Recently Watched Movies 2024

[Waquoit]

I read a rave about The Kid Detective, an indy about a grown-up Encyclopedia Brown who's past peak. It's a murder mystery plus, I really liked it. I felt funny paying a rental fee when I have a number of subscriptions but it was worth it.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Only halfway watching it, it's on TV fairly often. Mark Wahlberg remake of Planet of the Apes (2001) is pretty dumb, but my goodness Estella Warren looked good. That alone almost makes it worth watching. Some big name actors playing various ape characters.

Yeah that movie is an outlier not connected to the new ones and it’s much worse. The new series of movies is pretty good.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Yeah that movie is an outlier not connected to the new ones and it’s much worse. The new series of movies is pretty good.

It was a big swing and a miss for Tim Burton. Really not his thing, fairly straight forward sci fi. It wasn't weird enough for him. Not sure why he was tabbed as the director for it.

 

[CL82]

Ready Or Not (2019) - A surprisingly entertaing movie. As as new bride entering into a new family, she has to follow a tradition with the fam by playing a game. The name of the game is on a card she pulls...and it's the worst card possible. She pulls the wrong game...Hide and Seek. Thus, she hides and the family has until dawn to kill her. They fail.

Thanks for the spoiler! There's no point in watching now!

 

[nwhoopfan]

I normally wouldn't post something if I don't finish a movie, but I think I set a new personal best for shortest amount of time to give up on something. I'd put "The Sweet East" on a list of stuff I wanted to check out a while ago, it just came to Hulu, so I tried it. Shaky hand held camera, annoying teenagers being annoying, 5 minutes and I was out. I know that's not enough time to really get a feel for something, but I just couldn't do it. I had looked at imdb reviews previously and it looked to be very much love it or hate it. If the first 5 minutes elicited such a negative response from me, I just decided to extrapolate and figured my time could be better spent doing something else.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"Desperation Road" is a tough watch. A bad choice ruined several lives. Good performances by leads Garrett Hedlund and Willa Fitzgerald. Mel Gibson had a supporting role. Slow burn, not exactly a thriller, more character driven, but some action/violence. Set in the deep south. Available on Tubi.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I normally wouldn't post something if I don't finish a movie, but I think I set a new personal best for shortest amount of time to give up on something. I'd put "The Sweet East" on a list of stuff I wanted to check out a while ago, it just came to Hulu, so I tried it. Shaky hand held camera, annoying teenagers being annoying, 5 minutes and I was out. I know that's not enough time to really get a feel for something, but I just couldn't do it. I had looked at imdb reviews previously and it looked to be very much love it or hate it. If the first 5 minutes elicited such a negative response from me, I just decided to extrapolate and figured my time could be better spent doing something else.

I got 15 minutes into the Brooke Shields romcom on Netflix before turning it off. She can’t act, and iCarly was pretty bad too, and the writing is ridiculously stupid. It was one of the most viewed movies on streaming last week and it is terrible.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I got 15 minutes into the Brooke Shields romcom on Netflix before turning it off. She can’t act, and iCarly was pretty bad too, and the writing is ridiculously stupid. It was one of the most viewed movies on streaming last week and it is terrible.

It seems like almost anything new on Netflix will jump into their top 10 list, at least temporarily. No indication of quality at all.

 

[nwhoopfan]

It seems like almost anything new on Netflix will jump into their top 10 list, at least temporarily. No indication of quality at all.

On that topic, "Madame Web" has been on the top of Netflix list the last several times I've checked, despite it getting absolutely trashed by everyone. Put something on Netflix, people will watch it, no matter what it is.

 

[Palatine]

Fall Guy (2024) Seemed like a good choice because I like action, wife likes rom-coms, and we both like Gosling. Well wrong. It is a bad movie on all accounts. We both thought it was bad. My wife thought the love story was "ridiculous." The action was okay but the characters were as shallow as a dog dish. The easiest way to put it is that every punch was telegraphed. It's obviously an expensive movie. They should have used the money to build a park. That is something that people could enjoy.

