FilmNight: Movies you watched recently

[Fool to cry]

3 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Interesting because Wolpert, who wrote the screenplay, said HE came up with the idea to give Edmond a happily ever after, and made Albert Edmond's son in the movie's special features.

It was so jarring to see Luis Guzman as a good guy after seeing him as a drug dealer, murderer, etc. in all the other procedurals from television!

He was a good guy in Steven Soderbergh's The Limey

I had already earlier seen the 1998 French miniseries starring Gerard DePardieu on Bravo(remember when it was like PBS?) and it really managed to get a lot of the book but it still changed it so Edmond is reunited with Mercedes at the end instead of the Eastern princess he frees from slavery.

Edited April 28 by Fool to cry

[Spartan Girl]

Making Albert Edmond’s son wasn’t just to give him a happier ending, it was probably to make Mercedes marrying Fernand more sympathetic. Society back then was not kind to women that had kids out of wedlock.

[Trini]

13 hours ago, Fool to cry said:

I had already earlier seen the 1998 French miniseries starring Gerard DePardieu on Bravo(remember when it was like PBS?) and it really managed to get a lot of the book but it still changed it so Edmond is reunited with Mercedes at the end instead of the Eastern princess he frees from slavery.

Hey, I remember that! Pretty sure DePardieu's son played the younger version of Edmond.

[Fool to cry]

2 hours ago, Trini said:

Hey, I remember that! Pretty sure DePardieu's son played the younger version of Edmond.

Yes and his daughter played Valentine Villefort. When I saw The Talented Mr Ripley a year after I recognized the actor who played Italian cop was Dantes' Italian servant in the miniseries.

Edited April 29 by Fool to cry

[Spartan Girl]

Amadeus (1984): The Ovation channel had this on, and by God, it’s still a masterpiece. Deserved every Oscar it won and more. I still say the director’s cut is better because it adds more to the story (Salieri more overtly screwing Mozart over by blackballing him). I always have to watch the deathbed composition scene—I might be the only person I know that would sing along to “Confutatis Maledictis.” The moment in the montage with Mozart singing the requiem is so heartbreakingly intense that it gets to me every single time.

[Anela]

Fried Green Tomatoes, from 1991. I can't remember the last time I watched it.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101921/

 

[Spartan Girl]

Another Simple Favor: I watched it for the fashion porn and the scenery porn, both of which were gorgeous. The story was ridiculous, but I had a rough day at work and needed a distraction.

Edited May 3 by Spartan Girl

[tearknee]

"Hold on, Kiddo. I'm going to take you back to the wallet family."

[Spartan Girl]

The Two Popes (2019): I forgot this movie was out there until Mom found it on Netflix. After Pope Francis passed, I finally got around to watching, and I loved it. Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce are MVPS. Like with Conclave, I got a kick out of seeing the Pope and cardinals do things like watch TV shows and eat pizza and try to get flight tickets only for the airline worker to think that she was being punked LMAO. But it was so interesting to learn more about Pope Francis. Makes me sadder that he’s gone.

[Bastet]

On 5/3/2025 at 4:27 AM, Spartan Girl said:

Another Simple Favor: I watched it for the fashion porn and the scenery porn, both of which were gorgeous. The story was ridiculous, but I had a rough day at work and needed a distraction.

I never saw the original (I'd actually never even heard of it), but this popped up as a recommendation last night, so I watched the trailer and saw the gorgeous scenery and Allison Janney and knew I was in.  I dozed off for a bit (no reflection on the film, just the late hour) so need to re-watch, but it was bonkers in an enjoyable way.  I totally called the relationship between the mob rivals, but pretty much everything else had me laughing at the reveal.  I loved the interaction between Allison Janney and Elizabeth Perkins's characters, and then I read that the Perkins role was played by Jean Smart in the original (they couldn't get her for the sequel due to scheduling) and was so bummed I couldn't see that duo -- two of the funniest people, they would have made a great pair.

[JustHereForFood]

Just rewatched the 2005 Pride & Prejudice. So cute and romantic. Gorgeous scenery, whatever the haters say. And some scenes do hit differently when you're in love yourself.

[proserpina65]

13 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

Gorgeous scenery, whatever the haters say.

Whatever the reasons to hate that movie are, and they are legion, the scenery is not one of them.

[Bookish Jen]

Milwaukee's annual film fest is winding down, and I was lucky enough to view two of its films.

Yesterday, I watched "Brady Street: Portrait of a Neighborhood." It's a documentary about an iconic street in my neighborhood. The film covered the history of Brady Street, the businesses both in the past and in the present day, the types of people who lived in the Brady Street area, Native Americans, Polish and Italian immigrants, hippies and the counterculture, and pretty much people from all walks of life. I did get a bit verklempt when the film showed the interior of one of Brady Street's coffeehouses and they had footage of my favorite barista who has since left for a job teaching art at a local school.

