Media itt: movie/film discussion - Beware Spoilers

[vonFiedler]

Spoilers

Characters do act inconsistently - Man of Steel set up Superman to be a righteous figure and beacon of humanity, but here he's sort of an asshole (maybe not to that extent, but certainly not a do-gooder). He skimps on hearings, shows up out of nowhere to stop Batman chasing bad guys - at least he's consistently bland. Batman's transition from 'God I fuckin hate this hero dressed like a clown' to 'Oh my god our mothers share the same names, pls be my friend Superman' to 'I failed him' at his funeral was sooo rushed and unwarranted also.

Superman IS sort of an asshole in this continuity. That's one of the problems with Man of Steel. I can't fault BvS for being inconsistent there. At least here the film acknowledges that the idea of him being a beacon of humanity might be hogwash.

Batman's whole deal is that he's become sort of an asshole too, and if you know anything about Batman, you should know why them sharing mother's names matters so much so quickly. Batman swore that no other child would lose their parents. It makes perfect sense. And when Batman realizes what Alfred has been telling him all movie, that he's being a fucking prick, then of course it's a massive failure when the guy you had a vendetta against for almost no reason gets killed.

The transition to the desert dream was perplexing and I had no idea what was going on, or why. Then there was a transition from a cool-ass Batman action scene to a sudden dream sequence on a mountain where Superman mulls over emotional consolidation with his papa, but you don't really give a shit about what either character is saying because 1) Superman is bland and 2) There was an amazing action sequence before! Who has time for this emotional jargon! There were other transitions that really stood out at the time, but I can't exactly remember them anymore.

One can't really help but draw a comparison to Inception, which is barely even two degrees of separation from this film. Like in Inception, the dreams come out of nowhere and start in the middle. Yes, they feel jarring... which is what the characters are feeling! When you realize that and it clicks, it really clicks. Even one of my friends who hated the movie thought that the apokolips dream was the standout moment of the film.

The dad dream was harder to like purely on account of pa kent being such a fucking awful character in the first film. Whadda ya gonna do

There may not be warped morality as such, but what were Luthor's motives? I feel like the film needed time to explain why Luthor was doing all the stuff he was doing. If he was simply trying to stop Superman from his 'reign of terror' then why would he create Doomsday? In that sense it bleeds into Batman v Superman indeed becoming stupid.

This is a valid question for a while but it's explained succintly in one line when Luthor finally confronts Superman. He's autistic, his daddy beat him, he thinks god is either not powerful or not good and wants to prove that vicariously through someone the first movie slathered in christ symbolism. He's got a bone to pick.

The problem is that Jessie Eisenberg is channeling Sheldon Cooper cosplaying as Hannibal Lector. His performance is terrible.

Ultimately I thought the movie was very content with being a movie for comic book fans, with lots of easter eggs and huge things left unexplained for casual viewers. I respect that. There's nothing really wrong with the movie, except for Eisenberg's performance and Batman using guns, but it didn't really click either. It's slow but not profound. It's character focused, but the characters are pretty unlikable until (hopefully) the end. It makes me somewhat for hopeful for the Justice League, but it was a small step after the steaming pile of shit that was Man of Steel. But that's more than I can say for X-Men: Days of Future Past.

 

[WaterBomb]

Did someone on this page say this was maybe the best Superman movie? *facepalm*

spoilers

I liked the movie personally and never found myself bored or confused about what's going on, and I liked Batfleck way more than I thought I was going to. A few scattered notes from my brain:

-Jeremy Irons was way fun to watch, but I didn't really like how he chose to play Alfred. I just don't picture Alfred as the bad ass Command Center sidekick he came off as here.
-Similar with Jesse Eisenberg, who acted brilliantly in the role he chose but played the part in a way that totally feels off for me as Luthor. I see Lex as mad, but genius and calculated. Eisenberg seemed way more scattered and Joker-ish.
-Too few people are calling attention to the fact that FREAKIN ELASTIGIRL WAS IN THIS MOVIE HOLY CRAP
-Wonder Woman was cool to have but sheesh she literally appears out of nowhere.
-Cavill did better in this film than Man of Steel but he's just never going to be Reeve. This is ok, because nobody is ever going to be Reeve. You do you, Henry.
-Doomsday came way too late and died way too quickly. They could easily have had another movie just dedicated to them trying to take down Doomsday. Surprised DC left this money on the table. They must really be in a rush to get Justice League out there

 

[DHR-107]

Did someone on this page say this was maybe the best Superman movie? *facepalm*

spoilers

-Too few people are calling attention to the fact that FREAKIN ELASTIGIRL WAS IN THIS MOVIE HOLY CRAP

Whut? Explain? Is this like Thomas the Tank Engine being in Antman? Or is this like... Another DC hero I've never heard of.