 

[storrsroars]

A Simple Favour (Netflix). Anna Kendrick is the perfect single mom. Blake Lively is not. Their kids are friends, play dates ensue. Then cheating. Then crime. All done fairly lightheartedly, with a solid supporting cast. Paul Feig directed. Not a waste of time for me, ymmv

 

[Deepster]

Anyone But You. Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell. Rom com. The two leads meet, have a fun night, really like each other then screw it up. Sweeney’s sister is dating Powell’s friend (female but it doesn’t matter). Then they get married in Australia and Sweeney and Powell who think they hate each other are thrust together. You know what happens. Lots of very good looking people in this, not just the leads. There are a few laughs and it’s reasonably fun.

Tired predictable premise. Horrible acting. Ridiculous storyline (stuff like a rehearsal dinner on a massive 40m dollar yacht with maybe 8 people on the entire boat).

Not even Sydney Sweeney's wondrous cans could have saved this dud.

 

[superjohn]

I was about to go to bed the other night and Eastern Promises came on HBO, I thought I'll just watch the first 5 minutes and ended up watching the whole thing. Saw it several times when it came out and it holds up beautifully. Cronenberg instantly transports you to his world of the Russian mob in London and Viggo is a chameleon. There's no wasted scenes and it's kind of a perfect movie.

Cronenberg has always been one of the most interesting directors. I'll go through a bunch of his movies again, watching Scanners tonight.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"The Decoy Bride" is from a few years ago (2011). I vaguely remember seeing trailers for it. I don't think I ever saw, it sure didn't seem familiar at any point. Amusing enough for a 90 minute movie. In the movie Alice Eve is an extremely popular actress who is stalked by the paparazzi constantly. She is supposed to be marrying David Tennant, a mildly successful author. She wants to have a paparazzi free wedding, but that is proving to be impossible. So they plan a stealth wedding for nearly the end of the earth, the outermost of the Outer Hebrides. Still doesn't throw everyone off the scent, so they come up with a crazy plan to stage a fake wedding with a local woman, played by Kelly Macdonald. There's something about her I find quite charming and appealing. Probably her voice as much as anything. It took me a bit to stop thinking "it's Merida from 'Brave.'" Anyway of course nothing goes to plan and much hijinx ensues.


Apparently the island this took place on, Hegg, is fictitious. Was filmed mainly on the Isle of Man.

 

[storrsroars]

Hadn't scrolled thru Prime in awhile and was surprised and delighted to find "The Station Agent" (2003) was there. Hadn't seen it in 20 years, but recalled I really enjoyed the quirkiness of it, albeit I forgot some of the plot (what little there is). This was the movie that introduced me to Peter Dinklage, and he's outstanding in it. For those unfamiliar with the story, he's a train buff who inherits a small train depot in rural NJ. He'd prefer to be left alone, but regular encounters with Bobby Cannavale as a chatty hot dog truck operator and Patricia Clarkson as a troubled divorcee make being alone all but impossible. A young Michelle Williams and 11-year old Raven Goodwin fill out a marvelous cast. It's not laugh out loud funny, but lots of chuckles in the early going. Gets a tad maudlin toward the end, but overall it's a movie that's far more than the sum of its parts. Highly recommend.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Fall Guy (2024) Seemed like a good choice because I like action, wife likes rom-coms, and we both like Gosling. Well wrong. It is a bad movie on all accounts. We both thought it was bad. My wife thought the love story was "ridiculous." The action was okay but the characters were as shallow as a dog dish. The easiest way to put it is that every punch was telegraphed. It's obviously an expensive movie. They should have used the money to build a park. That is something that people could enjoy.

It looked terrible from previews

 

[dbmill]

Hadn't scrolled thru Prime in awhile and was surprised and delighted to find "The Station Agent" (2003) was there. Hadn't seen it in 20 years, but recalled I really enjoyed the quirkiness of it, albeit I forgot some of the plot (what little there is). This was the movie that introduced me to Peter Dinklage, and he's outstanding in it. For those unfamiliar with the story, he's a train buff who inherits a small train depot in rural NJ. He'd prefer to be left alone, but regular encounters with Bobby Cannavale as a chatty hot dog truck operator and Patricia Clarkson as a troubled divorcee make being alone all but impossible. A young Michelle Williams and 11-year old Raven Goodwin fill out a marvelous cast. It's not laugh out loud funny, but lots of chuckles in the early going. Gets a tad maudlin toward the end, but overall it's a movie that's far more than the sum of its parts. Highly recommend.

