Recently Watched Movies 2022

[HuskyHawk]

The Volcano. Netflix. Documentary on the 2019 eruption of the Whakaari Volcano in New Zealand. It erupted while a couple of boats full of tourists were visiting. This is gripping and really well done. No experts, no outside narration of the tale. It’s told entirely by the people involved or close to those involved. Real camera and phone footage was used. The island is 45 kilometers from the mainland, so the rescue effort was largely lead by civilians. Highly recommended.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

RRR (NetFlix 2022) is as crazy as it looks. I liked it, and I am generally not a huge fan of blood-soaked action and superhero movies. I am sure I missed parts of the plot, but I am not sure that any of it matters that much. The big fight scenes are original and certainly interesting. For example, one of the heroes actually throws a leopard at a British soldier, which is not even close to the craziest thing that happens in that scene, much less the whole movie. There is a dance battle (in a movie set in 1920 India) to break things up

This movie has problems. The female characters do not seem to serve much purpose at all other than to be supportive of their men, and a three hour run time of just the same two guys fighting the British gets a little stale. There is a battle in a village (which took me a while to figure out why it was in the movie) that is a welcome reprieve from the Bheem and Raju show. If high body count action movies is your thing, you will like this movie a lot. If you just want to see something completely original, give it a try. If you are looking for a tight plot with complex characters, there are other options.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Lots of family time this week, which means lots of holiday movies.

In addition to the classics (Elf and Home Alone), I watched two holiday movies for the first time, both were pretty bad.

Last Christmas (2019)

My mother-in-law hyped this movie up so much we had to watch it one night. British holiday rom-com written and produced by Emma Thompson, someone who I generally can't stand. Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) is a directionless 30-something who meets Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians), a guy who is non-committal about their relationship until you realize why.

It was awful, I don't think I laughed once, no emotion when watching, however I fell asleep about 20 minutes in, giving me a much needed respite from hosting. My one applaud of the movie is Michelle Yeoh, whose character of Clarke's boss was sweet and genuine.

Pass.

Falling for Christmas (2022 - Netflix)

Now, this movie was also a holiday rom-com, but such a bad, formulaic one that its absurdity and poor acting was actually enjoyable.

Natural beauty Lindsay Lohan played the recycled role of Goldie Hawn in Overboard as the rich, vapid luxury ski resort heiress who loses her memory (by falling) and regains her life back thanks to local, family run innkeeper Chord Overstreet (Glee), but prior to her fall Lohan was engaged to a social influencer who is aggressively effeminate.

At first, I was like, this is bad, but then after about 30 minutes in, I was like, this is so bad, this is actually funny. Good movie to watch if you want to try to predict what happens next: you'll probably be right.

Recommended if you like stupid movies that don't care if they are stupid.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Lots of family time this week, which means lots of holiday movies.

In addition to the classics (Elf and Home Alone), I watched two holiday movies for the first time, both were pretty bad.

Last Christmas (2019)

My mother-in-law hyped this movie up so much we had to watch it one night. British holiday rom-com written and produced by Emma Thompson, someone who I generally can't stand. Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) is a directionless 30-something who meets Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians), a guy who is non-committal about their relationship until you realize why.

It was awful, I don't think I laughed once, no emotion when watching, however I fell asleep about 20 minutes in, giving me a much needed respite from hosting. My one applaud of the movie is Michelle Yeoh, whose character of Clarke's boss was sweet and genuine.

Pass.

I wouldn't call Last Christmas a romcom. I am not sure what it is, and it gets kind of dark at times because Emilia Clarke's character is so awful. I didn't hate it as much as you, but didn't like it that much either. I liked Clarke and Golding a lot. Yeoh is OK in this.

If you want a solid Christmas romcom to watch with your significant other, lovehard on Netflix is a good choice. Jimmy O. Yang is funny in everything he does, and the premise of this movie is really clever. Nina Dobrev is kind of just unlikable, but she is perfect for this movie. 105 minute run time with credits. Checks all the boxes for a holiday romcom.

 

[Dove]

A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas (2011) - Happened on this one. I laughed a lot. Never saw one of these films before. May need to.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"Black Adam" was fairly meh. I wanted to like it more. The trailers did a really nice job of making it look like a much better movie than it actually was.

 

[nwhoopfan]

A little while ago I saw "Breakfast at Tiffanys" for the first time. I don't know exactly what I was expecting...but that definitely wasn't it. Kinda befuddled why that movie is referenced so often. There's just not much to it. Audrey looks nice, but her character isn't really all that great. Mickey Rooney playing a Japanese man...wow, that was really bad. You'd get shot for doing something like that now.

