Recently viewed movie thread - Rental Edition (3 Viewers)

[Tick]

Attempted the 2nd part of Rebel Moon (The Scargiver). Wow. Felt like a lesson on how not to make a movie. Dramatic slow mo shots of people... farming. A scene where the main characters sit around a table and each takes a turn talking about their upgringing so we get like half a dozen flashbacks in a row. Blatant exposition at every turn. Turned it off after about 50 mins. C'mon Zach, you're going backwards.

Is he though? Or has this always been him?

That description doesn't match 300 at all in my opinion.

 

[WVU Alum]

Attempted the 2nd part of Rebel Moon (The Scargiver). Wow. Felt like a lesson on how not to make a movie. Dramatic slow mo shots of people... farming. A scene where the main characters sit around a table and each takes a turn talking about their upgringing so we get like half a dozen flashbacks in a row. Blatant exposition at every turn. Turned it off after about 50 mins. C'mon Zach, you're going backwards.

Is he though? Or has this always been him?

That description doesn't match 300 at all in my opinion.

This is true but on 300 and Dawn of the Dead he didn’t have full creative control. 300 he had a lot of freedom but Miller was the creative mind and heavily involved. His first film that he had full creative control was Sucker Punch.

 

[Tick]

Jason Bourne (Hulu): second time seeing this. I think it’s really good. Vincent Cassel is great as the Asset, basically the Terminator just mowing through people all movie. The intra-agency battle seemed plausible (Tommy Lee Jones couldn’t have been more perfect for the role). The surveillance stuff was unnerving as always in these movies. I think this got mediocre reviews at the time, but I was happy with it.

 

[whoknew]

Ricky Stanicky - Watched this tonight. John Cena is a really talented comedic actor. And he's clearly willing to do just about anything for laughs. Overall this is sophomoric and not as good as **** Blockers or the original Vacation Friends. But it has some good laughs. Its not an amazing comedy but considering there are so few adult comedies made anymore, its enjoyable and funny.

 

[Joe Schmo]

Ricky Stanicky - Watched this tonight. John Cena is a really talented comedic actor. And he's clearly willing to do just about anything for laughs. Overall this is sophomoric and not as good as **** Blockers or the original Vacation Friends. But it has some good laughs. Its not an amazing comedy but considering there are so few adult comedies made anymore, its enjoyable and funny.

This is spot on whoknew. My take away from Stanicky was what a great performance from Cena which I didn't see coming even though I've liked his other stuff. He really went all in and basically showcased a method acting class. Funny and sincere in a wacky kind of way. The writing was the hold back and as you said it came off sophomoric and would have been a complete dud if not for Cena, imo.

 

[Tick]

The Abyss (Hulu): Did this get better as I aged? Great acting from the main characters, fun supporting group, perfect effects, and I forgot that the first 90% can be seen as a horror movie - this is essentially Alien but they’re benevolent.

Also, all of the stupid stuff that the people in Prometheus did? These people did the same stuff. If there aren’t black goo monsters, it doesn’t seem so stupid.

 

[Eephus]

Anna is a 2019 theatrical release that's new on Netflix. It's directed by French action veteran Luc Besson (Fifth Element, The Professional) who's been making movies like this since the 80s. Russian supermodel Sasha Luss stars as a blonde assassin with support from a couple of Oscar winners in Helen Mirren and Cilian Murphy.

Movies about assassins are a dime a dozen these days and Anna falls under the fat part of the curve as the genre goes. The action setpieces are solid with good stuntwork and choreography. It's supposed to be a period piece set in late Cold War era but it feels too modern for that. The time-fractured narrative structure doesn't add much and doesn't disguise how dumb the plot and characters really are. Mirren makes the most of her role as a Rosa Klebb character. Luss is beautiful and moves well in the action sequences but her acting is as flat as the dialog.

 

[Eephus]

I never posted my March movie dump so here it is:

MAR
Napoleon (2023 - R. Scott)
The Audition - short (2014 - M. Scorsese)
Amazing Stories: Mirror, Mirror - short (1985 - M. Scorsese)
New York, New York (1977 - M. Scorsese)
The Big Shave - short (1967 - M. Scorsese)
A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995 - M.W. Wilson & M. Scorsese)
Casino (1995 - M. Scorsese)
Mickey One (1965 - A. Penn)
Night Moves (1975 - A. Penn)
Little Big Man (1970 - A. Penn)
Titane (2021 - J. Ducournau)
K-19: The Widowmaker (2002 - K. Bigelow)
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (2023 - S. Wrench)
King of New York (1990 - A. Ferrara)
The Hitch-Hiker (1953 - I. Lupino)
Life Lessons - short (1989 - M. Scorsese)
The Missouri Breaks (1976 - A. Penn)
Pollock (2000 - E. Harris)
Michael Jackson: Bad - short (1987 - M. Scorsese)
Promising Young Woman (2020 - E. Fennell)
Bernice Bobs Her Hair (1976 - J. Micklin Silver)
A League of Their Own (1992 - P. Marshall)
Hour of the Gun (1967 - J. Sturges)
Raging Bull (1980 - M. Scorsese)
Open Range (2003 - K. Costner)
The Wages of Fear (2024 - J. Leclercq)

A lot of Scorsese and Marty adjacent movies for DotM.

A handful of films by woman directors for Woman's History Month. Titane was the weirdest thing I'd seen in a while. It made Promising Young Woman seem completely normal by comparison.

Four movies by proto New Hollywood director Arthur Penn. Mickey One was the closest Hollywood homage to French New Wave I've ever seen. Night Moves is a superior 70s neo-noir with Gene Hackman. Little Big Man and Missouri Breaks were revisionist Westerns; one (Little Big Man) with too much plot for its own good and the other (Missouri Breaks) with not enough. It was fun to see Brando and Nicholson on screen together.

I snuck a couple of other Westerns in as well along with Ed Harris' Jackson Pollock biopic and Tay Tay's concert film.

 

[Joe Schmo]

If you're looking for something absurd, weird, creative and funny Hundreds of Beavers just might be for you. My one criticism is it is too long by 30 mins. I stayed with it because I was laughing and enjoyed the antics but there is some repetitiveness in the middle third. Other than that I liked it a lot and as I said it did have me laughing throughout.

 

[Tick]

If you're looking for something absurd, weird, creative and funny Hundreds of Beavers just might be for you. My one criticism is it is too long by 30 mins. I stayed with it because I was laughing and enjoyed the antics but there is some repetitiveness in the middle third. Other than that I liked it a lot and as I said it did have me laughing throughout.

A friend saw it in the theater and said the whole experience was bizarre and great.

Based on the look... is it a speakie or does it have piano music and text cards?

 

[Joe Schmo]

If you're looking for something absurd, weird, creative and funny Hundreds of Beavers just might be for you. My one criticism is it is too long by 30 mins. I stayed with it because I was laughing and enjoyed the antics but there is some repetitiveness in the middle third. Other than that I liked it a lot and as I said it did have me laughing throughout.

A friend saw it in the theater and said the whole experience was bizarre and great.

Based on the look... is it a speakie or does it have piano music and text cards?

It's a cast of four people and bunch of furries in fox, rabbit, racoon and beaver suits. There is no talking but some Mr Bean like sounds especially from the lead. It's very inventive and well done. The lead reminds me of Bruce Campbell in Evil Dead with the way he expresses with with his face. Some great gags both short and long. While there is some text cards it's mostly the actors interactions and a map that tell the story in the second half.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I made the grave mistake of watching the "Roadhouse" remake yesterday.

Holy crap, was this a bad movie. The lead was miscast. The other characters were cardboard cutouts. They seemed to, for a while, to be going for an action comedy but then would dump it for no apparent reason. They threw some lame red herrings in there that made zero sense. Just a stupid, joyless slog of a movie.

Negative stars.

 

[CGRdrJoe]

I made the grave mistake of watching the "Roadhouse" remake yesterday.

Holy crap, was this a bad movie. The lead was miscast. The other characters were cardboard cutouts. They seemed to, for a while, to be going for an action comedy but then would dump it for no apparent reason. They threw some lame red herrings in there that made zero sense. Just a stupid, joyless slog of a movie.

Negative stars.

blah, get off his lawn. This movie was a comedy through and through made to be laughed at

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I made the grave mistake of watching the "Roadhouse" remake yesterday.

Holy crap, was this a bad movie. The lead was miscast. The other characters were cardboard cutouts. They seemed to, for a while, to be going for an action comedy but then would dump it for no apparent reason. They threw some lame red herrings in there that made zero sense. Just a stupid, joyless slog of a movie.

Negative stars.

blah, get off his lawn. This movie was a comedy through and through made to be laughed at

Man, I didn't get it at all. They tried to be funny sometimes, but didn't carry it through.

Different strokes and all that, I guess.