Spoilers maybe

So I saw this on Friday and it wasn't a bad film. Certainly not as bad as the critics are making it out to be. Seemed a bit odd that Superman was threatening Batman when Batman is protecting people also (in a slightly crueler way I guess).

The only other BIG problem I had was the whole film was set at fucking night. Or like 75+% of it was. I know Batman needs to be all dark and gloomy and it doesn't really work during the day but jesus christ. It was like daylight was rationed.

I didn't "get" the timey-wimey visions either telling Bruce to "fix" things. The scene with him in the back of the truck in the desert was especially jarring and left me wondering wtf was going on. It took a while for that scene to make any sense, but it was very abrupt and didn't exactly drive the story on. What were all those giant insects etc?

 

[WaterBomb]

Whut? Explain? Is this like Thomas the Tank Engine being in Antman? Or is this like... Another DC hero I've never heard of.

Lol the voice actress for Elastigirl in The Incredibles was the senator who cockblocked Luthor. It's really not that big a deal I was just kidding around.

 

[DHR-107]

Lol the voice actress for Elastigirl in The Incredibles was the senator who cockblocked Luthor. It's really not that big a deal I was just kidding around.

Ohhhhhhh THATS why I recognised her voice! Couldn't place it but I was sure I'd seen her in something before. Turns out I hadn't it was just the voice haha.

 

[vonFiedler]

#168: Gone Girl
I was honestly kind of petrified by the plot similarities of this movie to The Hunt. But it wasn't shitty. And for a movie that I was worried would have sexist undertones, it actually has some specific feminist ideas that annoy me (oh it's so bad for women to give blowjobs, but the first sex scene in the movie is a man going down on a woman...). Then again, they are spouted by a psycopath. Then again again, maybe it's like that movie Se7en where the psycopath was a soapbox we're supposed to listen to, and oh, I didn't immediately make the connection that that was also a David Fincher movie. It's not like those sexist problems aren't there though... rape is still portrayed as some Machiavellian plot to control men in spite of rape being one of the least falsely accused crimes and one of the most unreported due to people being by default on the side of the rapist.

The big differences between Gone Girl and The Hunt are that in Gone Girl characters aren't all incredibly fucking stupid idiots 110% of the time 120% of the time. It's also enthralling, well-told in general, and damn, that creepy fucking sound design.

Though I'm not totally sold on the ending

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So admittedly, this is 3/3 Fincher movies I've seen where the bad guy wins. But in Fight Club and Se7en, it's not really about whether they could be stopped (no in Fight Club and easily in Se7en), it's about the characters having a battle of wills (good wins in that sense in Fight Club, evil in Se7en). The idea that Gone Girl makes explicit that Amy has won and that custody of the child is a forgone conclusion is just not true. Her crime at this point has so many blatant flaws that any private detective or civil court (Nick is implied to be loaded as a result of the media circus) could not fail to see through it. If this ending works on any level, you have to believe that Amy has won a battle of will, and that Nick is just as bad a person as she is and that they deserve each other. And logically, I talked myself up from hating this ending, but that doesn't mean I'm feeling it. But I guess that is why Gone Girl isn't rated quite as high as Fincher's other films.

#170: Rush
A lot of true stories are boring. Real life doesn't follow the mechanics of good storytelling, and that's true enough here. But real life should have more complex characters than in fiction, and that rarely makes the jump to the screen either. But I think it's the two main characters that help make Rush a very captivating biopic. They are well acted, entertaining, and their dynamic together pushes the movie forward. It helps that Rush is also incredibly well shot and stylized, especially on the track.

 

[begin again]

whew, i just watched the red shoes and i'm honestly kind of really just blown away? i tried to watch a bunch of films from the criterion collection recently (autumn sonata, a woman under the influence, belle de jour, and wild strawberries), but the red shoes just stood out to me. every aspect of it was just so great and was absolutely mesmerizing (especially the entire performance of the actual ballet show).

