Dude Rates Movies

movie poster
read comment
Split
B
M. Night Shyamalan — 2016
James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Haley Lu Richardson
Monday 15 January 2018

The second installment of M. Night Shyamalan's cinematic universe. Take my money and don't even shut up.

movie poster
read comment
BPM (Beats Per Minute)
F
120 battements par minute
Robin Campillo — 2017
Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Arnaud Valois, Adèle Haenel
Sunday 7 January 2018

This was a total identification failure for me. Generally I highly doubt the productivity of stunts and more specifically violent ones. It's not clear to me whether what was really happening is a real try at changing things or just making as much turmoil as possible before dying. The movie doesn't even answer that, and choses the long and depressive path of close depiction of death instead. I couldn't figure out how to enjoy it no matter from what angle I approached it.

movie poster
read comment
The Godfather
D
Francis Ford Coppola — 1972
Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan
Sunday 7 January 2018

Marlon Brando and his dental prosthetics mumble mafia shit so as to appear charismatic. Yet another 3-hours long classic that lets me perplex.

movie poster
read comment
The Brave One
D
Neil Jordan — 2007
Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard, Naveen Andrews
Saturday 6 January 2018

Terrence Howard's past life has a policeman before he started Terriology has about the shittiest ending you could think about

movie poster
read comment
Black Mass
C
Scott Cooper — 2015
Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson
Tuesday 2 January 2018

A plastic assembled Johnny Depp mumbles mafia shit to show what an absolute madman he is. The film is interesting at least for its documentary and historical purpose

movie poster
read comment
Atomic Blonde
D
David Leitch — 2017
Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman
Saturday 30 December 2017

It's all fun and game and you're about to fall asleep until this insane and brutal long-take wakes you the fuck up. About the only highlight though.

movie poster
The Kid
C
Charles Chaplin — 1921
Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Jackie Coogan
Saturday 30 December 2017

No comment

movie poster
read comment
Beauty and the Beast
F
Bill Condon — 2017
Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans
Thursday 21 December 2017

The movie is suspenseful since you don't know whether the Beast will prefer being freed from his spell by Belle's love or, horrified by how dull she is, will just accept his fate as it is.

movie poster
read comment
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
E
Rian Johnson — 2017
Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Mark Hamill
Wednesday 20 December 2017

It lost me at the moment Luke Skywalker throws the sabre-laser that was the epic McGuffin finishing the last episode, which is a clear way from Disney to communicate that they don't give a shit anymore

movie poster
Come and See
D
Idi i smotri
Elem Klimov — 1985
Aleksey Kravchenko, Olga Mironova, Liubomiras Laucevicius
Wednesday 20 December 2017

No comment

movie poster
Out of the Furnace
A
Scott Cooper — 2013
Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Zoe Saldana
Saturday 16 December 2017

No comment

movie poster
Ever After: A Cinderella Story
D
EverAfter
Andy Tennant — 1998
Drew Barrymore, Anjelica Huston, Dougray Scott
Saturday 16 December 2017

No comment

movie poster
The Santa Clause
D
John Pasquin — 1994
Tim Allen, Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson
Sunday 10 December 2017

No comment

movie poster
Darkest Hour
A
Joe Wright — 2017
Gary Oldman, Lily James, Kristin Scott Thomas
Saturday 9 December 2017

No comment

movie poster
read comment
Coco
A
Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina — 2017
Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt
Saturday 9 December 2017

Among their recent low-effort sequels, this original gem is welcome from Pixar, and it delivers. The stream of colorful visuals is stunning, the exploration of Mexican culture is original and interesting and it's sealed with the good old Pixar emotional hammer that makes you leave a few tears behind your 3D glasses. Truly good.

movie poster
The Hours
D
Stephen Daldry — 2002
Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore
Sunday 26 November 2017

No comment

movie poster
read comment
Brokeback Mountain
D
Ang Lee — 2005
Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams
Saturday 25 November 2017

I got confused with Ang Lee's filmography and waited all the movie for one of the two guys to transform into Hulk. What a disappointment.

