Hadn't been watching that much on Hulu lately, and just sick of advertisements with streaming content. Haven't had Netflix streaming for almost a year, so I'll try that again at least for a little while. Watched "Metal Lords." Fairly entertaining, wasn't quite what I expected. More drama, less comedy. About a couple of unpopular kids at a high school who decide winning the upcoming battle of the bands is the answer to all their problems.
Last Night in SoHo. (2021). So my wife wanted to see this. I didn’t know anything about it. I think that’s best so I won’t share much here. Stars Anna Taylor Joy and Thomasin McKenzie, who is really the main lead. Diana Rigg and Matt Smith have juicy roles as well, and Ms. Rigg‘s is rather fitting. I knew Ms. McKenzie was the girl in JoJo Rabbit, and evidently she turned into a knockout. She’s a terrific actress too, should be the next Jennifer Lawrence.
It’s a psychological thriller of sorts and it’s amazing. Possibly the best movie I’ve seen this year. Once its gets going it just picks up speed and the tension is high. For anyone photo or motion sensitive, there are flashing lights and my wife got sick (she still loved it).
"Last Night in Soho" was creepy. Story went in a different direction than I expected. Anya Taylor-Joy and Thomasin McKenzie were both really good. I didn't exactly love it though. The numerous scenes of the 2 actresses mirror imaging each other was definitely intriguing.
I thought the movie was a bit of a train wreck, barely saved by an interesting if incoherent ending. I think this was Diana Rigg's last role, and she does a pretty good job. I increasingly think Anya Taylor Joy is getting by on her very distinctive look but isn't actually that good an actress. McKenzie was hysterical most of the movie, which I guess is acting of a sort. I would not recommend this movie.
The movie's marketing is very deceptive. This is more of a run of the mill horror movie than a psycho thriller. To make it a psycho thriller, Eloise would have to be schizophrenic. How or why does she see the ghosts? Also, the boyfriend character is never really explained. Why does he put up with McKenzie's insane behavior?
Hustle (2022) - I'm a huge basketball fan and my wife played travel basketball as a kid, so that mutual enjoyment of the movie has a bit of typecast bias. That being said, I loved this movie.
The two hours flew by as the plot line was smooth, the connection to Philadelphia was genuine and the acting from a cast of basketball players, a former rapper and an icon of my childhood stop looking at me swan! was good enough. I was most impressed with Juancho Hernangomez, who was endearing akin to watching the sporty kid perform in a school play. Kenny Smith was pretty hilarious too, the Majorca scene cracked me up.
This movie transcends sports and could be looked back a decade from now as one of the best sports movies of the decade. I'm no movie buff, but this has a shot of being one of the best movies of the year?
I thought the movie was a bit of a train wreck, barely saved by an interesting if incoherent ending. I think this was Diana Rigg's last role, and she does a pretty good job. I increasingly think Anya Taylor Joy is getting by on her very distinctive look but isn't actually that good an actress. McKenzie was hysterical most of the movie, which I guess is acting of a sort. I would not recommend this movie.
The movie's marketing is very deceptive. This is more of a run of the mill horror movie than a psycho thriller. To make it a psycho thriller, Eloise would have to be schizophrenic. How or why does she see the ghosts? Also, the boyfriend character is never really explained. Why does he put up with McKenzie's insane behavior?
Haven't seen the movie, but Anya Taylor Joy annoyed the crap out of me in Peaky Blinders with her over the top interpretation of what was already a seedy crap character. And I do not find her attractive one bit. Doctors leaned heavily on the forceps during delivery I think.
Continuing to play catch up w/ Netflix. "The Adam Project" was entertaining. Ryan Reynolds dialed it back just a little on playing Ryan Reynolds in this one. I thought maybe the younger version of him was another Tremblay, but it was some other kid actor. I don't think I've seen Alex Mallari Jr. since the tv series Dark Matter was cancelled, he plays a good baddie.
