FilmNight: Movies you watched recently

[Anela]

On 6/26/2024 at 9:03 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

There isn't a thread for mini-series/tv show you watched recently, and this might as well have been a 10 hour movie, so I'm putting it here, since I don't know if a tv thread would have much traffic. We tend to discuss shows here as well, so I think it's okay?

Finally a mini-series from when I was a kid is available on Paramount+ and I watched it this week: Original Shogun with Richard Chamberlain.

I remember watching snippets of it when it first aired in 1980, but I swear, I don't remember that 90% of the dialogue was in Japanese WITHOUT subtitles! As we were seeing it from BlackThorne's side. It made me wonder how the viewing audience back then reacted to that. But it was a mega hit, so I guess I just answered my question?

And what a great cast. Who knew Father Alvito wasn't a nemesis, after all. Or was he, and just very clever?

God, the 80s were ripe with the epic mini-series' with high production values. Shogun, The Thorn Birds, North & South, to name a few.

I have no desire to see the updated one. Because it doesn't have...Richard Chamberlain. Lord, the man had such beautiful eyes, and what an actor. Now I'll be waiting until The Thorn Birds is streaming.

The only thing that annoyed me, if you will, is how Blackthorne/Anjin and Mariko suddenly started speaking in, what I would describe as Shakespearean (thee, thou, art) once they became lovers. Just made me roll my eyes, when before, they spoke using words like you, are, is, etc.

And I appreciated, that when stabbing themselves as part of seppuku, or getting beheaded, the audience was spared the blood and gore. And I understand the updated series on Hulu/FX is quite the gore-fest. No thank you.

And of course I downloaded the book, which is in two parts in Kindle version.

I remember all of them, from when I was little. I don't know how old I was when "Lace" was on over two or three nights. I just remember us all rushing to be ready when they started. I found that on youtube, when I couldn't sleep, last year. 

I think "I Know My First Name is Steven" aired when I was a teenager. 

Edited July 1 by Anela

[Palimelon]

It wasn't that well received by the critics at the time, and was a minor hit at the time. In that, it made a nice profit, but I do think given her popularity at the time, it was expected to do better?

[Bastet]

On 6/26/2024 at 6:03 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

There isn't a thread for mini-series/tv show you watched recently, and this might as well have been a 10 hour movie, so I'm putting it here, since I don't know if a tv thread would have much traffic. We tend to discuss shows here as well, so I think it's okay?

There's a thread for Tales of Yesteryear: Movies of the Week and Miniseries of Yore.  It's a good read that brought back a lot of memories (and had me checking YouTube and streaming services to see if I could find several of them to revisit).

[Spartan Girl]

Firebrand starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law: What the fuck did I just watch? I mean, kudos to Jude Law for playing capturing Henry VIII at his grossest and most batshit, but if you’re looking for something with historical accuracy, even The Tudors got more right than this. Hell, even the actual novel by Elizabeth Fremantle was more accurate than this? What is it with Hollywood and being unable to accurately adapt Tudor novels?! First the hatchet job they did with The Other Boleyn Girl and now this!

I was amused that Thomas Seymour (sporting a chin-length ZZ Top beard) was played by the hot crow guy in Maleficent and Anne Askew was Teen Princess Anne in The Crown.

[Browncoat]

Has anyone else seen Kinds of Kindness?  I saw it last night, and I have questions about the middle part.  The first and third parts were quite clear, but I'm still trying to figure out the middle part.

Who was gaslighting whom?  Was she an imposter?  What was up with the static on those phone calls?

[EtheltoTillie]

I rewatched Jagged Edge (1985).  Just on a whim, as it was "recommended" by Prime.  I remember thinking it was garbage when it came out, but it was even worse than I remembered. Proverbial truck-sized plot holes.

Jeff Bridges plays the husband of a rich woman.  She is murdered in a grisly way.  He is the only suspect.  Glenn Close is hired as his defense attorney.  Of course, she begins having an affair with him.  

Spoiler

He is acquitted, but of course, he is actually the killer.  She discovers this and he realizes she knows and he comes after her and she shoots him. 

This movie was written by Joe Eszterhas.  He had a short string of successful cheesy thrillers--Showgirls, Basic Instinct and Sliver--and was known for being the highest paid scriptwriter in Hollywood.  Then he had some failures and sank into obscurity.  He did not write Fatal Attraction, also starring Close, but he could be considered responsible for creating this genre.

[Shannon L.]

I watched IF this afternoon. I can see why it didn't do well in theaters or with critics. It was way toos slow, especially for kids, and, in the end, was more about being an adult than a child. But, there were some fun moments and some really sweet moments and the message, while simple, was a good one.  I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it, either.

