Recently Watched Movies 2023

[HuskyHawk]

Oops, didn't finish my previous thought. I meant she's one to keep an eye on as her career continues.

I figured out what you meant. Saw her in Locke & Key but didn't think you could judge her acting from that (although English playing American was pretty solid). She's cute, but it takes more than that. Coda showed some real acting ability though.

 

[CL82]

I finally got to watch CODA. Enjoyed it. I've seen Emilia Jones in a few other things, she's definitely one to

I didn’t realize the mother was Marlee Matlin when I first watched it. It is a good movie.

 

[CL82]

Arctic (2018, Netflix). Mads Mikkelsen survives a crash of a small plane in Arctic. He's getting by with a fairly meticulous routine. A research helicopter crashes sometime later. There is one survivor, I believe Thai, who's critically injured and speaks little to no English. The movie is about Mads trying to keep her alive and make it to a research hut her helicopter had been headed to. Very little dialogue. Not a ton of action. Mostly a guy dealing with the elements and a polar bear. I found it worthwhile, but not a must-see.

I liked the start of it a lot, but I felt like it petered out at the end somewhat

 

[CL82]

Greenland (2020)

At first glance, this seems to be yet another disaster movie. It’s not even all that original. A large comet has broken up and is heading to earth. As fragments descend, more more cities are destroyed, and government officials predict there will be one large piece that will hit that will be a “extinction level event.“ The government has chosen some to survive, based upon their skill sets. That’s where the movie gets interesting. If you were chosen, you cannot bring anyone other than your immediate family. Do you go or do you stay? If you go what do you say to your friends and neighbors? What if you’re not chosen? What would you do to survive?

There’s plenty of action with a lot of twists and turns. Gérard Butler, stars in it. He’s likable enough and it is probably the best movie I’ve seen him in. It also stars Morena Baccarin who’s pretty easy on the eyes. Definitely worth watching.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The Menu. Several reviews here. Nickolas Hoult, Anya Taylor Joy, Ralph Fiennes. Guests travel to elitist restaurant on an island. The people are mostly insufferable. The chef and his staff as insufferable. Bad things happen to the mostly bad people. There are a couple of chuckles. While you know something is up, you don’t anticipate the real story because it’s so stupid. Kind of a waste of this cast, and with a less ridiculous motivation it might have been good.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022) - Netflix

Just a fun, fully entertaining movie. Good story, shot well, great ensemble cast led by Daniel Craig and Edward Norton. Big Madelyn Cline fan, for obvious reasons.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Narvik. Netflix. This was made in Norway, and the main language is Norwegian, with German and English mixed in. No actors you'd know, but the cast does an excellent job. It's the story of what was really Germany's first defeat in WWII. Narvik Norway is very far north in Norway, and is a port need a highly productive Iron ore mine. The Germans got most of their iron ore there, and the British got a lot as well. Naturally, in 1940, neither wanted the other to get that ore. Norway is neutral, but Germany violates that and occupies the cities, including Narvik. The story centers around locals, in particular one young family, which I think serves as a proxy for how the battle for Narvik impacted many. It's quite well done, well worth a watch.

 

[storrsroars]

The Substitute (2017, Netflix). Small Argentinian film about a substitute teacher whose school encounters a drug bust facilitated by one of two opposing mayoral candidates to discredit the other. Students are accused of drug dealing and threatened. Some other strange subplots that aren't explored, like the guy's wife leaves him for a lesbian relationship, and his dad is some murky character called "The Chilean" who has all sorts of connections, but doesn't seem to do anything other than run a soup kitchen. I'm not sure what I really watched. Not the kind of movie that would find financing in USA.

Jim Jefferies "High and Dry" (2023, Netflix) It's a great month for comedy. Louis CK released a livestream of his MSG show, Chris Rock is dropping a new special next week, and Jefferies dropped this one yesterday. I'm a huge Jefferies fan. IMO, he surpassed Bill Burr when he released "Intolerant", while Burr mostly rehashed previous topics in his Red Rocks concert. In this one, we find Jefferies is no longer drinking, but has found edibles. There is extremely detailed telling of having sex with his pregnant wife. There's plenty of transgender stuff (he's actually empathetic, but manages to offend anyway), a story of a friend coming out, and he goes after Greta Thunberg at the beginning and end. I enjoy him because he's just so foul, but also extremely likeable, and a fantastic storyteller. But this hour isn't as cohesive as "Intolerant", and if he's not divorced before the next special, it'll be a surprise. You'll likely be uncomfortable at some point, or maybe many points. Even with that, I've already watched it twice.

