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Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures 2001
"Everyone pretty much acknowledges that he's the man, and I still feel that underrates him."- Jack Nicholson
An insightful documentary that celebrates Stanley Kubrick's life and films, with some great anecdotes covering every motion picture he directed and commentary from Hollywood heavyweights like Tom Cruise, Scorsese, Spielberg, Jack Nicholson, Woody Allen and Sydney Pollack.
At the very least, this will make you want to revisit his back catalogue. -
Kundun 1997
Stunning visuals from Roger Deakins, perfect filmmaking by Scorsese, but too bad chairman Mao Zedong liberated Tibetan people from serfdom in the 1950s and this film aggressively shoves it's western perspective down the spectator's throat.
I want to pin this on the illusion of pacifism glorified during the post-USSR globalized world of the 1990s, but it's still so disappointing that this movie was made by so many great people, specially with the sinophobia presented in it.
At least it flopped.
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Kundun 1997
Brilliant score. Serves as a meditation, but rarely has anything of interest to show or say, beyond caricatures of the Chinese government. When Scorsese gets "serious" he tends to fail at translating any enthusiasm to the screen. I truly believe listening to the score and staring at a blank wall for the running time would have been more spritually satisfying.
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Kundun 1997
“I believe I am a reflection, like the moon on water. When you see me, and I try to be a good man, you see yourself.”
I’m sorry Marty, but this movie of yours fucking sucks. I cannot stand the unrelenting tide of propaganda that this film spews and I don’t understand how nobody else on this site can see this movie for what it is. Kundun is a solid 2 hours and 14 minutes of anti-communist lies that rivals shit…
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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 2003
While this is the kind of film that can be enjoyed by anyone who appreciates a grand story well told, I think "Master and Commander" is my favorite movie about manhood. It's a film that gives me hope—no small feat given the state of the world today—and makes me feel as though what's worth preserving in this life will be preserved...as long as there remains some vanguard of steadfast and honorable men who are willing to fight for ideals larger…
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2 Guns 2013
How did an R-rated buddy action/comedy throwback headlined by two very bankable stars make its way to theaters in 2013 without moving the needle whatsoever, to the point that I doubt the Average Joe off the street has even heard of "2 Guns"? ...I don't know what to tell you, except for the fact that this isn't the 90's anymore, and the promise of a Washington/Wahlberg friendly rivalry set against the backdrop of shady government scheming isn't quite enough to…
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The Hunt 1966
Carlos Saura's LA CAZA is at once beautifully shot but also terribly ugly. The black and white cinematography of a primarily flat barren landscape populated by rabbits is stunning. The camera gets real close, even capturing their homes underground. When a mongoose is purposely let loose to harm the rabbits, the camera travels with it. The cruelty of nature is on full display. Yet is it really nature, when it's man who set the rabbits up with an animal it…
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Meg 2: The Trench 2023
If the first "Meg" film was less a Jason Statham vehicle and more of a Hollywood and Chinese co-production that just so happened to star Jason Statham alongside a giant prehistoric shark, part of the fun of this sequel is that feels a little more engineered to take advantage of Statham's appeal, meaning there are stray moments that remind you of his knack for beating the stuffing out of faceless goons in the "Transporter" movies.
This might be because "The…
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Air Force One 1997
Hero-porn escapism. Goes down like weightless cotton candy fluff, but let’s be honest with ourselves: This kind of two-dimensional, self congratulatory cathartic cartoon numbs the senses and dulls one’s ability to differentiate actual right from wrong in a world where morality is not as simple as just confronting a Russian-accented Gary Oldman* (who I think literally twirls his dastardly mustache here). If only real life and real politics and real terrorism and real situations were this black-and-white and cut-and-dried and the unambiguously brave “good guys“…
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