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

Gemini Man free on amazon. Not that bad actually, Will Smith always delivers. The young will smith CGI is quite dodgy though, while I appreciate the youthful similarity, I think just casting a similar enough looking young man would have been better. The uncanny valley extends to Clive Owen who just seems to be degenerating from film to film.

Still, the action is pretty good other than some CGI stunt work. And it has tracer laden minigun action which is always a favorite. Plus there are some scenes shot in georgia where I'm pretty sure I've been, an increasingly common thing, but still cool.

jason10mm wrote: Agreed, the "Samurai Code" or Bushido or whatever is very difficult to portray on film for westerners because it is very alien to our sensibilities. I think it comes across better in novels where the internal conflict between duty, honor, and personal desire can be shown, all the while being stoic and placid externally. Plus that era has HORRIBLE treatment of some peoples, much like most places at that time, which requires balancing watchability with authenticity.

Still, some of those films are my favorite B&W movies. I still haven't seen a decent modern samurai film. The korean and chinese stuff dominates these says with a some what similar class economy and martial spirit.

If you enjoy Kurosawa samurai movies, you really should try 13 Assassins. Miike is definitely channeling Kurosawa and dialing back his own extreme tendencies. I saw 13 Assassins via the Roku Channel, but Netflix also has it.

I have seen 13 Assassins and liked it, it just didn't quite have that old school touch.

Spun up Godzilla:King of Monsters (2019). Really liked it, though it doesn't quite have that fantastic sense of scale Gareth Edwards brought to Monsters and Godzilla (and Rogue One). Plot still makes no sense but it is Kaiju, so who really cares? Really looking forward to Godzilla vs Kong, and if they can squeeze in Pacific Rim giant mecha, who am I to argue? Ultraman would be a really nice bonus

I know it doesn't really fit, but who owns Voltron now?

Edit: There is an actor in there from Cabin n the Woods. I like to think he survived (unicorn horn to the stomach IIRC) and made it over to Monarch. Now THERE is a mash up!!

Finally got around to watching Hamilton. I'm not a big musical fan, but it was pretty amazing. The only weird part was Lin-Manuel as the lead. Basically every other performer was more charismatic than he was, which led to an odd energy -- all these supernovas orbiting a red dwarf. (Or something.)

We watched Hamilton as well recently (my wife was showing it to a friend of hers who was an Opera singer, now singing teacher thanks to Covid.)

Manuel Miranda really stands out, not in a good way, which, refreshingly, he freely admits. We've got tickets to see it next year (if that happens, either the show or next year) so it will be interesting to make the comparison.

Watched some movies this weekend, including Angel Heart (1987) and Midnight Run (1988). I saw both of these movies in the theater way back when, and don't really have fresh thoughts on either one, except that Angel Heart is just okay and Midnight Run is pretty damn good. Robert De Niro is in both movies, and seeing them back to back really drives home that he is a great actor. There are popular actors like Tom Cruise and Will Smith who basically play themselves in every movie, but people like them and want to spend that time with them. De Niro has the gift to disappear all the way into a role. You can clearly see that it's De Niro, but the character comes through so strongly and differently depending on the role.

Although I like horror movies, I never saw a Rob Zombie movie until now. The stills and glimpses that I have seen over the years indicated a trashy b-movie style combined with a degenerate modern sensibility, so I was just never in the mood. But it's October, and I wanted to watch a horror movie, so I happened upon The Lords of Salem and went for it. Witches should get more horror movies, though it would be tough to top The VVitch for brilliance. The Lords of Salem works well at first as conventional horror movie, though featuring the very unconventional Sheri Moon Zombie. She plays a very personable classic rock DJ, but an ancient witch curse gradually ruins her life and leads to tragedy. The basic story structure is solid, but the presentation gets fragmentary at times. There are some scenes that are more gross than I wanted, and some other scenes that were stunned me with their artistry and quality. I now have some grudging respect for Rob Zombie, even though I feel ambivalent about The Lords of Salem. Extra respect for casting Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead) as another DJ.

Speaking of ambivalence, I find Wes Anderson's movies to be a coin toss. Half of them are amazing, and half of them are annoying. All of his movies have a somewhat bogus quality to them, a knowing and deliberate falseness that seems to be Anderson's style. But the better ones, like The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, are able to transcend that inauthenticity and reach universal truths about the human condition. I've seen The Life Aquatic before, but this is my first viewing since the start of the Trump Administration. Steve Zissou is a smarmy narcissist, so casting Bill Murray was a great choice. Luke Wilson is also ideal, as Steve's possible son, old enough to be an independent adult while still possessing a certain childlike innocence and wonder. The whole ensemble is fine, really, including smarmy rival Jeff Goldblum, formidable Anjelica Huston, the loyal William Dafoe, and a radiant Cate Blanchett. I even spotted Bud Cort, of the cult movie Harold and Maude. Lots of David Bowie music, mostly performed acoustic within the scene.

