Recently Seen in 2019 | Page 12 | The Boneyard

Recently Seen in 2019

The Woman in Black - Daniel Radcliffe stars in this 2012 supernatural horror film of a young lawyer sent to an old English village in 1910 to retrieve relevant documents and facilitate the sale of a desolate house where the previous owner has died. However, when he arrives, the young lawyer ends up hip deep in a haunted house/town with a definitely unhappy ghost. Meanwhile, pretty much everyone in the town wants Radcliffe to leave town as quickly as possible. This is hardly a horribly explicitly bloody horror film, but it is a film that is very creepy. Very well done and very much in the Val Lewton tradition.
 
Hobbs & Shaw...I mean you can tell from the trailers it's totally over the top, but I was not prepared for that. Took over the top to whole new levels. It was still kinda enjoyable, but it was a bit too much. Where did Vanessa Kirby come from? Looking at imdb she's got plenty of credits but I was never aware of her until the latest in the Mission: Impossible franchise last year, and now this. Kinda strange to become a blockbuster action star overnight.


edited--this had appearances by a couple of big stars that were a bit more than cameos but very minor characters, managed to keep them out of the trailers, I wasn't aware of them being in the film. Kind of a strange call to bring them in, but barely use them, and not market it.

Also this had an obvious nod to "The Italian Job" (the remake, which of course Jason Statham was in) and also the original "Die Hard."
 
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I remember hearing some buzz about "My Summer of Love" when it was first released. I was sort of curious but I never got around to seeing it. I swear at the time the word was keep an eye on actress Natalie Press, who looks like a young Sissy Spacek. They obviously called that one wrong as she's gone on to do not much and co lead Emily Blunt has gone on to be a big star.

Anyway, I didn't care for it. I didn't find the story engaging or the characters particularly interesting. A big twist/reveal at the end made me wonder if Blunt's character was pretty much lying about everything she said throughout the movie. This is one of those that I think had some strong acting performances, but it just wasn't a good movie. That's my opinion anyway.
 
It's been years since I've watched any of them, but I've always enjoyed the Toy Story franchise. Finally got around to watching #4. Well, tried anyway. Completely bored after 20 minutes. After Forky jumped into the garbage can for about the tenth time (not exaggerating) and Woody dragged him out, I was done. Wasn't a funny gag the first time and they were absolutely beating it to death. I guess I'll never know where the story goes, but I also don't care.


edit--as I thought about it some more, clearly Forky is Pixar's response to the South Park character Towelie. The kids always tell him "You're the worst character ever." He sighs and says "I know."
 
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I've seen "Dazed and Confused" way back when. It's on tv semi regularly so I see bits and pieces of it. Haven't sat down and watched it beginning to end in a long time. Just a really enjoyable movie. Fairly light, nothing really important happens, just a slice of life movie about teens in Anywhere USA. What a cast though! Everybody is in it. Although some of them were fairly unknown at the time and became stars later. And some seemed like stars in the making and never really went anywhere.
 
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nwhoopfan said:
Hobbs & Shaw...I mean you can tell from the trailers it's totally over the top, but I was not prepared for that. Took over the top to whole new levels. It was still kinda enjoyable, but it was a bit too much. Where did Vanessa Kirby come from? Looking at imdb she's got plenty of credits but I was never aware of her until the latest in the Mission: Impossible franchise last year, and now this. Kinda strange to become a blockbuster action star overnight.


edited--this had appearances by a couple of big stars that were a bit more than cameos but very minor characters, managed to keep them out of the trailers, I wasn't aware of them being in the film. Kind of a strange call to bring them in, but barely use them, and not market it.

Also this had an obvious nod to "The Italian Job" (the remake, which of course Jason Statham was in) and also the original "Die Hard."
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Pretty much agree. One thing I really enjoyed was the references to Game of Thrones. Kinda cool to see other projects referencing something that culturally significant.
 
nwhoopfan said:
I've seen "Dazed and Confused" way back when. It's on tv semi regularly so I see bits and pieces of it. Haven't sat down and watched it beginning to end in a long time. Just a really enjoyable movie. Fairly light, nothing really important happens, just a slice of life movie about teens in Anywhere USA. What a cast though! Everybody is in it. Although some of them were fairly unknown at the time and became stars later. And some seemed like stars in the making and never really went anywhere.
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I always stop on that movie. Great watch, and greatest McConaughey character ever.
 
nwhoopfan said:
I've seen "Dazed and Confused" way back when. It's on tv semi regularly so I see bits and pieces of it. Haven't sat down and watched it beginning to end in a long time. Just a really enjoyable movie. Fairly light, nothing really important happens, just a slice of life movie about teens in Anywhere USA. What a cast though! Everybody is in it. Although some of them were fairly unknown at the time and became stars later. And some seemed like stars in the making and never really went anywhere.
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For period pieces, I feel like Dazed and Confused captures the 70's and Fast Times at Ridgemont High captures the 80's. Perfect snapshots of time with music, script, conversations, costume design, etc.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Finally saw "Yesterday." Entertaining, I enjoyed it. Not quite as lighthearted or whimsical as I thought it would be based on the previews. I believe this was the debut for the lead, Himish Patel. I liked him. Lily James...what can I say? I always like her, so charming, so adorable. Kate McKinnon is hit and miss for me but I found her quite funny in her limited screen time. Lamorne Morris (from New Girl) was only in one scene, I like that guy, I hope he finds some success in movies. Ana de Armas unfortunately hit the cutting room floor (she was in the previews; I hate it when they do that) but she's in the deleted scenes.