[Spartan Girl]

On 7/20/2024 at 7:24 PM, Shannon L. said:

I watched IF this afternoon. I can see why it didn't do well in theaters or with critics. It was way toos slow, especially for kids, and, in the end, was more about being an adult than a child. But, there were some fun moments and some really sweet moments and the message, while simple, was a good one.  I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it, either.

It was slow at times, but I loved it regardless.

[Spartan Girl]

So to get ready for Deadpool and Wolverine, I rewatched Deadpool and The Wolverine (lol). No, I wouldn’t rewatch X-Men Origins if you paid me.

But The Wolverine while not as good as Logan (😭😭😭😭😭) is pretty good on its own. And I’m not just saying that because of how shredded Mr. Jackman was in that movie 😍😍😍😍. I totally would’ve loved to see another movie with Wolverine and Yukio together. My only gripe is that I didn’t like the constant pining over Jean. While I hate that none of the movies could do her proper justice, this franchise version wasn’t all that great even before she went Dark Phoenix. JMO.

[Palimelon]

I think The Wolverine is underrated. Yukio was fun, and I liked the movie version of Mariko.

Dark Phoenix could have worked had it been two movies instead of one. Have part 1 be about Jean becoming Phoenix, and dealing with corruption as the movie goes with the cliff-hanger be her becoming Dark Phoenix. Part 2 would be the X-men trying to contain her/save her and ending with her sacrificing herself to save the world. No aliens, no side story about a cure, maybe only have the Hellfire Club as a sinister organization trying to corrupt her, but otherwise, keep the focus on Jean and the X-men.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

9 hours ago, Palimelon said:

Dark Phoenix could have worked had it been two movies instead of one. Have part 1 be about Jean becoming Phoenix

I will say that Jessica Chastain did an excellent job as the villain, though. "It's so much easier to understand your language when you're not screaming."

[Spartan Girl]

And because I had to, I watched Logan last night on TV. Still hits hard. HARD. What a tragic end to that X-Men series. I don’t know what hurt more in the end: Laura calling him Daddy or changing the cross to an X. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Why couldn’t New Mutants have been about Laura and her friends? I’d love to know what happened to them. 

Spoiler

Oh right, we’re probably going to find out in Deadpool and Wolverine.

 

[Browncoat]

Besides Deadpool and Deadpool 2, what are the movies I ought to see before seeing Deadpool and Wolverine?  I have gaps in my X-Men/Marvel knowledge.

[Spartan Girl]

48 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

Besides Deadpool and Deadpool 2, what are the movies I ought to see before seeing Deadpool and Wolverine?  I have gaps in my X-Men/Marvel knowledge.

The Wolverine and Logan would be my best recommendations. Though I'm willing to bet the new movie will give us some kind of snarky overview of the events that happened in them.

[Palimelon]

I'd say it wouldn't hurt to see Logan, and maybe The Wolverine. The latter maybe not as necessary as the former.

[BlueSkies]

These Old Broads 2001.  A campy but pleasant enough movie.

 

I came away very impressed with Joan Collins.  Still almost 70 there and naturally stunningly beautiful.  It's one actress that still has that old school beauty/charm.  

[Raja]

In the theatre Deadpool and Wolverine,

At home Land of Bad, sort of a Bat-21 mixed with Lone Survivor against Islamic terrorist and militia in the Philippines. With the old guy and young guy flipping roles of Bat-21, the pilot and the man behind enemy lines.

Your typical big stars Russel Crowe and Liam Hemsworth, in little action movie that NetFlix releases every month. Although the wiki says it had a theatrical release in February. I think Liam Hemsworth out did his big brother's two Extraction movies on NetFlix. But even though it is more grounded in reality just behind Gerard Butler's fighting Filipino kidnappers for ransom on Plane

[GHScorpiosRule]

With a free subscription to MGM+ for six months, watched Mississippi Burning last night.

Riveted. Won’t lie, during the violence and destruction done by the racists and KKK, I had my fingers pressed against my mouth in fear, rage, and a host of other emotions. Not an easy movie to watch.

So very well acted and wonderful performances.

[EtheltoTillie]

I was watching Dancing at Lughnasa on TCM (will discuss on that thread) and became curious about the various stars’ other work. Under Rhys Ifans I found a wonderful treat called Misbehaviour (2020), also starring Keira Knightley.  It’s a true story about women who disrupted the Miss World pageant in London in 1970, thereby kicking off the women’s liberation movement. This really spoke to my 15-year-old 1970 self. The real women are shown at the end. It’s streaming on Peacock. 

[Anduin]

Quest for Fire, because a podcast I like will be covering it this weekend. Thing is, I didn't like it very much. Maybe it's because I've learned too much about human prehistory, maybe it's just not my sort of thing. Weird thing, it was different from the book, but two plot points only make sense if you've read the book.

