My feed

CD Smiles added 1 item to Movies Re-Watched in 2021 list

January 9th Directed by: David Lynch 3rd Viewing Previous Rating: 4.5 After: 4.5

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles added 2 items to their collection

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles added 1 item to Movies Watched in 2021 list

January 7th Directed by: Ishirô Honda, Motoyoshi Oda Fast paced fun, at least until the third act where nothing really happens and then it ends. The fight with Anguirus, who can be genuinely pretty unsettling is lots of fun, lot of interesting camera angles, and of course with the benefit of being like, 70 years in the future and having the ability to pause and rewind, it's really fun to look at the sets and miniature work. That is, when it's not hilariously obvious like the adorable little tanks rolling in and setting their cap guns off. It all adds to the charm. The second and final Godzilla movie to be in beautiful black and white, it does kind of feel like a clash, associating the monochrome with the serious original, and seeing men wrestle in rubber dinosaur costumes. An interesting experience I can't help but recommend when it feels like it goes by in a minute anyway. Downloaded.

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles posted 4 images

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles added 1 item to Movies Watched in 2021 list

January 7th Directed by: Ronald Neame As the credits came on screen I couldn't help but feel like I would be really disappointed if I had set my evening aside, gone to the theater and paid for this film. That's a weird thought to have especially because my mother was in kindergarten when this came out, but this was incredibly insubstantial. I am being a bit harsh, it's serviceable, Shirley MacLaine is better than the material, I felt like the character developed a bit until it was all forgotten again. Caine is surprisingly unpleasant, at times mean. The story has this cute little bow at the very end to make you forget the inconsistent schmaltz that immediately precedes it, it's unearned. This is fluff and I don't feel like they had any intentions other than making fluff. Downloaded.

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles rated The Ipcress File

 The Ipcress File 8/10

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles added 1 item to Movies Watched in 2021 list

January 7th Directed by: Sidney J. Furie A well above average spy/mystery film starring the always charming Michael Caine, the reason I watched this movie. But there's so much more going for it, I feel like most of these movies I have no clue what's going on in the story, I'm never worried about that fact, I just go along for the ride, but this movie's plot never lost me, making it very satisfyingly simple in the final act for us simpletons. Funny thing, I actually started getting annoyed at the constant dutch angles only about 40 minutes in, but at the same time it was a lot more fun than brainless flat shots, and there was a lot of creativity in that department that wasn't just tilting the camera indiscriminately. The pure British-ism of the look and feel is like a warm embrace, something I love about Bond and it's contemporaries is how no one is an action hero and fight scenes look super lame. Caine is fantastic but specifically here, the character of Harry Palmer is what makes this experience really live and breathe, there's much more to him than just being a bit sassy, and I'm so glad there's more of him in sequels. Downloaded.

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles posted 29 images [View All]

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles posted 29 images [View All]

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles added 2 items to their collection

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles added 1 item to Movies Watched in 2021 list

January 6th Directed by: Steven Spielberg I watched this because of the curiosity behind this originally being a Kubrick project. Most times it's really hard to imagine Kubrick wanting much to do with this story, there certainly are times, like in the first act, that I picture being sort of Shining-esque, or of course near the end being reminiscent of 2001, but I have to imagine the script went through a lot from the time Kubrick was signed on. It's especially funny because you couldn't fool anyone into thinking this wasn't a Spielberg film, especially with that hammy John Williams score. I've got to say this entire thing hinges on the powerhouse performance of Haley Joel Osment. This absolutely would not have worked with a shitty kid actor, and Osment blows this thing out of the water. The CG is astounding for the time, especially on the robotic teddy bear. To think Spawn was like, 4 years before this. As far as the whole experience goes, I mean, I was into it I guess, I think where I'm going to differ from most people is for some reason the entire last half hour/epilogue felt like a waste of time? I don't know where else the story could have possibly gone or how it could have ended but the whole third act just felt wrong to me. I don't really know who this movie is for, there's no real reason for me to recommend this unless you're a big Haley Joel fan? Downloaded.