movie poster
read comment
The Thin Red Line
C
Terrence Malick — 1998
Jim Caviezel, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte
Saturday 25 November 2017

Definitely the most approachable film from Terrence Malick, and a powerful war movie at that, although the voice-over meditations tend to be either too analytic or too elusive

movie poster
read comment
Logan Lucky
B
Steven Soderbergh — 2017
Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig
Friday 24 November 2017

How ironic that Adam Driver has such presence in this nice little movie, while he looks like an annoying and uncharismatic teenager in the new Star Wars movies

movie poster
The Nice Guys
C
Shane Black — 2016
Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice
Friday 24 November 2017

No comment

movie poster
The Big Sick
B
Michael Showalter — 2017
Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter
Wednesday 15 November 2017

No comment

movie poster
read comment
Miss Sloane
B
John Madden — 2016
Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Wednesday 15 November 2017

Ah the good-old screenplay trick where writers lose track or what they're doing so they decide all of it was a diabolical plan from the character from the beginning.

movie poster
read comment
Song to Song
E
Terrence Malick — 2017
Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara, Michael Fassbender
Saturday 4 November 2017

Terrence Malick has reached his final form, the one of total freedom and no production control at all. The guy gets lost in whatever music festival, big estate, empty open-spaces, receptions and whatnots, filming A/A+ actors and actresses wandering around and mumbling shit. The wide-angle lens that distorts the edges of the frame, making it not even that good-looking anymore, is a good symbol for the overdose of a cloying formula.

movie poster
read comment
Escape from New York
F
John Carpenter — 1981
Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine
Saturday 4 November 2017

Looks like Carpenter's low budgets is more suited for horror than for action. This is just really bad.

movie poster
read comment
All Is Lost
A
J.C. Chandor — 2013
Friday 20 October 2017

Second movie in my J.C. Chandor streak, and an excellent one. There is one character and 4 or 5 lines of monologue in this movie, the well-crafted directing and poignant performance from Robert Redford doing all the heavy lifting, and lifting it up well.

movie poster
read comment
Margin Call
A
J.C. Chandor — 2011
Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, Kevin Spacey
Friday 20 October 2017

Last movie in my J.C. Chandor streak, and again a very good one. Very interesting inside perspective of the onset of the 2007 financial crisis, more punchy and approachable than the long and analytic Big Short.

movie poster
read comment
A Most Violent Year
A
J.C. Chandor — 2014
Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, David Oyelowo
Sunday 15 October 2017

National Board of Review's best movie of 2014. I would put it just after Birdman.

movie poster
read comment
The Wall
B
Doug Liman — 2017
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, John Cena
Saturday 14 October 2017

I have a sweet spot for movies about snipers and this one doesn't disappoint on the matter. A minor but nice film in Doug Liman's filmo (The Bourne Identity, Edge of Tomorrow).

movie poster
read comment
Wonder Woman
F
Patty Jenkins — 2017
Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright
Saturday 14 October 2017

Let me introduce you to Wonder Woman.

Coming from an island of women only, a man has to show her how to behave in the real world. He also makes sure she's not too much distracted by cute babies or wounded soldiers she wants to help. When she tells about some bizarre God stuff, the man needs to filter out the bullshit and convert it to an actual goal. When she's making a big scene because too much violence in this world and peace is better than war, the man needs to calm her down. She wakes up from a night in a basic boat, her mascara perfectly made. She enters the battlefield like she entered a fashion podium, in slow motion please. She charges at a bad guy, destroying the bell tower of a church, creating a havoc full of dust and dirt, but her hairstyle is still up to an advertisement for a shampoo.

