scott Pilgrim honestly lol

a little surprised Emperor's New Groove got two mentions actually. i don't remember much about it and i saw it for the first time only like five years ago

Suprak the Stud posted...

This was just over a decade ago, and I can't seen like half of this stuff getting into a modern film.

oh for sure. comedies can age just so much worse.

i actually remember my high school econ teacher (very well liked, charismatic, etc.) constantly talking about how The Hangover was the funniest thing he's seen in a while. and then when i watched it i was just kind of like "..." and then he also talked about how Animal House was the funniest movie of all time. so years later i happened upon it on some streaming service, remembered that and watched it. and it was fucking awful.

so obvious follow-up question. What's the unfunniest (though at least somewhat intended to be) movie you've ever seen?

hard mode: you cannot answer with any Adam Sandler comedy, Movie 43, any of the parody Movies (e.g. Date Movie, Disaster Movie, etc.) or any movie made by a Youtuber

Hmm, I have not seen Seven Psychopaths. I remember seeing a trailer for it.

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kateee posted...

so obvious follow-up question. What's the unfunniest (though at least somewhat intended to be) movie you've ever seen?

man there are so many comedies I thought were hilarious when I first saw them, only to go back years later and realize how bad they are. Epic Movie, Your Highness, Meet the Spartans.

I think the least funny has to go to either Disaster Movie or Movie 43. Both were irredeemably terrible.

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Tom Waits!