Recently Watched Movies 2022

[ZooCougar]

Till Dawns Early Light

old HBO flick about nuclear holocaust. James Earl Jones puts in amazing performance.

 

[Palatine]

Cry Macho

Clint Eastwood plays an old cowboy who gets set into Mexico to retrieve a 13-year-old boy. It kind of meanders and Eastwood looks and sounds his age, but it’s decent.

I wanted to like it because it's Eastwood. Bottom line, your two sentence review is spot on.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

the thin man. watched it first time last year. awesome.
watched it last week, decided to name my next mutt 'astor.'
funny, engaging, a real plot. did i say funny?

 

[dbmill]

the thin man. watched it first time last year. awesome.
watched it last week, decided to name my next mutt 'astor.'
funny, engaging, a real plot. did i say funny?

The name of the dog in "The Thin Man" is Asta. The dog's name in real life was Skippy, and he appeared in a number of movies from that time period, including one of my favorite comedies of all time, "Bringing Up Baby".

 

[HuskyHawk]

Rush. 2013. Ron Howard directed. This is a recent re-watch with my daughter. Stars Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt and Daniel Brühl as Niki Lauda. It's based on a true story of two F1 racing drivers and their epic rivalry. Hunt is British, and is essentially the Joe Namath of F1, good looking, partying, risk taking, playboy. Lauda is Austrian, stern, serious, dedicated, risk averse. Olivia Wilde and Natalie Dormer have supporting roles as two of Hunt's companions. The race scenes are really well done. The interplay between these guys, who don't like each other but very much come to respect each other, is what makes it work. The rivalry culminates in the 1976 F1 season, which comes down to the last race for the championship on the most challenging track in the world, the Nürburgring. The dangers of the sport are front and center. When Niki Lauda first saw 'Rush' he said "! That's really me." It's a really enjoyable film, probably my second favorite about the sport to Ford vs Ferrari. Enzo of course, shows up in this one as well, since Lauda signs with Ferrari.

 

[ZooCougar]

Rush. 2013. Ron Howard directed. This is a recent re-watch with my daughter. Stars Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt and Daniel Brühl as Niki Lauda. It's based on a true story of two F1 racing drivers and their epic rivalry. Hunt is British, and is essentially the Joe Namath of F1, good looking, partying, risk taking, playboy. Lauda is Austrian, stern, serious, dedicated, risk averse. Olivia Wilde and Natalie Dormer have supporting roles as two of Hunt's companions. The race scenes are really well done. The interplay between these guys, who don't like each other but very much come to respect each other, is what makes it work. The rivalry culminates in the 1976 F1 season, which comes down to the last race for the championship on the most challenging track in the world, the Nürburgring. The dangers of the sport are front and center. When Niki Lauda first saw 'Rush' he said "! That's really me." It's a really enjoyable film, probably my second favorite about the sport to Ford vs Ferrari. Enzo of course, shows up in this one as well, since Lauda signs with Ferrari.

I thought the last race is actually at Suzuka in the rain, but I won’t spoil it other than Mario Andretti won the race. He said that it was the most exhausted he had ever been after a race. Just brutal conditions. Nowadays they would just throw a red flag until the track cleared.

 

[Kolumbo]

Ford v Ferrari - 2019 - Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe, Josh Lucas
The story of Ken Miles, Carroll Shelby, and Ford, and how they were on a mission to challenge Ferrari's dominance in the 24 Hours of Le Mans during the late '60's. I love that era and movies like this make me curious to research the sport and the players.

Everest - 2015 - Jason Clarke, Jsoh Brolin, Thomas M Wright, Martin Henderson, Tom Goodman-Hill
I read the book "Into Thin Air" back when it first came out which was excellent. The movie is OK. I was lying in bed with a bad cold watching and all I could think was, you could not pay me enough to go climbing that high up. I simply cannot do without warmth and oxygen.

People who choose to engage in endeavors which put you in grave danger (is there another kind), I'm not sure I get it. The odds are something will go wrong and that's it. Yet they always make it sound like such an unexpected tragedy.