Anyway worth a watch I thought. I'm not a huge Beatles fan but I definitely enjoyed the music.
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Funny thing, when "Yesterday" was initially released, I thought about putting it on my long list of films to see, but initially decided not to. I have to say, I was on the fence on this decision. I am a big Beatles fan, and while I thought the premise sounded interesting, the thought of everyone forgetting about the Beatles was a bit much. However, one day out of the blue, my wife, who is not a Beatles fan at all, expressed a big interest in seeing this movie. Apparently she had read a fantasy book about a country that had been forgotten that she had enjoyed, so she wanted to see how it would work in a music format At that point I figured that if she was interested in a film centering on the Beatles, then I would certainly go along for the ride.

Anyway, I found that while it is not a great movie, for the most part "Yesterday" is watchable and held my interest. The best part of the film for me is Himesh Patel and his singing of the various Beatle songs. Patel did very well with it, his voice matches very well with a lot of the material. Also a plus in this movie is his relationship with his girl friend, played by Lily James. I agree with the above review about her, she definitely won me over with her charm and her adorability. Patel struggling with his new found fame was not a positive for me, but overall the music of the Beatles wins out.

One other note. Richard Curtis wrote the screenplay and was one of the producers of "Yesterday". Curtis had a big hand in writing one of my favorite television comedy series, "Blackadder". And to think, just the other day my wife told me that she had a cunning plan, a big catch phrase from that show.
 
Ha, speaking of movies that a person opted to skip. I wasn't gonna watch "Venom," but there's a free preview of STARZ this weekend and they were showing it, so what the heck. It was decent. Tom Hardy was good in that role. I like Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate too.
 
Deepster said:
For period pieces, I feel like Dazed and Confused captures the 70's and Fast Times at Ridgemont High captures the 80's. Perfect snapshots of time with music, script, conversations, costume design, etc.
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Funny you mentioned that, I caught Fast Times on TV last night.
 
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I wasn't going to watch "Good Boys," then I changed my mind. I suspect this is very much a love it or hate it movie, hard to be neutral. You'll know pretty quick which category you fall into. If you think watching 12 year old kids cussing constantly and talking about sex while completely misunderstanding it is hilarious, this is for you. I didn't enjoy it. Seth Rogen and cronies were going for a "Super Bad" vibe only w/ middle school instead of high school kids. It fell flat for me. I almost quit several times, but stuck it out (had to fast forward a few times, the ick factor was too high). The only thing that made it remotely watchable for me were the 2 high school girls the main characters kept interacting w/, played by Molly Gordon and Midori Francis. If the movie had been about them it could've been a "Book Smart" kind of thing and halfway decent.

Anyway, I don't think I'm prudish but this was fairly offensive and inappropriate. I probably should've gone with my first instinct and not watched it. Oh well.
 
watched Slingblade last night - had forgotten what a great movie it is.
 
nwhoopfan said:
"Booksmart," described as a female centric "Superbad," is out on DVD now. Started out as a goofball comedy, but about 2/3 of the way thru turns much more dramatic. The 2 leads did well, there were some good performances from a number of supporting actors and actresses. Kind of surprising that Jason Sudeikis, Will Forte and Lisa Kudrow had very minor roles. It dragged a bit at times, but I thought it ended well. Directorial debut for Olivia Wilde. I think I enjoyed the making of feature in the extras than the film itself. Ive been a fan of Kaitlyn Dever for years, this didn't hurt. I've only seen her a few times but I've enjoyed Molly Gordon as well.


edit--had to add that Booksmart is chock full of my favorite Hollywood trope--a high school movie w/ a bunch of 20 something actors/actresses. Of the principle cast looks like most of them are 22+. Carrie Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd is 27, I think she takes the cake.


one more edit--Booksmart contained a ton of F bombs. It's like the South Park episode that tried to see how many they could fit in. Running time would've been 5 or 10 minutes less without all of them I guess.
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I liked it, but it could have been better. The change of pace about 2/3's of the way through was weird. The movie should have stuck with what was working. You could tell it had a first time Director. She threw the kitchen sink in the movie rather than just telling the story.

That is nitpicking though. There are a lot of laugh out loud moments in the movie, and it is really well written with even secondary and tertiary characters having depth. Fun movie and I recommend it.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
There are a lot of laugh out loud moments in the movie, and it is really well written with even secondary and tertiary characters having depth.
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Carrie Fisher's daugher Billie Lourd did her best to steal the movie.
 
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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
 
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)?
 
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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.
 
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.
 
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