 

[DHR-107]

#170: Rush
A lot of true stories are boring. Real life doesn't follow the mechanics of good storytelling, and that's true enough here. But real life should have more complex characters than in fiction, and that rarely makes the jump to the screen either. But I think it's the two main characters that help make Rush a very captivating biopic. They are well acted, entertaining, and their dynamic together pushes the movie forward. It helps that Rush is also incredibly well shot and stylized, especially on the track.

I watched this again yesterday and I still think it's a brilliant film. Theres a few "Hollywood-ified" parts, but the main story is exactly what happened in 1976. Bruhl I think is the star of the movie. Hemsworth is good (even if he is carrying a bit too much muscle from Thor), but Bruhl is so on point with the accent and mannerisms he captures Nikki perfectly. I agree that some of the shots are amazing. The CGI could have been a bit better (the crash at the start is especially bad), but some of the shots of cars on track are awesome. Unfortunately, Ron didn't fool anyone (that knows racing) into making Brands Hatch look like Paul Ricard in France...

 

[brightobject]

watched hardcore henry, it was a gimmick movie but holy shit what a good gimmick movie, some of the best action I've ever seen and oh lord it gets brutal. Like, Deadpool and Kick Ass come nowhere close to being this brutal. The plot was simple and actually had a pretty decent twist but all the characters were pretty one dimensional so it didn't really matter in the end. The female lead was fucking shitty at acting, but everyone else was decent considering. i personally think it's a really impressive and enjoyable movie, and even more so when u realise that the reason they filmed the movie in russia was so they could pull insane stunts that would never be allowed in the united states (at one point they pushed a stuntman off the side of an overpass onto a car). Textbook hyperviolence. Great setpieces and action. If you don't get motion sick easily and love supergore I recommend this movie, the fps perspective really gives you a massive rush.

here are some examples of the brutal crazy shit the mc (our cameraman) does:

Hide

jump into a tank and saw open pilot's throat with a katana
pulls out his own eyeball and decapitates someone by using his dangling eyeball as a garotte
blow up a truck with a grenade and ride it onto a motorcycle then jump onto another truck and blow up that one too

In the end its just violence porn revenge fantasy stuff though so if you want anything "meaningful" out of ur films do not under any circumstances watch this movie, it is the zenith of mindless entertainment. It's a nonstop adrenaline rush and I loved it 7/10 just for the action/gimmick[/hide]

 

[vonFiedler]

#126: The Message
I eventually stopped even intending to watch movies that randomly pop onto the top 250. But when I learned that this was actually an english language production, and realized that I'd be pairing it up with Life of Brian, I couldn't pass it up just in case it falls off the list later. And I'm really thankful that I didn't, because this is a fascinating movie.

I don't usually give a ton of points to movies for being hard to make. Seven Samurai and Laurence of Arabia largely bored me. But when a movie interests me from start to finish, it is a little compelling to know that it was one of the hardest movies to make ever. Why? Because it's the story of the Mohammed. Funding was pulled several times. Cast and crew were put in dire straights. People actually died over this movie. Note, it's not like Mohammed is portrayed in it. When need be, characters talk to the camera and then someone else repeats what he says. This faceless, voiceless protagonist makes it feel like a video game at times, and if you think that is crazy, keep in mind that this technique as far as I know is only elsewhere employed in another movie I'll be seeing tonight... Hardcore Henry.

But the positive thing about this movie is that it enlightened me about the religion of Islam. It created new questions that are too big for this thread, but it led to a bit of self-discovery and overall I think made me closer to one of my sibling religions. If Mecca weren't closed off to me, I think I would have liked to go there someday. I recommend this film to anyone who doesn't know much about Islam, or thinks that they do but are probably wrong.

#172: Life of Brian
And then we move into a joke movie tangentially about Jesus. Now I always thought that the Holy Grail was a collection of very good skits that didn't make for much of a movie. Life of Brian is definitely more cohesive, both as a story with recurring plots and characters, and as satire. And... it doesn't make it much better. Sometimes the satire is very good, sometimes not so much. But if having a plot made it a better movie... honestly it's been a few years since I've seen the Holy Grail but I remember more funny jokes from it than from Life of Brian two hours ago. Still a good number of laughs, but mostly early on I felt.

 

[vonFiedler]

#173: Hotel Rwanda
You got me in a box, movie. I know that the whole point of this movie is that white people are assholes who are unmoved by the suffering of blacks, several soapbox moments made that abundantly clear. But I was largely unmoved by you, movie, so I guess I'm an asshole now.

