The Official Last Movie You Saw Thread (Part 2)

[Joneslab]

American History X was actually an Alan Smithee film.

I always heard that the director was brutal...which makes sense, because he really didn't do a whole lot after that movie.

[Catatonic]

American History X was actually an Alan Smithee film.

I always heard that the director was brutal...which makes sense, because he really didn't do a whole lot after that movie.

Would that have made it the best Alan Smithee film of all time? (dubious honor)

I read that the director wanted to take his name off of American History X, and when he was refused he sued over it. Pretty sure that was the nail in the coffin for his career.

[KCKUKFan]

American History X was actually an Alan Smithee film.

I always heard that the director was brutal...which makes sense, because he really didn't do a whole lot after that movie.

He still retains directing credit on the film, but wanted his name removed and replaced with "Humpty Dumpty."

It's probably the best end result of an unbelievably troubled production in Hollywood history.

[Catatonic]

Saw Annihilation over the weekend. Didn't know much about it going in, which is probably the best way to see it (I knew it was by the same guy who wrote Ex Machina and 28 Days Later and that was good enough for me). The performances by Portman, Isaac and Lee are very good but nothing flashy. Several visually stunning moments throughout, and honestly I can't remember another movie that was this deeply unnerving while being so bright and colorful. My only critique would be that the ending doesn't quite satisfy the buildup of an immensely novel premise. But this was an excellent sci-fi/horror/mind-bending movie. Highly recommended.

[KCKUKFan]

For the most part, I loved "Annihilation." Certainly not for all tastes, but it was a movie full of splendid visuals and wild ideas. And there was one scene, in particular, that ranks among the most horrifying and suspenseful in recent history. If you thought "Ex Machina" and "28 Days Later" were hunky-dory, then you should find lots to like in this one.

The Oscars were a pretty blah affair, as expected. I just don't get the love for "The Shape Of Water," which, at its core, is about a deaf woman who falls in love with a fish. It's a dark, dreary film with a ridiculous premise that is being praised because it's about "love" and "beauty" and "freedom." Cue the eye-roll. It was a pretty weak field of Best Picture nominees this year, but I could name at least five of the runners that were more deserving.

[Joneslab]

Annihilation was one of the strangest and most interesting novels I've read in the last few years. I didn't continue on to read the last two books of the trilogy, but according to a friend at work (who I loaned the book to), Garland decided to really re-invent the novel and to almost fuse the trilogy together into one film. One detail he said had been removed shocked me, because it's a huge part of the novel.

I want to see it but the book hangs in your mind for a long time after you read it. Deeply strange.

[Joneslab]

Happy Death Day.

Groundhog Day remade as a teen slasher flick. This movie shouldn't work. It's way too antiseptic, it plays to its teen audience in at times cringe-worthy ways, and it borrows liberally from other, better horror movies. (Notably Scream.) But by about the midway point you find yourself invested, and there are some great details in this that make it well worth the watch. Yeah, it could've been way scarier and much darker, but there are some surprising twists, and you always feel like the script is one step ahead of you.

Recommended.

[KCKUKFan]

Happy Death Day.

Groundhog Day remade as a teen slasher flick. This movie shouldn't work. It's way too antiseptic, it plays to its teen audience in at times cringe-worthy ways, and it borrows liberally from other, better horror movies. (Notably Scream.) But by about the midway point you find yourself invested, and there are some great details in this that make it well worth the watch. Yeah, it could've been way scarier and much darker, but there are some surprising twists, and you always feel like the script is one step ahead of you.

Recommended.

I was surprised with this one. It was trash, but agreeable trash.

[Catatonic]

For the most part, I loved "Annihilation." Certainly not for all tastes, but it was a movie full of splendid visuals and wild ideas. And there was one scene, in particular, that ranks among the most horrifying and suspenseful in recent history.

Pretty sure I know the one you mean. Trying to avoid spoilers, but for some reason the detail of a character's voice being 'repurposed' really got to me.