There's one point in the movie where they're in trouble, but mammoths turn up and scare away the enemies. In the book, the heroes befriend the mammoths early on, so the mammoths look after their friends when needed. Secondly, in the book, two groups head out in search of fire, with the reward of the chief's sister and becoming the new chief after the current one dies. Therefore, it's good sense for the group who didn't get the spotlight to ambush the heroes on the way back and steal their fire/reward. A movie shouldn't depend on its book to make sense, especially one published 70 years previously!

Outside that, in the book the characters speak. Movie, it's all grunts and shrieks. Book, less emphasis on sex. Movie is horny in a bad way. And there are some other dumb moments throughout.

I've tried a couple of other prehistoric movies too. 10,000 BC is nonsense. Out of Darkness is a waste of a good idea. Firebringer is at least fun.

Ultimately, the movie is free to watch on YT, but the book is a lot better.

[proserpina65]

Having recently watched Gods of Tennis, I finally made myself look at Borg vs McEnroe after having it on my dvr for more than a year.  It was quite good, although I do question how much of it was accurate.  The basics are right, so I tried to concentrate on the performances.  I'm not a fan of Shia LaBeouf but he was good as McEnroe; probably helped that I've never like McEnroe either.  Sevrrir Gudnason definitely had the harder role, since so much of Borg's personality and non-tennis life were internal.  I thought he did a terrific job.  And of course, Stellan Skarsgard can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned.

[proserpina65]

I finally got around to seeing Pitch Perfect 3 this past weekend.  All I can say is I'm very glad I did not spend money on seeing it in the theater.  Overall, the first movie was entertaining, the second was okay-ish and the third one was clearly just made for the money.

[EtheltoTillie]

On 8/26/2024 at 2:09 PM, proserpina65 said:

I finally got around to seeing Pitch Perfect 3 this past weekend.  All I can say is I'm very glad I did not spend money on seeing it in the theater.  Overall, the first movie was entertaining, the second was okay-ish and the third one was clearly just made for the money.

Same for me.  I really liked the first movie, so I looked forward to the second.  I didn't even finish watching.  I never even started the third. 

[Browncoat]

I saw a delightful film last night.  "Thelma" is about a 93-year-old woman (played by June Squibb), who gets scammed out of $10,000, and goes on an adventure with her pal (played by Richard Roundtree in what I think was his final role) to get her money back.  It was hilarious, heartwarming, and heartbreaking, and was inspired by true events.  I highly recommend it!

[SoMuchTV]

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

I saw a delightful film last night.  "Thelma" is about a 93-year-old woman (played by June Squibb), who gets scammed out of $10,000, and goes on an adventure with her pal (played by Richard Roundtree in what I think was his final role) to get her money back.  It was hilarious, heartwarming, and heartbreaking, and was inspired by true events.  I highly recommend it!

Thanks for the reminder.  I'd been wanting to see that when it got to streaming, but I'd kind of forgotten about it.  Turns out my library has it on order, so I'm on the list.

[Bastet]

8 hours ago, Browncoat said:

I saw a delightful film last night.  "Thelma" is about a 93-year-old woman (played by June Squibb), who gets scammed out of $10,000, and goes on an adventure with her pal (played by Richard Roundtree in what I think was his final role) to get her money back.  It was hilarious, heartwarming, and heartbreaking, and was inspired by true events.  I highly recommend it!

I'm waiting for that to come to something I have, as it looks great.

[Bastet]

Miss You Already, with Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette.  I never heard of this film when it came out, but it popped up as a recommendation; between the cast, director Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen), and billing itself as "The Beaches of 2015", I figured I had to give it a look.  Given the Beaches comparison, you know what you're in for - and I appreciate they didn't bother playing coy with how it was going to end - but I didn't cry any less for knowing.  It has good bits of humor, and the actors have great chemistry together (according to the IMDb trivia section, Barrymore, Collette, and their respective kids have been friends ever since). 

Milly (Collette) is a PR exec, and decides to tell her kids about her cancer by creating a presentation on chemo, one of the film's great scenes; she gets them into the mindset of cheering on chemo as it does battle in Mom's body, while preparing them that it's also going to make Mom feel pretty awful sometimes.  It's nice to see someone who's brash and flashy also presented as a thoughtful and warm mother.  But dealing with cancer also eventually kicks the selfish parts of her personality into overdrive, which is a nice change from the noble warrior trope. 

She and Jess wind up estranged for a bit because of it, and Milly reaching out to reconnect is well done.  They both have husbands, generally good, loving marriages, but their bond to each other does not take a backseat; it's nice to see the foursome, and the friendship the husbands have developed with each other.  The men chafe sometimes, but understand the women loved each other long before either of them came along.

Jacqueline Bissette is a nice touch as Milly's mom.

It's not spectacular, but it's solid, and I'm glad it was brought to my attention.

