Recently Watched Movies 2021

[8893]

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood - great movie, but it takes emotional manipulation to another level. Also, watching anything about Fred Rogers makes me feel like I am a complete scalitohole. It is hard not to.

If you haven‘t seen Won’t You Be My Neighbor, the documentary about him that came out about a year before this, you should. I saw it first and was hesitant to see A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood because the documentary is so good. Hanks pulled it off of course, but the documentary Is refreshing in its depiction of his humanity. He wasn’t perfect, but he was real.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

If you haven‘t seen Won’t You Be My Neighbor, the documentary about him that came out about a year before this, you should. I saw it first and was hesitant to see A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood because the documentary is so good. Hanks pulled it off of course, but the documentary Is refreshing in its depiction of his humanity. He wasn’t perfect, but he was real.

I did see Won't You Be My Neighbor. It also made me feel like an scalitohole. I need to set my sites a lot lower than Fred Rogers. The posters on this board are a good start towards building self-esteem.

 

[8893]

I did see Won't You Be My Neighbor. It also made me feel like an scalitohole. I need to set my sites a lot lower than Fred Rogers. The posters on this board are a good start towards building self-esteem.

Maybe check out Uncut Gems then.

 

[Mano]

Astro Boy - Really really poorly written and completely forgettable. Wasn't expecting much from what was a clear lower level kids movie, got what I expected. The visuals had it's moments at least.

Raya and the Last Dragon - The kids enjoyed it, although one intense scene early on (something that would seem obviously impermanent to an adult) brought my 4yo to tears. Followed the quest formula for kid's movies fairly closely.

Polar - Love Mads and I enjoy a decent hitman action movie from time to time. This was a fairly terrible Mads hitman action movie. Ho hum.

Limitless - Caught this late one night. Just a time waster.

Velvet Buzzsaw - Goodness what cheesy crap. Completely fell apart once the macabre absurdities started occurring. Lots of good wasted talent.

Mortal Kombat - I grew up a gamer and while the original movies were nothing more than cheesy action movies they were fairly faithful from what I remember to the games. This was again fairly faithful (for a property based on a thinly plotted video game anyway) entertaining action flick with a good amount of humor thrown in.

Ponyo - Took a chance that one of Miyazaki’s lighter films might go over well with the kids and I wasn’t disappointed. Kept them captivated the whole time with what was a truly delightful story of love.

Emma. - I’m not super familiar with Austen’s work but it seemed to have the requisite wit, charm and romantic intrigue one might expect. Anya Taylor-Joy was pretty good as the titular Emma but Mia Goth stole the show I thought.

Tom Clancy's Without Remorse - Kinda predictable I thought. The Syria scene in the beginning did a really poor job of initially immersing me. Didn’t feel gritty and authentic enough somehow. Not sure if it was how it was shot or the production value in the beginning but I was underwhelmed. Got a little better as it went. MBJ is certainly bad assed enough and believable in the role. I’d give it a C.

The Mitchells vs. the Machines - This felt like a legit fully fledged theater release that Netflix lucked into because of the pandemic. Pretty entertaining Kid’s flick.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The Gentlemen (2019) - A solid, by-the-numbers, Guy Ritchie English crime movie. I enjoyed it, but it definitely could have been better. It was just a little off. There were some great scenes, like Hugh Grant having problems with his translation of lip-read Cantonese, but there were other scenes that could have been better. A few of the plot twists were far-fetched.

Performances were very good for the most part. Hugh Grant is outstanding as a slimy tabloid journalist. Colin Farrell is one of those actors that is better in a supporting role than he is in a lead. Henry Golding was over the top but entertaining. McConaghy is McConaghy. Dockery is solid, although as is the case with most Guy Ritchie films, the female characters don't have a lot of depth. I think Charlie Hunnam is mediocre. I also thought Jeremy Strong's excessively effeminate demeanor was actually mildly offensive.

I wish there was a way to buy Henry Golding stock, because he could be one of the biggest stars on the planet with a few right moves. He was basically a prop as co-lead in a massive hit in Crazy Rich Asians where he didn't have to act much. Then he had another 9 digit box office with Last Christmas despite its bad reviews, and here he gets to chew the scenery in a Guy Ritchie popcorn flick. His agent is definitely earning his fee.

