Recently Seen Movies - Tell Us

[maplekiwi]

[QUOTE=Amythyst;1339531
Bizarre coincidence: the projector broke down 20 minutes before the end, just like what happened in-universe when Mia and Sebastian were at the movies. For a few seconds I thought the film was getting meta on us.[/QUOTE]

If the projector had broken down at our screening I think we would have walked out! I was about 5 minutes from falling asleep at the end.

[AuntiePam]

Originally Posted by Amythyst

Bizarre coincidence: the projector broke down 20 minutes before the end, just like what happened in-universe when Mia and Sebastian were at the movies. For a few seconds I thought the film was getting meta on us.

That happened to me, in a theater showing Twister! This was before 'meta' entered the common vocabulary. Very weird. (If you haven't seen Twister, there's a scene where a tornado destroys a drive-in movie.)

Watched Reds on TCM this week, Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton. I don't think the movie will educate anyone on the Russian Revolution or US labor history, but as a movie about the relationship between John Reed and Louise Bryant, it's pretty good. I think the 'witnesses' added a lot -- people who knew the couple or who were involved politically in the early 1900's and who made comments during the movie.

My only complaint is that the movie ended with Reed's death. Bryant's life was just as interesting as his, and she didn't fade away into obscurity after he died.

Keaton was marvelous. Nominated for an Oscar but lost to Hepburn. Damn shame.

[JackieLikesVariety]

I just finished Saving Mr. Banks. it was very well done, of course, but I lost interest in the story a time or two.

[The Devil's Grandmother]

I finally saw Arrival. I liked it, but they skittered way too quickly over how freakin' difficult it would be to learn how to communicate in a foreign language.

[RealityChuck]

Saw La La Land and was blown away by what is the best movie I've seen in years. Brilliant on all levels, and it rivals Singin' in the Rain as the best movie musical ever (and the opening sequence rivals Gene Kelly's in the amount of joy shown on screen).

Arrival also was pretty brilliant. A thoughtful science fiction movie; I haven't seen one of those since 12 Monkeys. The problems of communication -- something science fiction sloughs off -- was made fascinating.

Sing is pretty routine. Every character's story arc was obvious from their first appearance. Nothing bad, but you've seen it all before.

Moana was OK, but not great (better than Sing, at least). The Disney formula works, and the ending twist was nice.

[Amythyst]

I saw Hidden Figures this afternoon, and I thought it was fantastic. Great story and great acting.

RealityChuck, I also loved the opening number in La La Land. I couldn't have stopped smiling if I'd tried!

[teela brown]

I rewatched an old favorite: Of Human Bondage, with Bette Davis and Leslie Howard.

It's quite modern in its depiction of obsessive sexual infatuation. There's a well-done theme of "you love her, and she loves him, and he loves somebody else, you just can't win". This was Bette Davis's breakout role, and she was an absolute scene-stealer as the borderline personality disorder bitch Mildred. Leslie Howard was also fine as the pining, sensitive medical student with a club foot.

I read that Bette Davis had been given permission to do this role by her studio so that she'd shut up about getting better roles, and they were annoyed about how wildly popular she and the movie became. They tried to sabotage her chances at an Academy Award that year, and it became a scandal. That was when control over the vote counting was turned over to Price Waterhouse Cooper, who controls the vote counting to this day.

[tunaman]

Well, I "enjoyed" a blast from the past watching The Concorde... Airport '79 last night. None of the Airport movies were that great, but IMHO this one was the worst by far. Ridiculously low budget. Horrible special effects. But the worst thing of all? A story that's literally telegraphed within the first minute of the movie!

It begins in Paris, where a Concorde takes off for Dulles and its new owner, Federation World Airlines. As an aside: I'd almost forgotten that Concorde was built to be a "regular" plane, in the sense that airlines like Delta and Pan Am would buy them and add them to their fleets. Of course, the oil crisis and anti-SST protesters nixed that, and Concorde was dumped onto Air France and BA.

Anyway, as the plane approaches Dulles for landing we see a drone test being conducted on the Virginia coast by defense contractor Harrison Industries. The drone has been built to take down jet fighters, and looks like KITT in missile form. WHY DOES A MISSILE NEED BLINKY LIGHTS ON THE OUTSIDE? AND COULD THESE TWO EVENTS POSSIBLY BE RELATED SOMEHOW?

The plan is, the Federation Concorde will fly back to Paris the next morning, then on to Moscow for a "goodwill visit" ahead of the 1980 Moscow Olympics (the film was shot was pre-boycott, I guess). But wait: local hotshot reporter Maggie Whelan is taking that flight... because the NBC affiliate in DC just has money to burn, I guess.

The night before the flight, an accountant from Harrison Industries shows up at Maggie's house alleging that company CEO, Dr. Kevin Harrison, has illegally sold weapons to Cuba, Angola, Uganda, record company executives, the New England Patriots, and every other scummy organization you can think of. The accountant tells Whelan that someone will give her documents to prove this the next morning... but then a hitman just kinda walks through the front door (without knocking? how RUDE!) and shoots him. He takes a few half-hearted shots at Maggie and leaves. And oh... did I mention that Maggie is DATING KEVIN HARRISON? What a coincidence, amirite?

