Recently Seen in 2019

[JMick]

I just watched Oceans 8 since it was added to HBOGO.

it was a complete waste of time.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Definitely understand your reaction to this movie. It is part of the reason why I prefer the movies I mentioned in my previous post.

Out of that list of movies you mentioned, I prefer "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" by far. Also enjoyed "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." I didn't enjoy "Lady Bird" as much as I expected to. "Edge of Seventeen" was tough because the main character was such a bratty jerk most of the time, it was hard to sympathize with her even when she was having some difficulties. It finally redeemed itself in the end. I saw "A Birder's Guide to Everything" a while ago, I thought it was decent but don't remember much about it specifically.

 

[dbmill]

Just watched "Old Man & the Gun". While it is hardly anything special, I enjoyed it. As crime spree movies go, this is about as low key as you are ever going to get, and that is something that is not going to necessarily appeal to everyone who sees this movie. The appeal of this movie rests thoroughly on the charms of Robert Redford, as well as the others (Sissy Spacek, Danny Glover, Tom Waits, Casey Affleck) in the cast.

 

[8893]

Just watched "Old Man & the Gun". While it is hardly anything special, I enjoyed it. As crime spree movies go, this is about as low key as you are ever going to get, and that is something that is not going to necessarily appeal to everyone who sees this movie. The appeal of this movie rests thoroughly on the charms of Robert Redford, as well as the others (Sissy Spacek, Danny Glover, Tom Waits, Casey Affleck) in the cast.

It’s all Redford and Spacek imo, and that’s enough to carry it. They both shine here imo, and the warmth between them is great.

 

[Deepster]

Saw "A Star is Born" yesterday and really enjoyed it. I thought Cooper and Lady Gaga both knocked their parts out of the park, especially her. Officially pulling for her to win the Oscar now...

 

[AtlantaHusky]

If anyone likes SciFi / Action / Violence high recommendation for "UPGRADE".

Amazon link

DO NOT WATCH THE TRAILER if you have interest, I went in blind and totally the way to go. It gets great reviews and amazing what they did with a low budget.

 

[Walker11]

I thought The Informer on Amazon was a solid series. Watch if you liked The Bodyguard. 6.5-7/10.

I am watching Mad Men for the first time right now and I just began S4. I probably watched the pilot 5 times in the past 8 years and could never get into it. It finally clicked and I'm really enjoying it.

I also watched both of the Fyre festival documentaries. Heartwarming to see these douchy millennials get duped. I don't understand how people like McFarland and Elizabeth Holmes deceive every person they come in contact with.

 

[Deepster]

I am watching Mad Men for the first time right now and I just began S4. I probably watched the pilot 5 times in the past 8 years and could never get into it. It finally clicked and I'm really enjoying it.

This is exactly what I've done. Seen the pilot 3 times. Never went to episode 2. What made it finally click? It just seems so slow and has no action at all.

 

[8893]

Saw "A Star is Born" yesterday and really enjoyed it. I thought Cooper and Lady Gaga both knocked their parts out of the park, especially her. Officially pulling for her to win the Oscar now...

I really enjoyed it, too, and was also very impressed with her. The music performances were great, and I thought Sam Eliot and Dice were excellent in support. I thought Cooper was fine--especially his singing--and I know every female on the planet can't get enough of him here, but I didn't love watching his inevitable and predictable downward spiral over the last forty minutes or so, and I thought the movie itself could have been at least 20 minutes shorter.

I was pulling for her to win Best Actress, until two things happened: (1) I grew tired of watching her openly lust after Cooper in every public appearance she's had since the movie was released; and (2) I saw Yalitza Aparicio in Roma. She is also a first-time actress and her performance is also stunning, in a very different, understated and very moving way.

 

[Deepster]

I really enjoyed it, too, and was also very impressed with her. The music performances were great, and I thought Sam Eliot and Dice were excellent in support. I thought Cooper was fine--especially his singing--and I know every female on the planet can't get enough of him here, but I didn't love watching his inevitable and predictable downward spiral over the last forty minutes or so, and I thought the movie itself could have been at least 20 minutes shorter.

I was pulling for her to win Best Actress, until two things happened: (1) I grew tired of watching her openly lust after Cooper in every public appearance she's had since the movie was released; and (2) I saw Yalitza Aparicio in Roma. She is also a first-time actress and her performance is also stunning, in a very different, understated and very moving way.

I think those are fair points. I think you and I are very similar in movie tastes.

