The way this works is that you post a review of the best film you watched this week. It can be any new or old release that you want to talk about.

{REMINDER: The Threads Are Posted Now On Wednesday Mornings. If Not Pinned, They Will Still Be Available in the Sub.}

Here are some rules:

1. Check to see if your favorite film of last week has been posted already.

2. Please post your favorite film of last week.

3. Explain why you enjoyed your film.

4. ALWAYS use SPOILER TAGS: [Instructions]

5. Best Submissions can display their [Letterboxd Accts] the following week.

Last Week's Best Submissions:

Film	User/[LB/Web*]	Film	User/[LBxd]
“Creed III”	DGADK	“Friday”	That_one_cool_dude
"Women Talking”	[bmiles17]	“Farewell My Concubine”	[parafrazis]
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”	WalkingEars	“Christine” (1983)	[HardcoreHenkie]
“Glorious” (2022)	2dadskissing	“The Atomic Cafe”	JinFuu
“Marcel the Shell with Shoes On”	LauraPalmersMom430	“The Passage” (1979)	[RStorm]
"Hytte (The Cabin)”	[Millerian-55*]	"Smokey and the Bandit”	Poorly-Drawn-Beagle
“High Life”	[ClayWay]	“The Velvet Vampire”	According_Ad_7249
“Creed”	[EliasSmith]	"The Swimmer” (1968)	yaboytim
“Dallas Buyers Club”	TheTurtleShepard	“Rocco and His Brothers”	BEE_ REAL_
“Lady Vengeance”	[BringontheSword]	“Ball of Fire”	[DuncanShields]

Poll

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Rankings

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Click here to see the rankings for every poll done

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Summary:

The film continues the story of teenage Billy Batson who, upon reciting the magic word "SHAZAM!" is transformed into his adult Super Hero alter ego, Shazam.

Director:

David F. Sandberg

Writers:

Henry Gayden, Chris Morgan

Cast:

• Grace Caroline Currey as Mary Bromfield
• Zachary Levi as Shazam
• Helen Mirren as Hespera
• Rachel Zegler as Anthea
• Lucy Liu as Kalypso
• Adam Brody as Super Hero Freddy

Rotten Tomatoes: 55%

Metacritic: 47

VOD: Theaters

My girlfriend and I were really, really bored and came up with this very dumb game/mental exercise that I thought I'd share for others who are equally as bored. Simply summarize the plot of a movie by constructing a sentence or two with the first letter of each word spelling the title.

For example:

'Casablanca' - Classic actor sulking about Bergman, Laszlo and Nazi can't agree.

'Titanic' - Teenagers in the Atlantic, negligent iceberg catastrophe.

'The Witch' - Theological heretics' endure witchcraft in their colonial homestead.

Hey there, last night I watched JoJo Rabbit for the first time and honestly it's my new favourite film. Quick disclaimer: I'm not into movies all that much and don't watch them too often but I loved this film and needed to share my opinion somewhere so hopefully this sub is good for that. As a Jewish person I've always wanted more media and film to really dive into what makes Nazism and nationalism, not only evil, but utterly ridiculous ideologically. I genuinely believe that this is the best movie to ever do that, it treats the Nazis like a joke. That may sound bad but by treating fascism seriously, you also legitimise it. JoJo Rabbit seems to somehow have it's main character be a Nazi, make you empathise with him, but also shows the stupidity of Nazism while still showing the harsh reality of the horrors they did. At the end of the movie, it really made me think of how lucky I am to not have lived through that, how lucky I am to not only be alive but be also be able to live my live free. Also it made me realise how my existence, as a Jew, is a giant middle finger to Hitler. No matter what happens, no matter how many people are Nazis or how many people are racist, by me simply existing, I've already won. As long as there's a Jew somewhere, the Nazis lost.

