Saturday, August 15, 2015

Weekend Open Thread

You guys are the best.

Last weekend, a suggestion was made to offer some sort of donation option on the site. It's something I've resisted doing for a long time (five years, actually), but there was enough enthusiasm for such a thing in the comments that I pulled the trigger and added a button. Needless to say, I am very moved and humbled already. As we continue to try and make the site bigger and better, the enthusiasm and support you show means the world to all of us. There just aren't enough words to properly say thanks.

Has anyone else noticed we're only six weeks away from Scary Movie Month? I'm going to take the suggestion and try to break up the Scary Movie Challenge into daily posts instead of one long mega-thread. We'll see how much of a pain in the ass it is. Hopefully it improves the experience for everyone.

We're now nearly 2/3 of the way done with the year and I've seen very little I would consider "great." Anyone have a working list of their Top 10 so far?

Go nuts and talk about anything you want. And thank you again. I say again and again that this is my favorite movie community online, but I only repeat it because it's true.

67 comments:

  1. Not much planned for the weekend. Just, you know, The Rock and Masters of the Universe (for the first time) in separate 35mm screenings. I was also going to catch a digital presentation of the 2K restored print of The Taviani Brothers' The Night of the Shooting Stars plus an extra movie to be chosen later, but I gave that up so I could float some cash toward the site. I did my part. Have you done your part, Dennis Atherton? ;-)

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    1. Vargas - are you going to the Exhumed Films Guilty Pleasures Film Festival at the Alamo?! I F-ing love NY!

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    2. Unless the Alamo is in Brooklyn or Long Island (which is as far as NYC subway goes), nope. With NYC's healthy repertory scene I got more theatrical/35mm/experimental/artsy/etc. opportunities every weekend than I know what to do with... and that's before Prime, DVD/Blu-ray, Hulu, Netflix, etc. Losers go to Texas, I stay home and f*** the cinematic prom queen! :-P

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    3. Oh, shoot, it's in Yonkers? So near, and yet so far away! It's already sold out, though, so even if I wanted to attend I'm out of the loop. :'(

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  2. Rewatched Breakfast club after the podcast. Itwas as brilliant as ever. I am always up for a good 80s dance montage. Plus I rewatched Scott Pilgrim - I forgot how good that movie was.

    As for the donations it is the least we could do!!!!!

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  3. That's Awesome JM, your a Star, me too , of course, every few months just stick some in the pot, or a small donation every month is a great thing you can easily set up too Via PayPal, Love it :)

    So back to films, ive been thinking about this a lot since I recently watched The Innkeepers, as for a tone of a film, I genuinely think this film is almost perfect, its not the well known "Quiet, Quiet, BOO" over used way to try to scare you but an atmosphere, things happen in almost silence that gave me tingles down my spine, something that rarely happens, I love to watch movies late at night with all the lights off and turned up loud, and turn off the phone, this film works really well as an immersive experience when you allow yourself to be drawn in,
    Last night I watched my recent import Bluray of Basket Case, it was filmed in 16mm so it was never going to look fantastic and it was not filmed in widescreen, its a little grainy in the dark scnes but it is the best version ive ever seen, the colours really popped, and the film still holds up, it a lot of fun and the gore still looks great even in HD,
    Hopefully soon we will get JB's Brain damaged, im looking forward to revisiting after the review,

    I like the suggestion to have a daily SMM thread, it got crazy last year with all the amazing comments and it was hard to keep track of it all, this year I predict were gonna blow it out the water "Were gonna need a Bigger Boat"

    Ide like to read what you've all got planned, especially if its something a bit different?

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    1. Edit,
      Ide like to read what you've all got planned for SMM, especially if its something a bit different?

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    2. How about using the same format as Junesploitation in which each day's messages/replies are kept separate but accessible via a central link at the top of the page? One SMM thread, but 31 separate links to post/read the review from each day.

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    3. I'm really excited to watch Incubus (1966) and The Devil's Rain (1975) for SMM, two films starring William Shatner I managed to find DVD copies of.

      They both look like they're gonna be crazy fun, especially Incubus, which was filmed entirely in Esperanto! The actors had to memorise their lines phonetically and often didn't know what they were saying.

      Can't wait for October!

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    4. Sounds like Clint Eastwood in Firefox who had to think in Russian which still makes me smile

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  4. I agree with you Patrick the year has been pretty lackluster so far, but thankfully it seems like we have a lot to look forward to yet to come. Here is my placeholder list.

