Recently Seen in 2019

[8893]

If it does well (and it probably will), they'll walk back on that in a split second. No chance they miss an opportunity to make more money off of it.

Agreed

 

[dbmill]

Just saw "The Kid Who Would Be King", which is a retooling of the King Arthur story with a couple twists. The Arthurian legend is updated to modern day Britain, with the sorceress Morgana attempting to make a comeback many years after her defeat by the original Arthur and his crew. Excalibur is pulled from the stone by a twelve year old kid, who recruits both friends and enemies his age to become his knights in preparing for the fight to come. Even Merlin comes from the same age group. Whatever the case, it is a solidly entertaining film and a worthy addition to the list of movies based on the Arthurian legend.

 

[Guapo]

Just saw Mudbound on Saturday.

I thought it was very well done.

Beautifully shot. Well written and moving.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Have seen a few things since I last checked in here.

The King's Decision is a very interesting look at an aspect of WWII era history that isn't well known here in the U.S. Very well done. Language is mostly Norwegian with subtitles.

The Ritual was a superb horror movie on Netflix. Not the usual slasher stuff, very high tension levels start early on. Well worth a watch.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Music and Lyrics (2007) was never on my radar, but my dad recommended it, so I gave it a try. I really enjoyed it. Cute romantic comedy, good chemistry between Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore, some good jokes. Brad Garrett was good in a supporting role. This was Haley Bennett's first movie, she looked so young. I think The Equalizer is the first time I saw her and that was 7 years later. Grant is a washed up 80s pop star (think the guy from Wham! not named George Michael), Bennett is the latest teeny bopper sensation and she wants him to write a song for her...in a few days. Only he can't write lyrics, only melodies. Barrymore somehow stumbles into the middle of it and despite no previous experience shows a knack for lyrics. It's all in good fun. It also seems to take some good swipes at the music industry. Interestingly Grant, Barrymore and Bennett all actually sing in this movie. None are great, but none are terrible either.

 

[Dove]

I haven't seen Free Solo. For those that enjoyed it, here's the star Honnold breaking down some climbing scenes from various Hollywood movies over the years. Just stumbled onto this, thought it was interesting.

That was great.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Crazy Rich Asians - watched on the plane (United) - was WAY better than I expected it to be and not at all what I thought it was going to be about. Some great acting, and while I wouldn't tell you it is a MUST watch, you definitely would enjoy it.

Saw it on HBO. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. It was a romcom, so like you I was not expecting much out of it.

1) It wasn't funny. Other than Ken Jeong, the guy that plays Jian Yang from Silicon Valley, and maybe a couple of other amusing lines here and there, the movie wasn't remotely funny.

2) This Henry Golding guy that played Nick Young is just a terrible actor. It is Ok to cast models in supporting roles, but you can't put one in the lead of a comedy. He was stiff, fumbled several attempts at humor, and isn't credible as the son of the super rich.

3) Nick's sister Astrid was certainly easy on the eyes, but halfway through the movie her plotline starts to take up a lot of screen time even though it is never tied back to the main story. Why do we care about her failing marriage?

4) It wasn't big enough. This is a story about a caste of people that live a life that we can only imagine. The whole movie should have been bigger and more extravagant.

5) My biggest issue is how unoriginal it was. I am not just talking about the plot, because there are only so many ways to slice and dice the Cinderella story. I thought the dialogue was boring and felt recycled. It was like the movie used mediocre sitcom writers.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Finally saw A Star is Born (the latest version...although I never saw any of the earlier versions). I really liked the first half, then it got difficult to watch. Impressive directorial debut by Cooper. Gaga pulled off acting and Cooper pulled off singing seamlessly. Good chemistry between them as well. The career arc that Gaga's character went thru didn't ring true to me. Went from a nobody, blue collar person to an overnight sensation because of her authentic, soulful singing. So a producer turned her into a generic pop singer w/ backup dancers? And she went right along with it? That didn't feel right to me. (I realize this probably happens all the time in reality but it just didn't seem like Ally would be down with it)

Did not expect Dave Chappelle and Eddie Griffin to pop up in this movie. It was like an Undercover Brother reunion with those two.