 

[CL82]

A little while ago I saw "Breakfast at Tiffanys" for the first time. I don't know exactly what I was expecting...but that definitely wasn't it. Kinda befuddled why that movie is referenced so often. There's just not much to it. Audrey looks nice, but her character isn't really all that great. Mickey Rooney playing a Japanese man...wow, that was really bad. You'd get shot for doing something like that now.

I think there’s something about dysfunctional people coming together and that’s satisfying. The Audrey Hepburn character in the George Peppard character are incredibly dysfunctional, but their dysfunctional goes together.

I never realized that was Mickey Rooney. It is a very cringe he performance.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Yes Man (2008)

Funny concept, well written and while Jim Carrey is the star, excellent ensemble cast with Bradley Cooper as the best friend plus Danny Masterson (That 70's Show), John Michael Higgins (Christopher Guest movies and so much more) and Rhys Darby (Flight of the Conchords).

Personally, this is Zooey Deschanel at her apex.

Even though the last 30 minutes lagged a bit, I enjoyed this very much. Embrace life, right!?

 

[dbmill]

Cyrano (2021) - There have been many movie adaptations of the well known play "Cyrano de Bergerac", as well as a bunch derivative versions such as the well known version "Roxanne", the 1987 film comedy which starred Steve Martin.

Anyway, "Cyrano" is a musical/dance version of "Cyrano de Bergerac". The film "Cyrano" is based on a 2018 musical stage play by the same name which keeps to the same basic story that "Cyrano de Bergerac" tells, only with music and dance added. The stage play starred Peter Dinklage as Cyrano and Haley Bennett as Roxanne, and both play the same roles in this movie version as well. So instead of having a large nose, the Cyrano in this story has a distinct lack of height, in keeping with Dinklage being 4 feet, 5 inches tall. Whatever the case, I thought both Dinklage and Bennett carried this movie very well, and that the musical and dance elements added quite well to the basic Cyrano story that we should all be used to by now. I quite enjoyed this film.

 

[Dove]

White Noise(2022) - Have 2 hours and 16 minutes till kill? This one is a chore.

Tons and tons of dialogue. Really good ensemble cast. Adam Driver is great.

Moral of this story...just believe in yourself. The whole supermarket scene during end credits is very cool.

Set in early 80s. Suburban life upended when a train hits an oil tanker. And the dealing with mother's little pills.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"Three Thousand Years of Longing" was a case of the trailers making you think you were going to see a totally different movie than what it actually was. This was the same director that brought us "Fury Road?!" Hard to believe. There were several vignettes with Idris Elba's djinn describing his previous experiences being released from his bottle. Those were somewhat interesting. That was maybe half of the movie. The rest was him talking with Tilda Swinton. It just wasn't interesting enough, and in the end seemed rather pointless. Swinton is fairly critically acclaimed, but I don't find her very compelling in most of her roles.

 

[Jay-Bone]

A little while ago I saw "Breakfast at Tiffanys" for the first time. I don't know exactly what I was expecting...but that definitely wasn't it. Kinda befuddled why that movie is referenced so often. There's just not much to it. Audrey looks nice, but her character isn't really all that great. Mickey Rooney playing a Japanese man...wow, that was really bad. You'd get shot for doing something like that now.

I always found it funny how Audrey's character is a female icon, yet she is nothing more than a vapid woman who left her family behind for a material lifestyle. Morally bankrupt and not to be looked up to.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Everything, Everywhere, All at once. Michelle Yeow. This is likely to be nominated for best picture. It shouldn’t win, but then what else is new. It’s a weird way to tell a story that ultimately is far less complicated than the movie itself. Immigrant is struggling with her laundry business, with her husband, with her daughter, her dad and the IRS. Enter a multitude of universe versions of her based on choices she didn’t make, and of course a villain that isn’t really. It’s funny at times, and the husband is great. Aside from that, it’s meh, and needlessly strange.

 

[Palatine]

Jurrasic Dominion. I'm not sure this is the actual name of the movie. But it doesn't matter, it's another serving of the same old slop. Lots of running away from dinosaurs large and small. No wonder they went extinct if they can't catch a 60-year Laura Dern. Lame story line. Couple hundred millions of dollars of special effects that we have seen before. Good dinosaurs. Evil corporations. Blah. Blah. Blah. Two stars.