So... the plot magically falls into place: Maggie is handed the documents as she's boarding Concorde. Harrison sees this and knows the evidence is going to send him to Federal Pound-Me-In-The-Ass prison, so has the next drone test moved up to that morning. One of his guys rigs the drone's software to "have a fault" (wink-wink!) and blow up the Concorde. Of course, our heroes, the pilots, save the plane. So Harrison has fighter jets sent out to blow it up (and hey, what private citizen DOESN'T have his own personal air force?). The pilots once again save the day and make an emergency landing at Orly.

Harrison has one last chance: instead of, ya know, immediately rushing to the NBC office in Paris and breaking the story of her boyfriend illegally selling weapons to America's greatest enemies, Maggie decides to go sightseeing or something. Maybe get a croissant at a SUPER-CUTE café in Montmartre? I dunno. We don't know, because the movie chooses to take this time to show the two pilots in a bar, specifically to show George Kennedy's soft, sensitive side. HE'S TOUGH AS NAILS, BUT HIS WIFE DIED AND HE MISSES HER, YOU GUYS! Anyway, this allows one of Harrison's henchmen to disguise himself as a mechanic and rig the cargo door to open after the plane takes off the next morning. Yes, the next morning: although the Concorde was beat to hell evading drones and missiles - doing barrel rolls and loop-the-loops like it was a giant goddamn F-16 - and half the rubber wore off the tires making that dramatic "stops 5 feet before the end of the runway" emergency landing... it'll be ready to fly again in less than 12 hours! If Trump really wants to build that wall, he should hire these guys! Also, Harrison must have Scrooge McDuck money to pull all this off. If I gave you an hour to get to Orly airport, find a mechanic's outfit (complete with ID) and build a device that can press the keypad buttons on the cargo door could you do it? It's not like you can go to Lowe's and ask for a "Concorde cargo door sabotager".

So the plane takes off for Moscow the next day and, sure enough, the cargo door opens as planned. Holes start ripping through the fuselage, causing people to almost fall out of the plane. Interestingly, the holes only appear under actors we know, not the nameless extras seated throughout the plane. Odd coincidence, that. Of course the pilots - who are goddamn national heroes by this point - manage to land the plane in a snowbank in the Alps. There are a few bumps and bruises, but everyone is OK. The movie ends with the last people getting off the plane, which fades to a shot of the Concorde flying (peacefully!) through the air. It's like they ran out of money at the very end and the writers withheld the ending or something.

* * *

So... where do I even begin with this?

As mentioned, the Concorde is treated like a giant jet fighter, able to do almost anything an F-16 can... even down to evading two Exocet missiles at once! But the best part is when, in an attempt to evade one of the missiles, the pilot opens a window, sticks his arm out, and fires a flare (to throw off the heat-seeking missile, you see). Because sticking your arm out the window at MACH 2 won't instantly break it into a hundred pieces - it's just like tossing an empty soda bottle out the window of a moving car!

And the effects... woo, boy. This is some of the worst mattework you'll ever see: at one point, you can even see a smudged fingerprint or streak in the sky as the "plane" flies by. But that's only scratching the surface: shadows and light rarely make any sense (why is the Concorde lit from the OPPOSITE SIDE of the sun?); some of the planes are clearly models they didn't even bother putting little pilots into; explosions sometimes don't line up with where they're supposed to be, and most of the time they're transparent enough so you can see through them to the undamaged plane.

Oh, and speaking of the plane... ohmygosh it's so hideous inside. The interior walls are a sickly shade of beige that reminds me of the walls of the smoker's lounge at Salt Lake City International Airport. There's brown plaid on the seats and on the bulkheads. Remember the Regal Beagle from Three's Company? Yeah, like that, only it's a plane. Either that, or it's like the Steak and Ale near Northlake Mall in Atlanta (circa 1978), only in the sky.

But the best worst part of the film is the cast. Robert Wagner plays Evil White Guy™ Dr. Kevin Harrison. George Kennedy plays hero pilot Capt. Joe Patroni, while Alain Delon plays French pilot Capt. Paul Metrand. Eddie Albert plays Eli Sands, the airline's president; oddly, looks like he needs to take a shit really badly throughout most of the film. Which makes it weird that Martha Raye plays a passenger with a bladder problem that actually goes to the bathroom several times in the film. But she often can't, because sax player Jimmy Walker is smoking joints in the bathroom (and it's kinda funny that they show him smoking out the bathroom, yet when he finally opens the door, no smoke comes out, and no one notices the smell). Cicely Tyson plays a mom who's taking a heart (like, an actual human heart) to her son who is awaiting emergency surgery in France; during turbulence, the cooler almost files open, but it's saved by sports reporter Robert Palmer (John Davidson) who is only on the flight because he's banging Russian gymnast Alicia Rogov (Andrea Marcovicci) who is on the flight back to Moscow. Oh, and how could I forget: Charo makes an appearance as a snooty passenger with a snooty little dog. There was some kinda law back in the 70s that any ensemble TV show or movie required Charo.