 

[ZooCougar]

Rush. 2013. Ron Howard directed. This is a recent re-watch with my daughter. Stars Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt and Daniel Brühl as Niki Lauda. It's based on a true story of two F1 racing drivers and their epic rivalry. Hunt is British, and is essentially the Joe Namath of F1, good looking, partying, risk taking, playboy. Lauda is Austrian, stern, serious, dedicated, risk averse. Olivia Wilde and Natalie Dormer have supporting roles as two of Hunt's companions. The race scenes are really well done. The interplay between these guys, who don't like each other but very much come to respect each other, is what makes it work. The rivalry culminates in the 1976 F1 season, which comes down to the last race for the championship on the most challenging track in the world, the Nürburgring. The dangers of the sport are front and center. When Niki Lauda first saw 'Rush' he said "! That's really me." It's a really enjoyable film, probably my second favorite about the sport to Ford vs Ferrari. Enzo of course, shows up in this one as well, since Lauda signs with Ferrari.

Also it’s a good movie but a few things were altered. In reality, Hunt and Lauda were buds who were roommates years ago.

 

[Palatine]

Rush. 2013. Ron Howard directed. This is a recent re-watch with my daughter. Stars Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt and Daniel Brühl as Niki Lauda. It's based on a true story of two F1 racing drivers and their epic rivalry. Hunt is British, and is essentially the Joe Namath of F1, good looking, partying, risk taking, playboy. Lauda is Austrian, stern, serious, dedicated, risk averse. Olivia Wilde and Natalie Dormer have supporting roles as two of Hunt's companions. The race scenes are really well done. The interplay between these guys, who don't like each other but very much come to respect each other, is what makes it work. The rivalry culminates in the 1976 F1 season, which comes down to the last race for the championship on the most challenging track in the world, the Nürburgring. The dangers of the sport are front and center. When Niki Lauda first saw 'Rush' he said "! That's really me." It's a really enjoyable film, probably my second favorite about the sport to Ford vs Ferrari. Enzo of course, shows up in this one as well, since Lauda signs with Ferrari.

This is a well made film. The racing action is tense and believable. The performances are very good. It written to give the lead characters depth and nuance and the actors take advantage. I enjoyed it. Another good effort by Ron Howard.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Doctor Strange and the Mutiverse of Madness. 2022. At the Cinema. Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Strange, Elizabeth Olson as Scarlet Witch. Newcomer Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez. Director: Sam Raimi. That last should tell you something. This is weird. The premise is honestly pretty dumb. I won't spoil it but . America Chavez isn't from our universe, and has an ability that allows her to travel between universes, but can't control it. She's pursued by the villain here, who wants to steal that power. Dr. Strange (more than one version of him) helps her. A few other Marvel characters who may or may not have appeared in Marvel Cinematic Universe films make appearances in other universes. Some are more or less the same, some are quite different. This movie is clearly a bridge to try to bring X-Men and or Fantastic 4 into the fold.

There is a nice cameo from Bruce Campbell. I mentioned Raimi, and yes, this is sort of a horror movie. It has some parallels to to Evil Dead series, with an evil book of magic spells, portals to a different dimension/universe, demonic spirits from hell and so so. It's weird. The name "Multiverse of Madness" sounds like an old Twilight Zone episode and that's pretty close to the mark in some ways. Maybe Black Mirror now. It's not bad, but it isn't up to the usual MCU standards. It's got that campy Evil Dead quality to it. Maybe it will become a cult classic. Elizabeth Olson looks fantastic in her Scarlet Witch outfit, so there's that. Cumberbatch brings more acting chops than the role requires. Xochitl Gomez has a bright future.

 

[storrsroars]

Did back-to-back CIA "Ultra Program" comedies over the weekend. Both went relatively unnoticed at the box office, but both were fun watches, at least for me. "MK Ultra" was a real CIA mind control project from the late 50s to early 70s and screwed up a number of participants - and in both movies, that's touched upon.

