Recently Seen in 2019 | Page 15 | The Boneyard
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Recently Seen in 2019

Dove said:
The King

My wife was bored stiff. But for you fans of histiry this movie was pretty decent. The story of Henry V ascending to the English throne and defeating France to form a united land.

Great acting by the lead, Timothe Chalomet., and Robert Pattinson as the Dauphin.

On Netflix
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I've been really getting in to English history lately and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
 
Saw "Ondine" probably around 10 years ago, didn't remember much about it other than I liked it. Watched it again, definitely enjoyed it. A bit slow paced, but intriguing none the less. Set in a charming Irish fishing village. Stars Colin Farrell, a down on his luck fisherman who pulls a young woman up out of the water in his net. She seems to be in some kind of trouble...or is she a selkie (seal who takes human form; Scottish folklore)?
 
Finally saw "Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey." I was curious about it when it was playing the festival circuit but it took a long time to come out on DVD and I kinda forgot about it. Netflix doesn't have it, but my library does.

Like most documentaries I found it a little bit dry and meandering. It was still interesting though. Beckey was an extremely prolific climber/mountaineer who put up first ascents all over the world, for decade after decade. He was born in Germany but lived the majority of his life in Seattle. He wrote the definitive climbing guide books for his home range, the Cascades. He was known as a bit of a salty character. I kind of think of him as the Northwest's version of Ed Abbey, although he isn't as well known to the general public.
 
Been really busy with life, kids, job, sleep, etc. this year and haven't watched many new movies, but over the past month, I've seen Playing with Fire, Frozen 2, and The Irishman, with El Camino in the queue.

Playing with Fire (John Cena): It's a kids movie, produced by Nickelodeon and as such, my 7 year old really enjoyed it.

Frozen 2: Not awful, but not the original. I felt Disney tried too hard to make another "Let It Go." Again, my kids really enjoyed it.

The Irishman: This one was just for me. Not allowing the kids to watch this one. Really enjoyable, despite the length and unreasonable expectation to suspend disbelief on CGI-ing out the age. You can dye the hair and digitally remove wrinkles, but a 70 year old is not going to move like a 30 year old.

We have Disney+ free for one year, so I will hopefully get around to the remaining Star Wars movies before it elapses and some others that have been wallowing in my Netflix queue.
 
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Watched Marriage Story (Netflix)

This is one of the more award-baity movies I have ever seen.

1) serious topic with lots of serious feelings that need to be acted seriously - check
2) two A list actors (Scarlet Johnanson, Adam Driver) taking a break from big budget, franchise flicks to do something serious - check
3) Movie about the serious challenges of being a serious artist - check
4) Supporting cast of past award nominees/winners being themselves (Ray Liotta, Alan Alda, Laura Dern) - check
5) The movie might as well have put "this is a serious movie" in subtitles because it kept reminding us how serious it was.

My issues with it:

1) Laura Dern
2) Another movie about self-pitying artists. This is La La Land without dancing or good visuals. If this movie was about two accountants, no one on the awards circuit would give a scaleeto.
3) it could have been easily edited down by 30 minutes and nothing in the plot or character development would have been any different. There was a lot of actor and director self-indulgence in this movie.
4) There is no chemistry between Driver and Johnanson, so they didn't look or act like people that had ever loved each other. It takes a scaleeto-ton of exposition to keep reminding us that they loved each other.

Best part of movie: Julie Hagerty is great, her character was interesting, and she deserved more screen time. The movie would have been a lot better if it had been about Hagerty's relationship with her daughter and son-in-law in a failing marriage.

The dialogue was interesting enough for the most part to justify a grade of B- at the most.
 
I've seen it several times, just watched "She's Out Of My League" again. It's goofy, but it's fun. Jay Baruchel and T.J. Miller are entertaining. Alice Eve is gorgeous, but I often find myself more intrigued by the minor best friend character, in this case Krysten Ritter, who in my eyes often steals the spotlight from the female lead. Definitely applies in this one, I wish Ritter would've been on screen more.
 
"Freaks" was slow to get going, I was getting frustrated with it, but it picked up eventually. Indie action/thriller. The "freaks" have special abilities, but are shunned by society. Many of them were rounded up and put in detention centers. The others try to stay incognito. Decent cast. Emile Hirsch seemed like an up and comer, but then he basically disappeared. I haven't seen him in quite a while . Bruce Dern of course needs no introduction. Grace Park has been on several tv shows. I've seen Amandra Crew in several films. The star though is young actress Lexy Kolker, I thought she did great.
 
I tried watching "Ad Astra." I gave up about halfway thru. Slow, meandering plot, didn't particularly care about any of the characters, random events seemed inconsequential. I can go on without knowing how it ends.
 
"Paradise Hills" must have been influenced by "The Stepford Wives." It's not a remake but covers some similar territory. Emma Roberts awakens to find herself in some kind of plush island finishing school/reprogramming center after refusing a marriage proposal that her mother felt was too god of an offer to pass up. She befriends several of the other young women who are there for various reasons, but all sent by their families. I didn't guess quite where the story was going. I found the conclusion to be satisfying.
 
Just got back from "Richard Jewell". Too bad that it's dying at the box office (we were one of 9 watching in the small 55-seat theatre at our local multiplex) as most of the acting is excellent, especially the lead (Paul Walter Hauser) and his lawyer (Sam Rockwell).

While I get that advance publicity cites the movie as being "Trump Republican" in attitude and viewpoint and that the AJC reporter who broke the story is depicted as a s.lut, which the AJC denies, it's a good story, and IMO, done fairly, at least as far as the Jewell characterization. The acting makes it worthwhile regardless of one's political slant. My wife and I both agreed that the only major character who came off as cartoonish was Jon Hamm's FBI agent.

