FilmNight: Movies you watched recently

[Rushmoras]

Hello, friends, colleagues and enemies😉. So, I decided to create a general thread, in which you might like to rate (and maybe in short review/in a couple of sentences say what you liked or did not like) any movies that you saw recently. Other specific movie threads are still relevant for in-depth discussions, but I just thought it would be nice to have a more general thread for this purpose (like in other forums out there). Since some people might not have watched some movies that you have watched, please youse spoiler tags when talking about the events of the movie, just in case.

So, I'll start:

The Prestige (2006). A movie about two rival illusionists that take their rivalry in to the next level. Overall I liked it, but could not help thinking that the whole

Spoiler

Nicola Tesla creates a cloning machine that operates through electricity for Angier was very much out-of-place, considering that almost the entirety of the movie was spent by the movie's lead actors trying to figure-out logical ways of how their competitors are doing these illusions; but lo and behold, there comes a sort-of Deus ex Machina.

8/10.

[Popples]

I enjoyed the Prestige, but the climax bugs the hell out of me because it makes no sense, and I've watched it too many times, repeatedly rewinding to see if I'm missing something.

Spoiler

After getting Tesla's machine, Hugh Jackman's character uses it for exactly 50 performances. Christian Bale's character(s) went to see him many times trying to figure out what the secret behind the trick was. When Bale finally decides to go backstage and find out, setting him up for Jackman's murder, how did Jackman know that was the night to not reappear in the balcony? It was never stated that was the final performance. I remember on the old IMDb forums someone said that Jackman or his assistant notice Bale going behind the curtain, but like I said I watched that specific part so many times and neither of them even turn their heads Bale's way.

 

[Shannon L.]

This is what I wrote about Uncle Frank in the specific movie thread:

It's not a perfect movie, but it's worth watching just for the powerhouse performance by Paul Bettany.  Peter Macdissi is also fantastic in his role.  The movie itself is beautifully shot and has a bit of charm underlying the drama.......

Spoiler

........but the ending was a bit too perfect for me--especially knowing what it was like in small towns in the deep south during the 70s.  I don't usually mind the happy Hollywood ending, but having had an uncle from a small town (not in the south, but quite rural) come out about a decade later and watching the different reactions to the announcement from my religious (in some cases very religious) family, I'd have been fine with a slightly different way of wrapping up the movie.  

I don't know what the Academy's rules are on movies that are made for streaming services (is there an exception this year because of the pandemic?), but, imo, Paul Bettany should be up there with other contenders for Best Actor.  I haven't seen him in anything except the Marvel movies, so, while I had a feeling he could be good, it wasn't until I saw him in this role that I realized just how good. 

[Rushmoras]

Frozen II (2019). I liked it, maybe even more than the first part. It had very some very nice and cute moments, but towards the end got overly dark,

Spoiler

and I was actually thinking whether they would go down that route that Elsa sacrifices herself for everyone permanently, but, understandably, they did not.

Although, I liked the songs more from the first movie.

8/10

[Anduin]

So I stumbled across a couple of clips on YT from the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie. They were entertaining enough to make me watch the whole thing. Not good, entertaining. My god, is this movie cheesy. I think I just filled my lactose quota for the whole year. Even by Paul WS Anderson standards this is isn't good. Go watch the first Resident Evil instead. Perhaps it was designed to be watched with a group of friends, accompanied by a few drinks, or perhaps joints. Sadly I watched it on my own, far too sober. Acting and dialogue hammy, fights campy, set design looks fake.

Trevor Goddard's Aussie accent actually sounds decent. He's English, but I've heard worse. Bridgette Wilson may be pretty, but she's not a great actor or fighter. And Talisa Soto is prettier, so she doesn't even shine in that respect. Robin Shou is probably the best fighter. Linden Ashby is all right. But Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa knows what kind of movie he's in. He absolutely goes for it.

Music was interesting. Outside that one Mortal Kombat track, Liu Kang's first fight has something that sounds like it escaped from the Matrix soundtrack four years early. While Johnny Cage vs Scorpion, it's Fear Factory! I've never been the biggest FF fan, but it's a nice surprise.

You know the biggest crime? Considering the game is known for splashing around the red stuff, the movie is surprisingly clean. Someone gets impaled and there's no blood. Liu Kang makes Shang Tsung's lip bleed at one point. That's it.