American Ultra (Netflix) features Jesse Eisenberg as a stoner convenience store clerk. He's not ripped at all and is quite the passive introspective hippie, yet when activated his training kicks in and he turns into a lethal killing machine, but he doesn't know why. Kristen Stewart is his love interest and turns out she knows more than she's let on. A lot of violence, but done with a comedic touch.

Mr. Right (Netflix) features Sam Rockwell as the CIA assassin who now only kills potential bad guy employers. He falls for Anna Kendrick, a woman with a history of making bad choices in her love life. Rockwell's character notices something about Kendrick's character that allows her to tap into pre-cognitive power, allowing her to become an asset in their future endeavors. Again, a lot of violence, but with a lot of comedy. I go hot and cold on Kendrick, but she's good in this one. Also stars Tim Roth as Rockwell's handler and RMZ as a bad guy with a conscience. This was a total box office bomb, and while the story and the action are outlandish, it's good fun. A whole lot better than a ton of other trash that made money.

 

[CL82]

Ford v Ferrari - 2019 - Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe, Josh Lucas
The story of Ken Miles, Carroll Shelby, and Ford, and how they were on a mission to challenge Ferrari's dominance in the 24 Hours of Le Mans during the late '60's. I love that era and movies like this make me curious to research the sport and the players.

Everest - 2015 - Jason Clarke, Jsoh Brolin, Thomas M Wright, Martin Henderson, Tom Goodman-Hill
I read the book "Into Thin Air" back when it first came out which was excellent. The movie is OK. I was lying in bed with a bad cold watching and all I could think was, you could not pay me enough to go climbing that high up. I simply cannot do without warmth and oxygen.

People who choose to engage in endeavors which put you in grave danger (is there another kind), I'm not sure I get it. The odds are something will go wrong and that's it. Yet they always make it sound like such an unexpected tragedy.

I enjoyed Into Thin Air, as well. It is a good book and a great example of how things go wrong. Often, we like to either assign blame to a single individual or rethink a single decision but catastrophic failure is often not that simple. It is a myriad of decisions that appear sound individually, but collectively add up to tragedy.

Another book of Krakauer that I enjoyed is Into the Wild. It’s similar in that a series of relatively innocent decisions combined to create tragedy.

FWIW, Krakauer is very critical of the film Everest

 

[Kolumbo]

I enjoyed Into Thin Air, as well. It is a good book and a great example of how things go wrong. Often, we like to either assign blame to a single individual or rethink a single decision but catastrophic failure is often not that simple. It is a myriad of decisions that appear sound individually, but collectively add up to tragedy.

Another book of Krakauer that I enjoyed is Into the Wild. It’s similar in that a series of relatively innocent decisions combined to create tragedy.

FWIW, Krakauer is very critical of the film Everest

Rob Hall made a really bad decision which was not at all sound by itself. Yes, the entire endeavor was extremely dangerous but he broke one of his most important rules and that was to head back down by 2 pm. That one decision cost several people their lives. I forget how it was described in Krakauer's book.

As Lou tells it:

Real Everest tragedy more horrifying than film shows

Real Everest tragedy more horrifying than film shows

www.thesun.co.uk

 

[ZooCougar]

Doctor Strange and the Mutiverse of Madness. 2022. At the Cinema. Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Strange, Elizabeth Olson as Scarlet Witch. Newcomer Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez. Director: Sam Raimi. That last should tell you something. This is weird. The premise is honestly pretty dumb. I won't spoil it but . America Chavez isn't from our universe, and has an ability that allows her to travel between universes, but can't control it. She's pursued by the villain here, who wants to steal that power. Dr. Strange (more than one version of him) helps her. A few other Marvel characters who may or may not have appeared in Marvel Cinematic Universe films make appearances in other universes. Some are more or less the same, some are quite different. This movie is clearly a bridge to try to bring X-Men and or Fantastic 4 into the fold.

