Recently Watched Movie Thread 2017

[nwhoopfan]

Sorry everyone. I'll drop it too.

 

[CL82]

Sorry everyone. I'll drop it too.

No worries. There's friendly rivalry between the two trails. You gave the typical PCT (losing) responses.

 

[Dove]

 

[nwhoopfan]

"Leave No Trace" is really good. One of the quietest, most understated films I've seen. Slow paced, but I found it mesmerizing and heartbreaking. Great performances from both leads. Ben Foster has been doing good work for years. Wasn't aware of Thomasin McKenzie before but she appears to have a bright future. The director is known for "Winter's Bone," which was also very well crafted and launched the career of Jennifer Lawrence.

Foster is a military vet suffering from PTSD and unable to fit into normal society. McKenzie is his teenage daughter. They live off the grid, moving periodically and camping in forests. They get caught illegally camping in Forest Park in Portland and hit the radar of the CPS system, starting the plot of the movie moving forward.

It's relatively early in the year, but if this doesn't score multiple Oscar nominations I'll be disappointed.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Agree on the good acting and they nailed the early 70s. But overall I was bit disappointed given the great reviews. Decent rental but just didn't think that great. 2 1/2 stars.

The Battle of the Sexes should have been a lot better, and I blame mediocre writing. Carrell was perfect for the part of Bobby Riggs, but the movie didn't quite capture how ridiculous Riggs was in real life. He is almost entertaining enough to justify his own biopic, but he comes across kind of flat in the movie, and there is a ton of unnecessary exposition to describe him, when better writers should have been able to show you what he is like. The movie should have been a lot funnier too.

The movie almost made King seem too complex, like it was running down a checklist of emotions and characteristics. This was a fascinating time in society and women's sports, and better writers would have shown you what King was like by how she navigated through this Era. Instead, King comes across as almost a narrator.

The final scene was just boring. I know they had to use body doubles for the tennis match, but the director should have been able to hide that fact a little better.

This movie is a 6, when it should have been a 9.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Watched Chappaquiddick last night. Very well done. Good casting and acting. Tells the full story a little too late, but it is a story people should be aware of.

 

[Mano]

Finally freaking found the time to sit and watch a full movie (two kids in diapers kinda kill the free time). Wife picked Blockers. Was somewhat funny. Pretty formulaic. The kids were good. The adults were better. John Cena has decent comedic timing. Lightweight, enjoyable fair.

 

[Walker11]

Jungle - amazing true story about a man lost in the Amazon but dragged on bit too much for me 5.5/10

Hunting Emma - well done South African (I think?) revenge thriller 7/10

Compliance - very unsettling "thriller" based on a true story. Prank phone caller impersonated a cop and convinced manager to strip search and degrade an employee. 3/10 Unnecessary movie.

 

[Mano]

Geostorm - Ha, brainless schlock with a lot of big-ish names in it. Total garbage. I mean, I knew it would be, that's why I put it on as pretty much background noise, but hoooo-boy was it bad. I wonder if Gerard Butler will ever climb out of this string of total dreck he's been headlining for a decade now?

 

[Dove]

10 Cloverfield Lane

John Goodman is a doomsday preparer and just before alien attacks sees Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Gallagher end up in his bunker. John plays a slow boiling psycho who the others figure out and an escape plan is hatched.

One set makes for slow scenenes. Final scene kinda like Randy Quaid yelling "Up yours!!"

Good movie. One viewing only.

 

[8893]

Saw Three Identical Strangers this afternoon. Truly astonishing in so many ways; the more it sets in the more disturbing it becomes, yet also fascinating. Somehow I don't remember the story at all from when it became "viral" in 1980 and was in all the newspapers and all over television.

I find myself left with a lot of questions, but I highly recommend the movie.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Finally freaking found the time to sit and watch a full movie (two kids in diapers kinda kill the free time). Wife picked Blockers. Was somewhat funny. Pretty formulaic. The kids were good. The adults were better. John Cena has decent comedic timing. Lightweight, enjoyable fair.

I thought the young lady who played Cena's daughter was excellent. I agree with your write-up of the kovie.