    Movies I see perhaps making my top 10 that I have seen
    Ex Machina
    It-Follows
    Mad Max Fury Road
    MI-5
    Lost River
    Killers
    71’


    Movies that will make my top 10
    Slow West

    Movies that have the potential to make my list that I either haven't seen yet or haven't been released

    Straight Out of Compton
    Black Mass
    Crimson Peak
    Spectre
    In the Heart of the Sea
    Star Wars
    The Revenant
    The Marlon Brando Documentary
    Tangerine
    Salvation
    The look of silence
    Green Inferno
    The Martian

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  5. Alright! I love that we can donate now! This site is the best.

    I just saw The Man From U.N.C.L.E. I really liked it. Kingsman was a tribute to '60s spy films, but this one IS a '60s spy film. There's no original plot and very little action, but it's just a massively good time that is a joy to watch. I really enjoyed the cast, it's funny, and there's beautiful locations to admire. I'm a big fan.

    The movies so far that I seriously doubt won't make my top 10 are Ex Machina, Kingman, Inside Out and MI5. I've seen other stuff I really dig (like Uncle) but those I seriously love. I can't imagine they won't make my top 10, but you never know!

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  6. Saw Straight Outta Compton last night, enjoyed the hell out of it. I think it got a lot of things right, especially in the first half of the movie, the second half does seem a bit formulaic, but most tales of a musical rise to fame are. I thought Ice Cube's son was the best part of the film, he really filled his father's shoes well. I had to laugh when Paul Giamatti showed up. It's one of those parts that you could have called a mile away, but obviously he was one of the better actors on screen, so he helped make this even better. I love all the post-N.W.A. stuff as well, you could totally see them making another movie about the 'Death Row Records' years with Snoop and Tupac, not too mention the whole East Coast vs. West Coast saga. I'm sure they will consider it after the success of this film. Maybe, I'm a bit biased since I'm a total sucker for music biopics, but I believe that this one is well above average. It puts a film like 'Get On Up' to shame. I thought it showed the state of things at the time well and captured the impact that NWA had on our culture in the early 90s. The Eazy-E storyline was rough, but I thought it was well done and respectful in the end. Cube and Dre come out looking like geniuses, but of course they did, that was to be expected going in (both produced on the project). Thought it was great, not overly long either, I was worried about the 2 and a half hour runtime going in, but it flew by. I could have kept watching these characters for another hour. The ending was a little too abrupt, would have liked to see them close the loop on some of the storylines, but they decided to end them where they did.

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    1. Glad to see this getting such a great reception. I was less than impressed by the trailer, and even more dismayed to see it was produced by Ice Cube. It reminded me of when I heard the stories of Chris Kyle's dad threatening to "kick the shit out of" Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper if Kyle wasn't portrayed like he wanted. That feeling of.....this isn't interested in the truth, it's interested in hero worship. Although I still suspect that is somewhat true, I doubt it will be distracting.

      I do hope this does spawn a trend of remaking Ice Cube movies with his son in the role though. Am I saying we need a remake of Ghosts of Mars? Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.

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  7. I must have missed this but where is this donation button located? I picked up scream factory's I, Madman and the 3 disc bluray of Blade Runner so I can finally watch that amazing documentary that everyone keeps talking about. I'm also planning on watching Bubba ho tep and Ms. 45 for the first time this weekend.

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    1. I couldn't see it either because I only ever visit the site on my phone. I clicked "view web version" and then the donate button was there in the top right corner. So glad the donation option was added!

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    2. Damn I love Bubbahotep, Your gonna have fun, you could have a Bannana and Peanut butter sandwich while watching!

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    3. i had to log into the desktop version as well. when i did, i kind of realized that using my phone exclusively to visit FTM has, for whatever reason, limited my exposure to some content (not just the donate button). not sure why, but i think i am only seeing about 80% of what is on the home page using my phone.

