Recently Watched Movies 2023 | Page 7 | The Boneyard

Recently Watched Movies 2023

It’s a rush hour kind of evening. Tried Police Story, but subtitles said no.

Rush Hour 1 actually pretty good.

Now it’s time for 2.

Would have preferred Martin Lawrence over Chris Rock, but what do I know?

 
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"A Perfect Getaway" is a bit cheesy, but entertaining enough, and has rewatch potential. Probably seen it 3 times now I think? Anyway its got beautiful Hawaiian scenery, Timothy Olyphant playing one of his classic characters, the vastly underrated IMO Steve Zahn, Milla Jovovich, Kiele Sanchez and Chris Hemsworth before anybody knew who he was. And Marley Shelton, who is kind of a chameleon.

A couple on a dream honeymoon in Hawaii, when it all goes wrong and suspicion overrules everything else as there is a murderous pair on the loose on the islands.
 
"Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre." Title is a bit of a mouthful. Been waiting a while to finally see it. Plenty entertaining. As a spy caper, nothing new really. Maybe a bit over long. But you have Jason Statham, Hugh Grant and Aubrey Plaza doing their thing and looking like they were having fun doing it. That alone makes it worth a watch. Having Josh Hartnett, Carey Elwes and Eddie Marsan along for the ride didn't hurt. I wasn't familiar with Bugzy Malone (seriously, that's what he goes by) but he had a good turn as well.
 
Ant Man and the Wasp Quantumania. Marvel haters are gonna hate. This is certainly the worst of the three films. Stars the usual crew of Rudd, Evangeline Lilly (not looking great), Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer. Newcomer as Scott Lang's daughter Cassie is Kathryn Newton. She's cute and I liked her in Supernatural. So Cassie is an "activist" (and living in SF there's a lot to be concerned about) but also smart it seems. She invented doohicky with help from Hank Pym. Everyone gets sucked into the quantum realm, which is really a subatomic universe. Is it possible those exist? Yeah, maybe. This is all CGI all the time. Nice looking though. I won't spoil the plot which goes back to Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) being there for 30 years and what she didn't tell anyone. This is the modern equivalent of a Saturday Matinee B movie. Something like 20,000 leagues under the sea, Voyage to the bottom of the Sea, etc. It's not really trying to be anything else. It's perfectly ok if that's all you expect.
 
White Men Can't Jump (Hulu 2023) - Really good remake of the Wesley Snipes/Woody Harrelson/Rosie Perez classic. The 2023 movie is more of a tribute to the feeling of the original rather than a true remake, which is absolutely the right way to go. There is no way to recapture the energy of the original, so this one goes in a slightly different direction while still staying true to the original's homage to Los Angeles street ball. It is hard not to compare the acting, and Sinqua Walls and Jack Harlow do not have the chemistry or energy of Snipes and Harrelson. I also feel like Snipes and Harrelson looked more like street ballers in the action sequences of the original than Walls and Harlow do.

I actually like the plot of the new one better. The second act of the original doesn't make sense, especially the key turning point in his relationship with his girlfriend when Billy Hoyle bets everything on a single dunk attempt. That is a stupid thing for Hoyle to do, and he is a hustler, so why is he making an emotional bet? The motivations of the characters in the 2023 version are better explained and more realistic, and the hustles are a little more layered in the new one, which makes them better.
 
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Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

This movie really struck a chord with me. For the first 95% percent of the movie, I was watching a sweet, well directed/acted movie was incredibly accurate historical settings...I was immediately transported to 1970 and lived it even though I was born 16 years later.

The last 5% of the movie, I couldn't stop crying. It just ripped open my subconscious and opened synapses not necessarily related to the movie directly, but I'm certain the feeling/emotion of the movie will connect with anyone .

One of the better movies in recent memory.
 
Hey Adrien! said:
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

This movie really struck a chord with me. For the first 95% percent of the movie, I was watching a sweet, well directed/acted movie was incredibly accurate historical settings...I was immediately transported to 1970 and lived it even though I was born 16 years later.

The last 5% of the movie, I couldn't stop crying. It just ripped open my subconscious and opened synapses not necessarily related to the movie directly, but I'm certain the feeling/emotion of the movie will connect with anyone .

One of the better movies in recent memory.
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Well, that gives some context to the throwaway line in Deadpool.
 
The Pope's Exorcist. Stars Russell Crowe, who is surprisingly good as an Italian Priest, Father Amorth. The character was a real person. The story, well, some of it is based on Fr. Amorth's books, but the core exorcism in the movie is not. It's entirely fictionalized. The broader story of Fr. Amorth is quite good, the challenges within the church (the young American Cardinal is an absurd error however, none have existed) and it rings fairly true. That's where Crowe is best. You like this guy. Once we proceed to the final exorcism, there are some really interesting twists, and revelations that are also very good. The weak link is some of supernatural elements that occur during the exorcism itself. But there's a welcome human element that helps bring it back from that. Overall, quite good, could have been better with a few tweaks.
 