For a self-advertised feminist movie, it makes all efforts possible so that it could be confused with a casually sexist one. As for the content itself, it's the latest issue from DC Garbage Studios.

movie poster
Blade Runner 2049
A
Denis Villeneuve — 2017
Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas
Monday 9 October 2017

No comment

movie poster
read comment
Starman
C
John Carpenter — 1984
Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Charles Martin Smith
Monday 9 October 2017

Kurt Russel mimicking an alien is a bit ridiculous but overall it's somewhat entertaining

movie poster
read comment
Kingsman: The Secret Service
B
Matthew Vaughn — 2014
Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Samuel L. Jackson
Sunday 8 October 2017

A very good action movie. Funny and entertaining.

movie poster
read comment
In the Heart of the Sea
C
Ron Howard — 2015
Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson
Sunday 8 October 2017

How visually ugly and narratively impersonal can a Ron Howard's movie get before you start to dislike it? This one is probing for the limit, although fortunately it doesn't reach it.

movie poster
read comment
Ida
C
Pawel Pawlikowski — 2013
Agata Kulesza, Agata Trzebuchowska, Dawid Ogrodnik
Friday 6 October 2017

The stunning cinematography beautifying depressive Polish sets is consistent with the touching view on the unexciting subject of a young woman who is about to take her vows to God. Not my cup of tea overall, but I can't say it's bad.

movie poster
read comment
All About Eve
D
Joseph L. Mankiewicz — 1950
Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders
Wednesday 20 September 2017

IMDb Top 250 homework. Talks a lot but doesn't deliver much.

movie poster
read comment
Amour
D
Michael Haneke — 2012
Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert
Monday 18 September 2017

I very much enjoy Michael Haneke's directing, but this is basically a documentary on slow deterioration to death and I don't see the point.

movie poster
read comment
Chinatown
C
Roman Polanski — 1974
Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston
Monday 18 September 2017

IMDb Top 250 homework. The cynical and sad ending obviously got my attention, but that's only after a long and unremarkable story

movie poster
read comment
Moana
C
Ron Clements, John Musker, Don Hall, Chris Williams — 2016
Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rachel House
Sunday 10 September 2017

I think it's the first Disney where I actively enjoyed the songs instead of waiting for them to finish so that the narration could carry on. I then listened to the album in loop like a little girl. The movie is okay-ish.

movie poster
read comment
The Babadook
E
Jennifer Kent — 2014
Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall
Sunday 10 September 2017

This is difficult to rate. The movie achieves its goal perfectly, but I'm not sure I like it. It's frightening, but not usual-horror-film-frightening. The story mixes dead serious subjects, making it quite disturbing and dark. In the end, although I recognize the performance, it repulsed me more than anything else.

movie poster
Moneyball
B
Bennett Miller — 2011
Brad Pitt, Robin Wright, Jonah Hill
Sunday 10 September 2017

No comment

movie poster
read comment
As Good as It Gets
D
James L. Brooks — 1997
Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear
Sunday 3 September 2017

An endless source of reaction GIFs from Jack Nicholson

movie poster
read comment
The Deer Hunter
D
Michael Cimino — 1978
Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale
Monday 28 August 2017

Why would I want to watch a wedding in real time from people I don't know? This last act with DeNiro and Walken tho

movie poster
read comment
Megan Leavey
C
Gabriela Cowperthwaite — 2017
Kate Mara, Ramon Rodriguez, Tom Felton
Friday 25 August 2017

Those movies about recent trivia, incidents or notable people always get my interest, although this one lacks the spark to make it more than just an anecdote

movie poster
read comment
Kong: Skull Island
B
Jordan Vogt-Roberts — 2017
Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson
Sunday 20 August 2017

The danger of giving Oscars to fresh and upcoming comedians on their first widely recognized movie is that they then rest on their laurels and are satisfied with blockbusters. This is how you get the brilliant Brie Larson to switch from Room to Kong: Skull Island. Same deal with Alicia Vikander in A Danish Girl and then Tomb Raider. Compare that to Leonardo DiCaprio who had to do an exhaustive tour of all the greatest contemporary directors and thoughtful roles before getting his precious one. It was a long con from the Academy to keep him up to his talent all along! Now shut up and take my money and let me watch this bad Samuel L. Jackson motherfucker fight the gigantic Kong.