So yeah... as far as the cast goes, it was almost like an episode of The Love Boat, but on a plane. But Mercedes McCambridge (the evil voice of The Exorcist) is also in it, as is David Warner (who has been in a hundred things, like Ripper Street, Wallander, Inspector Lewis, Penny Dreadful, The Secret of Crickley Hall, Mad Dogs - and, less glamorously, What's New, Scooby-Doo?). Ed Begley Jr. shines as "Rescuer #1" (yes, really). Also, José Ferrer has a role in the TV version (which was cut from the version I saw), Harry Shearer has a voice role, and Arrested Development and Archer star Jessica Walter plays Kennedy's dead wife in flashback, which I don't remember at all.

So yeah... it's a shit film. But is it is good shit film? Meh - I give it a 4 on the Shitty Film Scale, where 1 is Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer and 10 is Road House. It's worth watching - once! - for the lols, bit not much else.

[Doyle]

The Hateful Eight - I'll give it a B-. I love QT, but felt it was just another Pulp Fiction placed in another era. SLJ is the exact same character as he is in all his movies. Also, way too long.

[AuntiePam]

tunaman, thanks for that review. It was fun to read.

[eleanorigby]

Saw LaLaLand last week. I liked it, but found it uneven. The opening sequence, while visually interesting, was not matched by the rest of the film, IMO.

That said, I did enjoy most of it. I thought it dragged a bit and I'm still not quite sure if liked the ending or not. I didn't dislike the ending; it unsettled me, which is not a bad thing. I think I want to see it again to have a final verdict. I don't think it's on par with Singin' In the Rain or Guys n' Dolls or any of the top 3 Fred and Ginger movies (Shall We Dance, Top Hat, Swing Time), BUT it is an excellent musical for today and in that alone, it is wonderful.

Really want to see 20th Century Woman, too.

[Mustard Stain]

Originally Posted by Khampelf

Dead Again: Can't quite recommend it. It could have been much better. Robin Williams has a small part done very well. Tries to be Film Noir / Detective fiction with a supernatural/past lives twist and just doesn't quite make it as either.

Oo-oo! Dead Again! I saw that back when it first came out in the theatre. At the time, I did like it, but I can't imagine that it's held up well over the years. I think the pacing and production values would tarnish a bit and it would just be sort of "quaint", whereas when I saw back in the day, the cinema experience felt a bit Shyamalan-esque.

Similarly, the same year as Dead Again was a mystery-noir flick called Shattered with Tom Berenger as the lead. Same kind of thing: you can get engrossed in it, but it probably wouldn't hold up very well today.

Like audiences are becoming more sophisticated or something something.

Both would be decent enough for in-flight entertainment though.

[teela brown]

I watched 2015's The Descendants. It's a well-acted story of a Hawaiian family and how they deal with the death of the wife and mother. But the death issue isn't really what the movie is all about. Mostly it's three subplots: the bringing together of the dad and his daughters, his discovering his wife's infidelity and tracking down the lover, and his deciding what to do about some precious unspoiled Kauai land held in trust for him and dozens of cousins, all descendants of the original land-owning Hawaiian royalty and missionary families.

It's full of brilliant footage of the islands. The performances of George Clooney and Shailene Woody were particularly good. And Gabby Pahinui, my favorite Hawaiian musician, is well-represented in the soundtrack. I'm going to have to watch this one again.

[AuntiePam]

Agree on The Descendants. Stumbled upon it awhile back without knowing anything about it -- couldn't stop watching.

The scenery, the acting, the story, the relationships -- if this movie were a food, it would be something extremely satisfying -- filling but without making you feel stuffed, like a hearty salad. Now I'm hungry.

[teela brown]

Yeah, it wasn't a weepy, dying-by-inches kind of movie, which I feared. The only thing that brought tears to my eyes was his decision on what to do about the land, and those were tears of happiness. It had a beautiful smooth pacing, too, measured and relaxed.

Oops, and it was a 2011 movie, not 2015.

[tunaman]

Well, screener season started very late this year (and many of the Oscar-hype movies hasn't shown up at all).

I caught Allied the other night. Brad Pitt plays a WWII Canadian commando who parachutes into the desert outside Casablanca to kill a local high-ranking Nazi with the help of a French Resistance fighter (Marion Cotillard). Their legend is that they're a married couple, so they kiss and hold hands and stuff and EVENTUALLY FALL IN LOVE FOR REAL, YOU GUYS! The second half of the movie takes place a year later, in London. Pitt and Cotillard have gotten married and have a daughter. But oh no! Cotillard might be a double agent for the Nazis! HOW WILL IT END? Pretty predictably, actually. This movie is the poster child for "meh": it's not that good, but it's not that bad, either. The technical aspects - the sets, the costumes, the effects - are all top-notch. The story isn't bad, either. But Pitt and Cotillard just don't have a lot of onscreen chemistry. And the action seems to take place at a distance: we don't really get to know Pitt and Cotillard that well, so we don't feel happy for them when good things happen or sad when bad things happen. The best thing about this movie is Cotillard's English accent. When we first meet her, it's heavily French-influenced; after we skip ahead a year (in London) her accent is lightly (but noticeably) much more British. It's a little touch, but if that's the best thing you can say about a movie...

