Recently Seen in 2019

[nwhoopfan]

Fighting with My Family

Finally saw this. Watched the documentary you linked as well. Enjoyed it. Checked out the extra features also. Not surprisingly the real Paige showed up. What I didn't expect was to see Tessa Blanchard. She's another from a wrestling family (father is Tully Blanchard, stepfather is Magnum T.A.). She's pretty bad ass. She was Florence Pugh's stunt double and it looks like she helped with some training and choreography for the actresses as well.

 

[Jay-Bone]

Us - Laughable and not in a good way.

Contratiempo aka The Invisible Guest - Really, really, really good. I'm amazed how under the radar this is.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"Captive State" was way under the radar. Low budget sci fi, kind of mysterious, a slow building thriller. I almost didn't stick with it, but I'm really glad I did. By the end I thought it was really good. I think this is a love it or hate it movie based on Netflix reviews. A few big names like John Goodman and Vera Farmiga, mostly little known actors. Set in Chicago in the near future. Earth has been overtaken by an alien invasion, world governments quickly fell in line and accepted alien rule. There is a small and seemingly futile resistance in Chicago.


edit--Wow, Cameron from Ferris Bueller's Day Off is in this movie. I absolutely did not even recognize him. Thanks IMDB.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Highwaymen on Netflix is very good. Costner and Harrelson star in a really good, dark take on the Rangers pursuing Bonnie and Clyde. Costner and Harrelson are two stone cold killers living in a world that is rapidly moving away from them, and the film does a good job positioning C&H against the two killers they are chasing, and reaching the conclusion that there is not a big difference between them.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I probably hadn't watched "Empire Records" since it was released on...VHS? Been a while anyway. Streamed it for fun. For a while it seemed like it was going nowhere, but then it kinda snuck up on me and I ended up enjoying it. Interesting seeing Liv Tyler, Renee Zellweger and Robin Tunney all early in their careers.

 

[nwhoopfan]

the film does a good job positioning C&H against the two killers they are chasing, and reaching the conclusion that there is not a big difference between them

There was that pivotal scene w/ Clyde's father, trying to make the point that he wasn't always that way, circumstances turned him into what he was. And Costner realizing the same was true of him.

 

[Mano]

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part - I think I enjoyed the first one better with it's more streamlined approach into it's forays into the "real world". This one was reaching quite a bit when trying to connect what was happening with these play things and their imagined world.

Bad Times at the El Royale - The movie ended and I thought to myself, "whelp, that was completely pointless." I didn't give a flip about any of the characters and really not a one of their backstories were all that interesting. I think the writers thought they were more clever than they really were.

Wonder Park - I know it's just a kid's movie but this had some of the biggest plot holes and incomprehensibly fanciful plot devices of any movie I've seen in recent memory.

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.

 

[ZooCougar]

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part - I think I enjoyed the first one better with it's more streamlined approach into it's forays into the "real world". This one was reaching quite a bit when trying to connect what was happening with these play things and their imagined world.

Bad Times at the El Royale - The movie ended and I thought to myself, "whelp, that was completely pointless." I didn't give a flip about any of the characters and really not a one of their backstories were all that interesting. I think the writers thought they were more clever than they really were.

Wonder Park - I know it's just a kid's movie but this had some of the biggest plot holes and incomprehensibly fanciful plot devices of any movie I've seen in recent memory.

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 did a 180 on Captain Marvel. I thought it was a decent movie.

 

[traitor71]

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part - I think I enjoyed the first one better with it's more streamlined approach into it's forays into the "real world". This one was reaching quite a bit when trying to connect what was happening with these play things and their imagined world.

Bad Times at the El Royale - The movie ended and I thought to myself, "whelp, that was completely pointless." I didn't give a flip about any of the characters and really not a one of their backstories were all that interesting. I think the writers thought they were more clever than they really were.

Wonder Park - I know it's just a kid's movie but this had some of the biggest plot holes and incomprehensibly fanciful plot devices of any movie I've seen in recent memory.

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.

No change on it for me. Captain Marvel is a terrible character that hasn't been interesting in 20 years or so. Throw in the fact that the film isn't required viewing for the Avengers storyline, and it was an easy decision for me.

 

[Waquoit]

No change on it for me. Captain Marvel is a terrible character that hasn't been interesting in 20 years or so.

Captain Marvel was only interesting when he was dying of cancer.

 

[Dove]

Boy In The Plastic Bubble (1976)

Feeling pretty crappy Friday evening I stayed up and watched this 1970s schlock for nostalgia. I was 11 when this movie came out and still remember the hype ABC gave it.

John Travolta starred in this based-on-a-true story person. Young actress, Glynnis O'Connor, co-stars in her her second straight movie (Ode To Billy Joe [w/ Robbie Benson]). She had a smokin' bod.

Overall, the movie was classic Aaron Spelling. It was an interesting watch.

 

[storrsroars]

Going to see "Yesterday" tonight. Will report back. Reviews I've seen on the flick are way too serious... I find it hysterical that a plot as light as this one gets slammed due to overall social commentary because you can't suspend belief "that way" (missing Beatles tunes while ignoring social impact) while blockbusters ripped from comic books are perfectly fine.

I'm just looking for 90 minutes of fun with actual characters and without endless explosions.

 

[storrsroars]

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.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I saw a trailer a while ago for the Netflix original "TAU." Looked kinda cheesy and leaning more toward horror than my taste. But I'm a fan of Maika Monroe. So I took a chance on it. Better than I expected, and really not horror. Sci fi psychological thriller. Not exactly breaking new ground (A.I., mad scientist, captive female test subject), but I thought it was decent.