There is a nice cameo from Bruce Campbell. I mentioned Raimi, and yes, this is sort of a horror movie. It has some parallels to to Evil Dead series, with an evil book of magic spells, portals to a different dimension/universe, demonic spirits from hell and so so. It's weird. The name "Multiverse of Madness" sounds like an old Twilight Zone episode and that's pretty close to the mark in some ways. Maybe Black Mirror now. It's not bad, but it isn't up to the usual MCU standards. It's got that campy Evil Dead quality to it. Maybe it will become a cult classic. Elizabeth Olson looks fantastic in her Scarlet Witch outfit, so there's that. Cumberbatch brings more acting chops than the role requires. Xochitl Gomez has a bright future.

Yeah. I gave it a Meh. Except for Elizabeth Olson.

Sam Raimi is not a bad director and the Bruce Campbell bit was funny,

But these directors and writers are shackled by the formula Disney/Marvel dictates. The main hero mentoring an up and comer and they spend the movie looking for something glowy before the bad guy gets to it.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Yeah. I gave it a Meh. Except for Elizabeth Olson.

Sam Raimi is not a bad director and the Bruce Campbell bit was funny,

But these directors and writers are shackled by the formula Disney/Marvel dictates. The main hero mentoring an up and comer and they spend the movie looking for something glowy before the bad guy gets to it.

In this case Disney added even more of their "formula", but I didn't go there on this board. People can make their own judgments on that.

 

[CL82]

Rob Hall made a really bad decision which was not at all sound by itself. Yes, the entire endeavor was extremely dangerous but he broke one of his most important rules and that was to head back down by 2 pm. That one decision cost several people their lives. I forget how it was described in Krakauer's book.

As Lou tells it:

Real Everest tragedy more horrifying than film shows

Real Everest tragedy more horrifying than film shows

www.thesun.co.uk

It’s been a while since I read it, but I think because multiple teams tried to cross at the same time people queued up decided not to head back down. I also have a vague recollection that Hall may have come back down for a client and then tried to summit with them.

Obviously, I have never done anything this extreme, but, for the much more mundane trips I’ve planned I have always said that you layout your decision framework while you’re not under stress and then you don’t deviate from it when you are under stress. If the rule is turnaround at 2 PM, then that’s what you do, even if the summit seems tantalizingly close.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Mr. Right

I really enjoyed this one. Sam Rockwell is a treasure.

 

[Waquoit]

The name of the dog in "The Thin Man" is Asta. The dog's name in real life was Skippy, and he appeared in a number of movies from that time period, including one of my favorite comedies of all time, "Bringing Up Baby".

This is a good fact to know when chatting up someone who does crossword puzzles.

 

[storrsroars]

This is a good fact to know when chatting up someone who does crossword puzzles.

You'd risk sounding like a rank newbie. Any serious crossword puzzle fan has known about Asta for years.

ASTA - crossword puzzle answer

 

[nwhoopfan]

"Dog" (2022) starring Channing Tatum. It was good, but not really the movie I thought I was getting into based on the previews. Definitely not a comedy. And it's not so much a movie about a broken dog as it is about a broken man.

 

[storrsroars]

Most of the documentaries I've watched this year have been crap. Haven't even finished most of them.

But then I watched "Mully" (Prime), about a guy in Kenya I'd never heard of. If you're having a bad day and really want to feel worse, watch this and then reflect on what you've actually accomplished for good in this life.

Dr. Mulli should have won a Nobel Prize already for humanitarian work. He should be speaking at the UN on how to solve global warming. He should be hired by major agricultural NGOs to turn desert into forests. He should be consulting kings and presidents on how to end religious/tribal strife in their countries. This guy is proof that one human can really change the world.

 

[Deadrody]

In this case Disney added even more of their "formula", but I didn't go there on this board. People can make their own judgments on that.