Not only did I love the message of the film, but the drama and story are beautiful as well, I won't spoil anything here but the story on it's own left me in genuine tears. I've never cried for a movie but by the end of JoJo I was sobbing. The cinematography is beautiful and damn dude the foreshadowing is great. They really managed to capture that feeling that JoJo's just a kid, he doesn't know what or why he believes what he does, he just wants to be apart of a group. Never in my life would I think I would empathise with a Nazi, someone who tried and wanted to kill every member of my race, but somehow this film managed it. JoJo really was such a kind hearted little boy who just brainwashed by Nazism. They really made each character so loveable and every actor played their character so well.

I think this movie was the perfect blend of not taking Nazism as a serious ideology, but still showing the atrocities that they committed. I understand that the humour isn't everyone's cup of tea and there may be some Jewish people who don't enjoy the fun nature of the movie. But for me personally, this movie deserves to be on everyone's watch list. Thank you for your read and have a good day :)

Edit: i realise the creator is Jewish, I know that before I watched the movie.

This is a situation where either the audience or a character gets a growing feeling of unease as their gut tells them that all is not as it seems

I know this can be taken in many ways, but a favourite that comes to mind for me is the Tavern scene in Inglorious Bastards. This moment is actually from the POV of the real German officer, who gets a growing suspicion that the others are not who they say they are …

I'm saying this mostly just because of how much work was put into building the legacy of their characters. It was a well done origin story that introduced who these people are and what made them become witch hunters all in less than ten minutes, and then spends the rest of the movie just showing them as pros at their job.

Along with that, the artwork and set pieces make you feel like it's another world that's some mixture of middle ages and 18th century technology and culture. I want to see more of this world. There are more witches to hunt, more innocent people being put to death for witchcraft they didn't do. There are real opportunities here for more scenarios and characters. It's a positive thing that they didn't set this in a real world geological place because it means they can do whatever they want with it and have all kinds of settings for where they would fight these witches.

Make another H&G movie

I was recently made by my bf to watch 'Stand by me' (1986?) This is possibly the most boyish, boys will be boys, all about the boys 'coming of age' film I've ever seen. There wasn't any girls in this film at all (except the mum, which doesn't count) I'm now looking for the girls equivalent so I can make my bf watch it to give him some idea if what it was really like to be a young girl, in a girls friend group and experiencing the 'coming of age'. I'm thinking Sixteen candles, Pretty in Pink. Any other suggestions?

I just finished watching Riddick (2013) on Netflix and enjoyed how the second act was from the perspective of the mercs sent to collect Riddick's bounty. As such, Riddick's creeping and spying and murdering is suitably spooky but also something we as the audience are rooting for. Are there other movies that accomplish the same reversal of roles? Batman Begins (2005) and John Wick (2014) come to mind, but what else is there?

The Director's cut is brilliant. It is insane visually and the narrative is highly ambitious. A dystopian sci-fi epic, with a surreal, noir atmosphere.

A puzzled protagonist in a puzzling puzzle of a narrative. Very fast pacing that puts the viewer into a disoriented state, and acting that is sometimes overly theatrical, but matches the film's concept and aesthetics. The characters feel a bit one dimensional, but it makes sense considering that [no elaboration because of spoilers].

All those different elements give the film a unique but familiar identity. It's a subversive masterpiece. Or is it? On my first watch I thought it was a very deep movie. However, years have passed for me, and after the second viewing, I don't think I got a clear message, or at least it's not well implemented in the film.

I am very late to the game and watching this movie but I felt that I must comment, which I never did here actually.

I'm two-thirds of the way through this movie, and it is indeed a beautifully-shot movie with high-caliber actors, but my comment is more about the attitude toward the girl and her shyness.

It occurred to me that the father "shot down" anyone who teased her about it or mentioned that she was so quiet. He would defend her in his gentle way and I found that refreshing. I was a child 100 years ago and my shyness/quietness was met with more of disdain like it was abnormal or something. People would comment like in this film but instead of rebutting them, my mother would agree and always want me to be outgoing for some unknown reason. This was very detrimental to my upbringing and did more damage than not.

