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

dichotomouspurity.blogspot.com/2023/01/oh-look-fable.html

Saw The Fabelmans. Meh.

I've never been a huge movie guy and haven't seen a ton in my life. Last Summer I picked 32 movies I hadn't seen, 4 from each decade of the 1930s-2010s (minus the 80s). Not necessarily the 4 "best", just four that looked interesting to me, with a variety of types. I made a single-elimination bracket of them and each day on Twitter I had people vote on that day's pairing.

After the first round I also did a loser's bracket with the ones that got knocked out in round one.

I ended up with the winner of the loser's bracket (Heat) and the four winners of the main one:
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Taking of Pelham 123
Young Frankenstein
Seven Samurai (the overall winner)

The other day I finally watched 7S, finishing them out. It was really good, though I have to say my favorite of these was probably Pelham (the original, not the remake).

I didn't include anything from the 80s because I may do a similar thing with only 80s movies (there are a LOT of canon 80s movies that I haven't seen).

Before I do that, there are some 2022 ones I meant to see and never did: RRR, Prey, Everything Everywhere All at Once, 3000 Years of Longing, and maybe 1 or 2 more. I am now around someone I actually enjoy seeing movies with and who is into them, so I'll be seeing more. She's already been watching some stone cold classics with me (The Big Sleep, Laura, The Thin Man, Sunset Boulevard) and it's been great.

2023 only has 2 things so far I'm down for: Barbie and Dune 2.

Legomancer wrote: .
.
.
Before I do that, there are some 2022 ones I meant to see and never did: RRR, Prey, Everything Everywhere All at Once, 3000 Years of Longing, and maybe 1 or 2 more. I am now around someone I actually enjoy seeing movies with and who is into them, so I'll be seeing more. She's already been watching some stone cold classics with me (The Big Sleep, Laura, The Thin Man, Sunset Boulevard) and it's been great.

2023 only has 2 things so far I'm down for: Barbie and Dune 2.

If you are a Predator fan, Prey needs to move to the top of your list.

RobertB wrote: If you are a Predator fan, Prey needs to move to the top of your list.

I never saw Predator. Young Dave didn't have the patience to sit through the apparently 14 hours of "walking through the jungle" that happens in the movie before an alien shows up.

The first Predator is a masterpiece that still holds up.

“ Get to the choppah!”

“If it bleeds we can kill it”

“I ain’t got time to bleed “

"There's something out there...and it ain't no man."

*minigun sound*

Legomancer wrote: I never saw Predator. Young Dave didn't have the patience to sit through the apparently 14 hours of "walking through the jungle" that happens in the movie before an alien shows up.

I've never heard this accusation levelled at Predator and wouldn't agree with it if I had -- it moves along at a crisp pace well before it takes that sudden turn from action movie to science fiction.

I really liked The Menu. It was surreal, funny, and I liked how it looked (not sure specifically why).

I watched this last night. I had no idea what to expect, and it was pretty enjoyable. It reminded me of The Invitation ( from a couple of years ago about a dinner party) in the way this dread grows… The Menu is not as good as The Invitation but still worth the time.

Greg Aleknevicus wrote:

Legomancer wrote: I never saw Predator. Young Dave didn't have the patience to sit through the apparently 14 hours of "walking through the jungle" that happens in the movie before an alien shows up.

I've never heard this accusation levelled at Predator and wouldn't agree with it if I had -- it moves along at a crisp pace well before it takes that sudden turn from action movie to science fiction.

I don't know, I just remember sitting down for it on HBO as a kid and watching men walk in a jungle for what seemed like forever. But like I said, Young Dave didn't have a lot of patience and didn't watch a lot of movies.

Watched the John Wick trilogy over the course of the last few evenings. In recent years, it has seemed as though superhero movies have fired the action movies, the same way action movies once fired the western movies that my father was raised on. But the John Wick movies show that there is still room for well-made action movies.

The writing is decent, though the story ultimately revolves around a sequence of vengeances. No iconic quotable lines, but decent quality tough guy posturing sort of dialogue. Fortunately, there is some real talent on hand in every movie to elevate the delivery of these lines, even in some minor roles. Keanu Reeves, Willem Dafoe, John Leguizamo, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick, Laurence Fishburne, Halle Berry, Anjelica Huston, Jerome Flynn, even Robin Lord Taylor, who was amazing as Penguin in Gotham. I don't know Asia Kate Dillon from anything else, but they (their preferred pronoun) had a riveting presence in their every scene in the third movie.

The cinematography is good. The fight choreography is very good, except that Halle Berry couldn't quite sell some of her moves. The lighting is good. Though it is nearly always night or rain or both in the John Wick movies, the the cityscapes are all glittering lights and neon and rich jewel tones surrounded by glass, mirrors, and deep shadows. The music is moody but inobtrusive. It sometimes feels like each movie is an installment in a perfectly rendered shooter game.

The entire proceedings are elevated by the backdrop of a global secret society of assassins, complete with their own secret economy based on large gold coins. Once you join this society, you are compelled to accept the coin for your skills whenever it is presented, and it is nearly impossible to leave the society without becoming a target. Actual contracts tend to be paid in millions of dollars, while all other services are paid by a gold coin, or sometimes several coins. Drinks at a secret society bar? A coin. A newly-tailored suit with bulletproof lining? A coin. Cleanup and removal of several dead bodies? Several coins. There are also a few other specialized tokens representing free passage or a personal favor. Without the secret society element, I think that the John Wick movies are simply good action movies. With the secret society, the whole proceedings are elevated with a degree of elegance and mystery.

I think the first Wick film, which only hinted at the secret society while not showing it much, was probably the best mix. But I also understand there's really nowhere you can go with the 2nd and then 3rd movie but to go deeper into it and get weirder, you've already played the vague card in the first one.

Watched Titan AE. I’ve always liked this movie.

I imagine it had some influence on the design of Core Space.