And on Saturday, I saw a wonderful documentary called "The Librarians," which is about the state of libraries and librarians in our current age. It was brilliant, and a must-see for anybody who loves libraries, free speech, and access to information and knowledge. Two of the filmmakers and two of the librarians featured in this film were at my screening. The Librarians is being shown at other film festivals and they hope to show it at public and school libraries. "The Librarians" will most likely be streamed and they hope PBS will show it sometime early next year.  Here is a link to the film's website:
 

The Librarians.

[twoods]

Watched Nonnas on Netflix and it was a pleasant Friday night watch. Loved the food and the relationships with the nonnas and Joe. 

[Spartan Girl]

21 hours ago, twoods said:

Watched Nonnas on Netflix and it was a pleasant Friday night watch. Loved the food and the relationships with the nonnas and Joe. 

Just watched it with my mom, and we loved it too. So good to see Talia Shire again, looks great. I would definitely love to go to the real restaurant, but no way in hell I’d try the sheep’s head dish. 🤮

[Rushmoras]

Idiocracy (2006). A absurd-comedy movie about an average military officer, who together with a civilian (prostitute), was elected for a hibernation experiment, however, the experiment along the way encountered obstacles (the chief behind it got arrested) and was left forgotten, until they are accidentally woken-up in the year 2500, in which America (and I guess the world) are pretty much dumbed down stereotypical red-neck hillbilies... It was alright for what it was, made me smile, so that's something. Seen only memes about it. Would not watch it a second time, though.

7/10

Edited May 11 by Rushmoras

[tearknee]

On 5/6/2025 at 12:43 AM, proserpina65 said:

Whatever the reasons to hate that movie are, and they are legion, the scenery is not one of them.

Keira Knightley has never been hired for acting talent.

[proserpina65]

13 hours ago, tearknee said:

Keira Knightley has never been hired for acting talent.

She was really good in Bend It Like Beckman but I haven't actually liked a performance of hers since.  She just comes off as exceedingly mannered in roles which don't require it.  And she was dreadful as Lizzie Bennett.

[andromeda331]

12 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

She was really good in Bend It Like Beckman but I haven't actually liked a performance of hers since.  She just comes off as exceedingly mannered in roles which don't require it.  And she was dreadful as Lizzie Bennett.

That's the only one I liked her in too.

[GHScorpiosRule]

21 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

She was really good in Bend It Like Beckman

The MOST HILARIOUS line from that movie is when Jules's Mum accuses Jess of being a lesbian at Pinky's wedding, and one of the grand aunts says:

"Lesbian? Her birthday's in March. I thought she was a Pisces."

🤣🤣😅😅

After watching that five part series The White House Plumbers, of COURSE I pulled out my blu ray of All The President's Men. And watched the making of it in the special features. They actually filmed at the actual Washington Post office!

It's really chilling what journalists and former editors say about the future of journalists. And this was in 2006!

[Rushmoras]

Since I do not know what to watch these days, and that's a part of why I seldom watch movies, I decided to use the random movie generator, and watch that, which the algorithm picks out for me. And it picked out Letters to Juliet (2010) starring Amanda Seyfried. 

It's a romantic drama about a an engaged couple: one owns a restaurant, and while the chef loves his fiance, he seems to prioritise his restaurant more than her, and the other one is a fact-checker/freelance writer that seems to have a free spirit. They both go on vacation together to Italy, and while the Amanda's character wants to spend their time in romantic places, her fiance rather wants to do stuff that would enhance his restaurant business. So, they mostly do stuff apart. 

Long story short, Amanda's character finds a place, wherein girls are writing letters to Juliette, and notices that they are being taken away by some woman after a while. She follows that woman, and finds out that there's such a thing in Verona as Juliette’s Secretaries - they answer the posted letters.

One day, Amanda's character finds an old letter stuck within a loosened brickwork, and decides to write back...

I actually enjoyed it. Don't usually watch romantic dramas, so probably it's filled to the brim with usual cliches and tropes, but, eh, it was a nice diversion from my usual watches.

I would give the movie an 8 out of 10, solely, because the titular characters aren't blameless in all of this drama, and the fact that I barely remember the names of characters haha.

Edited May 18 by Rushmoras

[Trini]

15 hours ago, Rushmoras said:

Since I do not know what to watch these days, and that's a part of why I seldom watch movies, I decided to use the random movie generator, and watch that, which the algorithm picks out for me. And it picked out Letters to Juliet (2010) starring Amanda Seyfried. 

<...>

I actually enjoyed it. Don't usually watch romantic dramas, so probably it's filled to the brim with usual cliches and tropes, but, eh, it was a nice diversion from my usual watches.

I would give the movie an 8 out of 10, solely, because the titular characters aren't blameless in all of this drama, and the fact that I barely remember the names of characters haha.

I think you're spot on with your assessment. It's a nice one, but not anything earth-shattering; nice scenery.