 

[Deadrody]

The Gentlemen (2019) - A solid, by-the-numbers, Guy Ritchie English crime movie. I enjoyed it, but it definitely could have been better. It was just a little off. There were some great scenes, like Hugh Grant having problems with his translation of lip-read Cantonese, but there were other scenes that could have been better. A few of the plot twists were far-fetched.

Performances were very good for the most part. Hugh Grant is outstanding as a slimy tabloid journalist. Colin Farrell is one of those actors that is better in a supporting role than he is in a lead. Henry Golding was over the top but entertaining. McConaghy is McConaghy. Dockery is solid, although as is the case with most Guy Ritchie films, the female characters don't have a lot of depth. I think Charlie Hunnam is mediocre. I also thought Jeremy Strong's excessively effeminate demeanor was actually mildly offensive.

I wish there was a way to buy Henry Golding stock, because he could be one of the biggest stars on the planet with a few right moves. He was basically a prop as co-lead in a massive hit in Crazy Rich Asians where he didn't have to act much. Then he had another 9 digit box office with Last Christmas despite its bad reviews, and here he gets to chew the scenery in a Guy Ritchie popcorn flick. His agent is definitely earning his fee.

Colin Farrell's character in this was hilarious. Wasn't great, but I wasn't expecting nearly as much as it provided!

 

[nwhoopfan]

Saw "The Sweetest Thing" after it came out on DVD. Been a while. Early 2000s. Amazon has it streaming. It was cheesy, and really crude in some places, but I got some laughs out of it. The chemistry w/ the roomies was fun. Cameron Diaz, Christina Applegate, Selma Blair, Thomas Jane, Jason Bateman, Parker Posey...you could definitely do worse for a cast.

I've seen parts of "Barbarella" on tv before. Never saw it all the way thru. Amazon has that as well. Cheesy to the nth degree, but it's actually not quite as bad as I thought when you start from the beginning. Slightly more coherent than I previously thought. And of course the only reason anyone watches it is because of a young Jane Fonda.

 

[Deepster]

Without Remorse - It's been years since I read it, or any Clancy, but I distinctly recall it being my favorite Clancy book. So, I was excited to see the film version, just released on Amazon.

And now I'm planning on re-reading the book to remember why I liked it, because the movie was pretty terrible. There was a whole lot of dumb, a ton of unbelievable, a bunch of wooden acting, and too much PC overtone to the whole production to make it enjoyable. I won't get into details, but the bad guys here had worse aim than Star Wars storm troopers, and nobody complains of hypothermia after a plane crashes in the Berents Sea and everyone gets wet. And that's not even the worst of it.

Just watched it and wow is it awful. Nothing like surviving a plane crash in the ocean AND a bomb going off 20 ft from you in a day. Painfully pathetic.

 

[Deepster]

Just watched it and wow is it awful. Nothing like surviving a plane crash in the ocean AND a bomb going off 20 ft from you in a day. Painfully pathetic.

Edit to Update: I turned it off before it was over. Can't say I have gone 1+ hours and turned many movies off before.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Colin Farrell's character in this was hilarious. Wasn't great, but I wasn't expecting nearly as much as it provided!

How does it compare to In Bruges? That one is just brilliant.

 

[CL82]

Just watched it and wow is it awful. Nothing like surviving a plane crash in the ocean AND a bomb going off 20 ft from you in a day. Painfully pathetic.

That's a shame because it is really good book. Probably one of my favorites of the Clancy novels. It sounds like the film didn't take much from the book except the name.

 

[dbmill]

How does it compare to In Bruges? That one is just brilliant.

No argument with this one, "In Bruges" is an excellent movie.

 

[storrsroars]

No argument with this one, "In Bruges" is an excellent movie.

I keep hoping it shows up on non-premium cable or as a free movie on Netflix or Prime. Never has.

And Bruges is a great little town.

 

[nwhoopfan]

The Darkest Hour, not to be confused w/ Darkest Hour. Sci fi flck from 2011 that was barely a blip on the radar, other than being panned by critics. It's not a classic of the genre, but it's not bad. I've seen it a few times. Entertaining enough. On Netflix currently.

