Recently Seen in 2019

[8893]

So... Yesterday. Light entertainment Couple of twists I wasn't expecting that worked. Well acted by the two leads. McKinnon was a bit over the top. Sheerhan was ok - not someone I follow, but it was a self-effacing role for him. They left one of the best jokes from the preview out of the final cut. Other things were also eliminated from collective memory, in no discernable pattern. Could've done more with the premise, but it worked nonetheless. Good date movie. Wife & I enjoyed it.

Just saw this this afternoon. I am more than willing to suspend disbelief for the sake of a good movie but I’m kind of pissed.

Spoiler: Spoiler

I get how a worldwide electrical event could have eliminated certain things, and I get how only a few people might not have been affected—guessing it was because he was in the air and not touching anything during the outage. I’m a little less clear on how physical objects that existed could have been removed, but I would have let that go. My issue is that I was expecting at least some explanation of the logic behind what was actually eliminated, which, by our count was: Beatles, Oasis, cigarettes, Coca-Cola and Harry Potter. And if we follow the logic that the Beatles never existing means John Lennon was still alive, doesn’t it follow that if Oasis never existed, Jack never plays “Wonderwall” to enchant Ellie?

How do you hint at the melody to “Something” during the Ellie and Jack scenes during the last hour and never feature or play the song?

Bonus points to Mrs. 8893 for noticing that the Brits were referring to miles, not kilometers.

Nonetheless, a decent watch. Just wouldn’t rush to see it in the theater.

 

[nwhoopfan]

The trailers for "Shazam!" didn't do anything for me, looked fairly goofy. I gave it a try anyway on DVD. I shut it off halfway thru, then tried again the next day. I did not enjoy it. Just too silly, yet some tonal dissonance with some horror elements. It was as if they were trying to remake "Big" as a superhero movie, but were missing most of the charm, and Zachary Levi is no Tom Hanks. Missed the mark by miles. Poor DCEU just can't get out of their own way.

For something completely different, I watched "Teen Spirit" about a fictitious British singing competition TV show. Elle Fanning was in the lead role. It was fairly slow paced, but held my interest. It wasn't great, but I liked it. Apparently Elle does all her own singing in the film and did a credible job.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I read that the Shogun remake has been delayed because FX didn't like the script. I wish it was going to be on HBO or Showtime or someone with a real budget, but I am still looking forward to it.

I loved the book. It covers one of the most interesting periods of any country's history, the ascent of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The first mini-series, while good, had some problems that could be fixed in a remake. The main, and really only, problem was Richard Chamberlain, who is just scalitoing terrible. He overacts, and was not credible at all as a leader or as someone with the subtlety to navigate Japanese politics at this point in history. It would be like casting Laura Dern in Game of Thrones. I can't believe he won a Golden Globe because he just sucks.

 

[Mano]

Dumbo (2019) - I knew it would be bad. There's no real way to adapt the animated feature. The nonsensical garbage they came up with completely took the focus off of the freaking elephant, he really seemed like a total afterthought. Tim Burton is about 8 movies away from having lost his touch now, maybe 10 idk.

A Star Is Born (2018) - The chemistry was great and the whirlwind romance was believable. If it weren't for the half dozen or so instances where Gaga's acting totally took me out of the scene I would've thought this was a really good movie. It was still a beautiful and tragic love story but that had a lot more to do with Bradley Cooper's stellar work both in front of and behind the camera.

A Simple Favor - Thinks it's more clever than it really is. I generally like Anna Kendrick in most things so that helped and Blake Lively is gorgeous (Ryan Reynolds lives a charmed life) but I didn't buy her as a conniving badass. Tone is this movie was all over the place, needed to figure out if it was a comedy or a thriller. It never did, which undercut both attempts.

Shazam - This was a fun movie. I get the beef @nwhoopfan but besides the creature feature bits I thought the light hearted tone worked well when you consider our heroes are really just children. I liked the nods to the greater DCEU as well. I hope a sequel gets a green light.

 

[nwhoopfan]

This was a fun movie. I get the beef @nwhoopfan but besides the creature feature bits I thought the light hearted tone worked well when you consider our heroes are really just children.