"The Weekend Away" was okay. Twisty thriller. Kind of a non stop parade of red herrings. Hadn't seen Leighton Meester in anything in a while.
Haven't seen the movie, but Anya Taylor Joy annoyed the crap out of me in Peaky Blinders with her over the top interpretation of what was already a seedy crap character. And I do not find her attractive one bit. Doctors leaned heavily on the forceps during delivery I think.
I think she's good in this one. It's a complicated movie, Nelson just didn't like it. His spoiler tag asked weird questions, like why a young guy would be interested in Thomason Mackenzie's character. She's very attractive for starters, and is a fish out of water at the design school, the guy is also a fish out of water and so there's a connection.
I thought it was well done, good performances all around in roles that were not easy.
Fishermen's Friends (2019) - This British film is based on a true story. A cynical London music producer travels to Cornwall, and encounters a group of 10 working fishermen (not exactly a young group of men) who locally sing songs of the sea and sea chanties. A true fish out of water tale as the music producer and the singing fishermen lead rather different lives and and definitely carry different values. Eventually the music producer takes a liking to both the chanty group and the village that they reside in. The producer takes on the task of trying to sign the singing fishermen to a record deal, something that seems pretty unlikely when it is first suggested. But it is interesting to see how the journey of this proposed record deal progresses.
My wife and I really enjoyed this film, partly because it really hit a musical hot spot for the two of us. We have been avid listeners to songs of the sea and sea chanties for many years, and since 1996, we have been attending annually the Connecticut Sea Music Festival, which until this year had been held at Mystic Seaport (this year it was held for the first time in Essex, CT). I expected to enjoy the music in this film, but I have to admit that I was a bit surprised that the overall story held to together for us.
Thor: Love and Thunder. 2022. Saw it opening night at the local Regal cinema. This is directed by Taika Waititi, so if you know his stuff, you know what to expect. I'll start by saying it isn't as good as Ragnarok, which was also directed by Taika. The cast is the same. Brief scenes with the Guardians of the Galaxy to start. There is a fair bit of flashback/story/narrator to get from there to now, with Taika narrating as Korg telling a story to kids. Christian Bale is the new arrival and he's the bad guy. He's pretty good. Tessa Thompson is back as Valkyrie, now leader of the Asgardians on earth (she lost weight and looks great). New Asgard has a stage show, with Matt Damon as Loki, Sam Neil as Odin and Luke Hemsworth as Thor. I won't reveal too much, but Bale is processed by an evil sword and becomes the "God Killer" and must be stopped. It's quite funny. Russell Crowe joins his abundant fellow Aussies as a funny, out of shape Zeus. It's a fun enjoyable movie. Doesn't take itself seriously. Spoilers now:
"The "Love" is a little girl who was Bale's daughter. She is brought back and becomes "Love", and is adopted by Thor. Hence "Love and Thunder". She's played by Chris Hemsworth's daughter. "
and
"In the post credit teaser, we see that Zeus is pissed at Thor and seeks revenge on him and the humans that now worship superheroes instead of the old gods. He turns to Hercules to sort out Thor, and he's played by Brett Goldstein from Ted Lasso. Roy Kent is indeed, everywhere."
He kinda got back on track again w/ Rocknrolla and The Gentlemen. The Sherlock Holmes movies and his liberal reinterpretation of King Arthur were decent, but something very different. Wrath of Man was the first film he'd made w/ Statham in quite a while, but again something kind of different.
Okay, so the protaganist is on a farm that has about 15 people, mostly slaves on it. And no one can figure out it is the new slave that looks like the heavyweight champ who is sneaking around killing everyone. Not a bad story but c'mon man.
Fearless (1993) With Jeff Bridges, John Turturro, Rosie Perez and a super young Benicio Del Toro.
Peter Weir is a great director. And this is probably the best plane crash ever filmed. Inspired by the United Sioux City crash. It’s a look at one man’s strange experience with PTSD.