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    4. Yeah, thats standard for phones viewing, I like to use the desktop web version view via my phone. You do miss a lot using the mobile version,

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  8. Here is my top ten:
    1. Mad Max: Fury Road
    2. Mad Max: Fury Road
    3. Mad Max: Fury Road
    4. Mad Max: Fury Road
    5. Mad Max: Fury Road
    6. Mad Max: Fury Road
    7. Mad Max: Fury Road
    8. Mad Max: Fury Road
    9. Mad Max: Fury Road
    10. It Follows

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  9. You know how it has been mentioned on the podcast, if you ask a kid what's his favourite film and it is always subsequently the last one he saw, well going on that im saying my top ten of the year is The Innkeepers times ten, I know its not this years film but thats just semantics

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    1. Nice - I love the hell out of that movie too - another one I'm pretty sure I have Patrick to thank for bringing to my attention. Did you catch Healy and Paxton's reunion in Cheap Thrills? One of my Top 10 from last year - not sure if it's appeal might be particular to (North) American sensibilities so I'd be interested in your take on it.

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    2. I loved it, i have a dark sense of humour and this was really great,

      How much for "Your" Little finger Sol?

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  10. Here's the top 10 that I'm currently working with so far, some which because they actually deserve a spot, and some just because I haven't seen anything better yet. Also, I'll add a few what I think will eventually make it on there.

    Inside Out
    It Follows
    Trainwreck
    Kingsman
    Mad Max Fury Road
    Ex Machina
    Mission Impossible: Rouge Nation

    Other possibilities:
    The Hateful Eight
    Star Wars: The Force Awakens
    Spectre
    The End of the Tour
    Bridge of Spies
    Slow West
    What We Do in the Shadows
    The Martian
    The Revenant
    Joy


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  11. Also, I promise that when I have the appropriate funds, I will contribute a donation! Unfortunately I just made a large donation to a friend elsewhere so I will need to let things replenish for a bit.

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    1. No sweat. When your friend repays you the bail money then you can donate. :-D

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    2. I won't bring anyone down with the sad, sad details but yeah, what little donation dollars I have to spare are going to a co-worker at the moment. I fully support the worthiness of the cause though and I'm glad to hear people are steppin up - will certainly contribute when I can!

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  12. The post-makeover Ally Sheedy in the Breakfast Club looks disingenuous to me. Like she's going to Bonnie & Clyde someone.

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    1. Also love how it looks like they washed and/or dyed her hair as well.

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    2. It really isn't close...pre-makover Ally Sheedy is so much hotter. That part never made much sense to me, I'm glad that other people feel the same way that I do about that part of the film being a total betrayal.

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  13. It looks like everyone has the same top 10 list so far. Mine is not much different, although you guys should all go see the fantastic Girlhood (It is on Netflix).

    1. It Follows
    2. Girlhood
    3. Mad Max
    4. Ex Machina
    5. Inside Out
    6. 71
    7. Far From the Madding Crowd
    8. MI: Rogue Nation
    9. Love and Mercy
    10. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (maybe it's an age thing but it really worked for me)

    I actually think it's a pretty decent year for film. There are a number of interesting or fun films that I couldnt include (Trainwreck, Spy, Kingsman, The Gift, Shaun the Sheep, Creep and While We're Young).

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  14. This movie is a couple of years old but it's now on Netflix instant. I want to talk about Antichrist. Look, guys, I've never heard anyone defend this film so I had to see it. I feel like people who haven't seen it, have to. I'm still not sure if it's good and you will probably hate it. Charlotte Gainsbourg is absolutely fantastic. She is amazing and the movie is worth watching for her performance. Willem Dafoe is basically the only other person in the movie and also give a great performance. There are things in this movie that you will wish you had never seen. It's a crazy art house horror movie that is hard to describe. It's despicable, pretentious, unapologetic, brutal and gorgeous. I loved it.

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    1. Brent, I didn't hate it either. In fact it has stuck with me since I saw it about 5 years ago. Although of all the disturbing images and ideas presented in this movie, the one that got to me the most was Willem Dafoe falling asleep with his arm sticking out the window and what happens when he wakes up. Von Trier is a mad genius. Or maybe just mad.

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    2. That's really odd, I've never heard negative, only praise, for the brilliance of Van Trier's Antichrist.

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    3. It's at 50% on Rotten Tomatoes so we're both wrong;)

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    4. Isn't everything around 50% on Rotten Tomatoes?! :)

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  15. I feel pretty confident that Ex Machina, It Follows and Mad Max will all be in my top 5 come end of year. In fact, it's going to take something special to edge any of them out of my top 3. I also don't see a world where Mission Impossible doesn't make the top 10. The only big movie left for me this year is SPECTRE, and I'll most likely see Star Wars (it looks....fine.) Of course, the best movies almost always end up being the ones I don't know about until right before their release. My favorite from last year, The Guest, was a complete unknown until Patrick reviewed it.