The movie is rated 5.8 on IMDB, and that's from people who cared enough to rate the thing. One to miss. Even worse, the sequel is rated even lower. There's a limit to my masochism, so I'll give it a miss. Perhaps the upcoming MK movie will be decent. Hard to be worse.

[Rushmoras]

Ah, the Mortal Kombat movies... I mean, they were made after the "success" (depends on how you look at it) of Mario Brothers. Don't get me wrong, for a kid me they were entertaining, but, yeah, they are more cheesy than old Power Rangers, and I would not watch them after some odd twenty years have passed. Some movies just don't age well, and some age already after release. There was also a TV series "Mortal Kombat", which in my opinion, was miles better then the movie.

[Anduin]

3 hours ago, Rushmoras said:

Ah, the Mortal Kombat movies... I mean, they were made after the "success" (depends on how you look at it) of Mario Brothers. Don't get me wrong, for a kid me they were entertaining, but, yeah, they are more cheesy than old Power Rangers, and I would not watch them after some odd twenty years have passed. Some movies just don't age well, and some age already after release. There was also a TV series "Mortal Kombat", which in my opinion, was miles better then the movie.

I know, I'm not claiming it's at all good. But had a certain charm. I'm not even a particular fan of the games, but I was just in the right mood. As for the show being better than the movies, that's a pretty low bar to hurdle. 6.3 on IMDB wouldn't normally fall into my definition of good, but by the standards, you know...

[Rushmoras]

Birds of Prey (2020). Overall, I enjoyed the movie and even appreciated the comedy elements at times (found myself grinning like an idiot), BUT, can't help but feel that this movie was like a pilot episode, because, well, many of the characters outside Harley herself needed establishing, and the movie just glossed that over. Plus, its tone was very much disjointed - you get some stupid comedy most of the time, but then, there comes really serious and gritty elements for a bit, and then, again, back to comedy. I mean, for an action comedy movie, if that's was what they were aiming for, it worked, but, then, why those other elements? I don't really understand.

Spoiler

In addition, for a film that is named "Birds of Prey"... ah... well... you only see them towards the end of the movie, and they only band together not out of necessity or something, but only due to circumstances that led them there.

I know, that people on IMDB rates this a six, and, while I can understand that, but personally I'm very generous when it comes to movies and it takes a lot for me not to enjoy them, so... I give it a 7/10.

[Rushmoras]

The Lighthouse (2019).

Spoiler

If I understood correctly, this is a movie about either two people getting crazy while alone for weeks on an island mending the lighthouse or a movie about a curse that was enacted by Thomas/Winslow, whatever, killing the seagull.

Either way, the movie was interesting up until an hour mark, afterwards, it just became overly too weird for me. On the other hand, I guess Dafoe had a blast speaking in Moby Dickish tongue of Ahab lol.

I was gonna rate it a seven, but as I've said, past the hour mark it just became too weird for me, so, a 6/10.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I just spent last night into the wee hours watching Mommie Dearest, and marveling what a great job they did making Faye Dunaway look like Joan Crawford. Only to change my mind after watching Mildred Pierce!!! Joan was so beautiful. And in comparison, Faye’s Joan looked close to the Joker from Batman movies. 

I understand that back during the Golden Age of Hollywood, Joan was considered “old”, but damned if I’m convinced watching her in this movie. And every time Veda opened her mouth, I wanted to bitchslap her and snatch her bald. I hope she was sentenced to life.

Now I want to watch that one movie which I SWEAR stars Joan, Bette Davis, and two other leading ladies during this era-but I’m blanking on the name! 

And I’m peeved the only version of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane available to watch on cable/streaming platforms is the horrid Redgrave Sisters version.

And every scene I watched of Mildred Pierce with Mildred and Veda, made me think of real life Joan and Christine and how they paralleled each other-based on the movie.

Edited February 1, 2021 by GHScorpiosRule

[kiddo82]

I had a weird weekend in that I watched both Gone with the Wind and Bram Stoker's Dracula.  It was quite a double feature.

