Recently Watched Movies 2024 | Page 21 | The Boneyard

Recently Watched Movies 2024

CL82 said:
What would be the original movie of this genre? Walking Tall maybe?
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Walking Tall and Billy Jack are what come to mind.

Rebel Ridge was decent. Lead actor is jacked and I'd never know he's English. Shows some promise. Anna Sophia Robb was appealing, and I like that they gave her character some depth. The whole situation with the police, budgets etc. is probably way too on point for some of these small towns.
 
storrsroars said:
I enjoyed it too, and mostly for the same reason - Boston. I also think that Casey and Matt have better comedic chemistry than Ben and Matt (I'll make an exception for Dogma). That said, Boston and these two Boston doofuses make the movie. It's not a particularly brilliant plot or execution, all the Boston-ness makes it good.

I'll also note that even with all the Boston-ness, I still think Gone Baby Gone is the ultimate Boston movie (also starring Casey and directed by Ben).

But great ad to promote the movie:
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"How 'bout you Dartmouth, ya good?"

The 2 guys working Dunkin have a whole comedy series with their deli, if you haven't seen it.

 
Here's a blast from the past--"Uncle Buck." Haven't seen that since I can't remember when, probably more than 30 years. John Candy and a young Macaulay Culkin and Gabby Hoffman. Weird uncle comes to watch the 3 kids while the parents are out of town for an emergency. While the the 2 young kids were cute, it was mostly about the battle of wills between Buck and the older daughter, playing the mad at the world, bratty teen role. I got some chuckles out of it and it has some charm.
 
The Eternal Daughter. Stars Tilda Swinton as both a woman (Julie) and her mother (Rosalind). They visit an old house now hotel and it holds lots of memories for Rosalind, including staying there during the bombing of London in WWII. Julie's trying to coax out details of her mom's life for a film screenplay she's writing. There are five cast members in this movie and that includes a dog. Critics love it and audiences don't. I'm with the audiences here. It's not awful but the pacing is glacial, it isn't too hard to guess what is going on, and the dual role thing is distracting. Unless you really love slow gothic stories, I'd skip it.
 
I was mildly curious about "Bodies Bodies Bodies" when it came out, but never got around to it. It's on Netflix and about to go away, so I decided to give it a try. Meh. Sort of horror adjacent, but mostly just making fun of Gen Z I think. Familiar set up. Group of friends partying at a remote house for the weekend. A big storm hits, the power goes out, things go wrong. And keep going wrong. Most of the characters were just plain annoying, and it really didn't seem like any of them were actually friends. Once the veil came off they pretty much all hated each other, were all too eager to rat each other out about how they talked smack about each other, etc etc. Maria Bakalova was probably the closest to being likable. Rachel Sennott is talented, but she seems to gravitate to unsympathetic characters from what I've seen. And last and least...how does Pete Davidson have a career? Seriously. The guy is just a huge doofus. He's one note as far as I can tell, so he's probably just playing himself. There's nothing appealing or charming about him. I just can't believe that he's actually popular and successful.
 
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Has anyone seen Drive Away Dolls? I'm intrigued.
 
What can I say, I'm a sucker for Joey King. "Uglies" is new on Netflix, adapted from a YA sci fi series. It's dystopian masquerading as utopian. A bit goofy, not exactly good, but it was watchable anyway. Joey playing a teen on the cusp of turning 16 is a stretch to say the least, she's mid 20s. Basic premise, everyone leads a fairly drab existence just biding time til they turn 16. Then they get radical surgery that transforms them to physical perfection and they get to move across the river to the cool side of the city where it's literally a non stop party every day. There are a few people who reject the system and live outside the city in the wilderness. There might be something insidious going on in the utopia. Complete non ending, but it's a 4 part book series, so obviously Netlix intends to make more of these.

Joey is right there w/ Millie Bobby Brown as far as having almost an entire career composed of making Netflix content.
 
nwhoopfan said:
"Rebel Ridge" is new on Netflix. It was good, a bit frustrating at times. The whole corrupt cops thing has been done so many times. In this Aaron Pierre (never heard of him, but he was strong as the lead) is a Marine vet who is trying to bail his cousin out from jail in a small town in Alabama. Everything goes wrong along the way and the local cops are not gonna cooperate with him. Don Johnson was convincing as the chief of police. I hadn't seen Annasophia Robb in anything in quite a while, always liked her. She is a court clerk who ends up playing a big role. Part thriller, part legal drama. Worth a watch I thought.
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This movie was AWESOME. Came here to say that. Yes, the "loner vs police" thing has been done (people have likened the movie to Rambo), but this was a pretty fresh take on it. Besides the fact that it implicated a real problem, civil asset forfeiture, it's both violent and non-violent.