 

[Tick]

The 25 Greatest Time-Travel Movies Ever Made

Yes, we’re including time loops, too.

www.vulture.com

I'm going to watch any of these I haven't already seen. I watched La Jetee already (28 minutes, it's on Youtube).

Others in the queue now:
Palm Springs
Donnie Darko
Run Lola Run
Happy Death Day
See You Yesterday

See You Yesterday (Netflix) stinks. It's a Spike Lee movie, and the typical Spike Lee stuff is fine - the NY setting, people of color's relationship with police and each other, feeling trapped in your environment... but the science and time travel parts are pretty bad. Too much hand waving, too tropey, no substance or real explanations of what they were doing, a false sense of urgency driving a lack of planning... just annoying, really.

 

[snogger]

Never heard of 13 minutes https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/13_minutes_2021

Wife and thought it was worth the watch. Thought the storylines and how many connected to each was done well.

3 out of 5

 

[Tick]

The 25 Greatest Time-Travel Movies Ever Made

Yes, we’re including time loops, too.

www.vulture.com

I'm going to watch any of these I haven't already seen. I watched La Jetee already (28 minutes, it's on Youtube).

Others in the queue now:
Palm Springs
Donnie Darko
Run Lola Run
Happy Death Day
See You Yesterday

See You Yesterday (Netflix) stinks. It's a Spike Lee movie, and the typical Spike Lee stuff is fine - the NY setting, people of color's relationship with police and each other, feeling trapped in your environment... but the science and time travel parts are pretty bad. Too much hand waving, too tropey, no substance or real explanations of what they were doing, a false sense of urgency driving a lack of planning... just annoying, really.

Palm Springs (Hulu): I really liked this. It has a 7.4 on IMDB, which I'm fine with. I thought the casting and acting was solid. Andy Samberg playing a guy who doesn't care what happens worked well, then his more dramatic turn at the end. One small thing I really liked was that he didn't pull her into this on purpose - no Passengers-style unforgivable act.

 

[Tick]

The 25 Greatest Time-Travel Movies Ever Made

Yes, we’re including time loops, too.

www.vulture.com

I'm going to watch any of these I haven't already seen. I watched La Jetee already (28 minutes, it's on Youtube).

Others in the queue now:
Palm Springs
Donnie Darko
Run Lola Run
Happy Death Day
See You Yesterday

See You Yesterday (Netflix) stinks. It's a Spike Lee movie, and the typical Spike Lee stuff is fine - the NY setting, people of color's relationship with police and each other, feeling trapped in your environment... but the science and time travel parts are pretty bad. Too much hand waving, too tropey, no substance or real explanations of what they were doing, a false sense of urgency driving a lack of planning... just annoying, really.

Palm Springs (Hulu): I really liked this. It has a 7.4 on IMDB, which I'm fine with. I thought the casting and acting was solid. Andy Samberg playing a guy who doesn't care what happens worked well, then his more dramatic turn at the end. One small thing I really liked was that he didn't pull her into this on purpose - no Passengers-style unforgivable act.

Run Lola Run (Prime): 1998 movie with Franka Potente (Bourne 1 heroine). 7.7 on IMDB. It's in German.

Spoiler: Basic premise spoiler

It's a time loop movie. I've seen a few of these now, and this one was fairly early - it doesn't go as crazy as most, with only 2 resets. The time loop isn't really the neatest part of the movie... there's probably more in there when it comes to the little flashes we get of other people's futures in each loop, but I just treated them as amusing little flashes and didn't dwell on them.

The movie looks great. The music is simple but perfect. The setting is great, a little empty on the roads but European cities can become characters in some movies - this had a bit of that. There's some crazy cinematography and interludes at times, a bit Guy Ritchiesque. I'm glad I watched this.

 

[El Floppo]

The 25 Greatest Time-Travel Movies Ever Made

Yes, we’re including time loops, too.

www.vulture.com

I'm going to watch any of these I haven't already seen. I watched La Jetee already (28 minutes, it's on Youtube).

Others in the queue now:
Palm Springs
Donnie Darko
Run Lola Run
Happy Death Day
See You Yesterday

See You Yesterday (Netflix) stinks. It's a Spike Lee movie, and the typical Spike Lee stuff is fine - the NY setting, people of color's relationship with police and each other, feeling trapped in your environment... but the science and time travel parts are pretty bad. Too much hand waving, too tropey, no substance or real explanations of what they were doing, a false sense of urgency driving a lack of planning... just annoying, really.