Letsgohuskies11 said:
The Quiet Girl - Most of it is in Irish with English subtitles. Visually very beautiful. Not a ton of dialogue but very moving. Takes place in early 1980s in Ireland and is about a girl who is an outcast to both her own family and the world around her and goes to live with relatives she's doesn't really know in Waterford on a farm. @HuskyHawk might enjoy this. Playing in a lot of indie movie theatres.
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It's out on dvd now. I enjoyed it. The title is appropriate, it's a quiet, subtle movie.

The ending though. Rough. You want to think she's going to be okay...but it's really hard to imagine she will be. Her home is a terrible place to be, all the more so after she had a couple months of seeing what a real family is like.
 
nwhoopfan said:
At some point I thought I wanted to see "Babylon." Then I got it, and it sat around unwatched for several weeks. Probably the 3 hour run time scared me off. I knew for sure it was going to be self indulgent, with a lot of material that should've been edited out, and wasn't. No movie ever needs to be 3 hours long. I finally watched it. I was right. Pretty meh. A few good moments here and there. The performances were fine, especially Margot Robbie. But it just didn't seem to have much to say, which is bad for a very long movie. And as much as the Roaring 20s had a reputation as a wild time, I think they injected quite a bit of late 20th or early 21st century anachronisms into the mix, which was pretty dumb I thought. There was some pretty crazy and gross stuff going on, which added absolutely nothing. Huge cast, many of which had almost nothing to do, they were just there for a scene or two.
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Yeah, pretty much feel the same. The first half to two thirds was good, albeit mostly pointless. The downturn in the back half was unnecessarily dark and depressing. Not sure what "message" they were trying to convey, but I didn't get it. And then, some of the plot points were completely implausible in reality.
 
HuskyHawk said:
The Pope's Exorcist. Stars Russell Crowe, who is surprisingly good as an Italian Priest, Father Amorth. The character was a real person. The story, well, some of it is based on Fr. Amorth's books, but the core exorcism in the movie is not. It's entirely fictionalized. The broader story of Fr. Amorth is quite good, the challenges within the church (the young American Cardinal is an absurd error however, none have existed) and it rings fairly true. That's where Crowe is best. You like this guy. Once we proceed to the final exorcism, there are some really interesting twists, and revelations that are also very good. The weak link is some of supernatural elements that occur during the exorcism itself. But there's a welcome human element that helps bring it back from that. Overall, quite good, could have been better with a few tweaks.
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Yeah, the 20 something year old cardinal was a bit silly.
 
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NEforceUConn said:
Was in a Clint Eastwood kind of mode. Heartbreak Ridge is kind of watchable, more Eastwood dialogue than usual.

All in all it’s OK. Now I’m looking forward to Gran Torino, hoping I have 3 glasses of wine remaining.

Ok thought Gran Torino free, but no.
Switching to Black Hawk Down.
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Heartbreak Ridge is a classic. Probably seen that 25 times or more.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Air. This was fun. Just a nice story, enjoyable for the whole family. Agree Damon and Bateman were good. Don’t know about Afflect bc Phil is weird. I thoight Viola Davis was good, but I don’t know much about Mike’s mom. The guy playing the agent was great. It’s an interesting look at a moment and decision that utterly changed the athletic shoe industry. A transformational point in time.
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My only gripe is that it kinda ran out of steam towards the end. You know how it turns out, so there isn't any kind of payoff. I feel like they might have been better off tightening it up a bit and continuing into his actual playing career some where there might have been a payoff that you don't remember. Jordan and Nike you know. The intimate details of his playing career, especially early, not so much.
 
The new Dungeons and Dragons movie is a lot of fun. Chris Pine is a really versatile actor, he can pretty much do it all. Is anyone having more fun making movies these days than Hugh Grant? He's just hamming it up and looking like he's having a blast in everything I've seen him in.
 
HuskyBaggins said:
Yeah, the 20 something year old cardinal was a bit silly.
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Watch either of the Borgia series. One is much better than the other. Can't remember which.
 
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Three Thousand Years of Longing. Prime. Stars Tilda Swinton as Alithea and Idris Elba as the Djinn. Alithea is a professor of narratives, storytelling. The stories that defined civilization through the ages. She’s in Istanbul for a conference and finds a genie in a bottle. Most of the film is just the two of them, punctuated by stories of the Djinn’s past. She is a lonely soul and loves stories so devours this. He wants her to wish, but she’s very cautious. It’s a romance of sorts and has some nice story elements. Definitely a date movie, but a decent one.
 
Shazam 2. The first Shazam was an unexpected treat. Quite funny and Zach Levi did a great job as a kid thrust into the role of adult superhero. Shades of Big. One of the best DC movies. This one falls a bit flat. It has some funny moments, and it's a nice family movie in the PG13 sense. Plenty of silly CGI action and good villains in Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu. There's more coming of age high school awkwardness and angst here, plus the older foster sister Mary, being a 20s age person dealing with kids and missing her own age group. She's the only one without two actors for the role. Looked at that way, it works well enough.
 