I thought Cooper's spiral was really well done. At times, I struggle to shake him out of his smarmy Hangover role but thought he was very convincing -- scenes like behind stage at SNL, the Grammy awards, etc. Nic Cage in Leaving Las Vegas was also great at doing this in a convincing way.

I haven't seen Roma and I usually try to see all the big ones before the awards. I can't say I'm rushing to see it, but I probably will.

 

[8893]

I think those are fair points. I think you and I are very similar in movie tastes.

I thought Cooper's spiral was really well done. At times, I struggle to shake him out of his smarmy Hangover role but thought he was very convincing -- scenes like behind stage at SNL, the Grammy awards, etc. Nic Cage in Leaving Las Vegas was also great at doing this in a convincing way.

I haven't seen Roma and I usually try to see all the big ones before the awards. I can't say I'm rushing to see it, but I probably will.

Oh, he was absolutely convincing in the spiral. The Grammy pee scene made me cringe, but it was well done. I just don't love watching it--same with Leaving Las Vegas and even Crazy Heart, which was pretty similar to ASIB imo, to a certain extent. I end up losing patience with the character going through the spiral, but I guess that's the point.

I hear you about Roma. If I wasn't in the isolation ward with the flu a few weeks ago I don't know when I ever would have seen it. It is a very patient, slow burn and it requires that you be awake, pay attention and be up for a somewhat meditative movie. It is beautifully shot in black and white with interesting lighting, but nothing jumps out at you. When it ended I was kind of like "WTF was that?" But it stayed with me for the next several hours and days, and I liked it more and more upon reflection, for the humanity of it as much as anything else.

 

[nwhoopfan]

and even Crazy Heart, which was pretty similar to ASIB imo, to a certain extent. I end up losing patience with the character going through the spiral, but I guess that's the point.

Crap. I'm looking forward to seeing A Star is Born, but can't stand this movie trope, the self destructive, hitting rock bottom slow motion train wreck. I hated Crazy Heart. The Wrestler and Flight were in the same vein.

 

[Walker11]

This is exactly what I've done. Seen the pilot 3 times. Never went to episode 2. What made it finally click? It just seems so slow and has no action at all.

I basically forced myself to watch the first few episodes. Well, not entirely, but I kept it on the in the background for a handful of episodes while I worked. The characters are great but you can't get sucked into their lives immediately and it's definitely not a cliff hanger type show.

 

[dbmill]

Over the weekend we watched "One, Two, Three" a 1961 Billy Wilder film starring James Cagney. A very good comedy, but not quite on the same level of some of the absolutely great films that Wilder directed in the 40's, 50's, and 60's. Cagney's performance pretty much carries the movie in this one as a Coca Cola executive stationed in West Berlin. Lots of interesting post WWII/Cold War commentary in this one. My wife is a big Cagney fan, so she loved it.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I haven't contributed to this in a while. A second viewing for me of an under the radar low budget drama/thriller--"Hollow in the Land." I thought it was quite well crafted. Blue collar small rural town, a family w/ bad history/reputation. One member of the family, a young woman (Diana Agron) is trying to keep her head down and take care of her teenage brother since their mom left and dad is in jail. Whole town hates all of them. Her brother gets mixed up in something bad and disappears, she tries to find him before the law or anyone else does. Runs into resistance at every turn. Keeps the tension up throughout. It's never specific about where it's supposed to be set, but there are several noticeable Canadian accents. It was filmed in the Kootenai region along the BC/Alberta border.

 

[intlzncster]

Watched "Bird Box" last night. Thought it was really good. Worth the time and lived up to the hype for me. Cliche in some spots, a little predictable...but Sandra Bullock carried the movie the entire time.

I thought it was OK. Still don't like the flashback timeline.

Just saw Re-Animator (1985) for the first time. Can't believe I missed that one. Good stuff.

Watched Polar on Netflix. Light fair. Lot's of killing. I enjoyed it because Mads Mikkelson is a dude. The bad guys are worse shots than the Sons of Anarchy bros tho.

Ex Machina - sci fi nerds wet dream.

Velvet Buzzsaw - Great cast. nicely packaged. OK execution. Entertaining enough I guess. From the guy who directed Nightcrawler--which was amazing.

 

[Waquoit]

It is a very patient, slow burn and it requires that you be awake, pay attention and be up for a somewhat meditative movie.

Sounds like the kind of movie one should watch in a theater. I think I'll catch it Real Arts Ways at the end of the month.

OTOH, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is perfect for home viewing as it's a series of vignettes set in the Old West. I see it's ranked in the middle of the Coen Brothers' output and that seems about right. Clever, twisted, funny with great visuals and Tom Waits.