 

[ZooCougar]

Greenland (2020)

At first glance, this seems to be yet another disaster movie. It’s not even all that original. A large comet has broken up and is heading to earth. As fragments descend, more more cities are destroyed, and government officials predict there will be one large piece that will hit that will be a “extinction level event.“ The government has chosen some to survive, based upon their skill sets. That’s where the movie gets interesting. If you were chosen, you cannot bring anyone other than your immediate family. Do you go or do you stay? If you go what do you say to your friends and neighbors? What if you’re not chosen? What would you do to survive?

There’s plenty of action with a lot of twists and turns. Gérard Butler, stars in it. He’s likable enough and it is probably the best movie I’ve seen him in. It also stars Morena Baccarin who’s pretty easy on the eyes. Definitely worth watching.

It’s very watchable as at the movies in the something Is Burning series.

 

[ZooCougar]

One of the benefits of having young kids is that you can go see an awful move like Ant Man: Quantumania and completely blame it on them.

My only conclusion after seeing this movie is that yes Zoomers, who are the primary audience who this crap is made for are truly the dumbest Americans so far. Because this is actually considered adult entertainment.

And Paul Rudd despite being in a horrible movie has to be one of the most likeable actors out there.

Here are the spoiler free highlights:

Selena Kyle went to Quantum Land and cheated on Michael Douglas with sad Bill Murray.

Everyone gets an Ant Suit!

When it comes to superheroes and writing a Marvel movie with a decent story “There’s always room to grow”!

I just wish Hollywood with siphon off 1/20th of the budget of one of these awful movies to just make one more Good Will Hunting or Heat.

 

[nwhoopfan]

One of the benefits of having young kids is that you can go see an awful move like Ant Man: Quantumania and completely blame it on them.

My only conclusion after seeing this movie is that yes Zoomers, who are the primary audience who this crap is made for are truly the dumbest Americans so far. Because this is actually considered adult entertainment.

And Paul Rudd despite being in a horrible movie has to be one of the most likeable actors out there.

Here are the spoiler free highlights:

Selena Kyle went to Quantum Land and cheated on Michael Douglas with sad Bill Murray.

Everyone gets an Ant Suit!

When it comes to superheroes and writing a Marvel movie with a decent story “There’s always room to grow”!

I just wish Hollywood with siphon off 1/20th of the budget of one of these awful movies to just make one more Good Will Hunting or Heat.

Did Kathryn Newton get to do much of anything? She's barely in the trailers.

 

[ZooCougar]

Did Kathryn Newton get to do much of anything? She's barely in the trailers.

She’s just there playing your cookie cutter idealistic teenager who knows better than all the adults around her character. Her big line is “don’t be a dick”. Profound.

If she actually has acting talent then this is the vehicle for it.

 

[Dove]

Uncut Gems (2019) - Now this was a heckava performance from Sandler. I think he nailed it, too. The energy from him was virtually nonstop. No way to like any character in this story, either. No one is made to be endearing.

Sad end, tho.

Overall, I kind of enjoyed it.

 

[nwhoopfan]

She’s just there playing your cookie cutter idealistic teenager who knows better than all the adults around her character. Her big line is “don’t be a dick”. Profound.

If she actually has acting talent then this is the vehicle for it.

I think she definitely has talent. Sounds like it was not utilized at all here.

 

[Waquoit]

Here are the spoiler free highlights:

Selena Kyle went to Quantum Land and cheated on Michael Douglas with sad Bill Murray.

I thought Selena Kyle was Catwoman?

 

[ZooCougar]

I thought Selena Kyle was Catwoman?

LOL

 

[CL82]

Everyone gets an Ant Suit!

Possible future Oprah prize?

 

[HuskyHawk]

2 Guns. Netflix. It was trending, thought it was new but it's from 2013. Buddy cop movie with a twist. Denzel and Mark Wahlburg initially appear to be dug dealers working with a cartel in Mexico. Denzel is DEA and Wahlburg is Naval intelligence. Neither know, and they are trying to burn the other as they take down a cartel leader. Stuff goes very wrong, and ultimately they have to team up. It certainly isn't the best movie you'll see, or the worst. It's a decent action flick with some twists and some funny moments.

