The Last Movie You Watched

[MR. Macabre 666]

Caught Nosferatu last night. Super creepy. Kind of impressed at Dafoe being equally good as Max Schreck in Shadow of the Vampire and Dr. Eberhart in Nosferatu; though I suppose epic scenery-chewing was an asset in both roles.

I thought NOSFERATU was amazing, the attention to detail was breath taking, and Bill Skarsgard is unrecognizable as Count Orlock. Just the way he was able to change his voice to become this character was unbelievable, and the natural lighting employed only added more atmosphere to the film. 
9.5/10

[MR. Macabre 666]

The Watchers

A young artist gets stranded in an extensive, immaculate forest in western Ireland, where, after finding shelter, she becomes trapped alongside three strangers, stalked by mysterious creatures each night.

It wasn't great when the context of the story is revealed.

[Rev. Rye]

This week in the Deep Hurting Project, Jonah Hex. I don't know much about the original comics besides what I can look up on TVTRopes. But I know it's bad enough for the Project.

• This scene of a vengeful attempt on Jonah Hex' life would be a lot more impactful if we knew who this guy was.
  
• Is this movie animated now? It's like they decided they wanted to do an opening credits scene, but didn't include the opening credits.
  
• Looking it up on TVTropes, Jonah Hex should be a lot more heavily burnt. Or did they think making him any more heavily burnt would infringe on Nightmare on Elm Street?
  
• I liked the whole "Western anti-hero carrying around a Gat" thing when it was Django doing it.
  
• Um, President Grant? You do remember Sherman, right? That he targeted civilians, too? Then again, Sherman's rationale for razing Atlanta at least made sense. And at least he wasn't doing it to his own people in hopes that they'd turn against Richmond.
  
• Huh. Jonah's a Confederate. And to think that, in a few years, making the hero a Confederate would become a major taboo (for admittedly damn good reasons.)
  
• The tekegraph is the way of the future? It's been running nationwide for 15 fucking years at this point.
  
• And why is there a monster/man MMA fight? 
  
• What the shit kind of second chance could there be for the Confederacy? The Union trounced your ass the first time around, many of your best generals are dead, and by the end, you were so desperate for troops that you were actually willing to try and bring slaves into your army, thus undermining the entire fucking point of the rebellion in the first place.
  
• So, the only reason he joined the Confederacy was because he had ODD?
  
• So, Eli Whitney made the A-bomb? Or at least the Steampunk version thereof?
  
• Also, why does Grant look fuck-all like Grant?
  
• One of the most commonly cited flaws of this film is that it's short. Fortunately, for my purposes, it's one of its strengths. Dinner starts soon and I nodded off through a lot of the afternoon, so it's ending just in time.
  

Next Week, After QuaRENTine.

[Nanny]

Dune Part 2 (2024) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune:_Part_Two

I made it through all of 20 minutes of the first of these Dune reboots, and while I nearly made it past the 30 minute mark in the second film, I could bear no more of it.

The acting is fine. The visuals are fine. The effects are fine.

They skip huge important parts of the story and rewrite critical parts. By the 25 minute mark Lady Jessica has consumed the water of life. There's no subtext of oppressors vs oppressed and the middle eastern themes are mostly absent. It's as if the writers only read the wikipedia plotline of the source material.

The Sci-Fi series, Frank Herbert's Dune (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Herbert%27s_Dune) (Ian McNiece as the Baron steals the show!) and Children of Dune (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Herb...en_of_Dune), tell the story better, with better acting, although the miniseries format does allow for more story and character development. Watch them instead.

[Mister Agenda]

In the comics Jonah Hex surrended to the Union when he heard about the Emancipation Proclamation and wound up hunted by both sides after a series of unfortunate events, so he fled to the West and became a bounty hunter. Where he wound up disfigured by his adoptive Apache father after another series of unfortunate events. His later adventures got much wierder. His power to briefly raise the dead shown in the movie never appears in comics, though.

I wanted to like the movie, but even by my low standards it was a disappointment.

[Nanny]

The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pope_o...ch_Village

A strange riff on the street-thug's-cousin-gets-thug-in-trouble-with-the-mob motif with some nice camera work, loads of overacting, Daryl Hannah in her underpants, and a show stealing performance by Geraldine Page made this a decent watch. Mickey Rourke and Eric Roberts overact, then overact some more as the plot plays out, leading to some unintentional comedy. There are other funny bits - intended humor - sprinkled throughout.

The plot lags in spots. We really don't need exposition in this flick - we all know the story already. Hero gets fired because of his cousin's antics. Girlfriend in pregnant, Hero under financial stress. Cousin pitches a heist, turns out to be mob money, and we get to see how Hero is gonna get out of it. Then end.

[Silver]

The Sand Castle

A family of four is stuck on an idyllic island that hides a shocking reality.