Pierre is British. I'd also never seen him before. And yeah, Robb was a child actor who I've never seen as an adult, but she was great. Don Johnson basically reprises his role from Watchmen. James Cromwell is good, as always, in a very small role.
 
nwhoopfan said:
I was mildly curious about "Bodies Bodies Bodies" when it came out, but never got around to it. It's on Netflix and about to go away, so I decided to give it a try. Meh. Sort of horror adjacent, but mostly just making fun of Gen Z I think. Familiar set up. Group of friends partying at a remote house for the weekend. A big storm hits, the power goes out, things go wrong. And keep going wrong. Most of the characters were just plain annoying, and it really didn't seem like any of them were actually friends. Once the veil came off they pretty much all hated each other, were all too eager to rat each other out about how they talked smack about each other, etc etc. Maria Bakalova was probably the closest to being likable. Rachel Sennott is talented, but she seems to gravitate to unsympathetic characters from what I've seen. And last and least...how does Pete Davidson have a career? Seriously. The guy is just a huge doofus. He's one note as far as I can tell, so he's probably just playing himself. There's nothing appealing or charming about him. I just can't believe that he's actually popular and successful.
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I was underwhelmed. Ending was funny though.
 
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CL82 said:
Well, she had at least one Hulu movie, the Princess, which prompted review from me:

Recently Watched Movies 2022
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Okay, she has branched out a bit. She also had a dramatic series on Hulu, and at least one movie for Amazon Prime. Plus actual theatrical releases. "Bullet Train" is the last of those as far as I'm aware. But Netflix has kept her busy. There's the Kissing Booth trilogy spread over several years, and "A Family Affair" and "Uglies" just in the last several months.
 
Fast 7. These movies are really pretty dumb, but this is better than most. This one features an epic cast, as Jason Statham is the bad guy out for revenge, Kurt Russell is an American spook enlisting the team, Nathalie Emmanuel (stunning) is a hacker who created something they must acquire. The usual cast is all there with smaller roles for The Rock. I’m a car guy, so I love the cars, but using cars to do most of what they do would be asinine.
 
Doctor Sleep (2019) I somehow missed this movie (or forgot it). It is the sequel to The Shining. Danny is all grown up and an alcoholic (who wouldn't be) played by Ewan McGregor. But he can't run away from his shine. He is tracked down by a young girl with the same gift.

Meanwhile a cadre of evil shiners, hunt down and steal the life force of children. They are led by a young and very beautiful Rebecca Ferguson. They are onto Danny's young friend and the movie leads to showdown at the Overlook Hotel from the original film.

This is good movie. The story is clever and fun. The supernatural elements are handled seriously and believably. It not really horror though some children die, it is more suspenseful drama. I enjoyed it. Bordering on three stars.
 
"IF" had an interesting premise. What happens to invisible friends (IFs) when their kids grow up and leave them behind? (Yeah, "Inside Out already kinda did that, but it wasn't the main focus of the movie) I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. A kids movie that wasn't really for kids but for adults? I didn't dislike it, but it seems like it could've been better. A toned down Ryan Reynolds, a barely there John Krasinski, Alexandra Daddario's sister that I didn't even know existed, a whole bunch of famous people doing voice overs for the CGI creatures. The real star was a young actress, Cailey Fleming. I didn't think I'd seen her before, but apparently she played the young version of Rey briefly in one of the Star Wars movies. I know, I always do this. Her character is 12 years old. The actress is currently 17. I will never get over that being WEIRD. She can definitely pass for younger, but still.
 
About "IF," it was charming hearing Louis Gossett, Jr. voicing one of the characters. I imagine that was his final role before his death.
 
The other day I had some time on my hands and flipped thru Tubi, which I rarely watch. I saw North By Northwest was an offering and I hadn't seen it in decades. It was well worth the rewatch. Cary Grant was terrific.

Saw some other stuff on Tubi that I'd all but forgotten about, so think I'll be spending a little more time there.
 
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storrsroars said:
The other day I had some time on my hands and flipped thru Tubi, which I rarely watch. I saw North By Northwest was an offering and I hadn't seen it in decades. It was well worth the rewatch. Cary Grant was terrific.