I know this film gets superficially compared to Schindler's List a lot. Far be it from me to say that Schindler's List is a perfect film, what with trying to be a masturbatory celebration of early cinema while it was also supposed to be about the holocaust, but when that movie was good, it was insanely good. Hotel Rwanda has some incredible lines and Don Cheadle acts like crazy, but it doesn't stop the movie from feeling like just a progression of scenes. Maybe because there were only one or two moments of legitimate danger. Unlike Schindler, who had to walk a wire-thin line the whole time, everyone knows that Paul is hiding refugees. So they show up to kill them, and then someone else orders them not to. Paul simply fails to be a compelling character like Schindler. I suppose that when both actually saved over a thousand lives in real life that being interesting is of small value on top of that, but it does wonders for your biopic.

#174: The Maltese Falcon
That sure was a noir film.

Pretty basic, but it is credited as inventing the film genre so... wait a minute, so is Double Indemnity... and that movie came out three years later. Man, Double Indemnity is shitty. The Maltese Falcon isn't so bad but it's definitely not good. It's about as bland and basic as you get, with only Humphrey Bogart's charisma to carry it.

And if you guys are tired of remakes now, this was actually the 2nd remake of the film in 10 years. If this is the good version, I don't want to see the bad ones.

 

[ButteredToast]

#173: Hotel Rwanda
You got me in a box, movie. I know that the whole point of this movie is that white people are assholes who are unmoved by the suffering of blacks, several soapbox moments made that abundantly clear. But I was largely unmoved by you, movie, so I guess I'm an asshole now.

I know this film gets superficially compared to Schindler's List a lot. Far be it from me to say that Schindler's List is a perfect film, what with trying to be a masturbatory celebration of early cinema while it was also supposed to be about the holocaust, but when that movie was good, it was insanely good. Hotel Rwanda has some incredible lines and Don Cheadle acts like crazy, but it doesn't stop the movie from feeling like just a progression of scenes. Maybe because there were only one or two moments of legitimate danger. Unlike Schindler, who had to walk a wire-thin line the whole time, everyone knows that Paul is hiding refugees. So they show up to kill them, and then someone else orders them not to. Paul simply fails to be a compelling character like Schindler. I suppose that when both actually saved over a thousand lives in real life that being interesting is of small value on top of that, but it does wonders for your biopic.

I am teaching a unit about genocides around the world and will be showing my students Hotel Rwanda. I'm also looking for some high school appropriate Cold War movies because we have random block scheduling for state assessments and I have to entertain kids for 90 minutes during study hall. I have Miracle, Apollo 13, Dr. Strangelove, Thirteen Days, and Red Dawn requested from my local library to be picked up. Am I missing any good movies that are not rated R?

 

[vonFiedler]

ButteredToast
Rocky IV! Kidding...

That's a hard question without rated R movies. There's Judgement at Nuremberg. Bridge of Spies was pretty alright, if it's on video by now.

 

[vonFiedler]

#174: There Will Be Blood
I started to form my negative opinions about movies before I started reading literature, but I wonder how many of these films I would have enjoyed had I not read a variety of books before-hand. There Will Be Blood is widely considered one of the most high-brow commercial films of the oughts, labeled a masterpiece about man's greed and how capitalism is more about dominance than gain. And I acknowledge that it tries to be about something, god knows so many things in this day and age don't. It's just that I've read this same book several times now. And I've mediocre versions of this book that got their point across better.

There Will Be Blood is helped in that it's a finely made movie. Daniel Day-Lewis may be the most talented actor ever, and he goes 100% here. And if the film were shot as anything but a persistent horror film, which it is, it could not have been any better. But at the end of the day, it is a film that I respected more than I enjoyed, like a good handful already on this list.

#176: Platoon
Saw this once as a kid, could barely pay attention I thought. But actually, I remember subconsciously all the bad things, and always thought of the film when talking about the realities of war. Platoon could be classed with American History X and Requiem for a Dream, but I didn't so badly want to look away from those films. While Saving Private Ryan is obsessed with the physical horrors of war, Platoon dwells on the moral horrors of war, and that to me matters so much more.

Of course you can't watch Platoon and not comment on the uncanny realism of it, helped by the writer/director having been a Vietnam veteran. And the cast is possibly the best ever put together. Only Lincoln has such a large cast of talented actors. Many in this film weren't superstars yet.