 

[storrsroars]

2 Guns. Netflix. It was trending, thought it was new but it's from 2013. Buddy cop movie with a twist. Denzel and Mark Wahlburg initially appear to be dug dealers working with a cartel in Mexico. Denzel is DEA and Wahlburg is Naval intelligence. Neither know, and they are trying to burn the other as they take down a cartel leader. Stuff goes very wrong, and ultimately they have to team up. It certainly isn't the best movie you'll see, or the worst. It's a decent action flick with some twists and some funny moments.

I watched it last night as well. At some point maybe 20 minutes in I'd realized I'd seen it before, but couldn't remember everything about it. I almost hate to admit it, but I like Wahlberg in those kinds of mindless buddy movies.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I watched it last night as well. At some point maybe 20 minutes in I'd realized I'd seen it before, but couldn't remember everything about it. I almost hate to admit it, but I like Wahlberg in those kinds of mindless buddy movies.

He’s funny. He just has a way of being that over the top, somewhat outrageous friend who does crazy things and makes you laugh. Perhaps because he sort of was that. Denzel was a good straight man.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Gigi & Nate is based on a true story. A bit slow to develop. About a young man who becomes disabled and gets a capuchin monkey as a service animal. It takes a long time, but eventually there is a legal battle over whether capuchins can be pets or service animals in the State of Tennessee. The monkey steals the movie. Although it's kind of jarring going back and forth between a real animal and CGI. I'm just glad this was something with Josephine Langford that I could actually watch (I tried about 30 minutes of the first of the "After" series and I just couldn't do it; I think there are about 14 of them...okay maybe not quite that many).

 

[Palatine]

Quantumania -2023 More mindless fun from Marvel. Decent story wrapped in over the top characters, graphics and extended fighting. If you like this sort of movie you will sort of like this movie. I did. Nobody plants their tongue more firmly in their cheek than Marvel. Many of the characters were pretty silly. The bad guys lost. The good guys won. Yep, the CG is spectacular, thing is, there is so much spectacular CG around these days that the spectacular is getting pretty commonplace. I saw it on the big screen that helped. Two and half stars.

 

[HuskyHawk]

It’s a WWII weekend.

Fury. Brad Pitt, Shia Lebouf, John Bernal. Late stages of WWII a Sherman tank crew struggles to stay alive while completing some key missions. There’s not much armor left in the theater and they were talk the Germans are out of Tiger tanks. It’s a bit long but there are good performances all around and it shows the savagery of war. Apparently an old tank guy says it’s extremely realistic. They used real Shermans and the last Tiger in existence. Solid 3/5

The Forgotten Battle. Dutch, but in English and German as well. Everyone speaks what they would have, which is how it should be. Terrific acting, and Susan Radder who plays a young Dutch woman, will be a star. This tells of operation Market Garden. A bold move post D-Day to fly troops behind the lines in an effort to free up a port in Holland so the Allies could land troops deeper in Europe. It‘s centered on Zeeland, an area of islands and marshes, and starts with focus on the local Dutch, British & Canadians in the UK and a soldier fighting for the Germans in Russia. Those personal stories converge in Zeeland. Unlike American movies, the focus here is what the war did to people, civilians and soldiers alike. Personal sacrifice is the theme and it’s a terrific tale of a critical part of the war we don’t hear much about. Highly recommended. 4/5

 

[nwhoopfan]

"Wildcat" is an interesting documentary. It's a tough watch though. A young British military vet is depressed, has PTSD and self harms and has suicidal thoughts. He goes to the Peruvian rain forest to just disappear from his life. There he finds himself involved in a wildlife rehabilitation project headed by an American student working on her doctorate (from Seattle and UW). The main focus of the film is their attempt to raise an orphaned ocelot kitten and prepare it to live in the wild eventually. Streaming on Amazon.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I also tried "Spin Me Round." I'd seen poor reviews of it, but I wondered how bad can it be? Alison Brie and Aubrey Plaza are 2 things it had going for it. Well...it was really bad. I couldn't get thru it. Deadly dull, just was going nowhere. Aubrey breathed a little bit of life into it, but she disappeared about halfway thru. I fast forwarded thru large chunks of it just to see if anything ever happened. Not really. Molly Shannon kinda plays the same character every time out, and she was just horrible here. A living, breathing buzzkill that ground everything to a halt every time she was on screen.