And last night I watched The Founder, Michael Keaton's biopic of McDonald's "founder" Ray Kroc. First of all, this is a business movie - if you enjoy films like Tucker: The Man and His Dream or Barbarians at the Gate, you might like this. If you mostly watch films where stuff explodes for 2 hours, this probably isn't for you. As far as biopics go, this one's not too bad. It's an enjoyable couple of hours. But the film is kinda... all over the place. For one thing, they changed the McDonald brothers origin story. They might have been good businessmen, but they actually inherited their father's restaurant (and didn't start from scratch as the movie shows). Kroc is portrayed almost as a loser, like Jack Lemmon's "Shelley Levene" character in Glengarry Glen Ross (or Gil Gunderson in The Simpsons, who was inspired by Lemmon's character). We see Kroc, a milkshake machine salesman, get doors slammed in his face repeatedly, Yet, we also see that Kroc lives in a nice house and belongs to a country club. So which is it? Of course, one day he gets an order for 8 shake machines for a single restaurant, and becomes curious why any restaurant would need so many machines. He drives from St. Louis to San Bernardino where he meets the McDonald brothers: Maurice "Mac" McDonald (John Carroll Lynch) and Richard "Dick" McDonald (Nick Offerman). Kroc eventually talks them in to franchising, and the chain starts to take off. But Kroc is portrayed as a world-class jerk, while the McDonalds are portrayed as bumpkin small business owners who want to micromanage every. single. thing. Kroc does. And, due to the terms of the franchising agreement, Kroc and the McDonalds aren't making that much money off their work. The McDonalds might be OK with that, but Kroc isn't. He's shown to have fallen behind on his house payments (having mortgaged his home to start McDonald's), and his plight is overheard at the bank by a man named Harry J. Sonneborn (B.J. Novak from The Office). Sonneborn convinces Kroc that the real money is in real estate. Sonneborn comes up with a successful system where McDonald's buys the land and charges rent to the franchisees (in addition to the usual franchise fees). THIS is what finally makes McDonald's take off. The McDonald brothers are livid that Kroc has basically stolen their company from them, but by the time they get hire a lawyer and get Kroc into a room he's too successful to stop. He offers them $2.7 million to walk away. Realizing they've been beaten, they take it. A few minutes later, Kroc is in the restroom when Dick McDonald walks in. Dick says that Kroc may have the company but he'll never have the McDonald's name. Kroc says that he does, and the only thing he really, truly wanted from them was the name. So... yeah. Keaton is pretty good, although he's pretty much just playing himself. John Carroll Lynch and Nick Offerman are good as the McDonald brothers - Lynch is especially good at portraying the "interacts with people" brother while Offerman is good as the "inventive, but socially awkward and unyielding" brother. Laura Dern plays Kroc's first wife, and is kind of wasted in an "Anne Heche role"*. Linda Cardellini plays Joan Smith, the wife of an early franchisee. We see her early in the film, playing piano in a bar as Kroc becomes transfixed on her. We then see the two in a late night phone conversation (about milkshakes). We then see her much later in the film, long after Kroc has become a millionaire, helping him prep for a speech. And that's it. If you didn't already know Joan was his wife, you might miss it completely. All in all, a decent film, but not one I want to see again. It can't seem to figure out exactly what story it wanted to tell, and if Kroc was a hero or bad guy... and can't seem to reconcile on the idea that he could actually be both.

* - An "Anne Heche role" is one in which the wife\girlfriend character of the film's protagonist exists solely to yell and scream at the protagonist for doing his job. This is typical in cop movies\TV shows, in which the wife's lines are usually screams of "WHY DON'T YOU COME HOME ANYMORE?" or "I CAN'T DO THIS WITHOUT YOU!" or "DON'T YOU CARE ABOUT THIS FAMILY?" I named it after Anne Heche's character in the 1997 film Donnie Brasco, in which almost all her lines were literally screamed at Johnny Depp.

[AuntiePam]

Via HBO -- The Boss, a silly Melissa McCarthy vehicle. If you ignore the ridiculous plot and focus on McCarthy and Kristen Bell, it's almost palatable. McCarthy plays a Martha Stewart-Bernie Madoff type who spends a few months in prison for insider trading. Bell had worked for her before prison and gets ensnared with her again after she's released.

Central Intelligence -- a really fun movie with Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart as high school classmates who meet again 20 years later when Johnson's CIA agent character needs help to foil a plot. It was predictable but a lot of fun. Hell, I'd watch it again.

[jali]

I finally watched the movie, "Dope" and I loved it.

There were so many small, sweet moments in this film, and the parts I didn't love don't matter overall.

