Here we go, I'll start.

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (2010) - This movie is a joke. At first it's interesting, then it's boring and then it's just funny/pathetic. And they put it in a "horror" genre. Words are not sufficient. Nosferatu is turning in his grave. 3/10

1 decade ago*

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3 years ago
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The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

Feels like if you go to the circus. Very entertaining. Most of it is just a day at the circus. But there's a really good drama plot underneath. Most of the cast are actual circus performers (like the legendary Emmett Kelly (THE face you think of when you hear the phrase "sad clown") or pretty much everyone else.) Just the few main characters were actual professional film actors. Charlton Heston, Cornel Wilde, Betty Hutton and James Stewart delivered very good performances. The movie needs to be as long as it is, because of the sheer scale of it. Still very entertaining, like I already mentioned. Definitely worth a watch.

And then that last half hour or so. Mood totally changes. Huge accident. Death all around. Wild animals all around. Lions, tigers, other big cats. Elephants.
All exceptionally well trained. To be walking between parts of the wreckage with tons of people just being there as well. Holy fuck, those animal trainers must've been amazing at their job.

And Charlton Heston uses the exclamation "Judas priest" close to the end of the movie. As a swear word. In a "for fucks sake let me speak" kind of situation. Never heard that in that context before.

Oh, and it won Best Picture at the Oscars for that year. Do I agree? Not really, looking at the other great movies that year.

3 years ago*
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Dredd - okayish movie with a lot of action and blood. gave me a lot of cyberpunk 2077 vibes. you can watch it one time if you are bored.

3 years ago
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Color Out of Space - 7/10 Nicolas Cage movie with a sci-fi/cosmic horror angle. Pretty scenary, slightly too long and has a weird third act, but Cage being Cage is fun to watch.

3 years ago
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High Noon (1952)

Interesting cast. Nice cinematography. Good score. I'm not a huge western fan, so I didn't really like it as much as I thought I should.

3 years ago
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With that one I think you need the context of US history to appreciate it. The movie was really a response to red-baiting, HUAC and the Hollywood blacklist. (Screenwriter Carl Foreman was actually compelled to testify before HUAC and was subsequently blacklisted.)
I didn't always like westerns either. But a lot of them aren't really about the West - more like parables or vehicles for something else. Anthony Mann's westerns are just Shakespeare dressed up as westerns - they are very good. John Ford's westerns are also worth your time, and I think you get much more out of Kurosawa's films by watching some of them since they influenced each other so much.

3 years ago
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Yeah, I've read about the blacklist thing beforehand, but still didn't really enjoy High Noon. Well, can't like all the movies. :D

3 years ago
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Singin' in the Rain (1952)

Iconic music, very interesting story, great cinematography and cast. Hilarious comedy. Very wholesome. Definitely recommended if you wanna have a good time watching a movie.

(By the way, this was nominated for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture at the Oscars for that year but lost to High Noon. It wasn't even nominated for Best Picture. What a shame!)

3 years ago
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I agree with you in spirit. Technically, Singin in the Rain lost to With a Song in My Heart, but it deserved a lot more love than it got. Even worse though, even as the academy is throwing its weight behind High Noon's coded message of defiance, they are so worried by HUAC that they don't even acknowledge the existence of Limelight, and completely exclude it.

3 years ago
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Yeah, Limelight, Ikiru and Singin' in the Rain are my favourites from '52. And while I enjoyed The Greatest Show on Earth for what it was it absolutely didn't deserve to win Best Picture in that year.

3 years ago
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Code 8 is was okay, a lot changed from the short they made 4 years ago but it was a decent movie.

3 years ago
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I was disappointed by the movie. The short movie was waaay better.

3 years ago
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Ikiru (1952)

Remarkable cinematic experience about life, death, human nature and what it means to be living, rather than to just be alive. Ask yourself one thing: What would you do if you had just
6 months to live? Doesn't everyone deserve to be truly happy at least once before they die?

Fantastic performances (especially by Takashi Shimura as the protagonist), great story and plot, stunning cinematography. What a great movie. Maybe the best one of 1952. Truly thought-provoking masterpiece.

This concludes my 1952 week in movies after I realized last weekend that I hadn't watched a single movie from 1952. In fact I checked every year afterwards and the only other year from which I still haven't watched a movie is 1917. I watched at least one movie from every other year between 1887 and 2020. Any special recommendations for that one? :D

3 years ago*
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Don't know if you've seen any Pickford movies yet, but can't really leave her out if you are exploring film history. This one is quite good and and also interesting for some innovative and original work. Don't want to spoil, so I won't say what that is exactly.
The Poor Little Rich Girl

Edit: Did you already see Umberto D for your 1952 movies? Could make an interesting companion piece to Ikiru. Limelight is my favorite from 1952. Strange how many of the top movies from that year were about aging, death and contemplation of life.