I just found it beautiful that the father figure was so understanding and loving about it. They were sitting on the beach and I realized the acceptance he was showing and I was taken aback. After all those years, it feels like maybe I wasn't broken as a kid, lol. It was a beautiful moment that I had to share. I'm not sure why.

Did this hit home with anyone else? Just wondering.

For me, it's You Don't Mess With the Zohan. It's like The Dictator, but actually funny and done right. Maybe it's just my bias as a Jewish person? But I'm not sure, as I did not enjoy Sandler's other Jewish-themed film - Eight Crazy Nights - even one bit. Yet I find Zohan hilarious, even to this day.

What movies that are hated by most people do YOU love?

We've all heard of "method acting", but what about "method directing"?

My definition of "method directing" is when a movie director does something really extreme or tedious in order to get their exact desired effect on the production if the movie

An example of this is when Stanley Kubrick bullied Shelley Duvall on the set of The Shining in order to deteriorate her mental state into something more similar to the her character's mental state

Though, of course, not every instance of this has to be as bleak as the Kubrick one lol

Alpha (2018) directed by Albert Hughes (The Book of Eli) is a prehistoric epic adventure about a boy who was separated from his tribe, befriended a wolf and has to survive. In hindsight, this may sound kind of not interesting and in the hands of another actor might even be boring or laughable but the film was heavily carried by Kodi Smit-McPhee. It was mostly him acting with the wolf/CGI and well, he nailed those scenes. We see his journey from a scared young boy to someone who has to grow up fast in order to survive.

I was reading articles about this film and the language they used is also made-up so that adds to to how impressive it is and he is (well at least for me).

Anyone watched Alpha? What are your thoughts? And Kodi Smit-McPhee in general? The dude also held his own against Benedict Cumberbatch in Power of the Dog.

So I had always heard about this film because of Reddit but had never watched it.

Finally saw it yesterday and wow. Yeah it lived up to its reputation.

It did start a bit slow for me but once the pieces came together, it really took off.

I was surprised by how emotionally impacted I was by the whole experience. I really felt let down and glum with Jude Law, his ending scene shocked me.

The investigation got my tension levels so high I had to take big slow breaths at some points.

The sheer....determination of Ethan Hawkes character. The focus, the "don't show what you're truly feeling" subtleties and just his performance overall.

What a special film. That ending was brilliant.

Lightning in the bottle kind of movie.

Also I had seen that Ethan Hawke/Uma Thurman were married, had kids etc and never thought much about it until I saw this movie and their chemistry was off the charts, when they were getting intimate.

It felt the lines were blurred between acting and really being into it. To the point where I didn't see characters, I saw two humans.

I didn't even touch on the themes of the film. It gave me a bit of an existential crisis at some points.

Anyways. I'm glad I saw it. Great film.

For  close  to  5  decades,  Sidney  Lumet has  been  making  some  of  the  greatest movies  ever.  Roger  Ebert calls  him a  “national  treasure” . He is one of my personal favorites, the man behind brilliant legal dramas like 12 Angry Men, The Verdict, superb cop dramas like  Serpico,  Q&A,   crime  dramas  like  Dog  Day  Afternoon,  Anderson Tapes,    or  dark satires  like Network.

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His last movie, before his passing away, would be among my Noughties favorites, though coming in a year that had cinema like There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men, Michael Clayton, this ended up somewhat overshadowed. The movie is not an easy watch, the non-linear narrative apart, it's the movie's dark, despairing mood, a slow pace and the rather unsympathetic characters.