movie poster
read comment
Chef
B
Jon Favreau — 2014
Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson
Monday 14 August 2017

Feel-good movie feels good!

movie poster
read comment (FR)
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
C
OSS 117: Le Caire, nid d'espions
Michel Hazanavicius — 2006
Jean Dujardin, François Damiens, Khalid Maadour
Sunday 6 August 2017

Faut le voir pour comprendre les références autour de soi, et il faut dire que c'est bien marrant. J'ai toujours du mal avec ces comédies où le seul intérêt est d'attendre la prochaine pitrerie du comédien et qui sont de qualité nulle outre mesure. Elles semblent appartenir à un art entièrement différent qui, par simple coincidence, partagent avec le cinéma le fait d'être filmées.

movie poster
read comment
Loving
C
Jeff Nichols — 2016
Ruth Negga, Joel Edgerton, Will Dalton
Friday 4 August 2017

Jeff Nichols makes us endure a long history educative package, which is quite a treason to the originality of his filmography up to this.

movie poster
read comment
Coherence
B
James Ward Byrkit — 2013
Emily Baldoni, Maury Sterling, Nicholas Brendon
Thursday 3 August 2017

This filmed-with-no-budget-by-a-bunch-of-friends indie got me hooked quite efficiently

movie poster
read comment
Cinderella
A
Kenneth Branagh — 2015
Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden
Tuesday 1 August 2017

My love for characters played by Lily James, such as Natasha in BBC's War and Peace, turns my sensibility into this of a little girl. Cinderella is no exception, and I'm not even mad about it.

2019-05-05

This movie is one dependable ally when you've caught a nasty cold. Just slip in under the cover and let you be taken away in this beautiful tale. Relish watching the delightful direction of Kenneth Brannagh and listening to the sweet music of Patrick Doyle. Jubilate as Cinderella and the Prince meet for the first time in the forrest and flirt like two loving souls. Remind yourself that everything will be alright as long as you have courage and be kind. Oh boy this movie is close to perfection.

movie poster
read comment
Baby Driver
B
Edgar Wright — 2017
Ansel Elgort, Jon Bernthal, Jon Hamm
Sunday 30 July 2017

The editing of car chases is, as usual, an endless source of frustration caused by each little stunt being cut right before its proper finish when it should have been shown in a single shot. Entertaining nonetheless, and also has Lily James.

movie poster
read comment
Dunkirk
A
Christopher Nolan — 2017
Fionn Whitehead, Barry Keoghan, Mark Rylance
Friday 28 July 2017

Nolan finally gets back down to Earth (and to Sea, and to Sky). The impersonal subject of war is a perfectly suited canvas for his absolutely masterful directing, and isn't polluted by his usual i-am-very-smart ramblings. The result is a stubborn, simple, and efficient masterpiece.

movie poster
read comment
Hidden Figures
C
Theodore Melfi — 2016
Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe
Thursday 27 July 2017

History Educative Package #24536, mixed with dramatic acting outbursts they will screen during the “Best actress in a leading/supporting role” video introduction at the Oscars.

movie poster
read comment
Logan
B
James Mangold — 2017
Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen
Sunday 23 July 2017

At last a mature super-hero movie. A gold nugget in all this recent garbage.

movie poster
read comment
Once Upon a Time in the West
B
C'era una volta il West
Sergio Leone — 1968
Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale
Saturday 22 July 2017

The way Sergio Leone distills a scene's atmosphere is both the source of awe and sometimes of boredom, but overall the result is definitely something fascinating.

movie poster
read comment
The Station Agent
C
Tom McCarthy — 2003
Peter Dinklage, Patricia Clarkson, Bobby Cannavale
Friday 21 July 2017

A totally average movie that interest lies in discovering the early roles of Peter Dinklage, Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Williams

movie poster
read comment
A Very Long Engagement
C
Un long dimanche de fiançailles
Jean-Pierre Jeunet — 2004
Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, Jodie Foster
Sunday 16 July 2017

