Recently Watched Movies 2024

[nomar]

"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.

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.

 

[nomar]

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.

I was underwhelmed. Ending was funny though.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Well, she had at least one Hulu movie, the Princess, which prompted review from me:

Recently Watched Movies 2022

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.

 

[HuskyHawk]

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.

 

[Palatine]

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.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"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.

 

[nwhoopfan]

About "IF," it was charming hearing Louis Gossett, Jr. voicing one of the characters. I imagine that was his final role before his death.

 

[storrsroars]

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.

 

[dbmill]

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.

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.

 

[CL82]

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.

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.

 

[HuskyHawk]

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.

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.

 

[dbmill]

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.

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.

 

[storrsroars]

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.

 

[dbmill]

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.

"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.

 

[Waquoit]

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".

 

[Bomber36]

Just watched Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. I wanted to love it. I didn’t . Meh.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Civil War:

The movie probably isn't about what you think it might be. It's trying to be an honest portrayal of what the violence you see on the news in Ukraine and Israel or anywhere would like like here.

This is a road trip movie that bears a ton of similarity to Apocalypse now and Heart of Darkness. A group of combat/war journalists are racing to get to DC so that they can interview and photograph the President before the Western Alliance kills him. Along the way they encounter people and places that show us how badly the nation has unraveled, while it's clear that other parts are trying to pretend that nothing is happening. The violence and dysfunction that they encounter is contrasted by the mentality of this group of "pure" reporters. They take pictures of what is happening and then let other people decide what it all means and what is right and wrong. For them it is all about getting the shot. This is the subtle cleverness in this film. Because people going into it expected one thing, but instead got an examination of Journalism Ethics and a somewhat questionable statement that journalists are now the only sane people left.

The writer smartly shuffled things up. Floriduh, Texas and California seceded. The split doesn't seem to happen on the lines that would make sense through the lense of our current politics, its not Red or Blue, left or right. In fact, since both sides seem to be wearing the same uniforms (with one exception) they went out of their way to make things seem as ambiguous as possible. Both sides are not above committing what most people would agree are war crimes.

To give another really specific example, there is gun battle scene between one group of troops and another group of Bros wearing Hawaiian shirts. If you don't know, Hawaiian shirts have become de riguer among groups of white supremacist militias. But in this movie the Bros are led by an Asian and has some African Americans in it.

I think the purpose behind the shirts was twofold. It's meant to jumble things up and to be stick in the eye to the wackjobs.

The President is clearly a Totalitarian who abolished the FBI and bombed American Citizens and we don't know why and we do now he's on his third consecutive term. He resembles most of the Totalitarian Dictators that you know of. The opposition takes no prisoners and they are fabulously equipped. Texas is one of the main players. And I thought one really brilliant touch of authenticity was that many of their helicopters had 1st Cavalry Division markings all over. And yes that's exactly what it sounds like to be under a bunch of CH-47s doing their thing. But all of the helos were CGI so the effects were pretty amazing.

I liked it for the most part. I didn't get as annoyed by the journalist focus as some reviews have. Making the journalists the focus avoids the perspective problem of a traditional war movie, where the audience only sees one side's viewpoint.

The movie is about the horrors of war, and uses a war in the U.S. to make it feel more visceral for American audiences. While reviewers, and Zoo, focus on which side in the movie represents which side in modern America, I don't think it matters. The movie is a cautionary tale about a modern society unraveling, and does not want viewers cheering for either side. America is not immune to a society getting so unstable that it turns on itself.

I do think the movie is too optimistic about what an America fighting a Civil War would look like. America has such a complicated and urbanized economy that deindustrialization would result in mass starvation and rapid fragmentation of our society.

The movie itself is OK. It has some slow spots, and the slow motion shots would be more effective if the director didn't do one every 5 minutes. The acting was decent. I like Wagner Maura and Caelee Spaeny, Dunst was OK and Henderson plays the same character in everything he does. I didn't love the ending for Dunst's character, and thought it undermined the movie a bit.