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To Leslie (2022) - My wife put it on and it turned out to be a really good movie. Andrea Riseborough is in almost every scene where she plays a woman who won $190,000 in a lottery and drank it away, and leaving her young son. She barely ends up at a motel where she lands a job and is saved by the two guys who run it. Mark Maron costars.

Worth a watch. Not a slow burn and not a firecracker.

On Netflix.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Three Thousand Years of Longing. Prime. Stars Tilda Swinton as Alithea and Idris Elba as the Djinn. Alithea is a professor of narratives, storytelling. The stories that defined civilization through the ages. She’s in Istanbul for a conference and finds a genie in a bottle. Most of the film is just the two of them, punctuated by stories of the Djinn’s past. She is a lonely soul and loves stories so devours this. He wants her to wish, but she’s very cautious. It’s a romance of sorts and has some nice story elements. Definitely a date movie, but a decent one.
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Wanted to like this but, unfortunately, didn’t. Not terrible, just not very good IMO.

Worst movie I’ve seen recently: 65, starring Adam Driver.
 
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. Same cast and characters. This is the finale of that group. The core story here revolves around Rocket, who is my favorite of the crew. We got origin stories for the others, and now finally get his. It's fairly well done in that regard, and there are side stories about Peter since new Gamora doesn't remember their relationship (and isn't in the group). Is it silly and does it contain the usual excessive CGI infused action/fighting scenes? Yes, of course. But it is funny and the Rocket story is a good one. The music is superb as usual. Notable are the acoustic version of Creep at the opening, which sets the tone for who Rocket seems himself as. It's well done. Since you've been gone - Rainbow was a semi-forgotten treat. Reasons - Earth, Wind & Fire, but overall it trended more recent than past films. There may be a Vol. 4 - but Peter Quill, Gamora, and Mantis won't be part of it.
 
I don't feel like scrolling through 9 pages to see if this has been mentioned but this is a really solid rainy/smoky day flick when you're glued to the couch.

Yup, you don't f around with action Allison Janney.



I'm praying for the sequel.
 
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RRR (2022) An Indian epic about freedom fighters during brutal English rule in the 1920s. This movie goes from the absurd to the ridiculously absurd. Very sylish. Well shot. Way too long long at over three hours. The special effects (especially the animals) are unconvincing. But overall this is first class film making on a monumental canvas.

The story and plot would be pretty thoughtful if the material wasn't treated in surreal fashion. There are dance scenes on a scale that puts Busby Berkeley to shame intertwined with the killing of children and massive riots with hundreds of extras. The fight scenes make John Wick seem realistic.

Did I mention way to long? At two hours this would have been fantastic escapism. It's lapses into indulgence which kills the viewing experience. Two stars.
 
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"Abandon" (2002) is one of many movies from around that time frame that I missed. Can't remember if I intended to or not. Stars Katie Holmes, right at the end of her run w/ Dawson's Creek. A very slow burn psychological thriller. An imperfect movie, but interesting enough. Maybe what really appealed to me about it was how many familiar faces were in the cast, early in their careers. Charlie Hunnam, Zooey Deschanel, Gabrielle Union, Melanie Lynskey, Gabriel Mann. Also a few older established actors like Benjamin Bratt and Fred Ward.

Hopefully without spoiling it, I will say this. Many movie titles seem random or somewhat meaningless. Not this one. It was very deliberately chosen.
 
Tried "Renfield" yesterday. Quit about halfway thru. Some false advertising with that one. It was really two different movies. There was what you thought you were getting, looking at the relationship between Dracula and Renfield thru a modern lens as codependent and toxic. Then there was this whole other thing happening, with Awkwafina as a cop surrounded by dirty cops, trying to take down the biggest crime syndicate in New Orleans by herself. The first part was working okay, the other part I had zero interest in. Is Awkwafina in every movie? It seems like it. I find her extremely annoying and not particularly compelling. Cage was chewing scenery as only he can, looking like he was having a great time in the role.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Tried "Renfield" yesterday. Quit about halfway thru. Some false advertising with that one. It was really two different movies. There was what you thought you were getting, looking at the relationship between Dracula and Renfield thru a modern lens as codependent and toxic. Then there was this whole other thing happening, with Awkwafina as a cop surrounded by dirty cops, trying to take down the biggest crime syndicate in New Orleans by herself. The first part was working okay, the other part I had zero interest in. Is Awkwafina in every movie? It seems like it. I find her extremely annoying and not particularly compelling. Cage was chewing scenery as only he can, looking like he was having a great time in the role.
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I still have to watch it because some was filmed at my cousin’t farm in Louisiana
 
HuskyHawk said:
I still have to watch it because some was filmed at my cousin’t farm in Louisiana
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Hopefully you'll enjoy it more than I did. I think it's what you would call a horror comedy. I was surprised by how gory it is, although it's done in a campy manner.
 
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