Nice cameo by Brandi Carlile singing during the Roy Orbison tribute. One of a kind voice.

Right at the end Gaga was standing in a hallway with a bunch of framed posters. The camera was focused on one that said Washington State Fair Puyallup 2011. Not far from my neck of the woods. Try saying that name.

 

[J187Money]

Saw it on HBO. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. It was a romcom, so like you I was not expecting much out of it.

1) It wasn't funny. Other than Ken Jeong, the guy that plays Jian Yang from Silicon Valley, and maybe a couple of other amusing lines here and there, the movie wasn't remotely funny.

2) This Henry Golding guy that played Nick Young is just a terrible actor. It is Ok to cast models in supporting roles, but you can't put one in the lead of a comedy. He was stiff, fumbled several attempts at humor, and isn't credible as the son of the super rich.

3) Nick's sister Astrid was certainly easy on the eyes, but halfway through the movie her plotline starts to take up a lot of screen time even though it is never tied back to the main story. Why do we care about her failing marriage?

4) It wasn't big enough. This is a story about a caste of people that live a life that we can only imagine. The whole movie should have been bigger and more extravagant.

5) My biggest issue is how unoriginal it was. I am not just talking about the plot, because there are only so many ways to slice and dice the Cinderella story. I thought the dialogue was boring and felt recycled. It was like the movie used mediocre sitcom writers.

Maybe I liked it better than you because I was on a plane and my other options were limited. And I was drinking Buffalo Trace.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Saw Avengers End Game last night. Cheesy at times, but in a good way. Definitely a real crowd pleaser with lost of great moments.

 

[dbmill]

Saw a couple movies I have been waiting to see on plane trips for work this week.

Free Solo - A very unlikeable main character but fascinating story and footage. Three parts I loved were:

1) seeing the parts where he literally was gripping spots 2,000 ft up by a nickel sized indentation.

2) watching him scamper over the guy in a unicorn onesie

3) listening to him recite all his moves in preparation for his climb.

Also saw Green Book. I was glad I really didn’t know much about it other than the really basic plot. Was blown away by the performances. So friggin good. To use a pun, I thought they hit all the notes on this one.

We just watched Green Book. A very solid film, we really enjoyed it. In addition to the friendship that builds between Don Shirley and Tony Lip, I liked the essentially quiet meditation on race relationships in America. One thing that bugs me is the that Mahershala Ali got nominated in the Supporting Actor category. Don't get me wrong, I thought both he and Viggo Mortensen were very good in their parts. No question in my mind that both the Tony Lip and Don Shirley roles in this film are Leading Actor roles. They both play off of each other very well.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Saw Avengers End Game last night. Cheesy at times, but in a good way. Definitely a real crowd pleaser with lost of great moments.

Will probably see it during the week. It took in about $350 million domestic over the weekend. Already over a billion worldwide. That is just mind numbing to me. Next closest movie was $8 mil (Captain Marvel surprisingly, seems like it got a decent boost from Avengers opening). I don't know if there's ever been that big of a disparity between #1 and #2 at the box office for a given weekend before.

 

[Mano]

Aquaman - I think I would've preferred the fictional James Cameron version from Entourage. Not terrible, just utterly ridiculous.

The A-Team - Stupid crap to have on in the background. It's incredible the schlock that gets released.

Predators - See above for description - plus Adrien Brody is a badass merc lol. Right.

 

[Mano]

Forgot one more:

Upgrade - Inventive little flick with a couple well done fight scenes. Wasn't over the top with its use of gore and body horror. Struck a good balance. I appreciated the dark turn in the climax as well.

