Recently Watched Movies 2021

[Mano]

Greenland - I suppose if Gerard Butler continues to star in disaster movie after disaster movie he might eventually hit on one that isn't half bad. So we can all go back to ignoring his output for the next few years again. Some godawful effects in this one but not bad all in all.

Those Who Wish Me Dead - Taylor Sheridan's star was soooo bright, what happened? That's two stinkers in a row that he's had a major hand in. Jolie was just completely miscast and the plot was stretched beyond the point of believability.

El Camino - I get the want to follow such a hugely successful show with something but this felt completely unnecessary. We all knew Jesse Pinkman would be it out safely somehow, we didn't really need to be shown it. The "villain" in this was so inconsequential to the show's proceedings that it really didn't give the movie any real protag/antag balance that it needed.

I Used to Go Here - I came for Jemaine, realized there was little to be had, further realized there was little humor to be had, and slogged through it mostly because Gillian Jacobs is hawt.

Cruella - Firstly, this was the first movie I've seen in theaters since last year's Onward hit just before the proverbial hit the fan. Secondly, it was a thoroughly entertaining and constantly enthralling return to the theater. Me and the fam really dug it. Stone and Thompson were both great and the writers were really clever with all their winks, nods and tie ins to the original. Highly recommended.

Don't Think Twice - A neat behind the scenes flick on improv theater in the form of a frequently funny Mike Birbiglia led and directed comedy. If you like Birbiglia's comedy stylings definitely give it a try or if you just want a pleasant, humorous surprise.

 

[8893]

Muscle Shoals, a 2013 documentary about the legendary music studios and the Swampers.

Really fantastic. Amazing how many classic gold records were made there. The film does a great job of telling the story and conveying a sense of the magic that was conjured there. Awesome footage.

Here’s a brief reminder of a small handful of some of the best records made there:

The 20 best songs ever recorded in Muscle Shoals

Known as a soul and R&B hotbed, North Alabama area has produced great rock tracks and ballads too.

www.al.com

 

[HuskyHawk]

Muscle Shoals, a 2013 documentary about the legendary music studios and the Swampers.

Really fantastic. Amazing how many classic gold records were made there. The film does a great job of telling the story and conveying a sense of the magic that was conjured there. Awesome footage.

Here’s a brief reminder of a small handful of some of the best records made there:

The 20 best songs ever recorded in Muscle Shoals

Known as a soul and R&B hotbed, North Alabama area has produced great rock tracks and ballads too.

www.al.com

Have been wanting to see that. Only knew about Muscle Shoals and the Swampers from the CCR reference.

 

[8893]

Have been wanting to see that. Only knew about Muscle Shoals and the Swampers from the CCR reference.

I think you mean the Lynyrd Skynyrd reference from "Sweet Home Alabama," which is when I had first heard of them.

I was somewhat familiar with the music that came out of there, especially after I got turned on to the Duane Allman An Anthology album in college, but I had never put it all together and realized just how much of the formative music I love was made there. And I definitely had no idea about the backstory. It's a pretty amazing story and moment in time.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I think you mean the Lynyrd Skynyrd reference from "Sweet Home Alabama," which is when I had first heard of them.

I was somewhat familiar with the music that came out of there, especially after I got turned on to the Duane Allman An Anthology album in college, but I had never put it all together and realized just how much of the formative music I love was made there. And I definitely had no idea about the backstory. It's a pretty amazing story and moment in time.

Oof, yes. How did I mix that up. Definitely need to watch.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Cruella 2021. Disney+ and theaters. My daughter went to see it with a friend last Friday. She was willing to watch it again with us, so we ordered it on Disney+. $30. Mrs. HH didn’t expect much, but we all liked it a lot. Emma Stone is superb, as is Emma Thompson. The little girl is also good, as are the two main supporting roles. It is a good story, and really shows how a little girl, creative, spirited and different eventually becomes a villain. It all works quite well and is well done.

 

[Kolumbo]

The Circle (2017)
Emma Watson, Bill Paxton, Tom Hanks
A nice little movie, Emma is fun to watch. Not a great flick which is surprising given Tom Hanks is in it. It certainly reminds you of just how much information we give away and how little privacy we really have. The kool-aid side of corporate culture is also on full display in a humorous way.