Palm Springs (Hulu): I really liked this. It has a 7.4 on IMDB, which I'm fine with. I thought the casting and acting was solid. Andy Samberg playing a guy who doesn't care what happens worked well, then his more dramatic turn at the end. One small thing I really liked was that he didn't pull her into this on purpose - no Passengers-style unforgivable act.

Run Lola Run (Prime): 1998 movie with Franka Potente (Bourne 1 heroine). 7.7 on IMDB. It's in German.

Spoiler: Basic premise spoiler

It's a time loop movie. I've seen a few of these now, and this one was fairly early - it doesn't go as crazy as most, with only 2 resets. The time loop isn't really the neatest part of the movie... there's probably more in there when it comes to the little flashes we get of other people's futures in each loop, but I just treated them as amusing little flashes and didn't dwell on them.

The movie looks great. The music is simple but perfect. The setting is great, a little empty on the roads but European cities can become characters in some movies - this had a bit of that. There's some crazy cinematography and interludes at times, a bit Guy Ritchiesque. I'm glad I watched this.

Big fan. The Princess and the Warrior was underrated by Tykwer... And I really like Heaven too.

 

[Ilov80s]

The 25 Greatest Time-Travel Movies Ever Made

Yes, we’re including time loops, too.

www.vulture.com

I'm going to watch any of these I haven't already seen. I watched La Jetee already (28 minutes, it's on Youtube).

Others in the queue now:
Palm Springs
Donnie Darko
Run Lola Run
Happy Death Day
See You Yesterday

See You Yesterday (Netflix) stinks. It's a Spike Lee movie, and the typical Spike Lee stuff is fine - the NY setting, people of color's relationship with police and each other, feeling trapped in your environment... but the science and time travel parts are pretty bad. Too much hand waving, too tropey, no substance or real explanations of what they were doing, a false sense of urgency driving a lack of planning... just annoying, really.

Palm Springs (Hulu): I really liked this. It has a 7.4 on IMDB, which I'm fine with. I thought the casting and acting was solid. Andy Samberg playing a guy who doesn't care what happens worked well, then his more dramatic turn at the end. One small thing I really liked was that he didn't pull her into this on purpose - no Passengers-style unforgivable act.

Oh yeah that’s maybe the best rom-com of the decade imo

 

[Ilov80s]

Watching the sexy, sultry Dorothy Malone (what up Wikkid) in The Tarnished Angels and it’s crazy she’s 32 in this. She comes off at least a decade older. Time just worked different then.

 

[Tick]

Blue Ruin (Tubi/Roku): 2031, IMDB 7.1. Homeless guy finds out his parents' killer is being released from prison, it turns into a war between two families. Someone here mentioned this recently, so I put it on my list. Based on context, I expected it to be horror, but it wasn't. This felt like a low-budget, lest artistic Coen brothers movie to me, or maybe more like the Fargo TV show season when the St. Louis gang is moving into Duluth. I liked it, but 7.1 seems high to me. Watch if you've run out of Coen brothers movies.

 

[jamny]

Blue Ruin (Tubi/Roku): 2031, IMDB 7.1. Homeless guy finds out his parents' killer is being released from prison, it turns into a war between two families. Someone here mentioned this recently, so I put it on my list. Based on context, I expected it to be horror, but it wasn't. This felt like a low-budget, lest artistic Coen brothers movie to me, or maybe more like the Fargo TV show season when the St. Louis gang is moving into Duluth. I liked it, but 7.1 seems high to me. Watch if you've run out of Coen brothers movies.

I loved it. I hope I didn't mislead you but I never meant to imply that it was horror because it clearly isn't.

 

[Tick]

Blue Ruin (Tubi/Roku): 2031, IMDB 7.1. Homeless guy finds out his parents' killer is being released from prison, it turns into a war between two families. Someone here mentioned this recently, so I put it on my list. Based on context, I expected it to be horror, but it wasn't. This felt like a low-budget, lest artistic Coen brothers movie to me, or maybe more like the Fargo TV show season when the St. Louis gang is moving into Duluth. I liked it, but 7.1 seems high to me. Watch if you've run out of Coen brothers movies.

I loved it. I hope I didn't mislead you but I never meant to imply that it was horror because it clearly isn't.

It's actually pretty cool to watch a movie expecting it to turn into a horror at any moment. I assumed based on context, it wasn't anything you said.