Heh. Maybe I'm just a curmudgeon. My opinion has differed from the masses on several of the superhero flicks. I don't prefer grimdark but when they drift towards too lighthearted it kind of loses me. Thor: Ragnarok, Spiderman: Homecoming (haven't seen the latest one yet). I did enjoy Aquaman though.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"The Rewrite" is familiar territory for Hugh Grant. It's kind of like "Music and Lyrics" except this time he's a movie scriptwriter rather than a musician. Same washed up has been. His agent gets him a temporary gig teaching at Binghamton in upstate NY. He intends to totally half-a** it, but lo and behold he starts to connect with his students and actually care about teaching them. Fairly entertaining. Marisa Tomei is charming as usual. Some other strong supporting cast like J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney.

"Summer Night" is like many movies that came before it. A group of young people looking to entertain themselves on a weekend night. Not really a plot per se. It either stands up or falls down depending on if you enjoy the characters. I enjoyed it. No big names in it but a number of recognizable actresses/actors, some I wasn't familiar with. It calls for a fair bit of suspending disbelief though--a very small rural town somehow spawned 3 credible bands, and almost everyone is very attractive. Amazing! I have to say--how is Victoria Justice not a bigger star? I mean she was a kid star on Nickelodeon. I think she's a decent actress, she's gorgeous...don't know what happened (although apparently there was some kind of non-existent feud w/ Ariana Grande, but the rumor mill just won't let it go). Also I might not ever get to watch "Anna and the Apocalypse" (released in theaters during the holiday season, not due on DVD until October?...really?), but the star from that--Ella Hunt--was in this and I am looking forward to seeing more of her.

 

[dbmill]

Just saw "The Whales of August". If you want to see a bunch of old time actors towards the end of their acting careers do their thing, this isn't bad at all. This film stars Bette Davis, Lillian Gish, Vincent Price, Ann Sothern, and Harry Carey Jr (a favorite of ours from a bunch of classic westerns). In fact, it was the last film for both Gish and Southern Some fine acting goes on in this film, especially by Gish. Also enjoyed Carey's Maine accent (I half expected him to break into some "Bert and I" routines, or possibly say something like "you can't get there from here".) On the other hand, there is virtually no plot and nothing really happens, and for some movies I can be fine with that. For me a little plot would have helped improve things. Still, this movie is watchable with all the fine acting on display, and for the nostalgia trip of everyone involved.

 

[storrsroars]

Just saw this this afternoon. I am more than willing to suspend disbelief for the sake of a good movie but I’m kind of pissed.

Spoiler: Spoiler

I get how a worldwide electrical event could have eliminated certain things, and I get how only a few people might not have been affected—guessing it was because he was in the air and not touching anything during the outage. I’m a little less clear on how physical objects that existed could have been removed, but I would have let that go. My issue is that I was expecting at least some explanation of the logic behind what was actually eliminated, which, by our count was: Beatles, Oasis, cigarettes, Coca-Cola and Harry Potter. And if we follow the logic that the Beatles never existing means John Lennon was still alive, doesn’t it follow that if Oasis never existed, Jack never plays “Wonderwall” to enchant Ellie?

How do you hint at the melody to “Something” during the Ellie and Jack scenes during the last hour and never feature or play the song?

Bonus points to Mrs. 8893 for noticing that the Brits were referring to miles, not kilometers.

Nonetheless, a decent watch. Just wouldn’t rush to see it in the theater.

Good catch on the bolded part of the spoiler. However, your to your wife's point, the imperial measurement system never completely went away regarding measuring distance. Road signs still use miles and mph.

Spoiler: spoiler about the spoiler

As far as "Something", that was the joke I was referring to as being in the trailer, but not in the movie. I don't understand how/why they left that out, it looked like a great scene and I was looking forward to it.

 

[ZooCougar]

Not a recent movie but Love and Mercy, which is about Brian Wilson is a pretty good movie. Paul Dano is a freaking genius.

