What MOVIE(s) have you been....seeing? watching?

To avoid my wife's Walking Dead reruns, I watched Ford v Ferrari. Matt Damon and Christian Bale are good, the racing scenes are good, and the Ford GT40 is pure car porn.

When the movie came out, I went back and looked up the real history of Ford v Ferrari. Enzo Ferrari did piss in Henry Ford II's cornflakes, and four straight Le Mans wins for Ford was the result. But a lot of the drama was 'enhanced'. The Ford GT40 effort wasn't three guys in a building taking on the Automotive Industry Man, so much as a pissed-off Henry Ford dropping a ginormous pile of money on the problem and Ford taking racing engineering to the next level. Good automotive industry drama, but TPTB thought it could use a little more Hollywood-level drama.

Sully is similar; Cpt. Sullenberger does top-notch flying. In real life the FAA's investigation confirmed Sullenberger's decision to land right off the bat; the only question was where to deliver the wheelbarrow needed for Sully's big brass balls. However, the movie needed some added drama, so they stretched out the FAA investigation to make it more dramatic.

I watched Ford vs Ferrari by myself last week. My mechanical engineer girlfriend is in the auto industry and, despite this seeming like an object of interest, wasn't having any. (She's been trying to shift careers, but the money is really good in automotive...) Truth to tell, I wasn't particularly interested in the concept, either, and was kind of agog when it ended up on the Best Picture lists. Auto racing is one of the things that has never clicked with me, although endurance races are more interesting, in principle, I guess.

It was an OK film. It was a very obvious dramatic situation which, strangely, pretty closely mimicked the actual personal dynamics of the people involved. But it was also a completely linear story path. Bale and Damon were decent, but I didn't find anyone to be particularly enthralling. Was OK. Wouldn't bother to watch again.

The Invisible Man was dumb. The trailer made me think it might be like a psychological horror film where you're not sure if she's actually crazy or not. But nope, you learn pretty much immediately that she is not. It's one of those horror movies where every single action she took or decision she made made me go, "But wait, why didn't you..."

I watched two films this weekend. GoodFellas - I've seen this movie several times, but it had been a while. I'd say this movie holds up well. Probably my favorite mob film.

Uncut Gems - I'm afraid this film belongs in a category I'd like to call "Technically good but I still didn't like it". Adam Sandler turns in the best performance of his life, but that is a low bar. The entire film is him getting himself into one scrape after another. It will give you anxiety. I just didn't care for this film.

My reaction to Uncut Gems was similar: dichotomouspurity.blogspot.com/2020/01/rough-stones.html?m=1

Jackwraith wrote: My reaction to Uncut Gems was similar: dichotomouspurity.blogspot.com/2020/01/rough-stones.html?m=1

Interesting opinion. You and I differ greatly on La La Land. I loved that film, and it's kind of amazing to see you compare them since La La Land was gorgeous and quite often full of joy. Uncut Gems is grimy and sad through and through.

I'll take a dance number on a freeway any day.

No argument on the atmosphere. My issues with La La Land were multiple and none of them had anything to do with the difference in tone:

1. It was an extremely self-serving movie for both the Academy and its membership. It put a lot of emphasis on the trials of being an actor as if it was the equivalent of laying asphalt in Georgia or doing the same thing 1500 times/day on an assembly line in Topeka. It's not. Yes, there are disappointments in life being an actor and, yes, it's often rough trying to turn a creative passion into something that can be called a career (welcome to my world...) But the film was about actors and for actors. You want a good film about acting? I'll take Birdman or The Player or Boogie Nights any day.

2. I'm not a musical guy. I've never been a fan. I left the room when the rest of the kids were watching The Sound of Music at Christmas and laughed out loud at most of West Side Story. It's just not my thing, so La La Land was already climbing a steep hill in my case. The strange thing is that I like opera. I couldn't even get through the first 15 minutes of the film the first time we tried. I eventually saw more of it, but it was always under some duress.

3. Technically, I didn't see anything particularly exceptional about it. It's (ahem) kind of a one-note story that didn't have any of the texture of Chazelle's previous film (Whiplash.) Also, having Ryan Gosling being the guy who's going to "save jazz" is, uh, more than a little "white savior" for me. You're telling me that someone like Michael B. Jordan or Lakeith Stanfield or John David Washington couldn't have filled that role and brought things a little closer to the actual roots of the music? That's not a killer for me, but piling it on top of the other problems, again, just makes me feel like this was a "celebration of Hollywood" thing that I just recoil from.

Aside from a trip to the gym and a couple of trips to the grocery store, I spent the whole weekend at home. Along with household chores and other activities, I watched five movies.

Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter: Still my favorite Hammer horror movie. The setting is familiar but not specific, the characters are memorable though not unforgettable, and the pacing is decent. There are odd details that jump out without explanation or even comment, like the European hero wielding a samurai sword. The overall effect is rich, strange, and entertaining.

