Recently Seen in 2019

[Mano]

The Predator - Why do I keep watching Predator movies? I guess I'm part of the problem. I was hoping for more out of Shane Black.

50/50 - Missed this one way back when. Should've left it that way. JGL is this generation's Keanu Reeves. They are both wooden and expressionless yet somehow keep getting part after part because they seem like good guys.

Fun Mom Dinner - For the wife. Make sure your phone is charged.

Wine Country - See above, although a bit more palatable.

 

[dbmill]

The Favourite - I don't think I've ever seen a period costume drama quite like this one. In the year 1708, two cousins vie with each other for influence over Queen Anne of England. While at times you may feel a little sympathy for for the three female leads of the movie, all three behave very badly as they attempt to either improve or retain their position in their various relationships with each other. You certainly wouldn't say any of them are exactly positive role models. This attitude reaches down into virtually every supporting character in the film. Throughout you get doses of very black humor. Still, the movie does keep your attention and is entertaining as you wonder who is going to make the next crazy move.

 

[Tommyboy]

Cold Pursuit - Been a while since I fell asleep watching a movie. Thought this was awful. I think I may have hit my limit of Liam Neeson revenge type movies.

Fighting with My Family - Actually liked this. Story of WWE wrestler Paige and her family. Thought it was entertaining and fun. Thought the original documentary on youtube was entertaining as well:

 

[nwhoopfan]

Got a free trial of Netflix streaming so I've been checking out some of their original movies. I get the feeling they are consistently mediocre.

"Close" was decent but at the end one character did a 180 that made no sense. Almost the whole movie was a red herring. Noomi Rapace was a security expert tasked with guarding a spoiled brat rich heiress who's dad just died. It took quite a while for her to have an redeeming qualities, but she kinda came around eventually. I like the actress though--Sophie Nelisse. She was the little girl in "The Book Thief" but she's not a little girl anymore.

"Polar" starring Mads MIkkelsen and Vanessa Hudgens was pretty gonzo. It's sort of a bloodier, raunchier, kinkier "John Wick." Again, okay but not great.

This last one wasn't streaming. "Prospect." Low budget sci fi that was really more of a western. Slow paced, interesting enough but I had higher hopes for it.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Tried another Netflix original. Rather enjoyed this one. "Anon." Futuristic yet fairly noirish. Everybody is neurally linked up, everything you see and do is recorded. Except for a few that have detached themselves from the grid. Clive Owen is a detective and Amanda Seyfried (I really think she is underrated as an actress) is one of the off the grid people. There is a murder spree going on. But the murderer is covering their digital tracks so the police have to do actual police work like in the old days.

 

[Mano]

Tried another Netflix original. Rather enjoyed this one. "Anon." Futuristic yet fairly noirish. Everybody is neurally linked up, everything you see and do is recorded. Except for a few that have detached themselves from the grid. Clive Owen is a detective and Amanda Seyfried (I really think she is underrated as an actress) is one of the off the grid people. There is a murder spree going on. But the murderer is covering their digital tracks so the police have to do actual police work like in the old days.

@nelsonmuntz !!! Birds of a feather!!!

 

[Waquoit]

The Favourite ...

I loved The Favourite. Not so much love for Wine Country. To me this is the new normal for a Netflix movie. Just plain mediocre. Some good spots and basically likable characters but just flat overall. Probably due to being directed by a non-director. Reminded me of another made-for-Netflix turkey called Handsome. They both sucked but it's a win for Netflix and the algorithm because I watched. They don't care that I didn't like 'em.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I keep trying Netflix movies. IO (as in the moon of Jupiter). Familiar set up. Earth has been ruined, most of humanity has fled to somewhere else but there are a few stragglers. Another slow paced low budget sci fi. It seemed interesting throughout but the payoff...well there wasn't much of one. Essentially a cast of 2 (Danny Huston made a brief appearance to make it 3), luckily I liked both of them. I've seen Anthony Mackie in a few things including a bunch of Marvel movies as Falcon. I've only seen a little bit of Margaret Qualley. I've looked her up before, I keep forgetting she's Andie MacDowell's daughter.