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  16. Earlier this week I saw a screening of the 2013 movie Ain't Them Bodies Saints with writer/director Q&A afterward. It's a quiet small-budget romantic drama based in early 70s era [era] small-town Central Texas Hill Country. The movie features good character development and notable performances by Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck.

    I have not seen many movies this year. Mad Max: Fury Road and ex Machina are my favorites so far. Would also like to see Amy and The End of the Tour (the latter based on Adam Riske's review). Most looking forward to Sicario in mid-September, with tentative enthusiasm for The Martian and Star Wars VII.

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  17. We Are Still Here, Horsehead, Exile: The Sunderland Experiment, The Gambler, Comet, Mad Max, MI:5, The Midnight Swim, It Follows. I'm guessing The Editor is going to on this list as that is the film I most anticipate seeing. So far those are my favorites for the year. Too many to name that I've seen this year but were not released this year, much of which I watched during Junesploitation.

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  18. Btw - thanks for trying out a new format for SMM. Much appreciated and I hope it's not a pain in the ass.

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    1. Yeah I can see how it might have some kinks (and the lack of a readily apparent grand total) but anything has to be better than having to hit the "more comments" thingy 50 times to get to the new ones. I know that's a "Site That Had Very Few Commenters and Now Has a Relatively Large and Active Community-World Problem" but I just want easier access to all of the brilliance to come!

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  19. Just watched "One & Two" - 15 Year old Kiernan Shipka is really good in it! I dug the film.

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  20. Yes. Yes we are.

    Only downside to splitting up the SMM post (for the reviews, I think you mean) is that it will be strange keeping track of the total as we go along.
    And we'd have to check every post to see if someone posted something new....

    Really looking forward to the SMM Commentary. Besides making the films more watchable we find out more and more about you guys.

    JB has never worked in retail (Silent Night, Deadly Night)...Doug is a horn dog (any of them) but he usually comes up with the best line.....Patrick is bingeing on Stephen King novels (Maximum Overdrive) but he never reads books (Howling II).....

    :-)

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  21. Had myself a triple feature today:

    End of the Tour. Loved it. Great. Gush. Riske's review is perf.

    Man From UNCLE:
    Styled out the rear with not much else to lean on besides simply pointing the camera at Alicia Vikander, but fun to watch. Had some deflating editing decisions that left me asking "why," but a good time at the movies nonetheless. At times it comes off as more of a Euro-Crime/poliziesco movie than a spy film, and I'm not complaining about that.

    Cop Car:
    Fun B movie with a few missteps that drag it down. A movie that feels like it could have been released at any time through the VHS era without being referential. Solid tension but hesitant execution.

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    1. I dug Cop Car. Everyone was really good in it especially my man Shea Whigham who shines in just about everything he's in.

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    2. Had no idea Shea Whigham was in Cop Car .. I was already interested but that just put it over the top for me. Might be checking this one out tonight!

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    3. He's definitely the best thing about it. He gives a monologue that is both terrifying and hilarious at the same time.

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    4. Completely agree about the monologue. Best thing about it is debatable - I thought everyone was great! From the two lead kids to Camryn Manheim. Really well made film.

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  22. My list is short at this point. I have a feeling that the best is yet to come this year. Trainwreck will be on the list for sure, I don't think anything else is set in stone for me. I have a lot to catch up on though: Mad Max, Love & Mercy, The Gift, and Ex Machina are all on my list to watch this week or when they become available. Straight Outta Compton surprised me, but I doubt it will last through the end of the year on my Top 10. Still haven't seen Inside Out either...been slacking, too much Netflix and our local multiplex doesn't get the good stuff too often, like this David Foster Wallace movie that looks great and I really want to see...won't be coming within 100 miles of me probably, lol.

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  23. My top ten so far

    1. Going Clear
    2. Mad Max Fury Road
    3. Inside Out
    4. What We Do In The Shadows
    5. Ex Machina
    6. Kingsman The Secret Service
    7. Lost Soul The Doomed Journey...
    8. Spring
    9. The Gift
    10. Mission Impossible Rogue Nation

    Honorable Mentions
    Furious 7
    Trainwreck
    Ant Man
    I Am Chris Farley

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  24. 1 - Mommy
    2 - Inside Out
    3 - It Follows
    4 - The Tribe
    5 - Creep
    6 - What We Do In The Shadows
    7 - The Look of Silence
    8 - Dope
    9 - Lost River
    10 - Ex Machina

    I think there have been a decent amount of great stuff released this year. Some stuff I still need to catch up on also. But that's always the case. Too many movies too little time.