 

[intlzncster]

OTOH, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is perfect for home viewing as it's a series of vignettes set in the Old West. I see it's ranked in the middle of the Coen Brothers' output and that seems about right. Clever, twisted, funny with great visuals and Tom Waits.

I'm in. Will watch.

 

[nwhoopfan]

UFO (2018 version, I think there are multiple movies w/ this title) was decent. It was less of a thriller than I thought it would be from the trailer. Apparently inspired by actual events that occurred at Chicago O'Hare, but they moved it to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky in the movie. Multiple airport staff and pilots saw a disc shaped object hovering over a runway, then it disappeared at a very rapid rate of speed. Government/black suits swept in to hush everybody up and come up w/ a cover story. Some mathematical whiz kid that I think was supposed to be somewhere on the autism scale (?) does some sleuthing and mathing to figure out what really happened. Fairly slow paced but kept my interest. A few recognizable faces--Gillian Anderson as one of his professors (at U. of Cincinnati), David Straithairn as the main government guy (I can't see him as anything other than one of the Belters from The Expanse now) and one of my favorites, Ella Purnell as his love interest. She wasn't giving a whole lot to work with though.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Saw "Widows" a few days ago. Decent, some pacing problems. Took a LONG time to get going, and kept grinding to a halt w/ flashback scenes (a bit of a diatribe--non-linear story telling has become so common place that I think at this point linear story telling would actually be kind of edgy; give it a rest already Hollywood, it's been done to death). Liam Neeson seemed out of place in this one. There were some good tough guy character actors (Jon Bernthal, Garret Dillahunt) that didn't hang around long. The main actresses, the title characters, all did fine. Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki.

This was a complex movie, lots going on, maybe too much. The side story about a very dirty election race for alderman in Chicago between Colin Farrell and Brian Tyree Henry (and his henchman brother Daniel Kaluuya--that guy is everywhere lately) could have been it's own movie.

 

[nwhoopfan]

There's been a theme recently about awkward female led teen dramas. Saw a few more of those recently, one a rewatch and one first time viewing. I never hear much chatter about it, but I think "Wildlike" is a fantastic movie. Starts out awkward as hell, it's tough to make it thru the first 30 minutes or so, but it's worth it. A troubled 15 (I think) year old girl finds herself on her own and on the run in Alaska w/ her creepy uncle trying to track her down and her flake of a mom disappeared off the radar in Seattle. She insinuates herself into the life of a widower who wants absolutely nothing to do with her, but he eventually realizes she needs help and nobody else seems likely to provide it to her. They eventually develop a beautiful friendship and maybe even surrogate father/daughter relationship. It's also a beautiful travelogue of Alaska. There are a few other people onscreen but it's mostly Ella Purnell and Bruce Greenwood.

The other one I'd never heard of but stumbled onto it on Hoopla. "Summer '03". Also awkward as hell. Strong acting performance from Joey King. I've never seen "Ramona and Beezus", I think that's mostly what she's known for. Joey's granny drops a series of bombshell confessions on various family members on her death bed that turns the whole world upside down for all of them. They try to make sense of everything and put things back together again. Also a good performance from Andrea Savage as Joey's mom.

 

[Mano]

Happy Death Day - Nothing groundbreaking for the horror genre, barely a horror movie really. The lead handled herself well and had a certain charisma. The brisk pace helped and it was all in all an enjoyable watch.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Happy Death Day - Nothing groundbreaking for the horror genre, barely a horror movie really. The lead handled herself well and had a certain charisma. The brisk pace helped and it was all in all an enjoyable watch.

I'm not a fan of horror movies at all generally speaking, but I really enjoyed this. I wouldn't even really call it a horror movie. It's not quite a spoof, maybe a bit of a deconstruction? Sequel comes out this week, now you're ready for it.

 

[Deadrody]

OTOH, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is perfect for home viewing as it's a series of vignettes set in the Old West. I see it's ranked in the middle of the Coen Brothers' output and that seems about right. Clever, twisted, funny with great visuals and Tom Waits.

Yup, watched it last week. Good stuff, definitely what you expect from a Coen brothers joint. Kinda peters out at the end, but good nonetheless.

 

[Jay-Bone]

Suspiria - Not as good as the original, but I appreciate it differs. Gets a little wacky towards the end. Borderline worth the watch. Radiohead can't contend with the music from the original.

The Guilty - Good movie. Watch it. Very gripping. Short and riveting.

Searching - Worth the watch. Not quite as good as the Guilty, but still good. The contemporary theme of social media and internet information/disinformation.