 

[Mano]

The Death of Stalin - I would urge anyone who's a fan of Veep (it's creator wrote and directed), history, or laughing to watch this one. I'm sure it's not all that historically accurate but it's a great send up of an unlikely topic and features Iannucci's trademark rapid fire sardonic wit. Great cast and performances as well. Gotta track down the graphic novel now.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I was going to skip it, but changed my mind and watched "Free Solo." I have mixed feelings after seeing it. What he did is an incredible feat, both physically and mentally. And yet utterly pointless really. At some point in the film they went thru a tick list of great free solo climbers...all dead. And then there's Peter Croft, still alive and acting as a voice of reason during his brief time on camera. Honnold is an interesting character. I hope he doesn't meet tragedy. There was a very telling moment somewhere in the middle, where he basically said being happy and cozy is the enemy of ambition.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Just watched Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile on Netflix. Impressive. I really didn't know the details behind the Ted Bundy story. Quite an interesting character, even if he clearly was what the title says. Lily Collins is decent, but (I can't believe I'm saying this) Zac Efron is superb. Like, holy crap, this guy is going to be a capital M and S "Movie Star". John Malcovitch is terrific as the judge who utters the title to the movie.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Just watched Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile on Netflix. Impressive. I really didn't know the details behind the Ted Bundy story. Quite an interesting character, even if he clearly was what the title says. Lily Collins is decent, but (I can't believe I'm saying this) Zac Efron is superb. Like, holy crap, this guy is going to be a capital M and S "Movie Star". John Malcovitch is terrific as the judge who utters the title to the movie.

If you liked that you need watch the Bundy documentary on Netflix. About 4901569 times better.

 

[nwhoopfan]

but (I can't believe I'm saying this) Zac Efron is superb. Like, holy crap, this guy is going to be a capital M and S "Movie Star".

He's got the charisma and ridiculous looks like a young Brad Pitt, he's just mostly been in really crappy movies. Glad to see him do something other than party/stoner/frat boy for once.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I don’t really watch movies but I saw Bohemian Rhapsody on a flight and it was incredibly weak. It was essentially a 2 hour music video and just completely lacked any grit or personality. I know there were a lot of issues pre-release and losing Sacha Baron Cohen was probably the biggest. I think it’s really lazy that none of the band outside of Freddie seemed to change their clothes much less age or get a haircut over the course of 15 years.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Watched Den of Thieves with Gerard Butler and Pablo Schreiber. I was entertained while I watched it, and then realized how bad it sucked as I was thinking about it afterward. Interesting premise for a heist movie that comes off the rails with multiple ridiculous plot twists and gratuitous violence.

There will apparently be a sequel.

 

[Deadrody]

He's got the charisma and ridiculous looks like a young Brad Pitt, he's just mostly been in really crappy movies. Glad to see him do something other than party/stoner/frat boy for once.

I thought he was pretty decent as the comic relief, so to speak, in the Baywatch remake. I mean, the movie was mostly stupid, but he pulls off those kinds of roles. Same thing for the Set Rogen movie Neighbors.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I thought he was pretty decent as the comic relief, so to speak, in the Baywatch remake. I mean, the movie was mostly stupid, but he pulls off those kinds of roles. Same thing for the Set Rogen movie Neighbors.

Yeah he's definitely got that dialed in. He's often the most enjoyable part of not particularly good movies. Finding a niche is fine but trying to expand can be good too. Speaking of Seth Rogen, he's been the same character in almost all of his film appearances.

 

[Deadrody]

Yeah he's definitely got that dialed in. He's often the most enjoyable part of not particularly good movies. Finding a niche is fine but trying to expand can be good too. Speaking of Seth Rogen, he's been the same character in almost all of his film appearances.

Yeah, I think Rogen basically plays himself in every movie.

 

[Dove]

My Cousin Rachel

Can't believe I watched a black and white 1950s Richard Burton/Olivia de Haviland movie this morning. But, I did. And it was good. I think it was up for Oscars back in its day.

Young Richard stares at the ocean all day. Falls in love. People ask if he's nuts. He says maybe. Olivia dies.