A few Westerners in Moscow during an alien invasion, almost the whole city is wiped out. A few survivors band together to try to figure out what to do next. Decent cast--Emile Hirsch, Max Minghella, Joel Kinnaman, Rachael Taylor, and Olivia Thirlby who I adore.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Blithe Spirit (2021). Wife was in the mood for something light and funny, this seemed to fit the bill. It's not laugh out loud funny, more just pleasantly entertaining and amusing. It's based on a play by Noel Coward. Set in 1937 in southeast England, and Dan Stevens is an author with writer's block. His first wife (Leslie Mann) is dead. Isla Fisher is his attractive current wife, and her father is a movie director. They attend a theater performance by a medium, played by Judi Dench. From there, stuff starts to happen. It's a pleasant bit of distraction, but isn't truly funny. You aren't missing anything if you miss this, but it certainly isn't bad either. 2.5/4 stars.

 

[dbmill]

Blithe Spirit (2021). Wife was in the mood for something light and funny, this seemed to fit the bill. It's not laugh out loud funny, more just pleasantly entertaining and amusing. It's based on a play by Noel Coward. Set in 1937 in southeast England, and Dan Stevens is an author with writer's block. His first wife (Leslie Mann) is dead. Isla Fisher is his attractive current wife, and her father is a movie director. They attend a theater performance by a medium, played by Judi Dench. From there, stuff starts to happen. It's a pleasant bit of distraction, but isn't truly funny. You aren't missing anything if you miss this, but it certainly isn't bad either. 2.5/4 stars.

I have on my long list of movies to see the 1945 version of "Blithe Spirit", directed by David Lean and starring Rex Harrison. It's supposed to be a classic. Sooner or later I'll get around to seeing it.

 

[storrsroars]

Angel Heart (1987). Just resurfaced on Prime. Hadn't seen it in 30 years, but remembered it being interesting, different, spooky and erotic. And it was still all of the above after a rewatch. Mickey Roarke still had promise as an up-and-comer, DeNiro had another two decades before becoming a punchline, and of course, this was the role that got Lisa Bonet fired from The Cosby Show for her sex scenes. Alan Parker directed and did so rather exuberantly. Even knowing the outcome, a rewatch allowed me to see more of the details and clues dropped along the way that pointed to the obvious conclusion. Roarke and Bonet were excellent, bit parts by Charlotte Rampling and bluesman Brownie McGhee were compelling, and even DeNiro's over the top demon (which supposedly was an ode to Martin Scorcese) held interest and fit the proceedings well.

It was controversial when it came out, with Bonet and all the blood and the voodoo stuff, and it became a cult film. But it's held up very well IMHO and is worth a watch, especially if you hadn't seen it before, but even if you have.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Things Heard and Seen (2021). Netflix. Stars Amanda Seyfried and James Norton. This is set in the Hudson Valley and is filmed there. It is a psychological thriller, with a mild supernatural element. Cant say much without giving too much away. It’s well acted and executed and my wife and I both enjoyed it. It isn’t deep or meaningful. If you are looking for something you haven’t seen in the psych thriller genre, it’s worth a watch. 3/5 stars.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Angel Heart (1987). Just resurfaced on Prime. Hadn't seen it in 30 years, but remembered it being interesting, different, spooky and erotic. And it was still all of the above after a rewatch. Mickey Roarke still had promise as an up-and-comer, DeNiro had another two decades before becoming a punchline, and of course, this was the role that got Lisa Bonet fired from The Cosby Show for her sex scenes. Alan Parker directed and did so rather exuberantly. Even knowing the outcome, a rewatch allowed me to see more of the details and clues dropped along the way that pointed to the obvious conclusion. Roarke and Bonet were excellent, bit parts by Charlotte Rampling and bluesman Brownie McGhee were compelling, and even DeNiro's over the top demon (which supposedly was an ode to Martin Scorcese) held interest and fit the proceedings well.

It was controversial when it came out, with Bonet and all the blood and the voodoo stuff, and it became a cult film. But it's held up very well IMHO and is worth a watch, especially if you hadn't seen it before, but even if you have.

Parker all but bludgeons us over the head with clues. I still don’t know how it too me so long to figure it out when I watched it the first time. Great movie. Agree it still holds up and there are many “how did I miss that clue“ moments. Nice to see the young handsome Mickey Rourke, before he became an abomination of steroids and plastic surgery. He never should have made The Wrestler.

 

[dbmill]

The Secret Garden (1993) - This film is based on a fantasy children’s book written in 1911. It have been a number of film adaptations done over the years. The most recent version was released last year. The 1993 release is the first film version of this book that I have seen.