 

[Eagle4]

Films I've seen since last update. Tell me if you want to elaborate at all on any of my ratings:

High-Rise - ★★★★★

Mulholland Drive - ★★★★★

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - ★★

Zootopia - ★★★★

Victoria - ★★★★

The Jungle Book - ★★★

Only God Forgives - ★★★★★ (REWATCH)

Rushmore - ★★★★★ (REWATCH)

(500) Days of Summer - ★★★★

Don Jon - ★★★

The Fountain - ★★★★★

Wrong - ★★★

 

[Sumia The Angel]

*descends from on high, wings retracting, ready to make my first forum post*

I've had a teacher who told me about a movie called Amour (2012). Its got a pretty high Rotten Tomatoes rating and overall seems like a good, serious movie to watch once I'm done trawling through the Anchorman movies. Has anyone ever watched it? (No spoilers, please.) Did you like it? Am I doing something obnoxiously wrong in this post? Answer! (Please.)

And, uh, if I have to make a contribution to this thread...My favorite movie is City of God (2002). Its narrative was solid, it was gritty, edgy, but overall, was a very complete movie that I've rewatched multiple times. I adored The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). Last weekend, I watched The Godfather, but I'm sure all you movie buffs have seen it before.

 

[Matthew]

Films I've seen since last update. Tell me if you want to elaborate at all on any of my ratings:

High-Rise - ★★★★★

Mulholland Drive - ★★★★★

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - ★★

Zootopia - ★★★★

Victoria - ★★★★

The Jungle Book - ★★★

Only God Forgives - ★★★★★ (REWATCH)

Rushmore - ★★★★★ (REWATCH)

(500) Days of Summer - ★★★★

Don Jon - ★★★

The Fountain - ★★★★★

Wrong - ★★★

If you'd like to explain your reason of four stars on 500 Days of Summer I'd like to see some logic. It feels like a three star to me, while I can see that Gordon-Levit acted his heart out in that movie I can't get over how it's a "not a love story" story that ends with the main character getting an off-brand of what he wanted (or I guess thought he wanted). In the end it's just kind of a feel bad then good movie that appeals to the male audience, which in itself is unique but does that make it good? I'm not entirely sure.

 

[ButteredToast]

Matthew

I'll bite. I'm not the one who commented on it, but (500) Days of Summer is one of my favorite movies of all time. I watched it at the right time in my life when I was going through some really hard emotional shit with a girl and it got me. It's a movie that you really have to have some sort of connection to in order to appreciate I feel. You are right in that it's not really a "great movie" in that it is profound, universal, or razzle-dazzley. But it is an amazing movie in that if you have been through a breakup like that and can relate to it, it can really touch you. And help you kind of find answers you were searching for. At least it did for me.

Garden State, The Dish and the Spoon, (500) Days of Summer, and The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are great movies in the way that songs can be meaningful and great because they have that other personal element. Or a favorite restaurant whose food might not be the best of all time, but the place has memories.

 

[Martin]

Miles Ahead: 4/10
Miles Ahead is the perfect example of a movie taking a promising concept and completely failing to meet most of its potential. It is really depressing because it is a fictional story designed to showcase Miles Davis and to have his music played over it where the end result would have been better if the main character had been fictional musician as opposed to Miles Davis. Like, it highlights a few parts of his life (his abusive relationship with his wife and his hiatus from the music scene), but the plot is incomprehensibly stupid, forced and unbelievable (I could imagine most of the first half happening, but the second half was really badly written) whereas the direction was incompetent outside of the well-designed transitions between the past and the time in which the movie was set. All in all, this is a big waste of potential and not something I would recommend watching unless you're like my dad and think that any movie designed to have a jazz artist's music played over it is perfect.

 

[moonbound]

Reminder that no matter what you hear, Space Jam 2 isn't real until it's out and you can go see it in theaters.

 

[ButteredToast]

Reminder that no matter what you hear, Space Jam 2 isn't real until it's out and you can go see it in theaters.

It's going to be horrible. LeBron is going to join the Monstars and his mom is going to sleep with Porky Pig.

 

[DHR-107]

Just saying:

Civil War is a pretty good action film. They got Spidey right. They got the powers right. The story is pretty decent too. I really liked it. I know it's not out in the US till tomorrow? But I thoroughly enjoyed it, I think it might even top Winter Soldier for me...

 

[Soul Fly]

I think it might even top Winter Soldier for me...

you have my undivided interest, because I sincerely believe Winter Soldier was the closest MCU managed to get to the original Iron Man.