 

[storrsroars]

Enough Said (Hulu). Glad to see this hit streaming, finally. Saw it about 8 years ago and enjoyed it. It's a movie aimed at mature folks. The leads (Julia Louis-Dreyfus & James Gandolfini in his penultimate role) are both divorced parents, each with one kid, and each kid is getting ready to go away to college. Both parents are apprehensive about becoming empty nesters. They meet at a party and nothing clicks at first. The second date goes better. But the Dreyfus character has a secret in which she learns about all the negatives of Gandolfini's character through one of her clients. Things unravel and get messy.

It's essentially a romcom, but no LOLs, just gentle humor regarding life's foibles and how the characters - mostly Dreyfus - deal with their issues. It's one of those small movies few people saw on its first go-round, but the film and cast were nominated for a bunch of film critics awards. Makes you wonder what else Gandolfini could've done as his character here is very different from anything else he's done.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Hey @Mano we need a 2023 thread

 

[dbmill]

Hey @Mano we need a 2023 thread

I certainly would love to see the 2022 summary of movies that were reviewed in this thread by @Mano as he has done the last few years, but at the same time I know it has to be a ton of work to do what he has done in the past. I appreciate what he has done in the past, but at the same time, I can certainly understand if he doesn't care or have the time to do it again, as it is a lot of work and a time consuming process to get it done.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I certainly would love to see the 2022 summary of movies that were reviewed in this thread by @Mano as he has done the last few years, but at the same time I know it has to be a ton of work to do what he has done in the past. I appreciate what he has done in the past, but at the same time, I can certainly understand if he doesn't care or have the time to do it again, as it is a lot of work and a time consuming process to get it done.

Absolutely. Was going to review The Pale Blue Eyes, but realized it should go in the 2023 thread if there is going to be one.

 

[storrsroars]

I certainly would love to see the 2022 summary of movies that were reviewed in this thread by @Mano as he has done the last few years, but at the same time I know it has to be a ton of work to do what he has done in the past. I appreciate what he has done in the past, but at the same time, I can certainly understand if he doesn't care or have the time to do it again, as it is a lot of work and a time consuming process to get it done.

Did Mano pull an 8893? Hasn't posted since August.

 

[CL82]

Enough Said (Hulu). Glad to see this hit streaming, finally. Saw it about 8 years ago and enjoyed it. It's a movie aimed at mature folks. The leads (Julia Louis-Dreyfus & James Gandolfini in his penultimate role) are both divorced parents, each with one kid, and each kid is getting ready to go away to college. Both parents are apprehensive about becoming empty nesters. They meet at a party and nothing clicks at first. The second date goes better. But the Dreyfus character has a secret in which she learns about all the negatives of Gandolfini's character through one of her clients. Things unravel and get messy.

It's essentially a romcom, but no LOLs, just gentle humor regarding life's foibles and how the characters - mostly Dreyfus - deal with their issues. It's one of those small movies few people saw on its first go-round, but the film and cast were nominated for a bunch of film critics awards. Makes you wonder what else Gandolfini could've done as his character here is very different from anything else he's done.

I watched this. It wasn’t what I thought it would be but I enjoyed it. Thanks for recommending it.

 

[CL82]

Did Mano pull an 8893? Hasn't posted since August.

I feel like this has to be one of two scenarios:

1). There is a new cooler Boneyard that some of us are not invited to.
Or
2) There is a psychopath slowly picking us off one of the time.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Just watched "The Menu." I just didn't get it. I didn't enjoy it at all. Some reviewers called it brilliant satire or very dark comedy. Didn't hit the mark for me. Seemed ridiculous and pointless. But Anya Taylor-Joy is always very watchable.

 

[storrsroars]

I feel like this has to be one of two scenarios:

1). There is a new cooler Boneyard that some of us are not invited to.
Or
2) There is a psychopath slowly picking us off one of the time.

The call is coming from inside the house!

 

[HuskyHawk]

Let’s just keep it rolling into 2023 then.

The Pale Blue Eye. Netflix, released last week. Stars Christian Bale as a grizzled former police investigator Augustus Landon, and Harry Melling and West Point Cadet Edgar Alan Poe. Both of them are superb. Melling has a creepy manner. Bale has really embraced middle age and it suits him. Landor is asked to investigate a crime at West Point in 1830. The academy is under scrutiny and some want it shut down. Poe is a cadet who is interested in the case and assists Lander. The cast is good except Gillian Anderson. The story is compelling and has many small twists as it unravels to a conclusion. It’s feels like it carries you forward and it’s a ride you can’t get off, like a book you can’t put down. Best Netflix movie in some time.