A 10 year old British girl named Mary has been living in India with her mom and dad, but when her parents are suddenly killed, she is sent to live with relatives back in Great Britain. The death of her parents has put Mary into something of a depression, and she is quite self centered and moody. Her general attitude initially is not helped out at all by her new surroundings. The country estate where she has been sent to live has its own depression and degradation surrounding it, as the death of a loved one has put that place into a downward spiral of its own. Happy well adjusted people are few and far between in her new surroundings. The house and the surrounding landscape are are certainly affected by the mood of despair as well. As time goes along, Mary encounters a couple of other children who she shares time with, as well as the magical secret garden, the title of the piece, where many of the fantasy elements are found in this story. As a foil to the children, Maggie Smith plays a housekeeper who in keeping with the depressed surroundings of the household, has taken pretty much an instant dislike to Mary upon her arrival. Still, the three child actors are the main focus of this film, and they carry off this movie pretty well. For a movie where everyone seems to start off with something of a depressed attitude, in the end this ends up being a fairly entertaining and uplifting film.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Hoopla is good for movies I've never heard of and never would've stumbled onto otherwise. Hit and miss, but some turn out decent.

Just watched "Dirt Music" w/ Kelly Macdonald and Garrett Hedlund. Slow and kinda depressing, yet compelling enough to keep me interested. I've seen him in a number of movies, haven't seen as much of her. There's something intriguing about her. It's about people deeply hurt by their past. Set in Western Australia. Some beautiful, although harsh looking scenery.

A few days ago saw one called "Her Best Move." High school drama, w/ a bit of comedy, but not the cheesy sort. The main character was a soccer player. The soccer action seemed somewhat believable. Starred a young Leah Pipes. I watched part of the series "The Orginals" before I got sick of it, she's in that, but this was from 2007. I enjoyed it. Thought it was earnest and avoided some of the pitfalls of typical high school set movies.

 

[CL82]

Things Heard and Seen (2021). Netflix. Stars Amanda Seyfried and James Norton. This is set in the Hudson Valley and is filmed there. It is a psychological thriller, with a mild supernatural element. Cant say much without giving too much away. It’s well acted and executed and my wife and I both enjoyed it. It isn’t deep or meaningful. If you are looking for something you haven’t seen in the psych thriller genre, it’s worth a watch. 3/5 stars.

I like Amanda Seyfried. It’s not so much that she’s a great actress, but it seems like everything she makes is eminently watchable.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Apparently I've been having a Canadian film festival thanks to Amazon Prime. Yesterday watched "Mary Goes Round." That was a tough watch. I almost quit a couple times. In the end glad I stuck w/ it. Not an easy film to watch. Alcoholism, failed marriages, dysfunctional people. Aya Cash plays a train wreck of a woman. When she's close to bottoming out she goes to see her estranged father, who she finds out is dying of cancer, and meet her half sister for the first time, who doesn't know her dad is dying. Some strong performances. Characters interesting enough to make it worth while. The father and younger daughter were played by John Ralston and Sara Waisglass, who I found out have worked together a lot. They were previously father and daughter in one of the various iterations of DeGrassi (never saw it). They were also in my second movie, although not related in that one.

"Tainted" tread some familiar ground. A man trying to put his violent past behind him, but he just can't escape. He was hired muscle for Russian mobsters, ran afoul of them, did 15 years in prison, then gets roped back into the life again. Ralston is one of the Russians. Waisglass is his neighbor in a crappy apartment building. She's barely scraping by singing folksy/bluesy songs in a local bar. She does her own singing in the film, sounded quite good. That always impresses me. I can't find any clips on you tube of it though. Anyway the film is fairly cliched, nothing you haven't seen before, it was okay but nothing special.

Anyway, I knew I'd seen Sara in something before, but couldn't remember what. Had to check IMDB. I tried 2 or 3 episodes of "Ginny & Georgia" on Netflix before I gave up, that's where I'd seen her. Seems like a promising young actress.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Just finished "The Laundromat". Ostensibly this movie was supposed to do for offshore shell companies what "The Big Short" did for mortgage-backed securities. But it didn't have nearly the impact. While TBS had a plot line and a fairly linear story so you got to know the characters, TL was a series of vignettes with a chorus/narrative supplied by the wonderfully hammy duo of Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas. Those two are the only reason to spend time with this film. I've always been a Banderas fan and his charisma makes the otherwise slimeball character work. And in Oldman's case, while him hamming it up took away from "Leon: The Professional", in this case it's put to perfect use. That he's playing a German con man just adds to the fun.