Malcolm is a nerd in the hood. His interactions with the various type characters ring true in many instances, and his two best friends (Jib and Diggy) are hilarious and sad at same time (especially at the birthday party). They have a punk band called "Oreo" and they rebel by rocking the 90s (although the rapper -model-actor, Rocky ASAP as Dom , told Malcolm that the songs he loved were made in the late 80s and earls 00s. (cool interaction)

Malcolm is a smart, hard working kid deemed "arrogant" by his counselor at his high school.

The three friends find themselves in a dangerous situation with drugs and gangsters, and Malcolm and company find a smart (and in my opinion elegant - despite the lawbreaking) way out of the situation.

I loved the ending of the movie - the look on this young mans face brought tears to my eyes.

Warning: sexual content and nudity - violence and bad language.
This film has a great heart and if you can overlook the negative, you might find love for this movie.

[tunaman]

Watched Gold last night, Matthew McConaughey's movie about modern-day gold prospectors. The story is loosely based on a real event - the Bre-X Fraud from the mid 1990s. McConaughey plays Kenny Wells, a down-on-his-luck prospector using his very last dime to look for gold (Wells is based on Bre-X CEO David Walsh, who was actually a fairly wealthy, successful businessman before the scandal). Seriously: Wells is almost to the point of looking for discarded lottery scratch-off tickets to make ends meet. So he pawns a couple nice watches to go to Indonesia, where he's convinced a massive vein of gold exists. Soon, he gets core sample reports that look good. Really good. He's soon able to get massive amounts of funding, and his company - once reduced to working out of a bar - is now one of the biggest mining companies around. Only thing is... there's no gold. The whole thing was a hustle (allegedly) cooked up by geologist Michael Acosta (played by Édgar Ramírez and based on actual Bre-X geologist Michael de Guzman).

This is a fine film to watch on an airplane, or if it's a special at Redbox or something. But production on this began in 2011, and was passed around and rewritten so many times that it shows. Paul Haggis was going to direct, but dropped out when Michael Mann showed interest. Mann dropped out to direct other movies, and the whole production was bought by a new production company. Shortly thereafter, Spike Lee was announced as director (yes, really). But he dropped out and was replaced by Stephen Gaghan. Several other actors came and went, and the production was sold a couple more times. It really shows. One review states: "Gold boasts an impressively committed performance from Matthew McConaughey, but it's just one glittering nugget in an otherwise uneven heap of cinematic silt." That's about dead-on.

[Inner Stickler]

I found this movie Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart on Netflix last week and it's honestly thrown me for a loop. I can't decide if I like it or hate it but I can't stop listening to several of the songs on Youtube. It's an english dub of a french movie and the dialogue often has that rushed odd quality of not being able to fit the whole sense of the line in the available mouth movements.

The movie itself is rated PG but I can't imagine letting anyone younger than a teenager watch it.

Anyway, I desperately need someone else to watch this movie and tell me I wouldn't be crazy for liking it.

[AuntiePam]

13th, Oscar-nominated documentary, via Netflix, about the rise in black incarceration, the proliferation of prisons -- should be required viewing for lawmakers and law enforcement.

[hendo]

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

13th, Oscar-nominated documentary, via Netflix, about the rise in black incarceration, the proliferation of prisons -- should be required viewing for lawmakers and law enforcement.

I watched this the other night on campus. The student government and the Black Student Union on campus combined to sponsor a screening, and i'd been thinking about watching it anyway, so i went along.

As a historian who is also interested in the modern rise of the prison-industrial complex in the United States, i didn't see too much that i didn't already know, but i thought that the film did a very good job of connecting historical issues of race and law enforcement to the modern explosion in the prison population.

To be honest, the one thing i found unconvincing was the central logical and rhetorical claim underlying the film's title: that the development of racial inequities in the criminal justice system, and the criminalization of blacks in America, can be traced to a clause in the 13th Amendment that made an exception for criminal convictions in the abolition of slavery and involuntary servitude. That is not, in my opinion, a very compelling argument.

[AuntiePam]

Originally Posted by hendo

To be honest, the one thing i found unconvincing was the central logical and rhetorical claim underlying the film's title: that the development of racial inequities in the criminal justice system, and the criminalization of blacks in America, can be traced to a clause in the 13th Amendment that made an exception for criminal convictions in the abolition of slavery and involuntary servitude. That is not, in my opinion, a very compelling argument.

I thought that the claim was thin, or not well-explained.

What if that clause had been left out, and the amendment simply abolished slavery and involuntary servitude? Would people think they couldn't be jailed or restrained at all, even for crimes?

Conflating "slavery and involuntary servitude" with incarceration and prisons -- in my mind, they're not the same thing. What did the 19th century mind think?

I'm confusing myself trying to parse it.

[Pere]

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

Conflating "slavery and involuntary servitude" with incarceration and prisons -- in my mind, they're not the same thing.

They're not. But incarcerated people have been further used as involuntary labor. When you look at the geography of the practice, and the respective hues of the people enduring and benefiting from it, the resemblance to slavery is... uncomfortable.

[The Devil's Grandmother]

I haven't seen 13th yet, did it touch on how the mass incarceration of blacks is also used to disenfranchise them? I hadn't really thought about it much until I saw a graphic on facebook that broke out the not-voted numbers into those who could have voted but did not from those who are ineligible to vote. I've been trying to find a more detailed break down on the ineligible non-voters...I'd like to know how many are non-citizens and how many are disenfranchised citizens. And maybe there's another category that I have not considered.