Edited September 8 by Bastet

[Shannon L.]

I watched A Time To Kill last night for the first time in years.  Why Matthew McConoughey wasn't get nominated for an Oscar based on the final summation scene alone is beyond me. 

[Raja]

Rebel Ridge on Netflix. It opens up looking like an Afghanistan instead of Vietnam veteran version of First Blood but our Marine here proves to be different than John Rambo.  Many reviews are looking for big things ahead for the star Aaron Pierre

[Shannon L.]

I forgot I watched Drive with Ryan Gosling this past week, too.  The fact that I forgot pretty much says it all.  Omg....how boring.  

[Bastet]

8 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

I watched A Time To Kill last night for the first time in years.  Why Matthew McConoughey wasn't get nominated for an Oscar based on the final summation scene alone is beyond me. 

That film, as any about the legal system and any about race, especially one that combines the two, has a lot of issues, including that his closing argument is a basis for the prosecution to appeal the verdict, but, yes, that argument is nicely performed.  That's the movie summed up for me -- its script is a bundle of problems, so the film only works to the extent it does because of its cast.

[Palimelon]

Movies like A Time To Kill always make me ask myself "Is there no air conditioning in the south?"

[Raja]

This week's Netflix film out of Korea Officer Black Belt.  A sports martial artist is a temporary substitute for a wounded Martial Arts Officer, a Korean probation officer who serves as a bodyguard/partner for an older officer.

[Bastet]

I finally watched Sideways.  This movie was a hit because ... ?  The scenery?  The cast?  Because it sure as shit wasn't the characters. 

Jack and Miles suck.  Jack is the gross cheater, with Miles this poor guy who's depressed (and as someone who battles depression, I sympathize with how hard things hit him, and how hard even daily life is), but "poor" Miles steals money from his mother he can't otherwise bother to visit and buys porn rags exploiting "barely legal" young women, so I don't much care that no one wants to buy his long-winded novel and certainly don't care he's upset that the ex-wife on whom he cheated has remarried, eradicating his delusion they would get back together someday. 

Stephanie isn't a jerk, but she's a blithering idiot; believing some rando who after two days of fucking tells her he loves her is one thing, but presenting him to her kid as "Uncle Jack" is beyond.  And something single mothers generally do not do, so this movie is sexist as hell. 

Myra is the only character worth rooting for and that the film ends with the possibility of her being saddled with the sad sack that is Miles is disturbing.

[fastiller]

Dropping in to recommend the film Kneecap. A fictionalised telling of the origin story of the Irish language hip-hop trio from West Belfast.  The film is in English & (subtitled) Irish.  The band members play themselves & they do a very good job for first-time actors.  Michael Fassbender is probably the highest profile named actor in it.    Debut project for the director too: Rich Peppiatt.

Every word spoken (as Gaeilge) is a bullet.

Stories are built from language.
Nations are built from stories.
This is their story.

Such a great film. 100% deserves the R rating.

The band is doing a very limited US tour starting tomorrow (I think) in Philly; their NY show on Thursday is sold out (I'm going to see if I can snag a ticket somehow).

💚🇮🇪🎶➕🎞

[proserpina65]

On 9/16/2024 at 4:23 AM, Bastet said:

I finally watched Sideways.  This movie was a hit because ... ?  The scenery?  The cast?  Because it sure as shit wasn't the characters. 

Jack and Miles suck.  Jack is the gross cheater, with Miles this poor guy who's depressed (and as someone who battles depression, I sympathize with how hard things hit him, and how hard even daily life is), but "poor" Miles steals money from his mother he can't otherwise bother to visit and buys porn rags exploiting "barely legal" young women, so I don't much care that no one wants to buy his long-winded novel and certainly don't care he's upset that the ex-wife on whom he cheated has remarried, eradicating his delusion they would get back together someday. 

Stephanie isn't a jerk, but she's a blithering idiot; believing some rando who after two days of fucking tells her he loves her is one thing, but presenting him to her kid as "Uncle Jack" is beyond.  And something single mothers generally do not do, so this movie is sexist as hell. 

Myra is the only character worth rooting for and that the film ends with the possibility of her being saddled with the sad sack that is Miles is disturbing.

I enjoyed it at the time.  Didn't really care that the characters were mostly unlikeable.  I still thought it was fascinating.  Although it did not make me like pinot noir.

Edited Wednesday at 04:39 PM by proserpina65

[Trini]

On 9/8/2024 at 5:44 PM, Raja said:

Rebel Ridge on Netflix. It opens up looking like an Afghanistan instead of Vietnam veteran version of First Blood but our Marine here proves to be different than John Rambo.  Many reviews are looking for big things ahead for the star Aaron Pierre

I've only seen him in a couple things, but he's always been excellent. I also hope he gets bigger, better roles.