 

[snogger]

Blue Ruin (Tubi/Roku): 2031, IMDB 7.1. Homeless guy finds out his parents' killer is being released from prison, it turns into a war between two families. Someone here mentioned this recently, so I put it on my list. Based on context, I expected it to be horror, but it wasn't. This felt like a low-budget, lest artistic Coen brothers movie to me, or maybe more like the Fargo TV show season when the St. Louis gang is moving into Duluth. I liked it, but 7.1 seems high to me. Watch if you've run out of Coen brothers movies.

I really enjoyed the slow burn of that movie. Would definitely give it a 8 out of 10.

 

[Eephus]

It wasn't my turn to choose for movie night so I got to see a couple of new streaming releases.

The Idea of You (Prime) is a rom com about an unlikely romance between a celebrity and a normal person. Anne Hathaway plays the commoner, a 40 year old mom who somehow sweeps a member of a huge boyband off his feet. Hathaway is much better than the material and her performance brought a lot to the movie. It wasn't great but it was definitely watchable with a surprisingly good soundtrack.

Unfrosted (Netflix) is Jerry Seinfeld's over the top take on the Pop Tarts origin story. There are a _lot_ of jokes, boomer nostalgia references and guest stars but very few laughs. There's also not much of a plot so Seinfeld takes an already broad comedy to ridiculous extremes at the end. In a word, unfunny.

 

[Eephus]

Movies I watched in April

Hearts of the West (1975 - H. Zieff)
Bright Lights, Big City (1988 - J. Bridges)
Edge of the City (1957 - M. Ritt)
The Tall T (1957 - B. Boetticher)
Incendies (2010 - D. Villeneuve)
Anna (2019 - L. Besson)
The Magic Flute (1975 - I. Bergman
Party Girl (1995 - D. von Scherler Mayer)
BlackBerry (2023 - M. Johnson)
The Pianist (2002 - R. Polanski)
Blade Runner 2049 (2017 - D. Villeneuve)

Short slate this month due to other issues. I wrote up the Villeneuves and Anna previously.

Hearts of the West was a nice little 70s New Hollywood comedy about Hollywood in the silent era. Jeff Bridges was impossibly young but excellent as he usually is. Bright Lights, Big City was a piece of time from the 80s. It’s weird in retrospect that nobody suggested therapy for Michael J. Fox’s character. Party Girl is kind of like Bright Lights one decade later with Parker Posey in the title role. It’s probably the better film of the two and is certainly more fun to watch.

Edge of the City would make a good double feature with On the Waterfront because it’s also set on the NY docks. Sidney Poitier played a jive talking cool cat who befriends John Cassavettes who’s running from his past. It was a bit on the preachy but had some great 50s NYC locations. The Tall T is a Western based on an Elmore Leonard story. It’s one of Martin Scorcese's favorites and for good reason. It's worth a watch if you like the genre.

The Magic Flute is Mozart’s opera shot by Ingmar Bergman for Swedish television. It’s the most successful I’ve seen of translating opera to film in part because it retain aspects of the original medium. BlackBerry was a very entertaining comedic take on the story of the phone. It was much funnier and better than that damned Pop Tarts movie.

The Pianist was one of the most powerful movies about the holocaust that I’ve ever seen. Say what you will about Polanski as a man but the director has made some great films

 

[Tick]

Has anyone watched EO - the Polish movie from a donkey's perspective (sort of)? I'm about halfway through and can't remember when/why I added it to my queue, but man is this one weird movie.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Has anyone watched EO - the Polish movie from a donkey's perspective (sort of)? I'm about halfway through and can't remember when/why I added it to my queue, but man is this one weird movie.

I think it was an Oscar nomination a couple years ago? It's been in on my Criterion queue since then, but I haven't clicked it yet.

 

[jdoggydogg]

The Beekeeper
Is this...the best movie ever made?

 

[belljr]

The Beekeeper
Is this...the best movie ever made?

Lol...I thought it was fun

 

[Eephus]

City Hunter on Netflix is a Japanese remake of a 1993 Jackie Chan movie. Both are based on an 80s manja about a womanizing private detective.

The new film is better looking but changes tone midway through from a zany comedy to a more standard action movie. It loses a lot of energy when this happens and is weighed down by a set of really dull villains. It has a few decent action scenes but nothing spectacular. The colorful Shinjuku locations are nice.

The original keeps the slapstick comedy going from beginning to end. It's extremely silly but Jackie's inimitable charm goes a long way. He's probably made 100 movies better than this one but it mostly kept me entertained.

 

[jdoggydogg]

The Beekeeper
Is this...the best movie ever made?

Lol...I thought it was fun

Huge fun.