Gone with the Wind (1939)

I had last seen this more then 20 years ago when I was in high school (I remember appreciating parts of it but having no real desire to ever watch it again) and was curious what my impressions of it would be now as a mature adult.  Well, I can honestly say, having watched it for a second time, that I appreciate parts of it but have no real desire to ever watch it again.  The best compliment that I can give it is that I got through it all in one sitting.  And that's not a backhanded compliment either.  I have the attention span of a gnat.  It is actually a visually interesting film to watch especially given when it was made.  Sometimes the hardest thing for me about watching older films is how static everything feels but this movie seems more dynamic than a lot of its counterparts.  It feels strangely modern.  And even the acting seemed ahead of it's time in that it wasn't as over the top as you might expect for a movie from 1939. (Which makes Hattie McDaniel's Oscar win all the more impressive.  It's not that she's not great.  She's fantastic!  But it's just not the type of showy role that often garners much awards attention even these days.  And Vivien Leigh chews juuust the right amount of scenery as Scarlett.  I'm not the biggest Gable fan, but he delivers his final line to perfection as well)    The run time could easily be trimmed by condensing some scenes in the final hour or so, which is when I really started to get antsy.  Having said all that, the movie is problematic for well documented reasons and I don't care to defend it in that area.        

 

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

So I just finished the audio book (the Audible version narrated by Alan Cumming, Tim Curry, and the wonderful voice actress Katherine Kellgren) and unfortunately the movie just paled in comparison.  Poor Keanu is just out of his depth I wasn't crazy about Winona Ryder either, who also seemed miscast.  And then you have Anthony Hopkins coming off Silence of the Lambs given barely anything to do even though he's playing Abraham Van freaking Helsing.  Gary Oldman's Dracula didn't even register.  I didn't like

Spoiler

the connection between Mina and the Count that the film portrayed.  Just seemed kind of hokey that she's supposed to be the reincarnated version of his long dead wife.

My favorite scene was

Spoiler

Poor Lucy being creepy AF in her crypt before being offed for good by the guys.  I wish all three suitors had been a little more developed though.  I feel like we barely knew any of them.

As a straight up horror film it's not bad, but for what I heard was one of the more faithful Dracula adaptations, I was disappointed.  

Edited February 3, 2021 by kiddo82

[Rushmoras]

Deadpool 2 (2018). I was debating whether I should see this or not, given the fact that I found the first part meh, and I got to say, the script in this one has more quality (either that, or one can of beer helped a lot to enjoy this 😀) than the script of the first part. And it felt more... I don't know, mature perhaps? While I rated all these years ago Deadpool only six out of ten, this one - solid 8/10.

But the most enjoyable part? The credits lulz.

Edited February 6, 2021 by Rushmoras

[jah1986]

Black Box (2020) Starring Phylicia Rashad. Really interesting premise and payoff. It took me a while to figure out what was going on. Requires big suspension of belief, but if you take it as sci-fi/horror it won't be too difficult. Definitely not something you can go right to sleep on after watching.

[Spartan Girl]

Valentine’s Day (2010): They’re doing a marathon of this on E! today, and on the whole I guess it’s cute though I don’t really like the multiple storyline ensemble romcom holiday movies. My one gripe is that the “main” storyline with Jennifer Garner and Ashton Kutcher is so lame and rushed. In the span of one day he goes from being elatedly engaged to Jessica Alba to rebounding with best friend Jennifer? Even for a romcom that’s rushed.

[Danny Franks]

What We Do in the Shadows (2014). I barely stopped laughing for the entire thing. I've been meaning to watch it for ages, but was just in the right mood.

It's a mockumentary that follows the lives of four vampires who live in a house together in Wellington, New Zealand and it's just... so silly. And fun.

Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clement wrote, directed and starred in it and play very different vampires. Clement's character was turned in the 12th century and was known in history as the tyrannical Vladislav the Poker, because he liked to torture people by poking them with things. Waititi's character, Viago, was turned in the 18th century and is a bit of a fussy dandy who tries to tell the others to put newspaper down before biting people in the house.

There are lots of nods towards other vampire franchises - Buffy, Underworld, Twilight etc - and it's all just so absurd and played so straight by the actors.

Highly recommended. And I will have to get hold of the TV series adaptation of it too.

Edited February 14, 2021 by Danny Franks

[Shannon L.]

7 minutes ago, Danny Franks said:

What We Do in the Shadows (2014). I barely stopped laughing for the entire thing. I've been meaning to watch it for ages, but was just in the right mood.

It's a mockumentary that follows the lives of four vampires who live in a house together in Wellington, New Zealand and it's just... so silly. And fun.

Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clement wrote, directed and starred in it and play very different vampires. Clement's character was turned in the 12th century and was known in history as the tyrannical Vladislav the Poker, because he liked to torture people by poking them with things. Waititi's character, Viago, was turned in the 18th century and is a bit of a fussy dandy who tries to tell the others to put newspaper down before biting people in the house.

There are lots of nods towards other vampire franchises - Buffy, Underworld, Twilight etc - and it's all just so absurdist and played so straight by the actors.

Highly recommended. And I will have to get hold of the TV series adaptation of it too.

While I didn't laugh quite as much as you did, I really enjoyed the movie. I couldn't get into the series, though--for me, it's the kind of humor where I can only take so much.  A little bit of it goes a long way, so a two hour movie was perfect.  When I finished watching the movie, my thought was that they needed to do one more about the werewolves.  I think their interactions with the vampires were my favorite parts of the movie.

[kiddo82]

24 minutes ago, Danny Franks said:

Highly recommended. And I will have to get hold of the TV series adaptation of it too.

It's on Hulu.  It's amazing.

[Rushmoras]

The Girl on the Train (2016). A drama-thriller about a hardcore alcoholic woman, who lost it all in her life, riding on the train through environs where she used to live with her ex-husband, and thinking in terms of Allanis Morisette song: "Are you thinking about me when you f* her?"

Spoiler

Also, she is trying to peace together the events of the faithful night where the ex-husband's next-door neighbour gone missing, because she thinks that she might have had a hand in it (cause the neighbour next-door strikes a resemblance to the ex-husband's current wife). Has a twist in the end, which I personally did not expect, but that is all. 90 percent of the movie is just an alcoholic trying to piece together out-of-order events through a drunken haze.

Overall, very Nordic in its presentation, but lacked some sort of zinc that would make it interesting for long. I guess, the IMDB rating in this case does not lie, I'd also rate it 6.5/10

[Rushmoras]

So, decided to actually watch Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)... and... LOL.. WTF did I watch... 😄

Felt more like a parody than Dracula Dead and Lovin' It years after was. I understand that you can't much do with the source material, because, it has barely anything in it (as I mentioned once in a book thread), and you have to take liberties in your adaptation like it or not, to add something more to the characters, but... the characters felt like they are a caricatures of their source material. I am not talking about changing part of the story, just characters in general. I don't know, if this was intentional or not, but most of the movie was hilarious in a bad way.

Also, yeah, it's R rated, I see, but... pick one direction: either it's horror, mild erotic or an action comedy. You can't have all of them in one film! What the hell actually...

6/10, just because Hopkin's character was an old creepy dude 😄

[katha]

The Report (2019)

A procedural on the Senate report written on the CIA's torture program after 9/11. Good, traditional film-making. I guess perhaps a bit dour and matter-of-fact, but I can understand the thinking behind that. There's been too much glamorizing of torture and the people doling it out as is. Liked the potshots at "Zero Dark Thirty" and "24" in that context LOL. Showed the corruption, incompetence and petty cruelty being promoted at the CIA to justify these crimes and the complicit political establishment. What really resonated was not only that the torture was morally wrong and criminal, but also that it was useless. It probably maimed and killed innocent people, made martyrs out of the guilty ones, didn't yield much useful intelligence and made prosecution impossible.

Fantastic central performance by Adam Driver as Daniel Jones, the man compiling the report over years. Jones is presented as a calm, introverted man and his performance stays quiet, even as it gains intensity the more he uncovers and the more passionate he becomes about at least exposing what had been going on for years. His reactions to everything unfolding are muted and internalized and all the more poignant for it. If he hadn't burned the house down in "Marriage Story" already, that performance would have been a candidate for an Oscar nomination as well IMO. Annette Benning is also very good as Feinstein. Corey Stoll, Maura Tierney and Jon Hamm also deliver in smaller roles.

Edited February 20, 2021 by katha

[Rushmoras]

28 Days Later... (2002). Never saw it before, decided to watch it now. Was expecting your normal zombie flick, got something bit else. I guess I liked it, it felt like what would happen if in the first season of the Walking Dead Rick would have come across only a handful of people... and the "zombies" could run! 7/10

[twoods]

I just saw Palm Springs and completely surprised at how much I liked it. Unique story and lovely chemistry with the leads, and hilarious. Yay for Hulu.