 

[the Q]

Heh. Maybe I'm just a curmudgeon. My opinion has differed from the masses on several of the superhero flicks. I don't prefer grimdark but when they drift towards too lighthearted it kind of loses me. Thor: Ragnarok, Spiderman: Homecoming (haven't seen the latest one yet). I did enjoy Aquaman though.

I think it depends on the character. Batman, Punsiher, and daredevil should all be pretty dark.

Superman and spidey less so (Peter Parker gets more darkness than spidey lol).

Etc

Now when they do a thanos movie, that should be an all time classic. Earths greatest hero deserves nothing less.

 

[dbmill]

Not a recent movie but Love and Mercy, which is about Brian Wilson is a pretty good movie. Paul Dano is a freaking genius.

I saw Love & Mercy once about 3+ years ago. I thought it was terrific.

 

[ZooCougar]

So went to see “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood” last night.

I have mixed feelings on this one. It’s clear 3-4 notches above anything else I have seen lately. But unlike many of Tarantino’s best movies, this one didn’t seem to tie it all together.

Pitt and DiCaprio do well together, lots of good one liners. There are few other things that are cool that aren’t quite spoilers but were nice surprises like...

Spoiler: Spoiler

Did the sequence with Cliff fighting Bruce Lee actually happen or was that just Cliff’s daydream when he was on the roof. I’m thinking daydream.

Otherwise if you are fan then you should go see it, the cinematography is beautiful. It’s so much better than the latest garbage from Pixar or even a Marvel flick, which I usually like.

I say it’s better than Jackie Brown, Django and the Hateful Eight but nearly as good as The Inglorious Basterds.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

So went to see “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood” last night.

I have mixed feelings on this one. It’s clear 3-4 notches above anything else I have seen lately. But unlike many of Tarantino’s best movies, this one didn’t seem to tie it all together.

Pitt and DiCaprio do well together, lots of good one liners. There are few other things that are cool that aren’t quite spoilers but were nice surprises like...

Spoiler: Spoiler

Did the sequence with Cliff fighting Bruce Lee actually happen or was that just Cliff’s daydream when he was on the roof. I’m thinking daydream.

Otherwise if you are fan then you should go see it, the cinematography is beautiful. It’s so much better than the latest garbage from Pixar or even a Marvel flick, which I usually like.

I say it’s better than Jackie Brown, Django and the Hateful Eight but nearly as good as The Inglorious Basterds.

A lot of feminists are mad that the movie had scenes in it that didn’t revolve around Margot Robbie.

 

[ZooCougar]

A lot of feminists are mad that the movie had scenes in it that didn’t revolve around Margot Robbie.

Lame. The whole movie revolves around her.

 

[Deadrody]

Captain Marvel - Boring. Truly. I wanted to like it but found Brie Larson's performance lacking much of any charm or even intensity (which seemed what she was going for, albeit the quiet kind). Samuel L. did his best to keep me engaged and it was a little fun seeing Nick Fury's beginnings I guess. The cat was dumb and seemed mostly like a deus ex machina device. The central mystery was waaay too easy to call and pretty uninspired. I liked Ben Mendelsohn's character and performance for the most part but the garbled accent he was going for made it a bit hard to understand what he was saying. Hoping for better out of the character in Endgame. @Deadrody @traitor71 curious if you guys ever bothered after coming out so strongly against it.

I saw it, but it wasn't particularly memorable and the whole "super powerful" deus ex machina effect the character had on Endgame was dumb. It was interesting to see the anti-hype didn't really materialize. Brie Larson was the source of much of that, and her performances on the press tour were absolutely cringe-worthy.

 

[Deadrody]

Heh. Maybe I'm just a curmudgeon. My opinion has differed from the masses on several of the superhero flicks. I don't prefer grimdark but when they drift towards too lighthearted it kind of loses me. Thor: Ragnarok, Spiderman: Homecoming (haven't seen the latest one yet). I did enjoy Aquaman though.