Jean-Pierre Jeunet stills thinks his urine-colored Instagram filter is artistic, and reiterates the usual suite of gimmicks leading to a compromise ending

movie poster
read comment
John Wick: Chapter 2
A
Chad Stahelski — 2017
Keanu Reeves, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ian McShane
Wednesday 12 July 2017

Absolutely.

movie poster
Get Out
B
Jordan Peele — 2017
Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford
Monday 10 July 2017

No comment

movie poster
read comment
The BFG
C
Steven Spielberg — 2016
Mark Rylance, Ruby Barnhill, Penelope Wilton
Monday 26 June 2017

Casual Spielberg' masterful directing on average concept and screenplay. The man needs to find the magic back.

movie poster
read comment
I Saw the Devil
B
Ang-ma-reul bo-at-da
Jee-woon Kim — 2010
Byung-Hun Lee, Min-sik Choi, Joon-Hyuk Lee
Sunday 25 June 2017

That was very violent, maybe a bit too much. But its gut-wrenching narration is precisely what makes it captivating.

movie poster
read comment
Insomnia
B
Christopher Nolan — 2002
Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank
Saturday 17 June 2017

So Nolan's talent to film aesthetically pleasing planes flying is not new. He apparently also knows how to make really good thrillers when he doesn't fool himself with philosophical bullshit.

movie poster
read comment
Raiders of the Lost Ark
D
Steven Spielberg — 1981
Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman
Sunday 11 June 2017

My trouble with this movie (and the entire Indiana Jones franchise) is how it displays a sort of comical and light-weight atmosphere when the characters are always in imminent danger of death. Indiana Jones and his friends wouldn't win the natural selection since their top priority in any situation is to joke about it. Public Service Announcement: in reality, you probably need to panick about the idea of being killed.

movie poster
read comment
Blood Simple.
D
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen — 1984
John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya
Sunday 28 May 2017

First movie of the Cohen brothers. I would say it's totally forgettable, my proof being that at the time of writing this I saw it one year ago and I don't remember what the hell it is about.

movie poster
read comment
Raw
B
Grave
Julia Ducournau — 2016
Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, Rabah Nait Oufella
Saturday 27 May 2017

As fresh and tasty as raw meat. Hmmm.

movie poster
read comment
The Great Wall
E
Yimou Zhang — 2016
Matt Damon, Tian Jing, Willem Dafoe
Friday 26 May 2017

I mean that was shit.

movie poster
read comment
Mommy
A
Xavier Dolan — 2014
Anne Dorval, Antoine Olivier Pilon, Suzanne Clément
Sunday 21 May 2017

The director wants to stand out and desperately tries to be original, most notably with the unusual aspect ratio and the weirdly-fitting pop songs. His talent at directing is well enough in its own right, as it captures so well how the brutality of the main character affects the lives of people around him, and his own. This is beautiful and tragically breathtaking.

movie poster
Letters from Iwo Jima
D
Clint Eastwood — 2006
Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara
Sunday 21 May 2017

No comment

movie poster
read comment
Nocturnal Animals
B
Tom Ford — 2016
Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon
Sunday 14 May 2017

It never is entirely satisfying, but the part on the road is one of the most gut-wrenching piece of thriller I've ever seen.

movie poster
read comment
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
B
Guy Ritchie — 2015
Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander
Friday 12 May 2017

Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer in the same movie. WTF I'm gay now.

movie poster
read comment
The Fighter
B
David O. Russell — 2010
Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams
Sunday 7 May 2017

Made me discover The Heavy (with their song How you like me Now) so it's definitely worth it. The movie is good also.

movie poster
Margaret
D
Kenneth Lonergan — 2011
Anna Paquin, Matt Damon, Mark Ruffalo
Sunday 7 May 2017

No comment

movie poster
read comment
Godzilla
F
Gareth Edwards — 2014
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston
Sunday 30 April 2017

When they do the Kong vs. Godzilla movie, Kong will kick this stupid creature's ass, and he betters destroys it into pieces as well so that they stop making movies about it.