We'll see how long that all stays part of their formula. Netflix has apparently seen the light

 

[Palatine]

Doctor Strange and the Mutiverse of Madness. 2022. At the Cinema. Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Strange, Elizabeth Olson as Scarlet Witch. Newcomer Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez. Director: Sam Raimi. That last should tell you something. This is weird. The premise is honestly pretty dumb. I won't spoil it but . America Chavez isn't from our universe, and has an ability that allows her to travel between universes, but can't control it. She's pursued by the villain here, who wants to steal that power. Dr. Strange (more than one version of him) helps her. A few other Marvel characters who may or may not have appeared in Marvel Cinematic Universe films make appearances in other universes. Some are more or less the same, some are quite different. This movie is clearly a bridge to try to bring X-Men and or Fantastic 4 into the fold.

There is a nice cameo from Bruce Campbell. I mentioned Raimi, and yes, this is sort of a horror movie. It has some parallels to to Evil Dead series, with an evil book of magic spells, portals to a different dimension/universe, demonic spirits from hell and so so. It's weird. The name "Multiverse of Madness" sounds like an old Twilight Zone episode and that's pretty close to the mark in some ways. Maybe Black Mirror now. It's not bad, but it isn't up to the usual MCU standards. It's got that campy Evil Dead quality to it. Maybe it will become a cult classic. Elizabeth Olson looks fantastic in her Scarlet Witch outfit, so there's that. Cumberbatch brings more acting chops than the role requires. Xochitl Gomez has a bright future.

Marvel has this figured out. This is large, magical movie making at its best. Regardless of the madness or alternate universes, you buy it. It works. New York covered in flowers, it looks very nice, you accept it, even when the monsters are silly you accept it. In fact it's done so well you don't give it a second thought. This is hard and expensive to do. For Marvel, it's second nature. It's also why you pay to see this film in a theater. The scale is gigantic, don't watch it on your smart phone.

Or course, there are explosions, fights, chases. More importantly, it is fun. It has a great sense of humor and the story -given the premise- is plausible and interesting. Husky Hawk did good job of laying out the plot. Cumberbatch, as Strange, does a nice job of taking the material serious with a smile hid subtly behind his lips. He and Olsen carry the film. I enjoyed it. My wife didn't go. Good move. She would have hated it. Not for everyone but it you lke this sort of thing, Three stars

 

[nwhoopfan]

Hulu is remaking the French film "The Valet" (2006). I'll give it a try but I have a feeling they're going to butcher it. So I went back to the original, hadn't seen it in forever. Fun movie. Rich guy has been having an affair with a supermodel for 2 years, somehow keeping it secret from the press. She finally gets tired of waiting for him to leave his wife, so she breaks it off. But they slip up and get photographed together by a paparazzi. An Everyman happened to be walking by and also got in the frame. So...rich guy arranges/bribes/pays the model and the Joe Schmo to pretend to be a couple to get the media and his wife off his back. The wife is 10x more clever than her husband, knows exactly what is going on, and toys with him relentlessly. Joe Schmo had just proposed to his girlfriend and got turned down, so he's heartbroken. Many awkward situations and humor ensues.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The Lost City. 2022. Wanted something low effort, stumbled on this on Paramount+ (I have too many services). Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, Brad Pitt. Bullock is a cheesy romance novelist, who writes about Indian Jones type explorer/archeologists in a series. Tatum is her cover model, who her audiences think is the male character Dash. Tatum secretly thinks of himself that way, and of Bullock as the female lead (even though she's a shut in since her archeologist husband died). Radcliffe is the evil British dude, who needs her to translate some ancient writing (she's evidently smart). Brad Pitt, in a short time, is brilliant and steals the show. Including the best line in the movie. It's a somewhat silly, slightly funny rom com with a dash of action. Bullock's outfit is ridiculous (her character agrees) but is intended to make you think "wow Sandra Bullock looks great for a 57 year old", and this 56 year old concurs. Brad Pitt looks even more great at 58. You won't miss anything if you skip it, nor will you hate yourself if you watch it. It did $168M at the box office. It isn't terrible, and if you have Paramount+, it's free.