Last weekend I went to see Lion, the movie about the Indian boy who gets lost, eventually adopted by Australian couple, and later finds his birth family again. I thought it was charming and well-acted. The lead was excessively handsome, which always helps hold one's attention.

[Apollo]

I just watched Captain America Civil War.

I'm a pretty decent fan of the marvel movies that have been coming out over the past few years... I am a little bit behind on this one as I didn't see it in theaters. I have never been a huge fan of Captain America which is the reason I didn't watch it.. but... It got posted onto Netflix so of course I was going to eventually get around to it. The entire plot line I'm sure you guys all know... the UN trying to put limits on the Avengers for good reasons but there is a bad guy trying to kill off Bucky/other people and Captain America is the only one that is pushing to do the right thing in terms of this particular situation and refuses to be limited by the UN... Makes for a pretty good storyline.

I would rate this one as about a 7/10 for the Marvel movies... there was a lot of good characters that were brought it... another new Spider-Man that I couldn't really grow to like but I did enjoy them bring in Ant-Man for this particular move.

[Metallic Squink]

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

Via HBO -- The Boss, a silly Melissa McCarthy vehicle. If you ignore the ridiculous plot and focus on McCarthy and Kristen Bell, it's almost palatable. McCarthy plays a Martha Stewart-Bernie Madoff type who spends a few months in prison for insider trading. Bell had worked for her before prison and gets ensnared with her again after she's released.

Central Intelligence -- a really fun movie with Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart as high school classmates who meet again 20 years later when Johnson's CIA agent character needs help to foil a plot. It was predictable but a lot of fun. Hell, I'd watch it again.

I just saw these two recently as well and was quite entertained. I really like Melissa McCarthy. Did you see Spy? That movie is really funny.

[Metallic Squink]

It's been forever since I posted here so "recently" could be years! But two recent movies that stand out:

The Family Fang: I don't know if I would have liked this if I hadn't read the book. The book goes so deep into character development and the movie just didn't do it justice. I also didn't like how many changes they made and how they changed the entire ending. But I could watch Jason Bateman and Nicole Kidman watching paint dry and still enjoy it.


Bad Moms: I think there was a good idea in here but it was really poorly executed. The "good mom" is the one who runs herself ragged making her kids' breakfast and doing their homework for them (yes "doing", not "helping"). And the "bad mom" doesn't get her kids up for school, skips work, and tells her kid the day a project is due that she hasn't done it. Um, if you've been doing your kid's homework for him his whole life, you need to give him a heads up when you quit. Bottom line: their definitions of "good" and "bad" are awful and there is an in-between that they didn't even address. There were a few laughs, though.

[Pencil]

I find it interesting that Dwayne Johnson does comedy so well. I mean he can scowl the tough guy act as well as Vin Diesel, Jason Statham and Tom Hardy, but can you guys see any of them doing this:



I haven't seen Moana yet, but from the trailer it seems like he has a lot of fun with the part.

This leads me to wonder what chops he has for a really dramatic leading role.

[Nonny J. Nonnington III]

Arrival: Redbox. When twelve spacecraft suddenly appear around the globe, a linguistics professor is asked to find a means of communicating with the visitors. I was intrigued, but not particularly moved by the story. Until the last 10-15 minutes, which delivered a twist that suddenly made the entire story incredibly poignant.

The Accountant. Redbox. Another of those movies featuring older actors racking up a high body count for ostensibly good reasons (like "Taken" or "John Wick"). The plot point revolves around an accountant (Ben Affleck) who is a high functioning person afflicted with Asperger Syndrome. As is typical with Affleck, he seems to only take roles that can be seen in a positive light; it's why I think of him first as a movie star rather than an actor. Nothing wrong with that; it has worked for Harrison Ford for years. But in this case the end result is a basket of meh, with a preachy ending tacked on. Nice supporting role by John Bernthal (Frank Castle in "Daredevil").

Manchester by the Sea: Redbox. So let's talk about Casey, "the other Affleck". I stand by my opinion that he is one of the finest actors working today, and this film is no exception. The scene with him and Michelle Williams toward the end was devastating. I liked this a lot, but it is a variation on a theme that Lonnergan likes to play with. I reviewed his earlier film "You Can Count on Me" here, where I also referenced another film of his ("Margaret"). All three films involve a tragic event, one horrible tipping point where everything changes and a family is torn apart and people slowly try to work to repair their lives. Along those lines, I think that "YCCOM" was more effective. Nothing wrong with this film at all, and the acting is first rate, and both of these were way better than his "Margaret" - it's just my opinion. And c'mon, Lonnergan - you filmed this on location so it can't have escaped you. It's Manchester-by-the-Sea. Would a few hyphens kill you? Sorry, I live north of Boston not far from Cape Ann, and that sort of mistake is the type that gets under my skin.