3 years ago*
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Umberto D. is on my list, but for now I've watched enough 1952 movies. The next one from that year will probably be Umberto D., though. :D

And yeah, The Poor Little Rich Girl is one of the ones that caught my eye for 1917. Some other ones are The Little American, Cleopatra or some Chaplin short from that year.

3 years ago
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Last movie i saw was Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, been a while since i saw it, so wanted to re-watch

but last new movie i saw was a while back, before the whole corona thing, saw The Call of the Wild in theaters earlier this year.

3 years ago
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3 years ago
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The Fall (2006)

Stunning cinematography, beautiful set and costume design, just spectacular visuals. On top of that a great story with really good performances.

3 years ago
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Goldfinger 👍

3 years ago
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I watched Pokemon Detective Pikachu last night... was quite enjoyable!

3 years ago
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Friends and I streamed a movie night together. John Wick 3

3 years ago
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Extraction 🤙

3 years ago
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Runaway Jury (2003)

Really good legal thriller with a great cast (John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz...) who are delivering fantastic performances, a captivating plot, and in the end humanity wins. Very entertaining movie!

3 years ago*
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Daughter of the Wolf (2019) - Marginally entertaining thriller featuring Gina Carano. The wolves kept me watching - they were magnificent.

3 years ago
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The Wind Rises (2013) - Miyazaki's last movie felt his most personal. Great love story in the times of tuberculosis.

3 years ago
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Italianamerican (1974)

Great documentary by Martin Scorsese. His parents really were quite some characters, especially his mother. Sadly this is not even 1 hour long, I could listen to those random stories for hours. At its core, it's about family. You'll see how important his parents where to Scorsese. It's simply fascinating.

3 years ago
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The Big Shave (1967)

Caught my eye while watching Italianamerican, so I decided to watch it. (I should watch all of Scorsese's shorts some day, but that day is not today.)

This short is about a guy shaving and cutting himself a lot while doing it.

3 years ago
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Daughter of Shanghai (1937) Nifty little programmer that has Anna May Wong go up against human traffickers. One of the few early Hollywood movies that features an actual Asian in the leading role.

3 years ago
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Talking about asians in early Hollywood, do you know Sessue Hayakawa? Or rather, do you know where to watch his movies? I wanted to watch The Typhoon (1914) and The Cheat (1915) a while ago, but couldn't find them anywhere.

3 years ago*
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The Cheat is available from several dvd publishers - you can see them on Amazon (US), I was going to link it but it's one of those huge links. Some claim to be "restored" but I have my doubts. There's also a version from Kino Lorber along with Manslaughter, which may be in better condition, but more expensive, of course (and region locked). There's a version on Youtube, but it looks pretty rough https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLW8U7aP5KA. I also found a version to download on the internets - I think that I am allowed to say this because this movie is in the public domain, so not illegal to download. Probably the way I would go.
I don't think that The Typhoon has had a dvd release - even Turner doesn't seem to have the film - which means the only place you will be able to see it is at a museum that has a copy.

3 years ago
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Thanks for the info. ^^

3 years ago
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The Lawnmower Man (1992)

Not as bad as I thought it would be. The CGI would be horrible nowadays but for 1992 it's great. There's not that much story, but some of the acting was good, some was bad. The biggest problem is that it has absolutely nothing to do with Stephen King's short story of the same name, even though the producers claimed it was. Nonetheless it was a very entertaining movie.

3 years ago
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Second one was FAR worse. A true dumpster fire of a movie.

3 years ago
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Yeah, I don't think I'm gonna watch the sequel. Maybe some day, but for now it's not planned. :D

3 years ago
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Guns Akimbo (2019)

Highly entertaining! Really good performances, great effects. Maybe a bit predictable, but who cares? If you just wanna have a good time, watch this.

3 years ago*
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Unforgiven (1992)

Hey, I actually enjoyed this western. Good story, great cast delivering very believable performances. It's more realistic than normal westerns in a sense. There are no real heroes or villians. The killing isn't as casual as it usually is in these movies. It's... yeah, I can just describe it as... real. There's a gravitas to everything.

3 years ago*
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Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922). My rating is 7/10.

3 years ago
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