What movies have you seen recently?

[Armor and Sword]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

The Fly with Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. More of a tragic love story than a horror film, but still very good.

Brundle Fly!

Indeed an underrated 80’s classic.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[KSUowls]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

The Kingsman

I enjoyed it, but neither the sequel nor the prequel ever captured me like the original. It's hard to beat Samuel L Jackson as the greatest villain ever though.

[Blzer]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Death on the Nile

I saw Murder on the Orient Express right after it came out on home video, so it's been a while. I remember being okay with it. I acknowledge it was a bit tough to plug into at times, but I stuck with it and happily even guessed the ending correctly. I wasn't disappointed by it overall, but I thought there was more character trying to be injected into the dialogue than the actual characters themselves, and development was kind of left out the window overall. I haven't gone back to it since, and there are better mystery films that have come out since then (such as Knives Out) to kind of leave it where it is.

Its sequel has come out though, and I was wondering what kinds of things Kenneth Branagh would do to improve on the original film. I think he did a few things that helped. For starters, the Egyptian setting was a little more interesting. Despite some of the green screen backgrounds and some nighttime shots where you can't place yourself, you still always kind of sensed that you were on the river the entire time. Enough establishing shots would immerse you this way. There were also romantic sensibilities sprinkled throughout which is almost always going to connect audiences and stir up character development, including with Poirot himself. Branagh also had interesting shot composition during a scene, where as it progressed the camera wanted to do more and unsettle the audience as the characters became more unsettled. I quite liked it.

I do think it hurt its own pacing with a little too much build-up in the first half of the film, and since I didn't see any trailers I didn't know what was next to develop. This film really does deal in two acts, though: before the death and after the death. Both were interesting in their own right, but a little disjointed in how the film's tone switched. I don't necessarily think this was a negative thing, but there is a crowd that might just want to know where they're going with everything, and frankly everything before is important for the ultimate delivery.

Speaking of which, I guessed some things correctly but only moments before they were revealed, and this did not have quite as good of a punch as the first film. Don't get me wrong, it was fine. I think part of the problem included how it was conveyed and how the puzzle pieces weren't as transparent to the audience as they were to characters in the film, if that makes sense. These are fun to play a guessing game with, but unless we're privy to the information we might not be able to play such guessing games as well. Maybe they were there though and I just need to rewatch it, which I'm not as enticed to do.

This movie had no chance of reshooting the Armie Hammer scenes if they wanted to. He is throughout the entire film, and in the most expensive of moments or shots to boot. His acting wasn't impeccable by any means, but also when watching it I wasn't distracted by his offscreen antics. He was just "there" and served well in a competently made film. Also, I finally found a movie where I didn't feel a want to punch Russell Brand in the face every time he came on screen. He was actually okay here. Gal Gadot played Gal Gadot. Kenneth Branagh absolutely chewed the scenery and I loved every bit of it.

I don't know what other Agatha Christie books exist that feature Hercule Poirot, but I'm hoping we get more because the murder mystery genre needs it. Sadly I think it'll be upstaged by Knives Out 2, but you can have both and be completely okay.

[Blzer]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

Step-by-step, they wanted to do here what Halloween (2018) did. There isn't anything inherently wrong with that, but it's just plainly obvious and hard to ignore. I can't quite place Leatherface's age in this timeline. He didn't appear to be an old man like Michael Myers is in H2018, and he had a caretaker at an orphanage who would be around that age.

If you're here for carnage, look no further. There was one scene in particular that you will get your money's worth from, living up to the "chainsaw massacre" name in its title. It is absolutely insane. It is among the delights of watching movies like this, morbid as it sounds. Nothing in the characterization hits the tension or disturbance that the 2003 film sets up, so anything that'll make you cringe is from the gore itself.

This movie did fall victim to making me talk to the screen a bunch, telling them to grab something, go the other direction, etc. I'm glad that they sometimes responded, but in "too little, too late" kind of fashion. And it wasn't a matter of dramatic irony where I knew what was happening and they didn't, they were just acting like you'll see horror film characters work things out.

Was it good? Nah. It was gruesome enough to entertain though. The end put a smile on my face, either intentionally or not is uncertain but the last shot made me chuckle in approval over the 87 minute runtime. I also liked the majority of the characters, but some were unfortunately underdeveloped or underserved.

As far as recent ones go I seem to remember liking TCM 3D more. These are definitely declining in quality, but if they make another one I'll definitely see it.

[Thomas29]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

The Kingsman was the last film I saw. And to be honest, I liked it but was expecting something more.
Like something was missing there

[JasonSGN]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Death on the Nile
I don't know what other Agatha Christie books exist that feature Hercule Poirot, but I'm hoping we get more because the murder mystery genre needs it. Sadly I think it'll be upstaged by Knives Out 2, but you can have both and be completely okay.