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles added 1 item to Movies Watched in 2021 list

January 6th Directed by: Steven Spielberg So this is surprisingly a joy, I almost want to call it a shut-your-brain-off experience, but you don't have to to enjoy it. This film has a beautiful, unique vision of the future while still making my memory bank flare up with visions of Total Recall and Demolition Man. Now I don't want to lead you astray with those comparisons, the action scenes here are honestly almost non-existent, and where they do exist they are certainly nothing to write home about, but that's not where you get your thrills with this experience. Oh, and I definitely didn't think I'd be fawning over the film grain in a 2002 science fiction thriller but here we are. Downloaded.

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles rated The Color of Money

 The Color of Money 6/10

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles added 1 item to Movies Watched in 2021 list

January 6th Directed by: Martin Scorsese An obvious sendup to The Hustler with not quite as much bite. However, I don't know if it's just me or if this subject is just inherently interesting, but there's something about pool and pool hustling that is just super engaging to me. Young Tom Cruise is terrific and paired here again with Phil Collins as also seen in Risky Business, a winning combo if you ask me. The music in this film is great all the way through which is typical for Scorsese. All this, and of course Paul Newman is fantastic, everything adds up to a perfectly good time, but nothing's gonna blow your mind here. It's missing an X factor to make this really memorable. Kind of astounding honestly with all this talent. Downloaded.

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles voted for list

My Movie Year 2021 (692 movies items)

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles added His House to wanted list

 His House 

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles added 1 item to Movies Re-Watched in 2021 list

January 5th Directed by: Tim Burton 2nd Viewing (?) Before: 3.5 After: 4

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles posted 12 images [View All]

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles added 1 item to Movies Re-Watched in 2021 list

January 5th Directed by: Tim Burton 3rd Viewing (?) Before: 4 After: 3.5

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles posted a list

Movies Re-Watched in 2021 (40 movies items)

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles rated All the Corners of the World

 All the Corners of the World 8/10

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles added 1 item to Movies Watched in 2021 list

January 4th Directed by: Tsai Ming-liang Tsai's first feature length made for TV movie complete with commercial breaks, shot beautifully on a shitty video camera. I LOVE this aesthetic combined with Tsai's visuals that feel so amateurish, even if you don't know what his later films are like you can tell this was made by someone without a clear vision of what it should look like, and it gives it such a wonderful youthful feel. It's also very influenced by Hou Hsiao-hsien and the story reminds me of an Edward Yang film. Probably the best scene in the film takes place in the same roller rink seen in Rebels of the Neon God, that could just be the greatest shooting location in the world. Overall this gets a big recommend if you're a fan of New Taiwan Cinema, if you can get past the poor quality, degraded video (or if you like that) then there's actually a lot of meat here in the story, a lot to glean from this film in every regard. YouTube.

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles posted a image

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles posted a image

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles added 2 items to Movies Watched in 2021 list

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles posted 2 images

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles added 1 item to Top Ten Movies of 2018 list

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles added 1 item to Movies Watched in 2021 list

January 4th Directed by: Tsai Ming-liang Absolutely riveting. I was glued to the screen. This one shocked me quite a bit, I kind of expected to just be staring at people's faces the whole time, but I think it's pretty clear Tsai gave the subjects little direction, so some decided to tell stories, do facial exercises, or even sleep. Another shock is we have music! Tremendous music that I was not shocked to find out Ryuichi Sakamoto was behind. The idea of studying faces is something that Tsai obviously cares about, but felt like a natural thing to do in all of his previous films that weren't so overtly about that. He holds so long on every thing he decides to show his audience that when it happens to be a person you can't help but study. What are they thinking? What are they going through? It's these things that most films don't give you the time to contemplate, and this film is wholly that. It's beautiful. Private stream.

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles added 1 item to Movies Watched in 2021 list

January 3rd Directed by: Tsai Ming-liang Tsai Ming-liang is my #1 favorite director. At times, I felt like he was losing it. I was super hyped for this movie because in my mind it's a big return to feature-length narrative for Tsai, and under that lens this is even more impressively mundane. What other director could you say "impressively mundane" and actually mean it as a compliment? The story in this 2 hour long film could probably be explained in 5 seconds of speaking, but that has always been the beauty of Tsai's oeuvre. There's definitely a lot less going on in this than other works, but that just means the events are given even more time to breathe, and you will never waste your time giving it to Tsai Ming-liang. I would only recommend this if you've seen all of his big hitters though, this definitely falls behind most of them, but we're still talking about the master here. Private stream.

4 years, 3 months ago

CD Smiles rated Brunchbox

 Brunchbox 7/10

4 years, 3 months ago