I do wonder when this starts affecting their bottom line enough for them to care. The Buzz Lightyear movie was an unmitigated disaster, but do they even care ?
Fearless (1993) With Jeff Bridges, John Turturro, Rosie Perez and a super young Benicio Del Toro.
Peter Weir is a great director. And this is probably the best plane crash ever filmed. Inspired by the United Sioux City crash. It’s a look at one man’s strange experience with PTSD.
That plane crash sequence still haunts me.....and I haven't seen that movie in years. The music during that sequence really added to the haunting vibe.
I always thought this was an under appreciated movie.
His first two major motion pictures were Lock, Stock (good) and Snatch (great). He never really could recapture that magic again. Some such as RocknRolla, Sherlock and Gentleman were decent, but not on the level of Snatch. I blame Madonna, haha.
Icarus flew too close to the sun against his father's warning and melted the wax that held his wings.
He made Lock, Stock & Snatch, started dating Madonna, then followed Snatch with Swept Away. His wings had melted off.
Thor: Love and Thunder. 2022. Saw it opening night at the local Regal cinema. This is directed by Taika Waititi, so if you know his stuff, you know what to expect. I'll start by saying it isn't as good as Ragnarok, which was also directed by Taika. The cast is the same. Brief scenes with the Guardians of the Galaxy to start. There is a fair bit of flashback/story/narrator to get from there to now, with Taika narrating as Korg telling a story to kids. Christian Bale is the new arrival and he's the bad guy. He's pretty good. Tessa Thompson is back as Valkyrie, now leader of the Asgardians on earth (she lost weight and looks great). New Asgard has a stage show, with Matt Damon as Loki, Sam Neil as Odin and Luke Hemsworth as Thor. I won't reveal too much, but Bale is processed by an evil sword and becomes the "God Killer" and must be stopped. It's quite funny. Russell Crowe joins his abundant fellow Aussies as a funny, out of shape Zeus. It's a fun enjoyable movie. Doesn't take itself seriously. Spoilers now:
"The "Love" is a little girl who was Bale's daughter. She is brought back and becomes "Love", and is adopted by Thor. Hence "Love and Thunder". She's played by Chris Hemsworth's daughter. "
and
"In the post credit teaser, we see that Zeus is pissed at Thor and seeks revenge on him and the humans that now worship superheroes instead of the old gods. He turns to Hercules to sort out Thor, and he's played by Brett Goldstein from Ted Lasso. Roy Kent is indeed, everywhere."
Marvel has made humor a staple of its superhero movies. Thor L&T crossed the line from funny to silly, bordering on stupid. And while Marvel has never sunk to the level of Jar Jar Binks. L&T comes close on number of occasions.
I love these movies. The size, scope, imagination and spectacle turns me into a 13 year old buying Fantastic Four #2 at the corner store. Thor certainly delivered on that count.
What made superhero movies great was handling them in an adult manor. The film Batman Returns took itself seriously and kept a twinkle in its eyes. It changed the genre. L&T is closer to Batman the campy TV series than Batman Returns. I liked it. But even I will draw the line at some point.
That plane crash sequence still haunts me.....and I haven't seen that movie in years. The music during that sequence really added to the haunting vibe.
I always thought this was an under appreciated movie.
Marvel has made humor a staple of its superhero movies. Thor L&T crossed the line from funny to silly, bordering on stupid. And while Marvel has never sunk to the level of Jar Jar Binks. L&T comes close on number of occasions.
I love these movies. The size, scope, imagination and spectacle turns me into a 13 year old buying Fantastic Four #2 at the corner store. Thor certainly delivered on that count.
What made superhero movies great was handling them in an adult manor. The film Batman Returns took itself seriously and kept a twinkle in its eyes. It changed the genre. L&T is closer to Batman the campy TV series than Batman Returns. I liked it. But even I will draw the line at some point.
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