Thor - Though most movie-goers may disagree, I think that the first Thor movie is one of the better MCU movies. The cast is great, including Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo, Natalie Portman, Idris Elba, and even Kat Dennings (of Two Broke Girls). Hemsworth already proved himself a capable actor in The Cabin in the Woods, but it feels like he was born to play Thor. Tom Hiddleston is even better as the villainous Loki, delivering a restrained performance reinforced by an expressive face. Director Kenneth Branagh of course delivers the Shakespearean family drama, but the scenes with the mortals on Earth also play reasonably well.

Captain America: the First Avenger - Like the plucky hero Steve Rogers, this movie works hard to cover a lot of ground and just manages to succeed. In short order, CA:FA introduces Steve and his best friend Bucky, covers his transformation into Cap, introduces the Howling Commandos, delivers a few of Cap's adventures in WWII, disposes of Bucky, handles a romantic subplot, and then catapults Cap into the same time frame as the rest of the MCU movies. Another great MCU cast, with Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Neal McDonough, and the perfectly cast Chris Evans. Given the ambition of the story, the pacing is often fast, but the emotional beats land well. However, Cap's feats are understandably less impressive after watching Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor in action.

Five Deadly Venoms: One of my favorite movies from the Shaw Brothers. The setup is laid out with some early exposition, setting a bold young martial artist on a mission to confront the secretive former students of his master and stop some of them from using their abilities for evil. There are some gaps in the logic of the story, but it's an entertaining blend of intrigue and kung fu action that includes treachery, poison, torture, dubious judicial antics, and even an iron maiden. The kung fu is performed in classic Shaw Brothers style, with blows delivered in a dramatic and stilted manner, accompanied by the sound of colliding blocks of wood.

The Avengers: Movies about superhero teams have not traditionally been good. After the obligatory origin coverage and introducing the characters and powers and villains and story, there needs to be some big fight scenes. And in the process, things like characterization and themes and emotional beats tend to get lost. But thanks to the involvement of Joss Whedon, this first Avengers movie works well. The previous MCU movies already covered the origin stories, so there is plenty of time to deal with the actual personalities of these characters and how they fit together as a team. There is also lots of action, including a couple of classic Marvel fights between characters meeting up for the first time. There is a surprising amount of humor, and the story successfully addresses Hulk as both a scary threat and an unlikely hero. The agile direction manages to rapidly scale from human moments to epic destruction, giving each just enough time before moving on.

We watched Terminator: Dark Fate. It was okay, not great. Effects were really good when they weren't really stupid. Redbox rental was the right move.

I don't know why, but the studio promoted it a little bit early on, but I did't see ads for it at all when it did come out. As in. "What happened to that Terminator movie that was coming out?" Just crickets.

The best part of Colour out of Space was the twist that would have made HPL turn over in his grave:



So nice to see cosmic horror done right on the big screen.

Watched the Netflix Dolemite movie last night, it was pretty great I thought. Pretty bog standard biopic elevated by a stellar cast and my general fondness for the subject matter. Hit my current sweet spot for low stakes light entertainment dead center.

I had no idea Signifying Rapper by Schooly D had its roots in Dolemite until this movie.

I had no idea Schooly D would ever be referenced here on this site.

I watched Blinded By the Light the other day - it's a sweet movie about a Pakistani teen in 1987 Luton, England that becomes enamored with Bruce Springsteen after his Sikh buddy loans him a couple of cassettes. Like Dolemite, it's a low stakes, high entertainment piece that isn't going to blow you away, but it was a nice picture that hits about every note you can imagine it would. Racism, reconciliation with disapproving father, teenage depression, The Girl, etc. but like Rocketman, it elevates itself with sheer jubilance. There are a few quasi-musical numbers that are just a lot of fun. Of course, the music is unimpeachable and since the words often appear on the screen, you'll likely sing along.

There is also a reference to Bros, which...I think maybe 4-5 Americans get?

I watched The Fugitive last night. Oddly, I saw it only one time when it was in the theater in 1993 and never really thought about it again. It's pretty good, it's the kind of thriller/suspense film that doesn't really get made anymore. Tommy Lee Jones is good in it (and won an Oscar), Ford does his Harrison Ford thing. G'Karr from Bab5 is the bad guy, which was funny to me.

I have reluctantly reached the conclusion that Tommy Lee Jones always plays an excellent Tommy Lee Jones, but has a limited range outside his comfort zone. He's intelligent, focused, flinty, cool, and always Tommy Lee Jones.

Right. He's a "leading man"-type who's never really been a leading man. Since we already have those types in the form of Clint Eastwood and others, it's difficult to give him vehicles without them ending up feeling/seeming derivative of a lot of stuff that we've already seen.

And sometimes there are bit actors who just do one thing really well. Kris Kristofferson is an excellent example. If you want someone who's gruff, steely-eyed, and whose voice sounds like Archie Bunker gargling nails, you want Kristofferson. It's all he ever does. Look at Blade, Payback, Lone Star; same thing, every time.