 

[Eagle4]

Thought Civil War was severely average. Certainly better than BvS, but I at least appreciate how BvS attempted to be daring and bold. This film was the same formulaic, no-stakes, emotionally uninteresting Marvel schtick that they've been feeding for ages. Action was good for the most part - that airport scene was hella fun - and Black Panther was top notch. But I didn't rly care for anything else - it honestly got a bit dull. It's such a rushed film, bloated with characters, that you don't care for anything that goes on - the film is called Civil War but didn't focus enough on the politics within the Avengers, and crammed in an unnecessary villain (though at least he was less one-dimensional than the majority of Marvel villains). I loved Tom Holland in The Impossible so I knew he'd knock it out the park as Spidey, but the CGI was very noticeable in places, especially his suit.

There's nothing too wrong with the film, but nothing that makes this film memorable. It's okay - like most Marvel films - but I want more than just okay.

Also are they really trying to push a Scarlet Witch / Vision romance? That's all kinds of dumb.

 

[vonFiedler]

#179: Spotlight
I've seen 7/8 of last year's oscar nominated movies, which is a wide margin more than I've seen for others. So I can say better than ever before that the oscar winner didn't deserve it at all, as it's the worst of the 7 movies I've seen by far. Yes, even including Bridge of Spies, which was only nominated because Spielberg. Even though it's not the best movie on the list, the contender you have to compare it to is The Big Short, a nominee that I thought had a very strong chance of winning. Yes, that felt a little disingenuous with its in your face presentation, but its message was important.

But the housing market crash, the fact that it was never rectified, that no one was punished for the extreme levels of fraud committed, and that it's happening again, why that's all too scary. What's something everyone agrees with disliking right now? Pedophiles? Sure. Pedophiles 15 years ago? PERFECT. Maybe the story of the spotlight news team is worth telling, but the result here feels incredibly gutless. There are never stakes of any kind. The story isn't hard to uncover and there's no element of social danger at all for the characters. The most pressure they ever feel is worrying that another newspaper will cover the story first.

It plays out like an episode of The Wire, probably because it's written/directed by the actor who played that show's worst character in its worst season (the one about a newspaper... oooooooh). And even if it felt similar to good The Wire, The Wire is a tv show and Spotlight is a movie. It just doesn't work at all.

It's not bad, because bad would be something. It's flat, sterile, bland. And that's really shitty for a movie about Batman, The Hulk, and Sabertooth fighting pedophiles.

#180: The Wages of Fear
I had the worst feeling that this movie would be similar to Treasure of the Sierra Madre. And I was in the ballpark. But in many ways, Wages of Fear is a massive improvement on that film. Both have similar setups and ultimate goals. White American/Europeans go to the middle of nowhere in South America, find that they are now the disenfranchised minorities, and are unable to afford to leave as they can't get jobs. But whereas in Sierra Madre the locals were depicted as being ignorant to how they SHOULD be treating the superior whites, Wages of Fear actually lets the irony soak in as we see white beggars plaguing the local community with theft and disease. In Sierra Madre, a high score game is made of killing Mexicans, but in Wages of Fear, a point is made about the suffering that American oil interests are bringing to the natives.

It's not an examination specific to any one race. The Wages of Fear is about poverty. It's the story of an insanely dangerous job that four men are taking, literally to avoid death from being poor. The titular Wages of Fear is what these men are being paid in. Four men drive two trucks filled with jerry-cans of nitroglycerin 300 miles through buttfuck nowhere on a road that often doesn't even have two lanes. It's the slowest high-speed car chase you'll ever watch, and it's hard to get out of your seat once a scene starts. In the face of how much smarter and more dignified it is than Sierra Madre, I had to quickly forget all misgivings about it.

spoilers

Only for them to show right back up with that fucking shitty ending. If the movie ended twenty seconds earlier, the work as a whole would have been much better. Mario zig-zagging with the truck as if dancing in freedom was the perfect ending. And then he just goes over a cliff like an idiot.

Mind you, I'm not saying this movie couldn't have had a tragic ending. Hell, it had tragedy in SPADES already. But once the main character finishes the job and collects his money, he should be home free. Again, just like Sierra Madre, this type of ending only exists to trick idiots into thinking you are so clever and surprising and avante-garde because it wasn't happy in the end. It really soured an otherwise fantastic movie and I'm not happy about it.

Officially 200/250!