[Browncoat]

I rewatched Legally Blonde last night.  I'm still not a fan of Elle's using her body to gain admission to Harvard Law, but I do give Emmet major props for believing her immediately and without any questions about Callahan.

[GreekGeek]

On 1/31/2021 at 5:26 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

I just spent last night into the wee hours watching Mommie Dearest, and marveling what a great job they did making Faye Dunaway look like Joan Crawford. Only to change my mind after watching Mildred Pierce!!! Joan was so beautiful. And in comparison, Faye’s Joan looked close to the Joker from Batman movies. 

I understand that back during the Golden Age of Hollywood, Joan was considered “old”, but damned if I’m convinced watching her in this movie. And every time Veda opened her mouth, I wanted to bitchslap her and snatch her bald. I hope she was sentenced to life.

Now I want to watch that one movie which I SWEAR stars Joan, Bette Davis, and two other leading ladies during this era-but I’m blanking on the name! 

And I’m peeved the only version of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane available to watch on cable/streaming platforms is the horrid Redgrave Sisters version.

And every scene I watched of Mildred Pierce with Mildred and Veda, made me think of real life Joan and Christine and how they paralleled each other-based on the movie.

As far as I know, Baby Jane was the only movie Davis and Crawford did together, though their careers did intersect in other interesting ways. Here is a timeline of their history, assembled as a tie-in to the 2017 miniseries Feud: Bette and Joan.

Have you seen the 2011 Mildred Pierce miniseries starring Kate Winslet? It's much more faithful to the James M. Cain book. For one thing, 

Spoiler

there's no murder

and Mildred is a much more flawed character.

On topic, I watched Roman J. Israel, Esq., a 2017 movie starring Denzel Washington. I hadn't heard of it until Washington received an Oscar nomination for it. It was a bit unfocused, but Washington is really good, and he's well supported by Colin Farrell. If you're in the mood for a legal thriller with social justice themes, give it a try.

[Razzberry]

A double feature by director Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without a Cause)

 

Johnny Guitar, 1954                                                                                                        6/10

Starring Joan Crawford as Vienna, a gun totin' pants wearing saloon owner with perfect makeup.
Sterling Hayden as her love interest Johnny
Mercedes McCambridge as arch-enemy (on and off-screen) Emma

Not a typical western, and knowing the behind-the-scenes stuff made it more amusing to me.

According to Nicholas Ray, the tension on set was so bad that he puked every morning on his way to work. Crawford went ape-shit with jealousy over Mercedes powerful scenes.  He had to shoot Mercedes in the morning before Crawford got there, but got busted.  Crawford flew into a rage, broke into McCambridge's dressing room and slashed her clothes to shreds.  McCambridge claimed that Crawford attempted to blacklist her for years afterward.

Sterling Hayden was quoted as saying: "There is not enough money in Hollywood to lure me into making another picture with Joan Crawford. And I like money."

Free with Amazon Prime    Johnny Guitar

 

The second one, a film noir, was really enjoyable.     9/10

In a Lonely Place, 1950      Starring Gloria Grahame and Humphrey Bogart

On IMDB

Bogart is an underemployed Hollywood screenwriter with the porny and implausible name of Dix Steele.  He's been hired to screen write a trashy novel that he hasn't even read, so he pays a waitress to tell him the story back at his apartment. It's after midnight by the time she's finished, and instead of driving her back he tells her there's a taxi stand down on Santa Monica Blvd.  When she's found murdered the next day, he's like "What's that got to do with me?"  Not a likable guy, but a neighbor (Laurel, wonderfully played by Scar-Jo look-alike Grahame) confirms that he was indeed at home and therefore couldn't have done it. 

Some have called Laurel a femme-fatale, but I disagree. She's smart but likable and has no ulterior motive.
They begin a relationship but it soon becomes clear that Dix has "anger management issues" and she starts questioning her belief in his innocence. 

Edited February 24, 2021 by Razzberry

[proserpina65]

I recently got Starz in order to watch The Luminaries, and the other night they ran L.A. Confidential.  Damn if that isn't a just about perfect movie.