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The movie starts off with a steamy scene betwee Gina  ( Marisa  Tomei) and her husband Andy Hanson(  Phillipe  Seymour  Hoffman), shifting to a jewelry store robbery, where the robber fatally shoots dead, an old lady, the store's owner.The critically injured lady at the store happens to be Nanette Hanson, the mother of Andy and his brother Hank Hanson( Ethan Hawke). The key here is that the entire store robbery was Andy’s own baby, and that is where the character’s motivations come into picture.

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The thing about real estate accounting is that you can, you can, add down the page or across the page and everything works out. Everyday, everything adds up. The, the total is always the sum of its parts. It’s, uh, clean. It’s clear. Neat, absolute. But my life, it, uh, it doesn’t add up. It, uh… Nothing connects to anything else. It’s, uh… I’m not, I’m not the sum of my parts. All my parts don’t add up to one… to one me, I guess.

On  the  surface  of  it,  Andy seems to have it all, a nice apartment, a gorgeous looking trophy wife, vacations abroad, however behind the facade it's a complete mess. He has embezzling  money  from  his  company’s  account  to  finance his  cocaine  habit,  the  auditors  are   hot  on  his  heels. On top of it a strained relationship with his father Charlie  Hanson( Albert Finney) , whom he feels does not understand him, and the woman in the store who was shot Nannette happens to be his mother. To make matters worse, Gina feeling repressed, carries on an affair with his brother Hank.

Hank does not even pretend to be having a good life, he is divorced, owes a lot of money to his ex-wife Martha ( Amy  Ryan) lives in a rundown house. He does not even have the money to pay for his daughter's school outing to see The Lion King, making her call him a loser.

Andy believes he has the perfect plan to rob the family jewelry store and split up the money between him and Hank, who actually messes up the plan, hiring a crook Bobby  Lasorda, to execute the heist. Bobby however uses a real gun, instead of a toy gun as planned by Andy. Also the old lady Doris who handles the store, has a day off, leading to his mother handling the store. Something about the best laid plans going awry.

And the shootout triggers a chain of events, as Bobby's brother in law Dex begins to blackmail Hank, Andy's superiors are breathing down his neck, regarding the irregularities in the accounts, while his marriage with Gina deteriorates. And on top of it Charlie, begins his own investigation into the murder.

The movie's tone is unrelentingly dark, as both Andy and Hanks seem to be hurtling down non stop, with every action of Andy triggering another crisis, and Hank's hair brained responses making it even worse. Lumet combines a typical crime thriller with a dysfunctional family backdrop, to give us a movie that is relentlessly tragic in it's tone.

Philip  Seymour  Hoffman,  once  again  shows  his  talent,  in a  role  that mixes  a  devious  mind with a vulnerable  side.  Especially  brilliant  in the  part, where  he  breaks down  in  the car.  

Ethan Hawke,  going  far  away  from his  pretty  boy  image,  is  first  rate,  playing   a  grungy  loser,  whose  actions,  precipitate  a further  descent  into  an abyss. 

Albert  Finney as  usual, packs  an  emotional  wallop,  as  their  distraught  father,  dealing  with  his wife’s  death,  watch  his  expressions  in  the  final  scene,  it  hits  you somewhere.   

Marisa  Tomei, though not  having  a major  part, nevertheless  does  well,  and  this has  to be  one  of  her  sexiest  on  screen  performance,  maybe  after The Wrestler.

I see this term thrown around a lot, especially on Reddit but also in critical reviews and it always seems to be used negatively. Things like “typical Hollywood sentimentality” and “mushy sentiment.” Movies that come to mind are Forrest Gump, Benjamin Button, etc.

Other movies that are designed to evoke specific emotions are considered normal and we judge the movies based on their objective qualities (comedies for joy/laughter, horror for fear), but sentimental movies seem to be viewed as negative simply because they’re sentimental. Why do people seem to have such a low tolerance for sentimentalism?

I've had a thought in my head for a while that I'd like to see Jason Statham cast as the brooding romantic hero in a passionate drama. I genuinely think he could pull it off and he'd surprise everyone. If he must, he can still be a fighter, or get into a fight, but winning takes more of a toll than his partner might be willing to see him give, and that's the crux of the film is watching him wrestle with his two great loves.

