Three reasons why Leone is a MASTER...

Spirited Away is an extremely Japanese movie... for most non-japanese viewers, it's merely a great fantasy movie but for the Japanese, it has much deeper cultural meaning.

it's somewhat akin to the "Coco" movie for the Mexican culture but it's not based specifically around ancestry but with Spirituality and the Shinto obsession with the "Spirit" world and how those spirits/karma can be passed generationally.

We're talking good westerns and no one showing any love for The Assassination of Jesse James?

Yes. On my personal scorecard, I have it tied with Yojimbo, but yeah, it's at the the top along with High Noon and Fear and Loathing.

And, of course, Shane.

Top 5 fur sure

maybe in length

Hot take: For a Few Dollars More was better than TGTBATU.

You be talkin crazy round here.

IMO

I know it's still February and there are ten months of movies left to come, but can we just acknowledge right now that the Academy Award for Best Costume Design is 100% going to Ruth Carter for her work on Black Panther?

There's no need to cruelly give other designers hope when there isn't any.

Lol

so is it necessary to see Black Panther is 3D or can I just save the money and see it in 2D?

I'll take that bet.

I, Tonya -
8/10 (Must See)

Re: great(est) westerns

… The Naked Spur, Forty Guns, The Man from Laramie, Django Unchained.

Are we counting NCFOM?

Re: The Searchers and Shane

The Searchers is so good it seems unreal. That first sequence when Ethan touches down. There’s nothing else like it, imo. The warmth and the sense of space. Maybe the scene in Vertigo where Kim Novak wakes up in Jimmy Stewart’s apartment. That kind of feel.

I can’t understand the hate for Shane either. You might not like the (mythic, insanely influential) story, but you must admit it looks stunning, in a class of its own, imo. Plus the iconic ending. As for the kid, hey, he's naive, unstudied, like a … kid.

Re: controversial takes on westerns

The Coen Bros’ True Grit was much better than the original, which hasn’t aged well (like a lot of westerns).

High Noon is bleh. Nothing to really grab you, besides Grace Kelly (who’s always worth the price of emission).

I thought Hell or High Water was bland and overpraised. Same with The Hateful Eight.

I’m not a Leone fan, despite liking Yojimbo and Morricone. Help me.

Black Panther was interesting, but really just standard superhero fare. I really liked the cast, the production design, the costumes, and the whole Wakanda back story. I like the mountain tribe and the rhinos.

Didn’t like how they over-relied on the tech. The panther suit makes him virtually indestructible. I mean, I’m the end credits, the UN guy asks what can Wakanda offer the world - didn’t he see the floating space ship outside?

The female royal guard should’ve been given more to do. Andy Serkis died too soon. Michael B. Jordan was bland.

And don’t waste your money on the 3D. It was awful. Made everything look funky-sink and small - like models.

I have high hopes for Game Night and Annihilation

Can we go a single thread without talking about Dominic

Interesting, I thought the 3D worked much better for this movie than most movies.

Disagree on the bolded points. I considered this standard superhero fare until the midpoint, when we suddenly get the first compelling villain in the MCU since Loki.

I doubt anyone was impressed by the floating spaceship. SHIELD has (had?) like, dozens of those things. The implication, to my ears, was more about the integration of Wakandan ideals than simply about their vibranium tech.

Annihilation... WOW.

Just awesome.

Reminds me of Solaris in many ways. Beautiful long shots, slow deliberate story telling... a lovely movie that won't be for everyone.

Oh, and about Martin Freeman in Black Panther: why hire the quintessential English actor to play an American?? It was just weird hearing him do an American accent?

I enjoyed black panther but nothing special. Costumes and scenery were the best part of the movie.

What I like most about Annihilation...



dont read that unless you dont really care about spoilers... you'll hate me !

Really loved the book, which is the first of a trilogy, but as I understand it, Garland wrote his movie with a proper ending. Can't wait to see it.

Seeing it tomorrow night, looking forward to it.