The movie was decent, and it makes an important point. I would give a mild recommendation.

 

[CL82]

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.

Charade is a underappreciated and oft forgotten. Yes, it is kitschy in many ways... in the performance by Ned Glass, or the nightclub scene, and especially the shower scene but it is a very entertaining movie. The chemistry between Hebburn and Grant is surprising, given their age difference, but undeniable. It's well worth a watch for people who haven't discovered it yet.

Bringing Up Baby is absolutely worth another attempt. It actually was a box office flop. I agree with you about the rapidfire patter. It reminds me of Hepburn's dialogue in the movie Philadelphia Story. Of course, the characters she is playing are similar.

 

[ZooCougar]

I liked it for the most part. I didn't get as annoyed by the journalist focus as some reviews have. Making the journalists the focus avoids the perspective problem of a traditional war movie, where the audience only sees one side's viewpoint.

The movie is about the horrors of war, and uses a war in the U.S. to make it feel more visceral for American audiences. While reviewers, and Zoo, focus on which side in the movie represents which side in modern America, I don't think it matters. The movie is a cautionary tale about a modern society unraveling, and does not want viewers cheering for either side. America is not immune to a society getting so unstable that it turns on itself.

I do think the movie is too optimistic about what an America fighting a Civil War would look like. America has such a complicated and urbanized economy that deindustrialization would result in mass starvation and rapid fragmentation of our society.

The movie itself is OK. It has some slow spots, and the slow motion shots would be more effective if the director didn't do one every 5 minutes. The acting was decent. I like Wagner Maura and Caelee Spaeny, Dunst was OK and Henderson plays the same character in everything he does. I didn't love the ending for Dunst's character, and thought it undermined the movie a bit.

The movie was decent, and it makes an important point. I would give a mild recommendation.

I actually didn’t focus on that. I focused on how the sides were opaque intentionally, but with a few digs like the Hawaiian shirts.

I watched it a second time and I found that I hated the journalists in this movie. I’m not sure that real life ones are as awful as the ones in the movie.

 

[dbmill]

Charade is a underappreciated and oft forgotten. Yes, it is kitschy in many ways... in the performance by Ned Glass, or the nightclub scene, and especially the shower scene but it is a very entertaining movie. The chemistry between Hebburn and Grant is surprising, given their age difference, but undeniable. It's well worth a watch for people who haven't discovered it yet.

Bringing Up Baby is absolutely worth another attempt. It actually was a box office flop. I agree with you about the rapidfire patter. It reminds me of Hepburn's dialogue in the movie Philadelphia Story. Of course, the characters she is playing are similar.

"Philadelphia Story" is another old film comedy that I love to watch.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

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.

"Bringing Up Baby" is one of my favorite film comedies of all time.

Bringing Up Baby is absolutely worth another attempt. It actually was a box office flop. I agree with you about the rapidfire patter. It reminds me of Hepburn's dialogue in the movie Philadelphia Story. Of course, the characters she is playing are similar.

Bringing up Baby is one of a very few movies that I will stop and watch regardless of what point in the movie I stumble upon it. It may have been Hepburn's best performance (which is saying quite a bit) and Grant was perfect as a (for the most part) passive, people pleaser. The remainder of the cast also turned in a number of great performances.

I've heard for decades that it performed very poorly when it was first released and that has me baffled. Considering the era and the type of movie, that it didn't do at a minimum reasonably well in the box office defies logic.

SR, find the time to watch it from the start and be sure to pay attention to everything (some characters appear in different parts of the movie, which adds to the story line). It will be well worth the time invested.

 

[storrsroars]

Bringing up Baby is one of a very few movies that I will stop and watch regardless of what point in the movie I stumble upon it. It may have been Hepburn's best performance (which is saying quite a bit) and Grant was perfect as a (for the most part) passive, people pleaser. The remainder of the cast also turned in a number of great performances.