The film also got me wondering what the market is for fat guy leads. There aren't many opportunities for guys with Hauser's size, but the dude killed it in this role.
 
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storrsroars said:
The film also got me wondering what the market is for fat guy leads. There aren't many opportunities for guys with Hauser's size, but the dude killed it in this role.
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Outside of comedy, nearly nonexistent I would think. Guys like John Candy and Chris Farley certainly had their heyday.

And then you have the bizarre Hollywood yo yo dieting, where a normal sized actor will balloon up 50 pounds or more for a role, or go the opposite way. So even when there is a fat guy role, it might not go to a fat guy. Fat suits and CGI as a means to add bulk to an actor's appearance, too.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Outside of comedy, nearly nonexistent I would think. Guys like John Candy and Chris Farley certainly had their heyday.

And then you have the bizarre Hollywood yo yo dieting, where a normal sized actor will balloon up 50 pounds or more for a role, or go the opposite way. So even when there is a fat guy role, it might not go to a fat guy. Fat suits and CGI as a means to add bulk to an actor's appearance, too.
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Good point. Crowe and Lithgow stole Roger Ailes. Bale stole Dick Cheney.
 
My folks have Amazon Prime temporarily, got to stream a couple I've been curious to see. "Brittany Runs a Marathon" was rough and awkward in places, but overall decent. Jillian Bell has been good in several supporting roles but I don't think I've ever seen her take the lead before. Or try to be dramatic. She plays a woman concerned about her health who starts exercising and trying to take care of herself for the first time in her life. Turns out to be about a lot more than just losing some weight though.

"Ladies in Black" was a nice family friendly slice of life/coming of age story set in Sydney, Australia in the 50s. I think Angourie Rice is terrific, I've seen her in several films. She's more or less the main character but it delves into the lives of several other characters as well. About the staff at a department store, Rice is the new/temporary help during the holiday rush. A lot of unfamiliar faces but I've seen Rachael Taylor and Julia Ormond before.
 
Waquoit said:
Does Tom Brokaw get any grief in Jewell?
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If you really want to know, click below.
He's featured, as Jewell's mom watches him regularly, and scenes include Brokaw essentially naming Jewell as the bomber. But the media's comeuppance is pretty much confined to the AJC reporter played by Olivia Wilde.
 
Watched A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood last night. Yet another movie that was very different from what I was expecting. I loved the recent documentary film about Mr. Rogers so much that I was hesitant to see a movie about him, with Tom Hanks no less, because I feared it would fall so far short of the execellent documentary. I had no idea that it is not a biopic, but rather a movie based on the true story of an Esquire journalist who was sent to write a feature on him. Very cleverly done, and very well executed imo. Hanks is very good and the movie does an excellent job with restraint imo. I don't think it's Oscar worthy for Hanks or anyone else, but it is a very good watch that does a great job of conveying the essence of the man through this story. Cool that there was a cameo by the real Joanne Rogers, too. I'm sure she would not have been involved if she didn't believe in the movie.
 
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Just watched "Peanut Butter Falcon". While not a great film, this is a solidly entertaining road movie which mixes a Mark Twain like adventure with more than a dash of interest in professional wrestling. Two guys (one with Downs Syndrome, the other a troubled fisherman) who don't know each other are both attempting to escape their current life situations. By quirk of movie fate they end up meeting and traveling together, and over time a solid friendship develops. Meanwhile, there are people looking for both of them looking to interrupt their journey, so the two friends tend to stick to the road less traveled. I really enjoyed this feel good film.
 
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nwhoopfan said:
Finally saw "Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey." I was curious about it when it was playing the festival circuit but it took a long time to come out on DVD and I kinda forgot about it. Netflix doesn't have it, but my library does.

Like most documentaries I found it a little bit dry and meandering. It was still interesting though. Beckey was an extremely prolific climber/mountaineer who put up first ascents all over the world, for decade after decade. He was born in Germany but lived the majority of his life in Seattle. He wrote the definitive climbing guide books for his home range, the Cascades. He was known as a bit of a salty character. I kind of think of him as the Northwest's version of Ed Abbey, although he isn't as well known to the general public.
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I also saw this and really enjoyed it. I agree it dragged in spots, but he was enough of a character to carry the entire movie. And to see him doing it at a high level into his 80's was incredible. Glad I spent the time learning about his life.
 
Watched Hustlers last night, because, well, JLo. I wasn't expecting much, but she was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Supporting Actress, so I figured it was worth a watch. I was wrong. Aside from her first stripper pole performance, it was a total waste of time and a really poor film.
 
Saw Ford v. Ferrari last night. Very good, very traditional movie. Well acted all around, really good pace. Bale is excellent.
 
Today is the last day for the 2019 Recently Seen Thread, so everyone get your submissions in!! @8893 you seem to be making up for lost time these last few days.

New thread tomorrow!
 
Mano said:
Today is the last day for the 2019 Recently Seen Thread, so everyone get your submissions in!! @8893 you seem to be making up for lost time these last few days.

New thread tomorrow!
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My brother is a member of one of the industry guilds, so he gets screeners for voting on the awards. Every Christmas we get to borrow that year's screeners, so we do a lot of catching up. It's also usually a slower time for work, and the kids are home and one of our daughters likes to watch movies, too, so we're more motivated now also.
 
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It's still 2019 where I am. Just finishing up "Red Dog," about a unique and very independent minded dog in Western Australia, and all the characters that call the place home (remote mining town). A bit slow to start but enjoyable once I got into it.

edited--based on a true story. Apparently he's legendary in Australia. A noted wanderer who hitch hiked all over Western Australia.
 
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