It was ok, I guess. Kinda bashing you over the head with the whole orphan, group home, pseudo family storyline. Yeah, we get it. Kinda scatter brained plot

 

[UConn Dan]

Spoiler: Spoiler

Did the sequence with Cliff fighting Bruce Lee actually happen or was that just Cliff’s daydream when he was on the roof. I’m thinking daydream.

Spoiler: Spoiler

I'm pretty sure it had actually happened in the past and that's the reason why it was a complete non-starter for him to be a stunt guy on that current project since his past with Kurt Russell/wife.

 

[Mano]

The Lion King - Basically a shot for shot remake using CGI that had about 15% of the charm and character of the original. The kids liked it well enough, I was mostly bored.

UglyDolls - Godawful.

Long Shot - I liked this one more than I thought I would. Was genuinely funny if completely implausible.

Alita: Battle Angel - The action was enjoyable but the technology that brought to life Alita was distracting. Took me out of the movie repeatedly. The action scenes were well down throughout but the minute things slowed down it got pretty cheesy. The love interest was terribly cast.

 

[nwhoopfan]

The new "Hellboy" was meh. Very gory though if you're into that. Numerous dismemberments. I like Ron Perlman as the title character better than David Harbour. There are several teasers at the end, it seems as though they are planning a sequel.

 

[ZooCougar]

The new "Hellboy" was meh. Very gory though if you're into that. Numerous dismemberments. I like Ron Perlman as the title character better than David Harbour. There are several teasers at the end, it seems as though they are planning a sequel.

Yes. Very meh.

 

[the Q]

Saw Aquaman. I loved it. It very marvel like. Definitely better than both black panther and WW in recent history. I’d probably put it ahead of the entire iron man series as well.

 

[nwhoopfan]

There are free previews of the premium cable channels periodically, I don't ever see announcements so I just have to scroll thru those channels every now and then to see. Got HBO and Cinemax right now. Watched a few 90s movies that I don't think I ever saw before. "Indian Summer" is about a group of 30 somethings that have a reunion at the summer camp they all used to go to as kids, the host (Alan Arkin) is shutting it down after 40 some years. I think you could call it a dramedy, but that was probably before the term was invented. Nice cast, Arkin was great, also Bill Paxton, Kevin Pollak, Diane Lane, Elizabeth Perkins, Julie Warner, and a young Kimberly Williams.

I was at least familiar w/ "Indian Summer" but I don't even remember ever hearing about "The Big Green." It was basically the Bad News Bears except it was a soccer team rather than baseball. Fairly cliched and predictable, but a cute family movie. Olivia d'Abo and Steve Guttenberg were the most recognizable actors.

 

[the Q]

There are free previews of the premium cable channels periodically, I don't ever see announcements so I just have to scroll thru those channels every now and then to see. Got HBO and Cinemax right now. Watched a few 90s movies that I don't think I ever saw before. "Indian Summer" is about a group of 30 somethings that have a reunion at the summer camp they all used to go to as kids, the host (Alan Arkin) is shutting it down after 40 some years. I think you could call it a dramedy, but that was probably before the term was invented. Nice cast, Arkin was great, also Bill Paxton, Kevin Pollak, Diane Lane, Elizabeth Perkins, Julie Warner, and a young Kimberly Williams.

I was at least familiar w/ "Indian Summer" but I don't even remember ever hearing about "The Big Green." It was basically the Bad News Bears except it was a soccer team rather than baseball. Fairly cliched and predictable, but a cute family movie. Olivia d'Abo and Steve Guttenberg were the most recognizable actors.

You clearly were not a 90s kid....

 

[nwhoopfan]

You clearly were not a 90s kid....

I was most of the way growed up by the 90s. Young enough to still get nostalgic for some of the movies and music from that decade though.

 

[CL82]

Saw Aquaman. I loved it. It very marvel like. Definitely better than both black panther and WW in recent history. I’d probably put it ahead of the entire iron man series as well.

I saw it. It was watchable but not great. I'd put at about the same as WW maybe a notch behind.

The Mule. If you like Eastwood's recent stuff, you'll like it. It has it's moments.

I watched the lates "Harry Potter" movie The Crimes of Grindenwald (or something). It was pretty boring.