I want to see it but the book hangs in your mind for a long time after you read it.

The movie is very much like that too. I am curious to check out the books now.

[KCKUKFan]

Annihilation was one of the strangest and most interesting novels I've read in the last few years. I didn't continue on to read the last two books of the trilogy, but according to a friend at work (who I loaned the book to), Garland decided to really re-invent the novel and to almost fuse the trilogy together into one film. One detail he said had been removed shocked me, because it's a huge part of the novel.

I want to see it but the book hangs in your mind for a long time after you read it. Deeply strange.

I've read all three of VandeMeer's books and I've seen every movie that Garland has written and/or directed, and I can say that Garland is an infinitely more talented sci-fi writer. Every alteration he made in the movie made the story more solid and involving. The first novel in the trilogy is one of the most abstract things I've ever read. Involving for awhile, and then it just sort've evaporates into a ridiculous puff of smoke... the second and third are slight improvements, but have a number of the same problems. The first-person narration of the novel, in particular, was a problem.

Garland took a good idea and made it into a good movie. As it was, the novel was nearly unfilmable.

[KCKUKFan]

Pretty sure I know the one you mean. Trying to avoid spoilers, but for some reason the detail of a character's voice being 'repurposed' really got to me.

That's the one.

[KCKUKFan]

A QUIET PLACE. The hype is real. A masterclass in pace, sound design, cinematography, suspense and acting. See it immediately. Who knew Jim from "The Office" had such a talent for directing? Genre, to boot?

[TrueblueCATfan]

^AGREED...loved it.......Did not know Emily and Jim were married in real life.....I also thought their 2 children did a great job acting in this movie

[Joneslab]

I really liked Netflix's cult documentary Wild Wild Country. Like Making a Murderer, the amount of footage available about the cult makes the thing. I was always impressed with MaM's ability to basically show you everything; every trial and deposition had been recorded. They have years of video of this cult, and the result pretty much allows the filmmakers to edit all that into a narrative. It's a riveting watch that gets into hard questions about what the difference between a cult and an organized religion really is.

Also watched a good documentary that's been on Netflix for awhile: The Nightmare. This is by the guys who did the movie about conspiracy theories relating to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, but this is a much better movie. It focuses on a group of people who suffer from sleep paralysis, and it's very scary. In fact it pretty much had me convinced I was going to suffer from sleep paralysis last night (I didn't).

Hasn't it been a crummy late winter/spring at the movies or is that just me? Seems like there's been nothing out that I want to pay money to see other than A Quiet Place, which I haven't had a chance to watch yet. Just seems very blah out there in terms of new movies.

[KCKUKFan]

I really liked Netflix's cult documentary Wild Wild Country. Like Making a Murderer, the amount of footage available about the cult makes the thing. I was always impressed with MaM's ability to basically show you everything; every trial and deposition had been recorded. They have years of video of this cult, and the result pretty much allows the filmmakers to edit all that into a narrative. It's a riveting watch that gets into hard questions about what the difference between a cult and an organized religion really is.

Also watched a good documentary that's been on Netflix for awhile: The Nightmare. This is by the guys who did the movie about conspiracy theories relating to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, but this is a much better movie. It focuses on a group of people who suffer from sleep paralysis, and it's very scary. In fact it pretty much had me convinced I was going to suffer from sleep paralysis last night (I didn't).

Hasn't it been a crummy late winter/spring at the movies or is that just me? Seems like there's been nothing out that I want to pay money to see other than A Quiet Place, which I haven't had a chance to watch yet. Just seems very blah out there in terms of new movies.

I actually feel like this has been one of the better "spring dead periods" for movies in recent memory:

I enjoyed "Black Panther," "Game Night," "Annihilation," "Death Wish," "Thoroughbreds," "The Strangers: Prey At Night," "Isle Of Dogs," "Ready Player One," "The Death Of Stalin," "Blockers," and "A Quiet Place."

Most January-April film seasons don't give you half the number of quality movies.