[Fool to cry]

...And Justice For All (1979) I knew about it for years from that famous "You're out of order! They're out of order!" scene at the end. Al Pacino (back when his voice was still higher) plays a defense attorney. It was co-written by future director Barry Levinson and set in his home town of Baltimore. Because of the seriocomic tone, the cast with Jeffrey Tambor, John Forsythe, Craig T. Nelson and Christine Lahti and the jazzy upbeat score by Dave Grusin it felt like a television show(but with cursing). It had eccentric minor characters like you'd see in 80s dramas Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere. I think director the point Norman Jewison's was trying to make was the justice system is so broken it can drive a person nuts.

Edited May 21 by Fool to cry

[jah1986]

Now that TCM is having guest programmers on Saturday night I've been recording the movies so I can hear the commentary from the guests. So the first movie this weekend was Frankenstein (1931). Yes, this movie is nearly 100 years old and I realized I had never seen it. I've watched (and love) the Bride of Frankenstein numerous times and just assumed I had seen the original. But nope,  nothing was familiar. It was such a good movie especially considering it's almost 100 years old. Karloff brought the menace, and Clive was just the right amount of crazy so that you believed his change of heart.

[Rushmoras]

Well, continuing on with random movie generator picks, Robert Zemeckis' Pinocchio (2022). A modern retelling of Carlo Collidi's children's tale. You know, it's a choice alright to make an entire movie almost completely CGI. I don't know whether it is a good choice, but... it's a choice alright. The movie was too long for me. Don't remember anything from the original story, so I don't know whether the director added his own thing

Spoiler

- Pleasure Island - with pirates and smoke monsters that turn children in to donkeys and send them to salt mines for work, but, uh, could have done without this.

Anyway, don't know, 6 out of 10?

[Trini]

6 hours ago, Rushmoras said:

Well, continuing on with random movie generator picks, Robert Zemeckis' Pinocchio (2022). A modern retelling of Carlo Collidi's children's tale.

It's actually a remake of Disney's 1940 version. I don't know about the original tale, but the Pleasure Island stuff was there in the Disney original.

[Anela]

Cabin in the Woods, It's Kind of a Funny Story, and Tuesday night, I watched Get Out, with some friends online. 

I've seen all three before, and enjoyed them all. 

[Raja]

Go Tell The Spartans from 1978 in that first wave of Vietnam War based movies. Burt Lancaster as an ancient Major leads an US military advisor group in Vietnam just before President Johnson sent in large numbers of regular Army. It uses regular soldiers instead of the Special Forces (Green Berets) that was doing that mission in 1964. Its a we lost even before we started story.

[proserpina65]

I ended up watching the original How to Train Your Dragon over the weekend.  What a charming movie!  I wasn't really expecting it to be more than the average kids' film but it had quite a bit more substance than I'd anticipated.  And there were a couple of scenes which seemed pretty dark, especially the one where

Spoiler

Toothless is chained up on a ship which has been sunk.

And I loved that the dragons had different personalities.

[Trini]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

And there were a couple of scenes which seemed pretty dark,

The third act is pretty intense for a children's film.

[Raja]

On Netflix, Gunjah Saxena: The Kargil Girl.

Based on the story of the first woman to fly into combat for the Indian Air Force in the 1999 Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan.

[andromeda331]

On 5/27/2025 at 11:34 AM, proserpina65 said:

I ended up watching the original How to Train Your Dragon over the weekend.  What a charming movie!  I wasn't really expecting it to be more than the average kids' film but it had quite a bit more substance than I'd anticipated.  And there were a couple of scenes which seemed pretty dark, especially the one where

  Hide contents

Toothless is chained up on a ship which has been sunk.

And I loved that the dragons had different personalities.

That one surprised me too. I really didn't think it would be any good. It was a great movie.

[Fool to cry]

7 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

That one surprised me too. I really didn't think it would be any good. It was a great movie.

HTTYD 2 is also pretty good.

Edited Friday at 03:45 PM by Fool to cry

[Spartan Girl]

Pee-Wee's Big Holiday (2016): I had to rewatch this after seeing the new HBO documentary. I didn't know that Paul used make-up and CGI de-aging because he didn't want Pee-Wee to look older--okay, the makeup, I guessed, but I couldn't tell there was CGI. He didn't look that different from how he looked when he brought back the Broadway show...

Anyway, the movie was quirky and goofy and probably not as good as the original. Still, it was fun. I'm so glad Paul had one more movie in him before cancer took over. The bromance between Pee-Wee and Joe Mangianello was fun too.

[Trini]

5 hours ago, Fool to cry said:

HTTYD 2 is also pretty good.

Gonna have to disagree. I don't think it's all bad; but there some plot points that I'm still mad about that soured me on the franchise. First one is top-notch, though.

[Trini]

But to the topic:

I recently watched a Josh Hartnett film where he plays a man who has to survive harsh winter conditions after getting stranded in the mountains; based on a true story. Not even bothering to look up the title, I thought it was so-so, and I wouldn't really recommend it. Hartnett is fine , though.

My main takeaway was a nitpick: the main character is outdoors for most of the film, in supposedly freezing temps -- but we almost never see his breath. Now, not that I want to see actors actually get hypothermia, but it kept taking me out of the story because I didn't believe the setting was as cold as they wanted me to believe it was.