You should check out 1982's Evil Under the Sun. Peter Ustinov was the best Hercule Poirot and the story is great.

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

You guys ever seen The Seventh Seal? I watched it over the weekend and I just don’t understand the reputation at all. I liked the scene where Block was doing his confession to Death and the whole “how can we believe the believers when we don’t believe ourselves” angle but the rest was so bleh. The whole affair storyline just seemed outta nowhere and irrelevant to me.

Finally saw Licorice Pizza, solid 3.5/5 for me. Great performances, well directed, especially in the downhill scene which was awesome, but it didn’t leave much of a lasting impression. It’s a really different movie, but I feel like Almost Famous scratched the same itch and I love that movie.

[Lieutenant Dan]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Marvel's Eternals.


I watched this twice...first viewing I liked it's 'filmic', epic aspects and different vibe but felt like I wasn''t quite invested enough in the characters because there was so many of them. However, on the second viewing, I really took to it.

It's surprisingly dark (as in lighting/grading) for a Marvel film....felt more like how 'Arrival' w/Amy Adams looked. But it worked in this case pretty well.

In between viewing I also watched the making of feature that's on Disney+, I believe it's from the 'Assembled' series of mini-docs. That helped shine a light on the characters as well, so I got a lot more out of the second viewing from that and cared more about the characters.

I still feel like Angelina Jolie was maybe a little under-utilized, because I wanted to know more about her character and her take on things.

Ultimately, I love the scope, the stakes, and I like the characters more now and am more invested. Especially Sprite and Thena.

My first view score was a 7. Revised score is an 8 and I like it better than several of the Marvel films. I'm pleased so far with how Marvel has carried on after the Infinity Saga.

[Blzer]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

The Mitchell's vs. the Machines

I'll admit that for the first 30-40 minutes, I really wasn't feeling it. I mean it was fine and I would have been able to settle, but I didn't think that it was a film really targeted toward me. I thought it was a bit aimed more for the youthful ADHD crowd, especially with a twist of modernity thrown into every element of the film's tone, design, and story. It was all very hyperkinetic, much more so than even The LEGO Movie.

However, I'm glad that I remained invested. Although they remained tonally identical, the themes adulterated so much more. You felt the story really being about the family (specifically the father and daughter), and albeit my trepidation going forward the beginning had set this all up quite well. I think the humor worked better after the beginning as well. By the end, the movie turned out great.

I forget what the effect is called when one outperforms their own abilities/intelligence against their opponent (think Dumb & Dumber, Cars 2, etc.), but that happens here a little bit (I keep wanting to say Dunning-Kruger effect, but I think that's something else). I think it's fine to play along given the right kind of story, and an animated film has the perfect excuse to do exactly that. It is this kind of thing that can bog it down, but within this is the power of belief built from family so it has a good excuse for making this come to fruition.

I don't think this movie could've worked ten years ago, and maybe it'll be all too fitting ten years later if the early on message doesn't get across to our youthhood. Regardless, it didn't hit you over the top the rest of the way and it let the story play out, which I was appreciative of. For something that I thought was just going to end up being mediocre, I was really happy that it tickled my emotional core better than that of other animated films from last year such as Luca or Encanto. I think OS might want to check this one out when they can.

[Blzer]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Don't Look Up

I think given the context of the situation, it was appropriate to hit it without too much subtext and just go right at it, but provide the kind of satire that they did as well. Adam McKay has done enough comedies in the past to find that right blend with his other recent works like The Big Short and Vice that give light to what could have otherwise been very heavy.

Regardless, this film still hit pretty close to home regarding current events and portrayals of pretty much anybody on any side of anything, including global reactions to instances. Honestly, given that this was delivered as a source of entertainment whilst trying to convey something, I think it worked better than I could have imagined it with any other director.

Films like these are better cemented with stellar casting though, and everybody in here worked well. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence played off each other perfectly, as did Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry. My two favorites were performances were from Mark Rylance and Jonah Hill, and I think McKay knew how to groom and groove them to his style tremendously. Everything had to mesh with this film's tone to get it right, and I think they did exactly that. Shout outs also go to Ron Perlman and Timothée Chalamet.

Another staple that McKay is known for is his editing, and within just a couple of minutes I could've told you this was either a film by McKay or Soderbergh. I think it was another win here, but he did this thing where he'd cut out character dialogue mid-sentence, which can be effective if only done a few times. Unfortunately, like horror films with jump scares, it was done so many times that it both lost its effect and simply became noticeable, so much so that I have to write about it. Otherwise he did what he does best: uses the editing to keep me engaged and informed.