 

[Mano]

Set It Up - Netflix romcom. Was fine for what it was. Had a few laughs. Zoey Deutch is a terrible actress who fails at acting natural on screen. So forced.

I Feel Pretty - I need to stop letting the wife choose the movie.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Watched Ready Player One last night. Had never read the book. It's ok. Lots of action, and it's fun if also silly.

 

[temery]

Just watched Chips (2017). Dumb as hell, but a fun watch at 3 am.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

He's Just Not That Into You (2009) - Affleck, Aniston, Bradley Cooper, Scarlett Johansson, bunch of second tier stars. One of the earlier movies that had big casts and was essentially just a set of interconnected, romcom, short stories. This movie is ferociously "meh" with an above average soundtrack.

So I look it up, and see that it grossed $181 milion. I would have never guessed there was that big an audience for a movie like this.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Watched 'Lion' twice this weekend, first by myself and then with kids (10yrs old-ish). Great family movie and really well done from casting, thru acting, soundtrack cinematography, everything just great. Can't wait to read the book.

 

[CL82]

Watched Ready Player One last night. Had never read the book. It's ok. Lots of action, and it's fun if also silly.

I read the book when the movie started getting buzz. It is good if you like the dystopian teen fiction (Hunger Games, Divergent).

 

[nwhoopfan]

"Mission Impossible: Fallout" delivered what you would expect from the franchise. Incredible stunt work, long chase scenes, good fight choreography, interesting locations around the world, convoluted plot, generally exciting and entertaining.


Stumbled across a trailer for a movie recently, don't remember it ever hitting theaters, but it looked interesting so I checked it out on DVD. "The Vanishing of Sidney Hall." Slow paced but intriguing and fairly haunting. Jumps back and forth from multiple time frames constantly, can be challenging to watch films like that. About an author that was a sensation at an early age, then became reclusive and disappeared. Endured some hardships and tragedies. Solid cast of both younger and more veteran actors (Logan Lerman, Elle Fanning, Blake Jenner, Kyle Chandler, Nathan Lane, Michelle Monaghan, Tim Blake Nelson among others).

 

[Mano]

A Quiet Place - One of the surprise hits of last year turned out to be a pretty decent thriller. Wasn’t much of a horror film in my mind though. Used the absence and sudden inclusion of sound in order to rachet up the tension to great effect. I very much liked how strongly it both began and ended. Very effective.

Ready Player One - I had read and liked the book a little while before it got optioned by Spielberg. I harbored some reservations that he would make an overly safe flick. I was somewhat right. Mostly I just didn’t like that they changed

Spoiler

the portion of the book where Wade kind of goes it alone and infiltrates IOI leading up the finale. The “resistance” was just silly.

I understand why they did it (Hollywood), but I just prefer the path in the book. It was all in all still entertaining and otherwise pretty faithful.

 

[Waquoit]

Mamma Mia 1 - Took one for the team and caught this on Netflix. Abba songs sung by amateur singers. I can't believe it has a sequel.

 

[John]

I know it's old, but finally caught Harrison Ford's The Fugitive last night. Thought it was decent entertainment, Ford and Tommy Lee Jones were very good in it.

 

[8893]

Watched The Paper Chase last night for the first time in probably 15+ years. Pleasantly surprised by how well it still held my interest and resonated based on memories of law school; also surprised that anyone who didn't go through that experience would have been remotely interested in the film, except perhaps for Houseman's signature and outstanding performance.

 

[ZooCougar]

Recently watched “Pursuit of Happyness” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”.

Loved the the fact that in both movies we are reminded that we don’t need to enslaved by the government to find prosperity and/or a good time. Loved the spirit of self reliance in both. Millenials probably hate both of these movies.

 

[8893]

Recently watched “Pursuit of Happyness” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”.

Loved the the fact that in both movies we are reminded that we don’t need to enslaved by the government to find prosperity and/or a good time. Loved the spirit of self reliance in both. Millenials probably hate both of these movies.

I like both; don't know if our kids have seen the former, but they love Ferris...