 

[CL82]

Greyhound, Apple+

Tom Hanks stars as a Captain of a US WWII destroyer with the call sign of Greyhound. It is his first time in command. He is in charge of a military escort of a convoy of Troop and civilian ships crossing the Atlantic. The ships cross under the cover of American aircraft initially and under British aircraft eventually, but in between there is a time where they are under neither and Nazi “wolf packs” of subs take advantage of that.

Initially Hanks shows himself to be an able commander by intuiting the moves of a Nazi sub trying to slip under him, but he is often faced with tough decisions that have not clear answer, like deciding whether to pick up survivors or protect ships under attack. Tom Hanks’s character stays awake during the four days of attack and never finds time for a meal, a device showing the intensity in unrelenting nature of the attacks.

If you enjoy this genre and/or Tom Hanks, you will enjoy this movie. It’s not spectacular, but it’s certainly entertaining and engaging.

(You also get the bonus of a short and utterly meaningless, in my view, cameo of Elizabeth Shue. I guess it was thrown into humanize Hanks and not make the movie action from start to finish but I’d rather have spent the screen time giving a little more development to the Nazi commander. It would make their chess match against each other more interesting.)

 

[nwhoopfan]

Haven't posted in a while. Watched quite a few, mostly meh. A few decent, some really bad.

"Very Good Girls." Best friends played by Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen have just finished high school and have the summer together before life takes them in different directions. They both have a crush on the same guy. Some family situations happening for both. The teen romance element isn't all that noteworthy, but it's worth a watch because of the friendship portrayed by two talented actresses. Some talent in the supporting cast as well--Richard Dreyfuss, Clark Gregg, Demi Moore, Ellen Barkin, Kiernan Shipka.

"Summer Eleven" was very low budget, pretty much no name cast, but some decent performances and a good story. Four girls aged eleven, the summer before they start middle school. All with some family issues to deal with. Seemed down to earth and realistic, nothing too ridiculous going on.

"Wild Child" was from fairly early in Emma Roberts' career, hadn't seen it before. She plays a bratty rich teen from Cal who is really rebelling since her dad has moved on to another woman after her mom died. She pushes it too far, so he ships her off to a boarding school in the English countryside. A bit cliched, but entertaining enough. She's hard to like initially, but she starts to come around. Some of the cast I didn't know, but some familiar faces. Aidan Quinn is her dad. Natasha Richardson is the head mistress at the school. Only knew a few of the other girls at the school. Georgia King becomes her nemesis, I'd seen her a time or two. I always enjoy Juno Temple, she's been in a bunch of movies.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Sometimes I ask myself, "How bad can it be?" Usually the answer is really bad. I didn't have much expectations for the recent Netflix "Army of the Dead." It proved to be deadly dull, slow paced, contrived plot, almost none of the characters were interesting. I like some of the cast, but they really didn't have a chance to shine in this clunker. Dave Bautista is fairly hit and miss trying to carry movies as the lead. I love Ella Purnell, but she doesn't get very good roles for the most part. Probably she's doing better being cast for TV shows than on the big screen. I didn't recognize her, but I've seen a bit of the French actress Nora Arnezeder before. I certainly hope to see more of her.

Xfinity has countless movies available to stream, some commercial free, others with stupid ads. Occasionally I scroll thru the on demand menu to see if there's anything I want to watch. Ended up trying one I'd purposely avoided before--"Godzilla: King of the Monsters." Like Godzilla vs. Kong, only worse. Not nearly enough action and monsters brawling. Way, way too much of stupid human drama with characters you don't give even the slightest bit of a darn about. Convoluted plot. Just dumb. Wasted a good cast, gave none of them anything worthwhile to do on screen.

 

[Bomber36]

Greyhound, Apple+

Tom Hanks stars as a Captain of a US WWII destroyer with the call sign of Greyhound. It is his first time in command. He is in charge of a military escort of a convoy of Troop and civilian ships crossing the Atlantic. The ships cross under the cover of American aircraft initially and under British aircraft eventually, but in between there is a time where they are under neither and Nazi “wolf packs” of subs take advantage of that.