I don't think this is a movie to write home about, but it is one that can sit with you and illicit the right conversations; unfortunately, it seems it can also illicit the wrong ones. Others who have seen this will likely have some form of reaction to it if brought up in conversation, and I can see where it might be polarizing. I'm on the side of liking it, just not being over the moon by it. Although not McKay's finest hour, it being in his hands likely produced the finest form of this movie idea... which isn't original in itself, but that is also partly my point.

If there is any takeaway from this I think we can all agree on, it's that Netflix is stepping up their game in the movie-making industry. They are nabbing legitimate casts and crew and spending darn near top dollar to ensure that their name remains relevant when every new streaming platform is trying to compete at the same time. They don't seem to be showing any signs of slowing down this year, and to have some of their work also receive Oscar buzz is a feat in and of itself. I give them props, but also hope it's not another sign of the theater and physical media industries going extinct anytime soon. That is definitely not a foreseeable event that I would want to look up toward.

[Lieutenant Dan]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Blzer, great review of 'Don't Look Up'. I get what the filmmakers were going for, but I don't know if I laughed once at the satire because, unfortunately, it was too on the nose.

Otherwise it was very well done though. Not Best Picture good, but well done.

If you haven't watched it on Netflix yet, may I recommend 'The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" by the Cohen Brothers? I love that film, would be interested to know what you think of it. About six vignettes set in the old West, each quite different from each other.

[Master Live 013]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Funny thing mentioning the Coen Brothers and Don't Look Up; this comment in the comments section from the movie's review in RogerEbert.com summarized my feelings about the film:

The Coen Brothers would have kept extreme attributes of the characters within the realm of belief and at the ends of the bell curve of believeability but without exceeding them to the point of cartoonish. The problem here is that it was a non-stop series of cartoonish characters. There were occasional flashes of funny stuff mixed in but it was an exhausting watch seeing the same situation repeat itself due to the same exaggerated behavior.

But then again, I have never really liked McKay's films, he ain't for me.

[Blzer]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Blzer, great review of 'Don't Look Up'. I get what the filmmakers were going for, but I don't know if I laughed once at the satire because, unfortunately, it was too on the nose.

Otherwise it was very well done though. Not Best Picture good, but well done.

If you haven't watched it on Netflix yet, may I recommend 'The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" by the Cohen Brothers? I love that film, would be interested to know what you think of it. About six vignettes set in the old West, each quite different from each other.

I don't know if there was too much to laugh at overall, except for some lines from Jonah Hill and Ron Perlman. Satirical doesn't always necessarily mean humorous though. It could just mean hyperbolic, and that's a little bit of what this was. It kind of felt like: "Yeah, but couldn't you imagine?" It was almost a worst-case scenario played out that pandered to how we have shown ourselves to be. The actors helped set the right tone ("cartoonish" definitely does apply here), one which I wasn't too uncomfortable but was definitely put on edge, albeit in an entertaining way.

I still have yet to see The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. I'm only seen my fair share of Coen Brothers films. I'm not drawn to them by through their promotional stages, but when I watch them I do tend to enjoy some of their off-kilter nature. I know others enjoy some of them more than I do, though. I'm backlogged on films I'd like to watch but I'll definitely add this to my queue. Thanks!

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Do the Right Thing (5/5)

Seen this a thousand times and it hits every time.

Drive My Car (4/5)

Wanted to watch this because I'm pretty close to having seen all of the Best Picture nominees, and I needed to watch something to build up my tolerance for 3 hour movies before The Batman. I thought it was pretty great, really beautifully shot and directed. The runtime is weird because it didn't feel as long as it was but it still definitely could've cut some stuff out, and I think it would've made it a better movie personally. You could probably cut the entire first 45 minutes and the movie wouldn't lose much, but my issue is really more of a "show, don't tell" thing. Because the runtime is so long they end up showing us a lot, but then they end up telling us all of the same stuff later on in the movie.

My Best Picture nominees ranked (even though it seems to be consensus Power of the Dog is going to sweep and I still need to see West Side Story and Nightmare Alley)
Coda (4.5/5)
Drive My Car (4/5)
Belfast (4/5)
Dune (4/5)
Licorice Pizza (3.5/5)
Don't Look Up (3.5/5)
Power of the Dog (3/5)
King Richard (3/5)

[lowpaiddonkey10]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

You guys ever seen The Seventh Seal? I watched it over the weekend and I just don’t understand the reputation at all. I liked the scene where Block was doing his confession to Death and the whole “how can we believe the believers when we don’t believe ourselves” angle but the rest was so bleh. The whole affair storyline just seemed outta nowhere and irrelevant to me.

Finally saw Licorice Pizza, solid 3.5/5 for me. Great performances, well directed, especially in the downhill scene which was awesome, but it didn’t leave much of a lasting impression. It’s a really different movie, but I feel like Almost Famous scratched the same itch and I love that movie.

Seventh Seal is a film not a movie. At least the critics will tell you that. Not a big fan of it either.