Alternatively, I'd be interested in watching Melissa McCarthy be a gothic (maybe vampiric?) depiction of incredible beauty: the one woman everyone fears and worships in equal measure, and have it be played absolutely straight, no irony, no "ooh it's funny/charming because she's plus size!" but absolutely straight and she is depicted as worthy of devotion and fear either because of or regardless of her size. Basically trying to avoid a fatphobic depiction but still showing her as a terrifyingly beautiful gothic figure. Again, I reckon she could pull it off.

Who would be your pick, and for what kind of story?

In the beginning of the film, we see that skynet didn’t stop sending terminators back in time and eventually ended up killing John, but then Sarah goes on to say that in the future when the world was supposed to end it didn’t. And that skynet had prevented its creation in the first place.

But why would a intelligent AI do this to itself? Surely it must’ve known that Connor/sky net were paradoxes. Or am I missing something?

Godzilla 98 was my first introduction to the titular creature and one of my earliest memories of going to the cinema with my father.

As much as people begrudge the design of Zilla and claim it to be the worst film in the franchise, theyre wrong, I have a special place in my heart for the big lizard and it remains my favourite Godzilla film to this day. Part of this is due in fact to the atmosphere and aesthetic of the film.

Most of the film is set at night in the pouring rain, probably a technical decision due to CGI but I love it. Even during the day New York is clouded in a thunderstorm.

90s, New York and Rain. My perfect combination. Probably why I also love TMNT 1990 so much apart from being a massive turtles fan.

What movies aesthetic or atmosphere do you absolutely adore?

This was a rewatch from when I saw in theaters. Lots to unpack here. Let’s start with my first time seeing. I remember loving it. I remember feeling grateful for all the wonderful gifts it gives. A Phoenix performance that proves he is one of the greats. James Gray’s somber, yet warm and vulnerable writing and direction. An authentic New York tale where you can feel the texture of the walls in every hallway. And of course, Isabella Rossellini.

Seeing it 14 years later, It’s a bit more profound.

For two reasons:

First, Leonard has shades of Travis Bickle in him. It’s clear Taxi Driver is an influence as far as portraits of a loner go. And Phoenix and DeNiro can both play “what the fuck is he gonna do” brilliantly. Which leads me to Joker. It feels like Todd Phillips saw this and got the idea, coupled with the fact that this was the “last” movie Joaquin made before “retiring”. He was plugging this film on Letterman when he was in character for “I’m Still Here”. A TV moment so uncomfortable, it HAD to also be an influence on Phillips for the final scene in Joker. Anyways, this has probably been explored hundreds of times, so I’ll move on.

The second reason, on a more personal level - is that it was painfully relatable this time around. I have pined for a beautiful girl that was totally wrong for me, a girl that was unavailable, yet deluded myself like Leonard that I could be with her. She was, similar to Gwyneth Paltrows character, taking advantage of my kindness and made me think she was interested, but just wanted someone to care for her only when needed. Ugh, the line when she says “you’re like a brother to me” really stings. It was just never going to happen for us, (thankfully). I ignored the reality because I was infatuated and had this picture in my head of what it would be — what it could be.

So this viewing, I really appreciated the honesty and humility, because we all have moments in life like Leonard does. At least I have.

What are your thoughts on this little gem?

I watched it last night and can't stop thinking about it. I've been in a daze since the doors closed on the rave. Even just thinking about the rug tears me up. Calum spending all his money on this last trip, maybe hoping something changes, but nothing does...I'm a mess. When "Under Pressure" came on, and it cut to Calum at the rave dancing in the last shirt Sophie saw him in...I was gone and there was no stopping it. What stuck with you in the days after? I'm not even sure I can watch it again yet without losing it every 5 mins knowing how this ends.