 

[dbmill]

The Americanization of Emily - A 1964 World War II D-Day satire starring James Garner and Julie Andrews. This film combines romance with the absurdity of war, or what might happen when you cross public relations with a huge military event such as the invasion of Europe. This is not a movie where you are going to find the traditional view of war heroics. Instead Garner plays a character who is very good at what he does, being a scrounger who supplies his superior officers with all sorts of creature comforts behind the lines in wartime London. This suits Garner very well, as his character is also an admitted out and out coward who wants no part with actually being in combat. Garner starts up a romance with Andrews while his bosses start cooking up a scheme on getting the Navy more noticed in their involvement in the invasion of Normandy in which he tries his best to get untangled from, as he has absolutely no desire to get a close up view of Omaha Beach. While getting a very intelligently stated coward view of war from Garner, there is also a lot of give and take between Garner and Andrews, in terms of the the view of the world coming from an American, and another view of the world coming from the British Andrews. This is simply a terrific movie with a dark comic trenchant script written by Paddy Chayefsky, who among other things would go on to write the movie "Network". Excellent work from Garner, Andrews, and James Coburn, who plays another officer on the staff that Garner services.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I keep plowing thru streaming content. "Spectral" was kind of ridiculous but if you get past that a decent action thriller. U.S. troops in Moldova in a policing action after a recent regime change is not going very well. The soldiers start encountering some kind of non human hostiles that they are defenseless against. Some solid character actors leading the cast--James Badge Dale, Emily Mortimer, Bruce Greenwood.

I literally knew nothing about, had never even heard of, "People You May Know" but Halston Sage looked really good in the thumbnail so I was in. It turned out to be really good I thought. She wasn't the main character but had plenty of screen time. Lots going one, but basically looking at modern life in the age of social media saturation and how bizarre it is. Especially for people who grew up without it but now have it as a central part of their life. I would heartily recommend it. I didn't even know any of the rest of the cast but I thought they did well. And did I mention Halston Sage?

 

[Deepster]

Saw "Us" this weekend. Thought it was really drawn out in the second half to where I almost cut bait on it. Watched it and liked the ending of it. There are a few loose ends that I didn't really understand -- the red jumpsuits, the Hands Across America hook, etc. but I'll read up on that.

 

[ZooCougar]

Captain Marvel was good.

Celebrity Skin playing in the closing credits was freaking perfect! Entertaining, Funny and a great soundtrack.

I am confident Marvel will still put out quality post Endgame.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"Outlaw King" Netflix original about Robert the Bruce and Scotland's fight to overthrow English rule was decent. I like Chris Pine. I've only seen her a few times but Florence Pugh has really shined when I have seen her. I'm sure they didn't have a budget like "Braveheart" so it doesn't feel as epic.

"Instant Family" had some laugh out loud scenes but was also fairly dramatic and emotional. A couple (Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne) decide to adopt. Instead of one they end up with 3 siblings from the foster care system, the oldest being a teenager. Of course they are in way over their heads. Isabela Moner played the teenager, seems like a young actress to keep an eye on, very talented. She sings as well, her song was rolling thru the end credits. I didn't even think of it until after but Wahlberg and Moner appeared together in one of the Transformers movies as well. Here's a video of the song w/ scenes from the movie.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I know there are a few other fans of awkward teen movies here. "The Kissing Booth" was fun. I'm really becoming a fan of Joey King. Her mom and her mom's best friend had a baby on the same day, so of course Joey and the other baby grow up as besties. He's a boy but they are purely platonic. Things get complicated when she starts to take an interest in his older brother, who is a player. Not hilarious but amusing.

"You Get Me" is not a comedy. Boy dates Halston Sage, breaks up, has a fling w/ Bella Thorne, then gets back together w/ Halston over the summer. Bella shows up at their high school the next fall and goes all Fatal Attraction. Not a great movie, fairly over the top. But it does have Halston Sage and Bella Thorne in it. Definitely that old Hollywood trope of not high school aged actors portraying high schoolers.

 

[StepbackCity]

I am confident Marvel will still put out quality post Endgame.

Marvel has it down to a science now. And you have to give all the trust in the world with them since their successful adaptations of unknown characters like Guardians and Captain Marvel.
Just like guardians at first, the upcoming eternals plan is a head scratcher. But like I said...

 

[nwhoopfan]

"Happy Death Day 2U" I didn't find as enjoyable as the first one. Got too convoluted, they tried to pack too much into it. Jessica Rothe is the best thing about the film, when she wasn't the focus it lagged. Tacked on a scene that left it open for another sequel. This does not need to be a franchise, one was enough.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"I Am Mother" is brand new on Netflix, an Australian production. Sci fi mystery thriller. Human kind has supposedly been wiped out but there is a facility with a bunch of embryos in stasis. One is "hatched" or whatever and raised by an android. Starts with a montage but quickly progresses to her being a teenager. Everything is fairly hunky dory until a wounded adult human woman shows up outside their airlock. The teen girl is torn between her "mother" and the only other of her kind she's ever seen. Not quite sure who to believe or who to trust. Hilary Swank is the woman, I haven't seen her in anything in years. Rose Byrne is the voice of the android. I'd never seen the teen girl before, Clara Rugaard, she did great. (okay, as per usual she's not actually a teen, she's early 20s) One of the better Netflix originals I've seen. Although I'm not even certain if it's really an original, I think it's a theatrical film in Australia. But whatevs. Worth streaming.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I saw "Network" for the first time. That movie is really good. Faye Dunaway is amazing, as she usually was during that period, and Peter Finch is excellent as the crazy but also partially full of network new anchor. It is a scathing parody of the news industry that has aged very well. I strongly recommend it.