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    1. That is a great list, I always forget that films come out in different years in different countries. In Canada, Mommy and What We Do in the Shadows came out in 2014. I have been hesitant to watch Lost River, should I give it a shot?

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    2. Yeah I usually forget that also. Tom at the Farm is getting a theatrical release right now even though it's been available on home video for a while now. Not sure if this is it's first theatrical run or what but it's in a couple theaters here in NYC right now. It get's pretty confusing and even frustrating trying to figure out when I'll be able to see a movie I'm looking forward to. But I guess living in a major city has it's perks. We usually get things earlier than most.

      As for Lost River you may love it or you may hate it but I definitely think it's worth the watch. I really love a lot of the directors Gosling drew influence from and I guess that's why the mix of their styles really pleased me.

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    3. I second Lost River. I really liked it.

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    4. I think I need to live with Lost River awhile longer to know how much I really feel about it. Otherwise, my favorites are, interestingly, not dissimilar from many of the favorites chosen by everyone on this thread: Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation, Mad Max Fury Road, Ex Machina, Kingsman: The Secret Service. I moved Spring and It Follows to my 2014 year (technically they're not 2015 films) but I may still rank them at year's end, they affected more that deeply. I really dug Insidious Chapter 3 also, but I'm expecting, as the year winds down, that there might be casualties on my list, and Kingsman and Insidious might be the casualties. It's been an unexpected year for European-tinged spy films, with Kingsman showing where they can go, and The Man from UNCLE (which I dug, but not enough for placement on my 2015 favorites list) showing where they've been. December (and perhaps January for the limited release films that go wide) will really shake up my list. October brings a new Spielberg film, and I'm really anticipating it, but December is going to be intense.

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  25. I forgot to mention The Gift. It's on my 2015 favorites list and I don't expect it to budge. It affected me on a very personal level.

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    1. I had a friend very much like Gordo is in the first act of The Gift: the gift-giving, the dinner conversation. His little eccentricities. Most of his topics of discussion were movie related, but sometimes he would shift to politics and things would get really eccentric. Everything past the first act is my nightmare of how the friendship could have gone.

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  27. I can't wait to be able to donate soon!

    I haven't been able to go to the cinema half as much as I have wanted to so far this year so I really hope to turn that around in September. But so far these are roughly my favourites:
    1) Inside Out
    2) Dressed as a Girl
    3) Mad Max: Fury Road
    4) Shaun the Sheep
    5) Selma (it came out early this year in the UK)
    6) Pitch Perfect 2 (there are some genuine development of female friendships here, highly refreshing. As well the idea of what it means to grow up and find your own place whilst maintaining your past)
    7) John Wick (same as Selma)
    8) Spy
    9) Man Up
    10) Sponge Bob Square Pants: Sponge out of water (this film is silly, not stupid, good fun)

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  28. Anyone planning on seeing People, Places, Things?

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    1. Both Adam Riske and I saw it a few months ago at the Chicago Critics Film Festival. It's cute and likable! Especially if you like Jemaine Clement, which I do.

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    2. Yeah I dug it too. It's funny in a Hugh Grant-Marc Lawrence movie kind of way.

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  29. Oh, thank you! Phew! It got mixed reviews elsewhere, so I was hoping I'd hear something positive about it from you guys. I didn't want it to suck and burst my Jemaine Clement bubble.

    I DO like Hugh Grant but I kind of hope Jemaine is playing nothing like him. I think Hugh plays a lovely sarcastic person, but Jemaine is more fun to watch and lighthearted and spontaneous.

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  30. My working top 10 so far...and yes, I'm aware of the weirdness of this list...

    1. What We Do in The Shadows
    2. Best of Enemies
    3. Straight Outta Compton
    4. Mad Max: Fury Road
    5. Run All Night
    6. Furious Seven
    7. The Salt of the Earth
    8. Unfriended
    9. Spy
    10. Inside Out

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  31. Have we talked about how terrible Anchorman 2 is? It's so bad, I think I like the first one less now.

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