My wife and I have seen "The Station Agent" a goodly number of times, we both love that movie. Peter Dinklage is terrific in it, and the supporting cast that you mention all do well in it. I have no problem recommending this film.

 

[Palatine]

A Simple Favour (Netflix). Anna Kendrick is the perfect single mom. Blake Lively is not. Their kids are friends, play dates ensue. Then cheating. Then crime. All done fairly lightheartedly, with a solid supporting cast. Paul Feig directed. Not a waste of time for me, ymmv

This is a nicely done little mystery. I enjoyed it as well.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick a field goal w/ Lucy holding the ball and pulling it away at the last second. Maybe this time will be different...

"Atlas" is another movie Netflix threw a lot of money at that is probably not even mediocre. I had to quit watching. JLo is completely unbearable in this movie. Okay world building, but of course a bunch of people making really stupid decisions. Terrible dialog. Script writing is just about a dead art in Hollywood. But never mind anything else, if your lead actress who is on screen by herself most of the time is horrendously annoying, then the whole project is gonna be dead on arrival.

 

[superjohn]

I feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick a field goal w/ Lucy holding the ball and pulling it away at the last second. Maybe this time will be different...

"Atlas" is another movie Netflix threw a lot of money at that is probably not even mediocre. I had to quit watching. JLo is completely unbearable in this movie. Okay world building, but of course a bunch of people making really stupid decisions. Terrible dialog. Script writing is just about a dead art in Hollywood. But never mind anything else, if your lead actress who is on screen by herself most of the time is horrendously annoying, then the whole project is gonna be dead on arrival.

Netflix is trash.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Netflix is trash.

Yeah, pretty much. "Hit Man" that is coming out next month is getting decent buzz. After that I'm out I think. Wasn't particularly impressed with the offerings by Amazon the last time I had it, I might just go with no streaming service for a while.

 

[superjohn]

Yeah, pretty much. "Hit Man" that is coming out next month is getting decent buzz. After that I'm out I think. Wasn't particularly impressed with the offerings by Amazon the last time I had it, I might just go with no streaming service for a while.

I got rid of Netflix a year ago. They had a lot of worthwhile docs and series on there years ago but I watched all of it and they didn't come out with good new content over basically the next 5 years. If I hear of anything I want to see on there down the road I'll sign up for a month binge and cancel again, that seems to be the move. Amazon isn't quite as bad as Netflix but it isn't good, I only keep it because I get a lot of things delivered to me. HBO Max is by far the best but they haven't put out much good stuff lately.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I got rid of Netflix a year ago. They had a lot of worthwhile docs and series on there years ago but I watched all of it and they didn't come out with good new content over basically the next 5 years. If I hear of anything I want to see on there down the road I'll sign up for a month binge and cancel again, that seems to be the move. Amazon isn't quite as bad as Netflix but it isn't good, I only keep it because I get a lot of things delivered to me. HBO Max is by far the best but they haven't put out much good stuff lately.

I've been doing back and forth between Netflix and Prime for a few years. Had access to Disney+ briefly and was surprised by how little content they had that I actually wanted to watch. Have Hulu too and they have a bit of decent stuff.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Well, "The Beekeeper" was utterly ridiculous, but at least it was entertaining. Turn your brain off and you'll be okay. Statham doing Statham things. And then there's Jeremy Irons, he's one cool dude. Doesn't matter what he's in.

 

[CL82]

Yeah, pretty much. "Hit Man" that is coming out next month is getting decent buzz. After that I'm out I think. Wasn't particularly impressed with the offerings by Amazon the last time I had it, I might just go with no streaming service for a while.

I just started with prime. I'm enjoying it as I work my way through stuff and have a decent backlog of things I'd like to watch.

On Disney +, The Mandolorian and Ahsoka series were both good.