[Pere]

Originally Posted by Nonny J. Nonnington III

Arrival: Redbox. When twelve spacecraft suddenly appear around the globe, a linguistics professor is asked to find a means of communicating with the visitors. I was intrigued, but not particularly moved by the story. Until the last 10-15 minutes, which delivered a twist that suddenly made the entire story incredibly poignant.

Arrival is fantastic. Based on a story (and by a writer) I have long treasured, and it turned out to be a better adaptation than I'd hoped for. Of course, a lot of people didn't get it, thought it long, slow, confusing. The "twist" is both the emotional core and the deepest sci-fi idea of the movie. (The cinematography and sound design is great, so watch it on a good system if you can.)

[AuntiePam]

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers on TCM. I'm trying really hard to develop an appreciation for musicals. I liked this one but admit to fast-forwarding the women's songs. There's something about high voices that I just don't like. Even if the voice isn't as high as, say, Jeanette McDonald, I won't listen.

I thought the barn-raising dance scene went on a bit too long, but Ben M. told me to appreciate the choreography so I did. Loved Howard Keel and Jane Powell and thought the story was fun. Laughed at the "Sobbin' women" song.

It was really pretty good, and well-directed. The shots were framed so well -- or maybe not. Are you supposed to notice a well-framed shot, or does that mean it wasn't well-framed?

[AuntiePam]

The Tender Trap on TCM. Frank Sinatra as a player and Debbie Reynolds as a young woman looking for a husband. The movie would have us believe that every woman's dream was marriage and kids -- even if you were a successful woman living in Manhattan. I'm okay with that though -- it was 1955, before reliable birth control, before the sexual revolution -- but I wonder how audiences received it in 1955.

Them!, the gazillionth rewatch. I finally figured out why James Whitmore made such a big deal out of matching the piece of the broken doll and the fabric scap to the little girl's bathrobe. Well duh -- it proved that she came from that trailer, that she hadn't wandered off from somewhere else.

Zootopia -- lots of fun, a movie about prejudice. I do feel a bit twisted for shipping Judy and Nick. They're not the same species!

I'm tickled to see that more Oscar-nominated films are on Netflix.

[teela brown]

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

The Tender Trap on TCM. . . .

Whenever I see that this is on, I record it just so that I can watch that opening number of Frankie strolling along a broad cement surface (what is it? a dam spillway?), singing "The Tender Trap". I'm not even a big Sinatra fan, but that was damn cool.

[AuntiePam]

Originally Posted by teela brown

Whenever I see that this is on, I record it just so that I can watch that opening number of Frankie strolling along a broad cement surface (what is it? a dam spillway?), singing "The Tender Trap". I'm not even a big Sinatra fan, but that was damn cool.

It was very cool, and I also wondered what that cement surface was.

I also liked Frank showing Debbie how to sing the song, and hearing the difference the next time she sang it.

[AuntiePam]

The Jungle Book (2016 version, won an Oscar - via Netflix) -- I haven't read the book or seen the other TV/movie versions, but for some reason I recognized the songs.

Great movie -- after awhile I forgot about the spectacular CGI and just went along with the story, and the humor.

I did sorta want to see how Mowgli would react/adapt to living among humans, but he really did stay where he belonged.

Why didn't the monkeys talk?

[Dante G]

Watched The Cardboard Boxer on Netflix the other day. Never heard of it, knew nothing of it aside from the Netflix description.

Loved it! Thomas Haden Church (Sandman in Spiderman 3 and Lowell in TV's Wings) plays a homeless man who comes across a little girls diary in the trash. Having no real friends himself, he begins writing replies back to her journal entries, even though he knows she would never receive them.

It's a very emotional movie and the ending is good, if not a bit hard to believe. Church is a stand out in this film, especially for those of you who may not follow him that much.

Highly recommend it!

[AuntiePam]

Pee Wee's Big Holiday (Netflix) -- not as good as Pee Wee's Big Adventure, but that's a hard act to follow. I'd seen a snippet on The People's Couch last year, the scene where Pee Wee shows the Amish how he entertains himself. It was hysterical. The rest of the movie, not so much.

Is Pee Wee's character somewhere on the spectrum? He's sweet and lovable but has no problem getting snippy if he doesn't agree with you, or if he doesn't like something. He's not malleable -- not interesting in placating, smoothing things over. Hard to explain, but it could be difficult to be Pee Wee's friend.

extremis, a documentary short, doctors and patients in an ICU, situations where the patient's wishes weren't made clear and now they're hooked up to breathing machines, unable to communicate, family not quite understanding the situation, wanting some guarantees where there are none. It made me think that we should be required to make our wishes known before we get so sick that we can't communicate.

The White Helmets, short doc about the volunteers who rescue people from bombed-out buildings in Syria. Not sure that its Oscar was deserved but it needs to be seen, and an Oscar helps with that.

Started watching Captain Fantastic but haven't finished yet. It's about a family who went off the grid for several years -- apparently they'll be re-integrating into what passes for society.