[Rushmoras]

The Age of Adaline (2015). Overall, I liked the movie,

Spoiler

but kept thinking that is so weird for Adaline to date the son of her ex-boyfriend. I mean, if Adaline was as old as the father was (and not Blake Lively), this would have been hella weird, but, I guess, since she hasn't aged for the past 40 or so years, it's OK and not weird. Also, wow, she is either the most luckiest or unluckiest person in existence. What are the chances of her becoming immortal and then de-immortalizing the same way that she became immortal 40+ years later.

Other than that, it was a good melodrama. 8/10

Edited February 28, 2021 by Rushmoras

[Shannon L.]

We just rewatched Stripes.  I loved it as a teenager, although, I did think the first half was significantly better than the second.  Upon rewatching, that still holds true, but, except for a few moments (like the iconic practice and graduation scene) the first half didn't hold up real well, either.

[Razzberry]

Sometimes I'm in the mood for just an uncomplicated plot and eye candy,  such as Cecil B. de Mille's circus extravaganza  Greatest Show on Earth, 1952  
Free with Amazon Prime

Cornel Wilde and Betty Hutton (terrible actress) as competitive trapeze artists. 

Spoiler alert. Jimmy Stewart as Buttons the clown.  No one thinks wearing greasepaint even on his days off is sketchy?  Hmm.

Gloria Grahame as the top elephant girl who's looking for some human love.

Tough guy Lawrence Tierney is a (surprise) shady character who gets sacked by boss man Charlton Heston for running crooked games on the midway.

[andromeda331]

Oceans 8 and Zootopia. It took forever to catch Oceans 8 on TV and I was never really a fan of Oceans 11 but it was a really good movie. Not surprising giving all the great actresses that were in it. But that doesn't always work. Zootopia was fine. I liked Judy, the Sloths and Nicky.   I liked it but its not something I'd ever watch again.  

[festivus]

Watched Barefoot in the Park last night. I love Mother. But omg I think they said she was supposed to be 52. Just the style and whatever made her seem so much older. I also loved that little apartment. The colors were so pretty.

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 2/22/2021 at 8:59 AM, GreekGeek said:

On topic, I watched Roman J. Israel, Esq., a 2017 movie starring Denzel Washington. I hadn't heard of it until Washington received an Oscar nomination for it. It was a bit unfocused, but Washington is really good, and he's well supported by Colin Farrell. If you're in the mood for a legal thriller with social justice themes, give it a try.

Denzel was so good in that.  It was like a new kind of Denzel performance I hadn't seen from him before.  He still manages to impress me every year or so that way.

Edited March 4, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[GHScorpiosRule]

I'm sooooo conflicted. Wanda Vision's series (?) season (?) finale is on tomorrow night--I have no idea how it will end. So, do I watch that first in case it will depress/frustrate me and THEN watch Coming 2 America? Because I know I can depend on Eddie Murphy to deliver the laughs. But it will be bittersweet because I hadn't realized that Madge Sinclair, who played Hakeem's mother, passed away seven years after the first movie came out.

Or should I watch Coming 2 America first, and then Wanda Vision?

Decisions! Decisions!

[Spartan Girl]

19 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I'm sooooo conflicted. Wanda Vision's series (?) season (?) finale is on tomorrow night--I have no idea how it will end. So, do I watch that first in case it will depress/frustrate me and THEN watch Coming 2 America? Because I know I can depend on Eddie Murphy to deliver the laughs. But it will be bittersweet because I hadn't realized that Madge Sinclair, who played Hakeem's mother, passed away seven years after the first movie came out.

Or should I watch Coming 2 America first, and then Wanda Vision?

Decisions! Decisions!

Watch WandaVision first. That way if you’re sad, hopefully Coming 2 America will hopefully cheer you up after.

[Nordly Beaumont]

On 1/31/2021 at 1:56 PM, Rushmoras said:

The Lighthouse (2019).

  Reveal spoiler

If I understood correctly, this is a movie about either two people getting crazy while alone for weeks on an island mending the lighthouse or a movie about a curse that was enacted by Thomas/Winslow, whatever, killing the seagull.

Either way, the movie was interesting up until an hour mark, afterwards, it just became overly too weird for me. On the other hand, I guess Dafoe had a blast speaking in Moby Dickish tongue of Ahab lol.

I was gonna rate it a seven, but as I've said, past the hour mark it just became too weird for me, so, a 6/10

I'll give it a 7/10 - because I kinda liked the weirdness. And the acting was so good. But yeah, it was a bit much so I can't go more than 7.

