I watched 'Mother, Couch' (2023). It starts off as a typical dry and quirky (in that indie film festival kind of way) comedy but becomes something quite serious and contemplative by the end. It is very open-ended by design, which I think put a lot of people off based on their reviews. It's also not funny in a mainstream laugh-out-loud comedy film kind of way, so I think that's another reason why audiences were so split over it. I think it's quite a good film though, definitely worth watching considering its short runtime.
this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2025
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A Banquet (2022)
Eerie occurence in a forest under a blood red moon causes profound changes in a daughter recently bereaved of her father. A mishmash of folk, cosmic, and a bit of body horror. Looks gorgeous, very slow paced, not bad overall but kind of unsatisfying in an it's-another-allegory-for-trauma sort of way. For food based folk horror The Feast (2021) is a better bet
Dial M for Murder (1954)
This classic is full of twists and turns you see coming as 70+ years of film has invariably duplicated aspects of the classic yet still does not detract from the experience. Another timeless film from Hitchcock.
The Cutting Edge (1992)
Watching this movie was a stroke of serendipity. There is absolutely nothing original in this romantic comedy yet the chemistry between the leads are evident and their acting brings it to reality truly making the whole greater than the sum of its parts.
Suzume (2024)
This is sadly my first movie I've seen of Makoto Shinkai and I understand why he has a following. It is gorgeously animated and the gratuitous use of magic hour helped with the theme (and visuals). The story is simple and cute but too many unanswered questions and plot holes ensured it did not live up to its hype.
Doghouse (2009)
Reminiscent of Shaun of the Dead but unfortunately holds none of the wit and charm while carrying a misogynistic undertone. The comedic bits and their varied "zombies" made it watchable.
Makoto Shinkai films are much more about the overall experience, rather than the details I think. They always have this very strong bittersweet/poignant element running through everything (visuals, music, story) that leaves me with this very odd feeling afterwards. Japanese cinema in particular has this wonderful ability to subtly convey very complex emotions to the viewer so that you get to the end of a film and realise you have tears in your eyes without really understanding how or why they got there.
I adored Perfect Days for those exact reasons yet Suzume's attempts to pull at the heartstrings felt blatant and a little hollow and is why I chose the word "gratuitous". Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if I entered without prior expectations of greatness or if I had a personal connection to the 2011 earthquake that so permeates throughout. Don't get me wrong, the film to me was decent but the romance was shoehorned and it wasn't cohesive enough to live up to the hype. I do intend to watch eventually Your Name as it's widely believed to be his magnum opus and I would love to see a more compelling Suzume.
I haven't actually seen Suzume yet so maybe I'll end up agreeing with you. I'm not sure if you've seen 'The Garden of Words' but that is possibly my favourite from him, despite being very short. Maybe that's part of the reason why it was so impactful - the shortened runtime cuts out a lot of the more distracting plot elements found in his other films and leaves you with a very distilled and pure Shinkai film.
I haven't! Would you recommend I watch it before Your Name?
ah i remember doghouse being pretty good. also i nicked your format for my own, cheers for that
I can see how as it was almost so ridiculous and fun it could be a cult film but it missed the mark IMO. There's no copyright on formats so by all means use it!
Two kids so Moana 1 and 2 like five times. Also Presence. That one was pretty good. And Run.
Anyone but You. I hate rom-coms but this one did have a few lols.
Taken 3, Sonic 3.
Started watching Gone in 60 Seconds.
Heretic. Was ok.
Just OK?
With all the Marvel and other sequel garbage they make these days that sounds relatively harsh.
Just watched Top Gun Maverick and despite it being obvious US military propaganda it was pretty fucking rad. Really captured the feel of the original with updated effects while adhering as much as possible to using practical effects and a lot less CGI than I was expecting. Solid flick, and I will admit I got a little weepy during the Val Kilmer cameo (RIP).
a lot less CGI than I was expecting.
Less CGI is just invisible CGI Hollywood consistently lies about the amount of visual effects used. If it is done well, as it mostly is in a movie like this, it isn't too distracting so I don't know why they lie about it.
Made me want to puke.
Not just the obvious US military propaganda but the extremly pathetic, bombastic and pompous storytelling.
I could stomach the original, but I hated evey aspect of this farce.
No one involved should ever be working on a movie ever again.
Oh chill out it was fine, you're not watching it for its politics you watch it for all the sick practical plane stunts, don't be a killjoy. 99% of all media is problematic, a lot more than that movie.
I said I enjoyed the first one despite the politics.
extremly pathetic, bombastic and pompous storytelling
that was my issue, it's a crap movie on every level, I can't even remember any 'sick practical plane stunts'.
That's how underwhelming and forgettable this overhyped failure was.