movie poster
Camp X-Ray
D
Peter Sattler — 2014
Kristen Stewart, Payman Maadi, Lane Garrison
Saturday 29 April 2017

No comment

movie poster
The Founder
D
John Lee Hancock — 2016
Michael Keaton, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch
Sunday 23 April 2017

No comment

movie poster
read comment
Closer
B
Mike Nichols — 2004
Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Clive Owen
Sunday 9 April 2017

With this movie I learned that Julia Roberts isn't just a wide smile, she's also an excellent actress. I must say that the rest of the rather talented cast makes for quite a delicious sentimental essay.

movie poster
read comment
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
D
David Yates — 2016
Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol
Friday 7 April 2017

Why do I even watch Harry Potter shit. I don't like Harry Potter.

movie poster
read comment
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
D
Rogue One
Gareth Edwards — 2016
Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk
Monday 3 April 2017

First opus in the « side » narration separated from the mainline sequence of episodes, where Disney lets subpar directors demonstrate their incompetency and effectively steers the saga to shit, as if the story choices of the mainline weren't efficient enough in doing that already.

movie poster
read comment
Street Kings
F
David Ayer — 2008
Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie
Friday 31 March 2017

Exploring the early movies of David Ayer, director of the excellent Fury, and all I find is trash.

movie poster
read comment
Suicide Squad
E
David Ayer — 2016
Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie
Monday 27 March 2017

Harley Quinn is the most interesting aspect of this movie, and that is a low upper bound.

movie poster
read comment
A Hologram for the King
D
Tom Tykwer — 2016
Tom Hanks, Omar Elba, Sarita Choudhury
Tuesday 14 March 2017

I've called Interpol so that they could rescue Tom Hanks, who apparently got lost in the desert.

movie poster
read comment
It Happened One Night
D
Frank Capra — 1934
Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly
Tuesday 14 March 2017

After the awesome It's a Beautiful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, I decided to explore more of Frank Capra, but this one is less approachable a bit more rooted in its time (understand: borderline sexist)

movie poster
read comment
Lord of War
B
Andrew Niccol — 2005
Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke, Jared Leto
Sunday 12 March 2017

After his alarming vision of a world ruled by genetic perfection and his radical satire of reality TV, Andrew Niccol, the talented writer of (respectively) Gattaca and The Truman Show, still has things to say, about gun trade this time. His incessant need to remind us of how immoral it is is a bit heavy at times (compare that, for example, to how Martin Scorcese just goes full on with organized crimes epics, letting the spectators process the ethics in their own ways), but can we really reproach to Niccol to commit when that's what he does best, especially when the result is otherwise an excellent movie.

movie poster
read comment
Hunger
A
Steve McQueen — 2008
Stuart Graham, Laine Megaw, Brian Milligan
Friday 10 March 2017

Steve McQueen continues his one-word filmography, after the brilliant Shame. The usage of the long-take, including an unedited 15-minute dialogue on suicide, as well the glacial approach to violence and suffering, makes it, once again, an incredible cinematographic experience.

movie poster
read comment
You Can Count on Me
C
Kenneth Lonergan — 2000
Laura Linney, Matthew Broderick, Amy Ryan
Sunday 5 March 2017

Kenneth Lonergan early work is a minor drama, but it's nonetheless the occasion to witness a little known but impressive performance from Mark Ruffalo, and overall a good alchemy between a good cast.

movie poster
read comment
Allied
D
Robert Zemeckis — 2016
Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Jared Harris
Saturday 4 March 2017

After Flight and The Walk, Robert Zemeckis continues fucking around random themes and stories. I don't mind him trying out stuff, but the quality is progressively dropping.

movie poster
read comment
La La Land
A
Damien Chazelle — 2016
Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Rosemarie DeWitt
Sunday 26 February 2017

So I was just thinking, if I was tasked to chose a song to send to an alien civilization, I would probably chose the raw City of Stars duo by Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.