Last night I watched His House. I got up this morning and watched it again. It's sort of a haunted house story, but more than just that. I found the movie itself haunting. It's about a refugee couple who escaped from South Sudan trying to settle into their new life in London. But you can't escape your ghosts... 9/10 

Spoiler

Nyagak screaming for her mama - that little actress killed it and ripped my heart out!

 

[Danny Franks]

Jojo Rabbit. I remember it getting some mean reviews, but I thought it was bags of fun. Reminiscent of Wes Anderson movies, in a lot of the shot choices and aesthetics, but the humour was everything I've come to expect of Taika Waititi - absurd and not afraid to poke fun at things most people don't poke fun at. The comedy value of a camp, needy, imaginary Hitler can't be undervalued.

Scarlett Johansson is charming as Jojo's mother and Thomasin Mackenzie is really interesting, a combination of waspish wit and waifish vulnerability as the Jewish girl hiding in the house. The smaller roles, filled by Sam Rockwell, Alfie Allen, Rebel Wilson and Stephen Merchant are great fun.

Waititi has this great knack of combining everyday dialogue, mundane dialogue with heavy, dramatic events - Merchant's Gestapo agent looking at Jojo's drawings of Jews as demons with horns and scales and saying "ah, it's funny because it's true," or Jojo's friend, Yorki, talking about the advancing Russians and fretting that he may have chosen the wrong side.

 

[Shannon L.]

2 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

Jojo Rabbit. I remember it getting some mean reviews, but I thought it was bags of fun. Reminiscent of Wes Anderson movies, in a lot of the shot choices and aesthetics, but the humour was everything I've come to expect of Taika Waititi - absurd and not afraid to poke fun at things most people don't poke fun at. The comedy value of a camp, needy, imaginary Hitler can't be undervalued.

Scarlett Johansson is charming as Jojo's mother and Thomasin Mackenzie is really interesting, a combination of waspish wit and waifish vulnerability as the Jewish girl hiding in the house. The smaller roles, filled by Sam Rockwell, Alfie Allen, Rebel Wilson and Stephen Merchant are great fun.

Waititi has this great knack of combining everyday dialogue, mundane dialogue with heavy, dramatic events - Merchant's Gestapo agent looking at Jojo's drawings of Jews as demons with horns and scales and saying "ah, it's funny because it's true," or Jojo's friend, Yorki, talking about the advancing Russians and fretting that he may have chosen the wrong side.

 

I loved Jojo Rabbit. It had one of my two favorite lines from movies that year (the one from Yorki about the Japanese soldiers). I thought everyone involved with that movie did a great job.

[Danny Franks]

30 minutes ago, Shannon L. said:

I loved Jojo Rabbit. It had one of my two favorite lines from movies that year (the one from Yorki about the Japanese soldiers). I thought everyone involved with that movie did a great job.

"Between you and me, they don't look very Aryan." Brilliant line.

Another great one was, "he's a fanatic. It took him three weeks to get over the fact his grandfather wasn't blond."

 

 

[kiddo82]

Jojo Rabbit was my favorite movie of 2019.  I just love the exchange when "Hitler" asks Jojo's mom what she is burning and Jojo tells him that his mom can't hear him so he yells "VHAT ARE YOU BURNING!?"  Cracks me up every time.

Taika Waititi has a talent for directing children.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Someone answered my prayers! The generic “movies” channel on my cable provider-aired the 1962 Whatever Happened to Baby Jane yesterday! I LOVED it! Bette and Joan were so very good.

So stupid ne has to ask: did Blanche die at the end? The last scene was her turning on her side and crying when Jane went to get ice cream.

And which movie of Joan’s we’re they playing that Blanche watched as one of her earlier films? At least I assumed it was one of Joan Crawford’s earlier movies as she looked so young.

But damn if Jane didn’t scare the bejesus out of me. 

[twoods]

Just saw Pitch Perfect for the billionth time (thank you HBO Max). Makes me sad that with such a great first movie, the two sequels that followed sucked. 

[samajo]

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind 9/10
Lovely movie, great story, scenery, acting, and nice soundtrack.

[Shannon L.]

I sat through two movies yesterday.  Justice League and Coming to America 2. 