Life Aquatic is my favorite Wes Anderson film (narrowly edging out the more raw Battle Rocket), and I really dig the underrated Midnight Run as well. You have great taste Shellhead.

The 80's were KING for buddy movies. Not sure what happened to that golden dynamic (need for a larger ensemble cast to hit all quadrants I suppose). So many good ones.

Watched The Little Hours on netflix I think. Cute little comedy about horny nuns in medieval times. Aubrey Plaza fans will REALLY like it, Allison Brie is in it as well doing her schtick (she really needs to mix it up a bit, more stuff like Horse Girl). Pretty harmless way to pass an evening, even crosses over into VVitch territory for a bit.

I very much enjoyed Mulan. I thought the pacing was fine. I found an alternative method of viewing without going through Disney+.

I have Hua Mulan queued up as well, a version made during the Japanese occupation of China in 1939. Clearly will be a very different film, but considering my recent reading on the war in the east this might be an interesting film, even with its ancient pacing.

I’ll vouch for Enola Holmes as well, including a pretty stunning performance by Millie Bobby Brown, who will turn 17 in February. She carried the film, the lead in virtually every scene.

Heathers holds up really well for a movie that seemed so rooted in the late '80s. It's a savagely dark comedy about high school society, named for a powerful clique of mean girls who reign over the school. Christian Slater does an impressive imitation of Jack Nicholson, and Winona Ryder is at the top of her game. Shannon Doherty also enjoyed a career boost after her supporting role as one of the Heathers. Nice use of symbolism in the movie, and the dialogue is sharp.

Daredevil is a disappointment. Everything is half-good about this movie. It sometimes looks great, and some of the action is good. The acting is so-so aside from Jon Favreau, but the real world chemistry between Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner might be the best part of the movie. It's weird to think about how many Hollywood celebrities met their future spouses on a movie set. Anyway, the overall proceedings feel rushed to the point where nothing is memorable and none of the story beats land solidly. I look forward to eventually seeing the Netflix tv Daredevil, which was reportedly much, much better in every respect.

Shellhead wrote: Heathers holds up really well for a movie that seemed so rooted in the late '80s. It's a savagely dark comedy about high school society, named for a powerful clique of mean girls who reign over the school. Christian Slater does an impressive imitation of Jack Nicholson, and Winona Ryder is at the top of her game. Shannon Doherty also enjoyed a career boost after her supporting role as one of the Heathers. Nice use of symbolism in the movie, and the dialogue is sharp.

This film was just covered by the Stuff Mom Never Told You podcast, and I hadn't even heard of it before then. They indicated that they don't think the film could be made today because of its references to blowing up the high school. Interesting that you hit it just a couple of days I first got wind of it.

Good grief, has Heathers really fallen out of the zeitgeist? Such a fantastic story and just as relevant today as it was then. Instead of endless mediocre "reboots" hollywood should just re-release perineal classics to theaters and not tell anyone that they are an old film. If anything positive comes out of COVID with regards to Hollywood its a revival of older films back on the big screen (and maybe pop-up drive-ins) as a worthwhile thing. Films made on real film, without use of CGI, just have a timelessness that a lot of current movies can't match.

Sagrilarus wrote:

Shellhead wrote: Heathers holds up really well for a movie that seemed so rooted in the late '80s. It's a savagely dark comedy about high school society, named for a powerful clique of mean girls who reign over the school. Christian Slater does an impressive imitation of Jack Nicholson, and Winona Ryder is at the top of her game. Shannon Doherty also enjoyed a career boost after her supporting role as one of the Heathers. Nice use of symbolism in the movie, and the dialogue is sharp.

This film was just covered by the Stuff Mom Never Told You podcast, and I hadn't even heard of it before then. They indicated that they don't think the film could be made today because of its references to blowing up the high school. Interesting that you hit it just a couple of days I first got wind of it.

Heathers didn't last long in the theatre. I remember watching it as a video rental late in the same year that it came out. But I was blown away by it at the time, and have been meaning to get around to a re-watch.

HEATHERS? I think they made a musical? And didn't it actually get literally remade recently except high schools keep literally getting shot up so it was canceled? Its had a steady following for decades. I just don't think it's that good. It's too dark and it's not funny enough to bring it back from its tone. MEAN GIRLS is better on every axis, as a film.

My 9yo is sad I don't want to watch TROLLS WORLD TOUR. Like, heart-breaking sad. Is this a generational thing? My Dad didn't want to see KRULL and who can blame him? I don't remember being busted up about it. Any similar sadness I had was probably more related to not being able to see a movie at all because I couldn't get to a cinema by myself at 9 (I still haven't seen MEGAFORCE, but I think I can let this go).

If nothing else Trolls World Tour got my kid listening to ozzy, worth the $20