I've heard for decades that it performed very poorly when it was first released and that has me baffled. Considering the era and the type of movie, that it didn't do at a minimum reasonably well in the box office defies logic.

SR, find the time to watch it from the start and be sure to pay attention to everything (some characters appear in different parts of the movie, which adds to the story line). It will be well worth the time invested.

I don't recall whether I saw it on IMDB or Wikipedia, but I read something to the effect that at the time BUB was made, Hepburn was considered box office poison. Hard to believe, but that might explain nobody going to see it.

 

[dbmill]

I don't recall whether I saw it on IMDB or Wikipedia, but I read something to the effect that at the time BUB was made, Hepburn was considered box office poison. Hard to believe, but that might explain nobody going to see it.

Yup, Hepburn movies did not do well at the box office in the late 1930's. "The Philadelphia Story" revived her film career and did very well at the box office.

 

[CL82]

I don't recall whether I saw it on IMDB or Wikipedia, but I read something to the effect that at the time BUB was made, Hepburn was considered box office poison. Hard to believe, but that might explain nobody going to see it.

I actually think of Bringing up Baby cemented that belief since it was a box office bomb. I think she was a big Broadway star, but for whatever reason, it didn't translate immediately to the big screen. Part of that may have been the characters that she played. Spoiled characters of privilege may not have resonated with the public at the tail end of the Great Depression. Later on where she played tough as nails working woman, she may have been more easy to identify with. I'm just speculating.

For reason, I don't enjoy some of the more famous movies with that character as much. I want to like her movies with Spencer Tracy, such as Adam's Rib or Desk Set but I really don't feel the chemistry. Obviously, that's a me thing, since they were hugely popular at the time.

 

[dbmill]

I actually think of Bringing up Baby cemented that belief since it was a box office bomb. I think she was a big Broadway star, but for whatever reason, it didn't translate immediately to the big screen. Part of that may have been the characters that she played. Spoiled characters of privilege may not have resonated with the public at the tail end of the Great Depression. Later on where she played tough as nails working woman, she may have been more easy to identify with. I'm just speculating.

For reason, I don't enjoy some of the more famous movies with that character as much. I want to like her movies with Spencer Tracy, such as Adam's Rib or Desk Set but I really don't feel the chemistry. Obviously, that's a me thing, since they were hugely popular at the time.

By the way, Hepburn won the 1933 Oscar for best actress for her role in "Morning Glory", before she got tagged with the box office poison notation in the later 1930's.

As for "Bringing Up Baby", while it did not do well at the box office, it is still considered a very good film by critics. That film was directed by Howard Hawks, one of my 3 favorite film directors of all time, the other 2 being Hitchcock and John Ford.

 

[superjohn]

I really didn't understand "Civil War." There was no context given to anything. We don't know who the two sides are, we don't know why they are fighting, we're given nothing. I guess the whole thing is to show how important photo journalists are, but did the movie actually do that? They captured a bunch of images of dead bodies, but again didn't provide us any idea what was actually happening. And the movie did show the media deliberately broadcasting inaccurate info, so the movie seemed to undermine it's own point about the importance of media, since you can't trust them.

Brutally bad movie. Didn't care about a single person in the movie or if they had their heads splattered. Not only did I not care about any of the characters or what happened to them, I was kind of rooting for the photo journalists to take head shots. If that's what the director was going for I guess he achieved it.

It's shocking how bad the movie industry is now.

 

[nwhoopfan]

It's shocking how bad the movie industry is now.

I've been thinking that for several years. The whole covid world wide shutdown and various writers strikes hasn't helped, but I gotta think Hollywood has done this to themselves.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Finally saw "Inside Out 2." I didn't enjoy it as much as the first one. It was really chaotic and I found my interest waning around halfway thru. They finally brought it home at the end, but overall it just doesn't measure up to what Pixar used to be.

 

[Palatine]

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".

Where did you see it?

 

[Waquoit]

Where did you see it?

At Real Art Ways. I think it's only playing in NYC, LA and CT right now.