 

[Mano]

Vice - Pretty darn entertaining and incredibly well-acted. They sure wanted to beat you over the head with how despicable they think Cheney is though. As deserved as it may be, but still.

Always Be My Maybe - A better effort out of Netflix in terms of their recent efforts with RomComs go. The leads are charismatic enough. I found the surprise cameo was actually one of the weaker parts of the film. A better choice out of the wife. We'll see what's in store next month.

Venom - I was expecting so little out of this that I actually came away surprised by how much I liked it. Would've probably helped if it had gotten the much-talked about R-rating that they originally wanted to go for before Sony toned it down. Really enjoyed Tom Hardy's performance and the whole inner monologue bits were pretty well done and acted.

 

[ZooCougar]

Vice - Pretty darn entertaining and incredibly well-acted. They sure wanted to beat you over the head with how despicable they think Cheney is though. As deserved as it may be, but still.

Always Be My Maybe - A better effort out of Netflix in terms of their recent efforts with RomComs go. The leads are charismatic enough. I found the surprise cameo was actually one of the weaker parts of the film. A better choice out of the wife. We'll see what's in store next month.

Venom - I was expecting so little out of this that I actually came away surprised by how much I liked it. Would've probably helped if it had gotten the much-talked about R-rating that they originally wanted to go for before Sony toned it down. Really enjoyed Tom Hardy's performance and the whole inner monologue bits were pretty well done and acted.

I liked Vice, not as good as the The Big Short, and I think it was pretty fair to Cheney who was justified in making some really unpopular decisions.

Venom was better than the reviews and I agree on all.

 

[ZooCougar]

The Dark Tower. HAHAHAHAHAHA No.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"The Mustang" took a while to gain some traction but ended up being worth a watch. Fictional drama but based on an actual program where prison inmates train wild mustangs to prepare them for auction that is a fundraiser for the BLM.

"The Highwaymen" is a Netflix production starring Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson as former Texas Rangers that are tasked with ending Bonnie and Clyde's reign of terror. It was an entirely different era, but it's mind boggling that such vicious, violent people were folk heroes that were beloved by much of the public. It's well done. Fairly slow paced, interspersed with short bursts of bloody gun fights.

 

[8893]

One of my daughters got tickets for her, me and another daughter to see Rocketman this afternoon for Father’s Day because we are Elton John fans and he is one of the first artists of “mine” whom she really loved too.

We didn’t realize the concept going in and I understand that some people don’t like it, but we all really liked it a lot. It is more Broadway musical or La La Land style than biopic, but I think it does a very good job of conveying the essence of the man, and the guy who plays him is really great. I think they also did a great job with the Elton-Bernie relationship. My only gripe is that there is no coverage of the Tumbleweed Connection material, which is my favorite. Definitely recommended if you are a fan and are okay with the medium (and more gay sex than I can recall seeing in a mainstream movie).

 

[dbmill]

Stan & Ollie –This 2018 biopic on the Laurel and Hardy comedy team really hit the spot for me and my wife. The film basically focuses on performing tours of Great Britain in the early 1950’s that the comedy duo undertook after their film career had waned. The focus is mainly on the relationship between the two performers, but is also packed with all sorts of Laurel and Hardy comedy bits and set pieces from their incredible film career, some of which are performed as part of the theatrical tour, while other bits crop up as part of the movie. Steve Coogan as Stan Laurel and John C. Reilly as Oliver Hardy are both terrific. Also entertaining are their wives, who form something of a double act of their own whenever they appear together on screen. I highly recommend this film.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"This Beautiful Fantastic" was quirky and kinda weird but enjoyable for me. Jessica Brown Findlay and Tom Wilkinson were delightful.


You know, sometimes you see a trailer and you're curious about a movie, and then it takes forever to be released, and then it takes another forever to available on DVD? The anticipation has grown way out of proportion to the movie itself. I finally saw "Under the Silver Lake." It was...incomprehensible. Not recommended at all. It was like maybe a really poor attempt at a David Lynch knockoff (who I'm really not a fan of anyway) or something like that.