 

[ZooCougar]

Anyone seen Midsommer?

 

[Waquoit]

Young actress, Glynnis O'Connor, co-stars in her her second straight movie (Ode To Billy Joe [w/ Robbie Benson]). She had a smokin' bod.

Glynnis O'Connor was my favorite, I loved her overbite.

 

[nwhoopfan]

A bit of a Felicity Jones kick lately. "Albatross" was decent but not the most pleasant watch. Her parents argue constantly at the cruddy little hotel they run. She's just trying to get to university and get away from them. A new staff member at the hotel (Jessica Brown Findlay) throws everything into chaos.

"Chalet Girl" was a lot of fun. Jones was a former competitive skateboarder that gives it up when her mother dies in a car accident. Several years later she takes a new job at a chalet in the Austrian Alps working for a super rich family (Bill Nighy, Brooke Shields, Ed Westwick and his soon to be fiance Sophia Bush that always tags along). Tamsin Egerton is also on the staff. Jones eventually tries snowboarding and quickly gets good at it. Beautiful mountain scenery, good cast, feel good story.

I tried watching "The Tempest" but I had to shut it down, too weird.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Also watched "Storm Boy." Takes a little while to get going but really enjoyed it. Geoffrey Rush recounts the story to his granddaughter of when he was a boy and nurtured and raised 3 orphaned pelicans. Most of the movie is flashbacks but it jumps back and forth. Jai Courtney plays the dad in the flashback scenes. Really different role for him. The pelicans steal the movie. Set in Australia.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"When We First Met" was a fun, lightweight rom com from Netflix. Adam Devine doing his usual zany thing. He meets Alexandria Daddario, his dream girl, at a party, but quickly gets friend zoned. 3 years later he has a melt down at her engagement party. Luckily for him he finds the photo booth at his go to bar is a time machine. So he keeps going back to that first meeting to do things differently to try to end up with her. Law of unintended consequences, he keeps messing up no matter what he does. It drags a bit w/ the time travel/do over central concept. Like many rom coms the best friend (or roommate or sister) of the female lead kind of steals the show. I'd never heard of Shelley Hennig before but she stood out in this.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I saw "Under the Silver Lake" recently, it sucked but I was intrigued by Grace Van Patten. She stars in another Netflix original--"Tramps." Kind of slow, but interesting enough. Two young adults are involved in some kind of shady deal, they are supposed to exchange briefcases with someone else at a train platform. But they mess it up and spend most of the film trying to retrieve the correct briefcase. Anyway she reminds me just a bit of Shailene Woodley. Turns out she's the niece of Dick Van Patten. Kind of crazy but her dad is the about 30 years younger brother of Dick. Not sure how that's even possible to have a 30 year age gap in siblings.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I was going to skip "Murder Mystery" from Netflix (Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, among others), but saw some decent reviews of it. Plus Gemma Arterton is in it. It was mediocre at best. Sandler is just kind of grating on the nerves.

Enjoyed another Netflix original much more--"The Last Summer." A bunch of high school grads in Chicago enjoying the last few months before they head off different directions to college or whatever life has in store for them. Ensemble, jumped around between a bunch of different characters. A bit of comedy but more drama. I thought it was solid. Of course the usual w/ everyone in the cast is 25+ playing 18 year olds. And the actress playing the mother of one of them is a whole 11 years older than her "daughter." You gotta love Hollywood. Oh, and Halston Sage. 'Nuf said.

 

[Mano]

The Favourite - Colman was so good and totally deserved her best actress nod. Since the time I first saw her in the movie Confetti I've always thought she would have great success. Great direction and performances all around. I was really struck by the editing in this one, something I don't often take note of.

Toy Story 4 - Because #3 ended on such a sweet note and seemed to complete the trilogy so perfectly I was curious how they would make this one worthwhile, they did well with the direction they took. Probably would come in last if I were to rank all 4 movies but still better than 99% of ANY other animated films out there. This was also the first movie we were brave enough to take our kids to (2 1/2 year old girl, 16 month old boy), they freaking loved it of course and were completely well-behaved kids. Double win! and probably speaks to how good a movie it was since there was maybe only one lull that my son lost some patience with the whole ordeal over.

Us - A let down. Would've worked better as a 10 minute short story on Peele's Outer Limits revival. I like my horror movies more moody and atmospheric, and while this had that, it otherwise collapsed under the weight of it's ridiculous premise. Social commentary is fine, but this just came off as silly. The twist was easy to call as well.

 

[Mano]

Robin Hood - It’s made it’s way to HBO, five minutes of it was enough to say — stay far, far away.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"The Dawn Wall" was a fairly good documentary about pioneering a new route on El Capitan in Yosemite, possibly the hardest rock climb anywhere in the world. It was too long though, some pacing problems. The pitch that one of the climber's got stuck on just dragged way too much. In reality he was stuck for days, but in a film it wasn't necessary to belabor it that much. Also it was weird that with about 15 or 20 minutes left in the film all of a sudden you see Tommy Caldwell's kid for the first time. Seems like it should've been noted he has a son earlier on. That was just jarring. They presented this woman Becca as her girlfriend, yet they were married 3 years before his historic climb. Again, weird choice by the filmmakers.

Interesting compare/contrast w/ "Free Solo." Caldwell's climb was much harder in technical terms, but they were roped up and fell countless times during their 3 weeks they spent on the wall. Honnold obviously did not have the option of falling and completed his climb in a number of hours. Entirely different endeavors.

 

[Tommyboy]

Robin Hood - It’s made it’s way to HBO, five minutes of it was enough to say — stay far, far away.

I am a glutton for punishment so I watched the whole thing. What a pile of garbage.