Initially Hanks shows himself to be an able commander by intuiting the moves of a Nazi sub trying to slip under him, but he is often faced with tough decisions that have not clear answer, like deciding whether to pick up survivors or protect ships under attack. Tom Hanks’s character stays awake during the four days of attack and never finds time for a meal, a device showing the intensity in unrelenting nature of the attacks.

If you enjoy this genre and/or Tom Hanks, you will enjoy this movie. It’s not spectacular, but it’s certainly entertaining and engaging.

(You also get the bonus of a short and utterly meaningless, in my view, cameo of Elizabeth Shue. I guess it was thrown into humanize Hanks and not make the movie action from start to finish but I’d rather have spent the screen time giving a little more development to the Nazi commander. It would make their chess match against each other more interesting.)

Thought it was an excellent movie. Watched it a few times and picked up a bit more with each viewing. I’d definitely recommend if you like this genre and are a student of WW2 history.

 

[8893]

Thought it was an excellent movie. Watched it a few times and picked up a bit more with each viewing. I’d definitely recommend if you like this genre and are a student of WW2 history.

Post/handle

 

[Palatine]

Nobody. First class body count movie.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The Good Traitor. 2021, rented streaming. This was quite good and explored an aspect of WWII I imagine few of us know very well. It’s the true story of the Danish ambassador to the United States, starting as the Nazis have not yet invaded Denmark, which is neutral. As we know, they did and Denmark cooperated with Hitler to avoid being destroyed. This brave ambassador with help from a well connected wife, has to choose what he will do. There are human elements as well of course. I don’t want to reveal more. If you enjoy these sort of stories, it’s worth a watch.

I previously recommended Atlantic Crossing, a PBS Masterpiece show that told the story of the Norwegian royal family at the same time. The crown price and princess had visited the USA, met FDR and went on a tour. They were very popular. Then home to Norway. It too hoped neutrality would spare it. It didn’t and Norway fought unlike the Danes. The Royal family fled with the cabinet to London and then the Crown princess and children made the dangerous crossing to the USA. Much ensues of a relationship between her and FDR and considerable efforts to get the US to assist the allies. It’s a terrific companion to the movie above and the capitulation of Denmark is discussed by the Norwegian leaders as they decided what course to take.

 

[storrsroars]

The Good Traitor. 2021, rented streaming. This was quite good and explored an aspect of WWII I imagine few of us know very well. It’s the true story of the Danish ambassador to the United States, starting as the Nazis have not yet invaded Denmark, which is neutral. As we know, they did and Denmark cooperated with Hitler to avoid being destroyed. This brave ambassador with help from a well connected wife, has to choose what he will do. There are human elements as well of course. I don’t want to reveal more. If you enjoy these sort of stories, it’s worth a watch.

I previously recommended Atlantic Crossing, a PBS Masterpiece show that told the story of the Norwegian royal family at the same time. The crown price and princess had visited the USA, met FDR and went on a tour. They were very popular. Then home to Norway. It too hoped neutrality would spare it. It didn’t and Norway fought unlike the Danes. The Royal family fled with the cabinet to London and then the Crown princess and children made the dang crossing to the USA. Much ensues of a relationship between her and FDR and considerable efforts to get the US to assist the allies. It’s a terrific companion to the movie above and the capitulation of Denmark is discussed by the Norwegian leaders as they decided what course to take.

Good, concise summation that will get me to watch both. I've found backstories like these are usually compelling watches, even with the standard poetic license writers and directors take.

 

[CL82]

Alien Origin, Hulu

This is another one of those “found video footage” movies that proliferated after the success of the Blair Witch Project. The premise is that there is an embedded American journalist (thus the bulk of the footage) with troops on Belize who heads out into the jungle on routine border patrol. (Why, you ask? Who knows?) They get diverted to try to locate a missing pair of archaeologists. Not withstanding the fact that they are out in the wilds of the Belize jungle, they keep bumping into random people to ask them if they’ve seen the archaeologists. My favorite is when they stumble onto an Amish farm commune in which everyone is wearing neatly pressed clothes and they have a modern wagon and a bunch of fairly modern vinyl sided houses. How did all this get out in the middle of the jungle from which they are told that there are only limited extraction opportunities? Don’t know.