Saw some other stuff on Tubi that I'd all but forgotten about, so think I'll be spending a little more time there.
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Hitchcock is one of my favorite directors. "Rear Window" is my favorite movie of his. "North By Northwest" ranks pretty high on my list of favorite Hitchcock movies. By the way, Cary Grant is one of my favorite actors.
 
dbmill said:
Hitchcock is one of my favorite directors. "Rear Window" is my favorite movie of his. "North By Northwest" ranks pretty high on my list of favorite Hitchcock movies. By the way, Cary Grant is one of my favorite actors.
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North by Northwest is a very good movie. Hitchcock was the master of suspense. Violence in his movies tends to be minimal, but he sustains a level of suspense throughout the whole film. I haven't watched Rear window in decades. It may be time to give it another look.
 
CL82 said:
North by Northwest is a very good movie. Hitchcock was the master of suspense. Violence in his movies tends to be minimal, but he sustains a level of suspense throughout the whole film. I haven't watched Rear window in decades. It may be time to give it another look.
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Hitchcock was really a master of creating a mood and a feeling. Not just suspense. In Rear Window he filmed it so you the audience feel Jimmy Stewart's helplessness and resulting fear. In Lifeboat you feel isolated, claustrophobic. Psycho shocked audiences, who for the first time ever on film were visually seeing the scene as the murderer.

Almost all the best subsequent directors stole his tricks, Spielberg, DePalma, Parker, and all the rest. John Carpenter made a career expanding on the approach from Psycho.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Hitchcock was really a master of creating a mood and a feeling. Not just suspense. In Rear Window he filmed it so you the audience feel Jimmy Stewart's helplessness and resulting fear. In Lifeboat you feel isolated, claustrophobic. Psycho shocked audiences, who for the first time ever on film were visually seeing the scene as the murderer.

Almost all the best subsequent directors stole his tricks, Spielberg, DePalma, Parker, and all the rest. John Carpenter made a career expanding on the approach from Psycho.
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When I was younger, I was a big fan of "Lifeboat". I saw it again recently, it is still certainly a solid film. Just does not get as much attention as other Hitchcock movies.
 
Second stop on my Tubi Cary Grant quest was Charade. I'd never seen it. I saw it described as a Hitchcockian rom-com. The plot is actually pretty interesting as if you don't know the film, you don't know what the object (worth $250K) is that everyone is trying to find until the very end. And it's always hiding in plain sight. I enjoyed it, but while critics gave good marks to the supporting cast, I found them hammy and awkward, particularly George Kennedy and James Coburn. I also figured out very early on that Walter Matthau's character was not what he seemed - that wasn't hidden well. Grant was good, but as with a lot of his later roles, the age gap between him and his love interest (Audrey Hepburn) was a bit off-putting. Too bad Grant was far too old to play James Bond, he would've made a great one.

I then went on to Bringing Up Baby, which I'd never seen in its entirety. But it was late and truthfully, the sheer amount of rapid-fire dialogue was too much for the late hour. The sound quality of the print Tubi is showing could also use some tweaking. I will try again over the weekend as I did really like Hepburn in what was probably her most comedic role.
 
storrsroars said:
Second stop on my Tubi Cary Grant quest was Charade. I'd never seen it. I saw it described as a Hitchcockian rom-com. The plot is actually pretty interesting as if you don't know the film, you don't know what the object (worth $250K) is that everyone is trying to find until the very end. And it's always hiding in plain sight. I enjoyed it, but while critics gave good marks to the supporting cast, I found them hammy and awkward, particularly George Kennedy and James Coburn. I also figured out very early on that Walter Matthau's character was not what he seemed - that wasn't hidden well. Grant was good, but as with a lot of his later roles, the age gap between him and his love interest (Audrey Hepburn) was a bit off-putting. Too bad Grant was far too old to play James Bond, he would've made a great one.

I then went on to Bringing Up Baby, which I'd never seen in its entirety. But it was late and truthfully, the sheer amount of rapid-fire dialogue was too much for the late hour. The sound quality of the print Tubi is showing could also use some tweaking. I will try again over the weekend as I did really like Hepburn in what was probably her most comedic role.
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"Bringing Up Baby" and "Charade" are a couple more Cary Grant movies that I just love. "Bringing Up Baby" is one of my favorite film comedies of all time.
 
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We just caught The Featherweight, a new movie about the great Hartford boxer, Willie Pep. Shot like one of those 60's documentaries, it covers Pep planning a comeback to the ring at the age of 42. It's no hagiography but not a complete downer either. The actor playing Pep was tremendous. Bill Lee, the longtime Courant writer/editor has a nice part. FWIW, the New Yorker just gave it a rave review calling it "an instant classic of a boxing movie".
 
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