movie poster
read comment
Fences
C
Denzel Washington — 2016
Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Stephen McKinley Henderson
Sunday 26 February 2017

I've always felt that film is a somewhat arbitrary medium for a play, and this one really gave me this feeling hard. The way it's done you can tell that it must be a play. So I'm kind of perplex as to the whole purpose of it, if not to showcase the stellar talent of Viola Davis.

movie poster
read comment
Lion
B
Garth Davis — 2016
Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara
Monday 20 February 2017

This suffers from the Oscar-targeted dramatic-acting-outburst syndrome, with Dev Patel going off the mark in the middle of the street to tell us about his existential crisis because of some random word the other character made the mistake of using. Fortunately most of the time the movie has a more subtle emotional approach, so it ends up pretty good.

movie poster
read comment
Moonlight
D
Barry Jenkins — 2016
Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Trevante Rhodes
Sunday 19 February 2017

Those types of life chronicles simply aren't my cup of tea. I see the point, this is touching and all, but there are just so many stories like this in the world, it's quite random, and it doesn't even pay off with a resolution.

movie poster
read comment
Hacksaw Ridge
B
Mel Gibson — 2016
Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey
Sunday 19 February 2017

You can't do more Hollywood, but that's quality Hollywood.

movie poster
read comment
Manchester by the Sea
A
Kenneth Lonergan — 2016
Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler
Saturday 18 February 2017

I like tragedy. This delivers.

movie poster
read comment
Hail, Caesar!
B
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen — 2016
Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich
Thursday 9 February 2017

Typical Coen brothers doing typical Coen brothers stuff, earning typical Coen brothers rating.

movie poster
read comment
Arrival
B
Denis Villeneuve — 2016
Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker
Tuesday 7 February 2017

Denis Villeneuve commits the cardinal sin and adds a non-diegetic soundtrack over scenes where diegetic sounds are of paramount importance. I'M TRYING TO LISTEN TO WHAT IS GOING ON COULD YOU PLEASE CUT THE MUSIC GOD DAMMIT. To add to the crime, the music is a variation of the tripods' siren in War of the World and has a tone similar to the diegetic sound we're trying to listen to. The resolution might be a bit too mind-blowing for me as I can't fully make sense of it without resorting to Laplace's determinism, and the implications about free will aren't satisfyingly resolved. Reaching this level of discussion in a first place sets the bar quite high.

movie poster
read comment
Bridge of Spies
A
Steven Spielberg — 2015
Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda
Monday 6 February 2017

I've found spiritual guidance in the “would it help” philosophy.

movie poster
read comment
The Hateful Eight
A
Quentin Tarantino — 2015
Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Monday 6 February 2017

I always picture old people as sort of easily-shocked conservative ones, especially when they're respected, classy, artists. So I wonder how the discussion between Tarantino and Ennio Morricone went when they discussed the score for the flashback where Samuel L. Jackson is nasty with the general's son, which I found to be too-much myself. Asking important questions.

movie poster
read comment
Room
A
Lenny Abrahamson — 2015
Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers
Monday 6 February 2017

This movie tricked me with such power. Considering the mysterious setting of the first act, I assumed it belonged to an entirely different genre than it was, a more metaphorical one. The revelation came up to me with such sheer brutality, I felt weak in my inability to consider things through a rational eye. It's absolutely brilliant.

movie poster
read comment
Spotlight
B
Tom McCarthy — 2015
Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams
Monday 6 February 2017

Mark Ruffalo doing the good old acting outburst for the Oscars. Literally Hulk.

movie poster
The Big Short
D
Adam McKay — 2015
Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling
Monday 6 February 2017

No comment

movie poster
read comment
Mad Max: Fury Road
A
George Miller — 2015
Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult
Monday 6 February 2017

A 2 hours high-speed chase in the desert. Shut up and take my money.

movie poster
read comment
The Danish Girl
D
Tom Hooper — 2015
Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Amber Heard
Monday 6 February 2017

This films is a rather dull platform for Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander to showcase their talent.