I’d say a good 30 to 40% of the screen time is one of the commanders making sign language. You know the kind - pointing at his eyes and then making a chopping motion with his hand. I kid you not there must be like 20 minutes of that. Sadly it may be a high point for this movie.

The missing journalists had their own video in which they are shown discovering an alien skull. Which the group also fines in camp. Eventually they stumble into a spaceship, at least I think it’s a spaceship there really isn’t clear video of it and the inside of it looks like a sewage treatment plant, lots of pipes, lots of valves. Inside of it they discover, apparently, the same alien skull, which is on kind of a round table but when one of them lifts it off it sets off a very generic earth sounding buzzer. (Why would aliens keep one of their skulls on the table in a sewage treatment plant with alarms? Who can say? They are aliens. Maybe it’s a thing they do.) They run for their lives from an unseen alien who apparently is only armed with inexpensive bottle rockets. I mean, they aren’t even good bottle rockets. They are the cheap ones that you buy and think will be better and then go “oh that’s disappointing.”

Now, how, you may ask, did this movie get the title Alien Origins? Well, at the very end of the movie there is “additional found video“ in which the reporter, while still out in the jungle, says that she tested the DNA of the alien and it was “70% human“. She determined that the alien must’ve landed on earth and had sex with Neanderthals and Homo sapiens and this was the father of all mankind. (CL82: “Wait, what? How does that even vaguely make sense?)

The movie is replete with bad editing, bad effects, and continuity errors. At one point as they walk into the cave the reporter is wearing one outfit, but immediately inside the cave she’s wearing a different one. There’s a few of those.

Think of this as a bad cross between the Blair Witch Project and Predator. It is a movie that begs to be on Mystery Science 3000.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Sounds like you found a worthy candidate for worst movie ever @CL82 !

 

[CL82]

Sounds like you found a worthy candidate for worst movie ever @CL82 !

Actually, as bad as it was, I will still say no. Hercules in New York remains the standard for bad movies.

 

[Bomber36]

Post/handle

?

 

[8893]

?

Post/handle or handle/post is a slang message board term used when someone posts something that aligns with his/her handle.

In this instance, your post reflected that you like and are a student of WW2 history, which struck me as in sync with a poster with the handle “Bomber.”

 

[HuskyHawk]

Post/handle or handle/post is a slang message board term used when someone posts something that aligns with his/her handle.

In this instance, your post reflected that you like and are a student of WW2 history, which struck me as in sync with a poster with the handle “Bomber.”

I thought it worked.

 

[CL82]

Post/handle or handle/post is a slang message board term used when someone posts something that aligns with his/her handle.

In this instance, your post reflected that you like and are a student of WW2 history, which struck me as in sync with a poster with the handle “Bomber.”

If you have to explain it….

 

[8893]

If you have to explain it….

Yeah, I thought about that. But I concluded—perhaps incorrectly—that he was genuinely unfamiliar with the term. And we all have to learn sometime.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Finally saw "Echo in the Canyon." I'd meant to for a while. I did enjoy it for the most part. There were some good interviews and interesting history. However it seemed much more a promo for Jakob Dylan and his project than a documentary about Laurel Canyon. The footage of him and some collaborators doing a bunch of covers of 60s songs wasn't that interesting to me. Also it was very narrow in its focus, only talked about a few bands and I think only about a 2 year period. The Laurel Canyon music scene had a much richer and deeper history than was covered.

 

[storrsroars]

Finally saw "Echo in the Canyon." I'd meant to for a while. I did enjoy it for the most part. There were some good interviews and interesting history. However it seemed much more a promo for Jakob Dylan and his project than a documentary about Laurel Canyon. The footage of him and some collaborators doing a bunch of covers of 60s songs wasn't that interesting to me. Also it was very narrow in its focus, only talked about a few bands and I think only about a 2 year period. The Laurel Canyon music scene had a much richer and deeper history than was covered.

Agree on the amount of time spent in performances. Boring. There was also nothing added by the group sitting on the couch (although I could look at Regina Spektor do nothing for hours.) But they were duller than butter knife. And I don't believe Jakob knows how to smile. But I will say that a lot of the interviewees were pretty good, and surprising details were interspersed in their commentaries.