[James Otto Sweet Heart]

^^^ I never knew that there was another Pee-Wee film out there besides his Big Adventure film and the one named Big Top Pee-Wee. Thank you for telling about it.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

[AuntiePam]

Finished Captain Fantastic -- I won't say it's "interesting" because that's a non-word. Viggo Mortenson and his wife raised their kids away from the world. The kids were (I think) indoctrinated politically (they spout stuff about fascism and consumerism), but they also became critical thinkers and they stood up to their dad when they thought he was wrong. So it's not one of those cult-type situations.

Watched The Croods -- I'm a sucker for animation and this one was a lot of fun. Loved their version of a camera, and "Loose the baby!"

Almost finished watching A Thousand Clowns -- I loved Barbara Harris in Freaky Friday so was tickled to see TCM devote an evening to her.

[The Devil's Grandmother]

Originally Posted by Nonny J. Nonnington III

Manchester by the Sea: Redbox. So let's talk about Casey, "the other Affleck". I stand by my opinion that he is one of the finest actors working today, and this film is no exception. The scene with him and Michelle Williams toward the end was devastating.

Yeah, wow Casey is a really good actor. I thought this would be a three-hankie film from some of the reviews, but it was depressing not sad. Watching the character struggle through his need to be punished was hard.
I also finally watched Aardman film's Flushed Away. I loved it, but I can see why it was in and out of the theatres so quickly. A little too adult for American kids, too many fart jokes for the self-consciously mature adults. Ian McKellen was wonderful as the villain.

[AuntiePam]

Originally Posted by The Devil's Grandmother

I also finally watched Aardman film's Flushed Away. I loved it, but I can see why it was in and out of the theatres so quickly. A little too adult for American kids, too many fart jokes for the self-consciously mature adults. Ian McKellen was wonderful as the villain.

I'll check this out. It sounds like fun.

Always looking for animation, I tried to watch Sausage Party, animated film about grocery store items who believe that being purchased and taken from the store will be something like going to heaven, freedom, or something.

I would have liked it if the weiner-into-bun as penis-into-vagina would have been a teensy bit subtle. Vulgarity is more funny (to me) when it isn't so obvious.

[teela brown]

I rented and watched Doctor Strange. I felt pretty meh about it, but then again, I am not the film's target demographic. The 'Batch played a brilliant, arrogant, wisecracking American doctor, but Hugh Laurie already has the franchise on that character. Plus, the former's American accent kind of sucked.

I guess it was a 3-D movie, so all that scintillating CGI must have been impressive in the theater. But on a small screen, it was just tedious after awhile.

[The Devil's Grandmother]

I watched a cut-for-TV version of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's Mr and Mrs Smith last night. I'll admit I turned on the closed captioning and fast-forwarded through most of the action scenes, but I really liked the "plot" parts.
That said, this plot (hidden life of spouses) has always bothered me. I suppose there are spies who work desk jobs, but how do these people hide their bruises and injuries?

[The Devil's Grandmother]

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

Always looking for animation, I tried to watch Sausage Party, animated film about grocery store items who believe that being purchased and taken from the store will be something like going to heaven, freedom, or something.

I've been meaning to see this. I hadn't realized there was a story line, as the adverts made it look like just a collection of skits. Thanks for the heads-up.

[tunaman]

Perhaps you might wanna put quotes around "story line": it seems like the whole movie was written by two stoned 14 year-olds discussing how cool atheism is. Which is fine: if you wanna be an atheist, knock yourself out. But the "message" is so ham-fisted and juvenile it really takes away from the film. And yes, there's a food orgy scene that's far more "uncomfortable" than funny.

[Inner Stickler]

I was introduced to a fascinating movie (art piece?) last night. You can find it on youtube. It's about an hour and twenty minutes. The movie is about the story of Sita from the Ramayana as told by three slightly argumentative narrators and intercut with scenes from the artist's personal life that somewhat mirror the travails of Sita. The movie also incorporates a number of songs sung by Annette Hanshaw hence the title:

Sita Sings the Blues


I found it very engaging and is tempting me to pick up a copy of the Ramayana.

[Clothahump]

SWMBO and I went to see the new Beauty and the Beast last night. Emma Watson is perfect as Belle. I was afraid that they would goober it up, but this holds its own very nicely against the original 1991 animated version.

Highly recommended!

[teela brown]

I re-watched an old favorite that I hadn't seen in years: A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. I imdb'd the actor James Dunn, because he was very good yet I had not seen him in any other movies. He played a cheerful, charming, alcoholic dad who couldn't hold down a job. Unfortunately the actor's life was pretty much just like the character he played. His alcoholism kept him from getting many roles, which is why we don't see him in many movies.

Dorothy McGuire was extremely good as the mom who had to become tough in order to support her family, and Joan Blondell was a scene-stealer as usual. Someday I'll have the read the best-seller which spawned the movie.

[Pere]

Originally Posted by Inner Stickler

I was introduced to a fascinating movie (art piece?) last night. You can find it on youtube. It's about an hour and twenty minutes. The movie is about the story of Sita from the Ramayana ...

Also check Nina Paley's short film, "This Land is Mine," which was conceived as a sequence in another full-length project but is probably just going to remain its own thing.