Oh yeah, Meryl Streep stars. But you're not watching this for her.

This is one of those movies where you spend the whole time you are watching it wondering why the movie is not a lot better. It is an interesting topic that has the benefit of being true, the cast is awesome and I think does a good job with mediocre material, but there is no thread holding it together. This should have been a 4 part miniseries rather than a movie, and have spent more time with each of the scattered subjects to bring them all home.

 

[CL82]

I just watched the movie/documentary knuckleball. It was mostly about Tim Wakefield and R A Dickey. Definitely good watch, especially if you’re a Sox fan.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Streamed "The Transporter Refueled" on Amazon. Pretty much in name only sequel. Besson didn't direct, although maybe he was involved in another way (writing and/or producing?). The main character is still Frank Martin but they replaced Jason Statham w/ Ed Skrein. I like Skrein, and he can certainly pull off action movies, but he's not Statham. Anyway, it was entertaining, and immediately forgettable. Probably true of all the movies in the series, although I have a soft spot for the original. I literally remember nothing about #2 or #3, apparently I have watched them according to my Netflix history. The scene w/ Statham fighting a boatload of goons at the bus depot has stuck with me. In this one they incorporate some of the same elements, fighting w/ unexpected props and also fighting in tight spaces. The plot...eh, who cares. The cast were almost entirely unknown to me, other than Skrein and Ray Stevenson. You could do worse for 90 minutes, you could do better.

 

[Dove]

Been away from the boob tube for a while...

Instant Family (2018) - Cute movie. Rose Byrne and Marky Mark star in this movie about a couple who try to adopt 3 Latino siblings. Definitely loled a few times.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Streamed "The Transporter Refueled" on Amazon. Pretty much in name only sequel. Besson didn't direct, although maybe he was involved in another way (writing and/or producing?). The main character is still Frank Martin but they replaced Jason Statham w/ Ed Skrein. I like Skrein, and he can certainly pull off action movies, but he's not Statham. Anyway, it was entertaining, and immediately forgettable. Probably true of all the movies in the series, although I have a soft spot for the original. I literally remember nothing about #2 or #3, apparently I have watched them according to my Netflix history. The scene w/ Statham fighting a boatload of goons at the bus depot has stuck with me. In this one they incorporate some of the same elements, fighting w/ unexpected props and also fighting in tight spaces. The plot...eh, who cares. The cast were almost entirely unknown to me, other than Skrein and Ray Stevenson. You could do worse for 90 minutes, you could do better.

The original is an underrated gem. There is just something about the way Statham is such a precise, calculating person with an insane attention to detail...and finds himself shifting and changing based on emotion. Qi Shu is lovely and vulnerable. You can just see Frank fighting and losing to his emotional desire to protect her.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I had mild expectations for "Chaos Walking." Another much delayed release, which is almost never a good sign. Fairly strong cast, Tom Holland, Daisy Ridley, Mads Mikkelsen, Demian Bichir, David Oyelowo. It was even an original idea. Didn't love it though. Kinda drawn out and slow, lost interest in the middle. Too many characters were one note as well. And the original part of it, that all the men have their thoughts projected out loud, got really tiresome rather than being interesting.

 

[CL82]

Boss Level. Ever just want something light but entertaining just to occupy your time? Well this is your baby then. It is a Hulu movie and lives up to that level of production values, but I have to say that I enjoyed it.

Frank Grillo stars as Roy. A guy who wakes up with an apparent one night stand. In short order all break loose and Roy has pretty much everyone trying to kill him.

Spoiler

Eventually they succeed only to have him wake up back in bed. From that point forward you can guess it is Roy waking up and dying only to wake up again with foreknowledge of what went wrong. It pretty much is real life video game in that sometimes he gets the sequence right, sometimes he doesn't, sometimes he dead ends.

Eventually a semi-plausible reason for what is happening to him comes to light.

Boss Level isn't going to make anyone's top ten list but it is entertaining. Naomi Watts, Ken Yeong, Michelle Yeoh and Mel Gibson are also in it.