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Ross (3284 KP) rated Dark Waters (2019) in Movies

Jul 14, 2020

Good, but lengthy

This real-life story of corporation pollution, corruption, arrogance and loophole exploiting is a fairly gripping one, as an embattled corporate lawyer (Ruffalo), used to defending chemical companies, takes on a case to sue DuPont, one of the main employers in West Virginia, for polluting the land and water next to his client's land.
What starts off as a very unpopular case within his own firm, soon develops into outrage and lawyers actually doing the right thing. Tim Robbins' senior partner in the firm is brought round by the evidence unearthed after tireless hours of wading through hundreds of boxes of "discovery" and gets behind the case in the pursuit of justice. In one passionate scene, he shouts down all other partners in the firm in order to make them see what is at stake and what the underlying issue is.
The film does drag a little and could have been sped up to an extent but there were few times where I found myself actually bored or reaching for my phone.

Kudos

Georgia Hubley recommended The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) in Movies (curated)

"My parents took me to see this at a young age, probably at the 68th Street Playhouse. Let’s see how many defunct art houses I can name throughout this list (although back then, they were just called movie theaters). I was a little too young to fully grasp the extent of Buñuel’s satire and his vast imagination. I recall being vaguely disturbed by the lack of a concrete (happy) ending, not to mention the feeling of discomfort brought on by “not getting it.” Both my parents loved Buñuel, and I am grateful that they had the good sense to drag me to many of the movies they wanted to see. My guess is that they probably didn’t want to leave me sitting at home in front of the TV set with a package of Yodels, a scenario I put myself in often enough despite their efforts. Ah, the thrill of growing up with (and not being shielded from) the most unusual and unsettling of movies. Actually, the Yodels were pretty good too."

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Kudos

Awix (3310 KP) rated Count Dracula (1977) in Movies

Nov 15, 2020

Count Dracula (1977)

1977 | Classics, Horror

7.4

(5 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Surprisingly faithful BBC adaptation of the famous story has definite merits, but also perhaps shows why most people don't stick so close to the text. Young solicitor Harker goes off to Transylvania to close a deal with the engimatic Count Dracula; you can probably guess the rest.

Scores very highly for its acting - Frank Finlay is a charismatic Van Helsing and Louis Jourdan a playfully evil Dracula - and also for its atmosphere, even with BBC TV production restraints (videotaped interiors, some rather weird special effects). For an adaptation to stick quite so close to the book is very nearly exceptional, too - Savory makes Lucy and Mina sisters, combines Arthur and Quincey into one character, and cuts down the final act, but that's about it. The drawback to this, of course, is that after the first act Dracula gets relatively little screen-time and even less dialogue, and it does drag on just a tiny bit. Nevertheless, its fidelity and seriousness mean that this is certainly among the top echelon of Draculas in any medium.

Kudos

LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Flatliners (2017) in Movies

Sep 19, 2020

Flatliners (2017)

2017 | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi

5.4

(36 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Now I'm not saying this is all bullshit, but it's only a *generous* 5-10% non-bullshit. I'm not the first to say this nor will I be the last, but what was the point? Just as super-serious as the original with none of the fun camp, shorter but somehow feels centuries longer, and worst of all it looks roughly ten trillion times worse - dumping the artsy old-architectural/macabre feel for yet another lifeless medical aesthetic (only looking marginally better than some royalty-free tripe like 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘺). I think one of the horror things here actually succeeds more than the original and there's one or two different plot switches from that one too, but it loses all other points for turning such riotous and ethereal shlock into yet another substandard mainstream 'horror' snore. The literal only mildly intriguing thing this did was ditched to a deleted scene. What a drag, can't believe this even got the right to exist. This feels like one of the fake movies that people inside the real movie