Justice League:  It was better than the Joss Whedon version, but, imo, it could have been cut down by at least a half hour and still have been as effective as it was in fleshing out some of the story lines that were sidelined in the theatrical release.  I did miss two scenes from Joss's version--the one where Aquaman didn't realize he was sitting on Wonder Woman's lasso--that was amusing--and the scene where Bruce was tending to his wounds and was telling Diana that he knew that he couldn't keep up the game forever. He was getting older and at one point, his body wouldn't be able to take it anymore.  Zach Snyder uses way too much slow motion.  I thought Patty Jenkins' use of it was much better.  I love the Marvel series and don't think that the DC movies should be copies of them--it's a darker universe (as portrayed by the movies so far--I'm not familiar with the comic books), but I think they should have followed the Marvel formula:  Have origin movies for Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Batman, Superman, Cyborg and Flash.  Have occasional cameos from the other characters whether their movie has been released yet or not and do sequels if they are important to the overall arch (I don't know if Aquaman's story is important in that way, but that movie needed to be cut into two movies. They tried to do too much, imo). It think that would have helped a lot. 

Coming to America 2: Not as bad as I heard it was, but not as good as the first.  I like the actor playing his son and it was fun seeing all the old characters back with the original actors reprising them.  I thought the first half hour or so was the funniest. 

Edited March 22, 2021 by Shannon L.

[Rushmoras]

The Color Purple (1985), 6/10. One of those movies that I found all of the characters in it to be unlikeable and/or irritating. It made me nothing, but ticked off while watching it, at first due to the "WTF is going on here, WTF is he doing, WTF is she doing, WTF are they like this" introductory moments to the whole movie's premise, and then due to the decisions that the characters are making. So, OK, the

Spoiler

main character is a domestic abuse victim, suffering abuse from her family members and then the husband, but for fuck's sake, she decides to kill him in the end not for being his punching and rape bag, but because: "Oh, how dared he withhold letters from my best friend for all these years. Nah, imma try slicing your throat". UGH, I can't even...

You know what, I won't even write more about this movie. Feck this movie.

[Razzberry]

Although I've never understood the fascination with the thug, this film is an underappreciated gem, if a bit long at 2 hrs 40 min.   Breathtaking cinematography by Roger Deakins. 

[Rushmoras]

Blade Runner (1982), 7/10. Initially the world-building was very interesting, but when it came to the core action segments, it was a snooze-fest by today's standards, however, the story was alright.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Watched Beverly Hills Cop and its two sequels. I spent most of the last just fast forwarding. WHY did Eddie do this crapshit? And not spoilering because it's in the blurb--WHY did they kill Chief Todd? Judge Reinhold was the only one of the supporting cast that returned. And what he turned into since the second movie was just...sad. So I'm pretending three never happened.

And then I watched Midnight Run. Just plain good fun. I remember that The Untouchables was the first movie I saw of Robert DeNiro. And that Midnight Run was the next movie, and I was like WOWZA! Didn't know that he'd packed on the pounds and shaved his hair for the role of Capone. Well, I know he packed on the pounds. Not so sure about the hair.

[Anduin]

On 3/29/2021 at 2:00 PM, Rushmoras said:

Blade Runner (1982), 7/10. Initially the world-building was very interesting, but when it came to the core action segments, it was a snooze-fest by today's standards, however, the story was alright.

I think the world needs SF movies that aren't action movies. Blade Runner and its sequel are prime examples of how to do it well. Write a good story, hire good actors.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Also rewatched Argo over the weekend.

I was in the second and third grade when all of it happened, but I still remember how we talked about it in school.

Those minutes while they waited while the Iranis “verified” their covers, as they got into the shuttle, the plane, and then finally lifting off, still had my heart pounding and on the edge of my seat.

While I’m not a fan of Affleck’s acting, he did a good job directing this. And the casting director did a phenomenal job.

Then I watched 1972’s The Candidate which just gave me a headache, with all the overtalking and chaos.

Edited March 30, 2021 by GHScorpiosRule

[meep.meep]

On 3/28/2021 at 9:49 AM, Razzberry said:

Although I've never understood the fascination with the thug, this film is an underappreciated gem, if a bit long at 2 hrs 40 min.   Breathtaking cinematography by Roger Deakins. 

Speaking as one of the six people who actually saw this in a real movie theater, its cinematography truly is art.  And it's all done with lenses.