Movie Thread

[saffie]

I've been back once so far to the Alamo Drafthouse near me to see a new Japanese anime film.  "Buffer seating" is in place so there are two empty seats between parties, and mask wearing is required when not eating or drinking. There are a few new movies but also a series of older ones, including a whole set of Harrison Ford movies. Would love to see Raiders of the Lost Ark again on the big screen, but that sold out really quickly! Old favorites to tempt people back in to the theater maybe?

[spork]

The wifey and I watched Breaking News in Yuba County, a 2021 release that is already available from Red Box. This is a really fun black comedy/crime caper movie in which the characters are basically all conniving self-centered idiots. The great cast includes Allison Janney, Juliette Lewis, Wanda Sykes, and Matthew Modine. Awkwafina is a pre-eminent scene stealer.   

[Sun_Worshiper]

Anyone else gone back to the movie theaters yet?  I've seen two since getting fully-vaccinated.  Solo so far, since spouse doesn't like horror movies.  Still a couple of weeks to go before anything he wants to see is out.

I saw a movie in the theater several weeks ago with my wife. We were vaccinated and wore our masks. We both survived.

[Sun_Worshiper]

Soul

This film is about a jazz teacher and musician who dies just as he is about to realize his jazz dreams. This leads him to an afterlife of sorts, where his soul tries to get back into his body for another run at musical glory.

This movie is from the director of Inside Out, which is one of my favorite movies, and it hits some of the same emotional beats, but never quite reaches the highs of that film. Still, it is a good watch, with great music and animation. All that said, the film makes a choice at the very end that, in my opinion, is at odds with the thesis of the film, and this really didn't sit well with me.

B+

[Hegemony]

The rest of the household saw "In the Heights" today. They said it was good but a bit too long.

[spork]

My wife and I watched Nomadland on DVD. I thought it would have been much improved if it had been thirty minutes shorter. My wife, who is not from the USA, liked the film but asked me what it was about. My answer: the end of America.

[Anselm]

I just saw The Price of Everything, a documentary about the high priced contemporary art market.  It confirmed what I already suspected.  Some people have too much money to throw around.

[Economizer]

THE HITMAN'S WIFE'S BODYGUARD.
Good cast, beautiful scenery, enticing title. This was evidently, business profs will have to help me figure out why, a project backed by a person or organization that needed to get rid of a lot of money. That's all I've got to say about it.

[ab_grp]

We finally got around to watching Nobody (with Bob Odenkirk).  My husband had been looking forward to it, as I guess it's by the same writer as John Wick.  We both totally loved it.  The whole movie was pretty good, but the last third or so was excellent.  It has the righteous anger and creative violence of the John Wick movies (but not as extreme or ubiquitous) along with some very hilarious parts.  If you do not like violence, do not watch this movie.  But if you liked John Wick, you will probably also like this movie, maybe even more so.  I wasn't sure what Bob Odenkirk would be like in that type of role given that I think of him as more of a comedic actor, but I thought he was great.  Christopher Lloyd definitely stole some parts of the movie.  It was very entertaining, and I already want to watch it again.

[spork]

We tried watching Good on Paper on Netflix, gave up after the first ten minutes. I give Iliza Shlesinger (a stand-up comic) credit for trying to broaden her repertoire into film writing and acting, but the production team really failed her. It's a terrible movie.

We then watched Legally Blonde, which each of us had already seen three or four times since it was released two decades ago. Still a winner in our book.

I am halfway through Lawless. Enjoying it so far even though I can guess where the plot is going (conflict caused by the younger brother's weak character, the good bad guys will get their revenge against the bad good guys at the end). Good cast. Like the setting. Wife couldn't understand the attempted accents so the subtitles were on for the bit that she watched (the film is too violent for her tastes).

[hmaria1609]

We then watched Legally Blonde, which each of us had already seen three or four times since it was released two decades ago. Still a winner in our book.

I've seen the 2003 sequel and the spin off "Legally Blondes" (2009) made for TV.  Oh, there's a "Legally Blonde 3" set for release next year!  Reese Witherspoon will reprise her role as Elle Woods.

[ab_grp]

We managed to fit in two movies this weekend: 2012 and Radioactive.  I had seen the former before, but my husband hadn't, so we watched it over the course of Friday on and off while eating a bunch of BBQ.  It focuses on an apocalypse resulting from changes to the earth with lots of natural disasters and destruction.  At something like 2:40, it is very long and feels it.  Although it's exciting, it's almost too much.  Seeing it in the theater probably was good bang for the buck, but it gets easy to get desensitized and tune out after a while.  It doesn't help that the main character (John Cusack) and his storyline are not very interesting, nor are the main characters very likeable. 

Radioactive is the story of Marie Curie's discoveries that eventually led to her Nobel Prizes, as well as her family life.  I had read a review that I think hits the target, in that the movie feels artistically ambitious but disjointed with all the skipping around in time.  I would have liked to know more about the science behind her discoveries and what they led to.  Several outcomes from the discovery of radioactivity are shown in the future, but I don't think the movie does a good job of explaining how her discoveries led to those events or even much about the events themselves, so I guess you would have to know more about the scientific background (although maybe then it would be too heavy handed).  Rosamund Pike did a very good job, I thought, though Curie did not seem very likeable in general.  It's clear that being a woman and a scientist (and Polish in France) didn't make things easy at the time, and it's certainly an interesting story, but we didn't think it was very well executed.

[Sun_Worshiper]

A Quiet Place 2

Great theater movie, with great use of sound (of course). It does have some holes, if you think too much about it, but the ride is so engaging that I didn't stop to reflect on how silly some of it was until it was over.

B+


The Sound of Metal

A rock musician and former addict loses his hearing, which forces him on a difficult personal and professional journey to find his peace. I love the concept (what if you lost the sense that gives you your livelihood and your passion?) and Riz Ahmed gives a great performance. My critique is that the movie flies through the main character's arc, so we don't really get a feel for why he changes. Still, there is a lot to like here.

A-

[saffie]

Saw Summer of Soul in the theater - a documentary of the Harlem Cultural Festival series that took place in 1969.  Some great performances, including Stevie Wonder, Mavis Staples, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and Sly and the Family Stone, as well as commentary from the time and from today. I believe it's on Hulu as well.

[spork]

Watched Michael Bay's 13 Hours. Zzzz. As an IMDB reviewer put it, "this movie is about 80% drama, 20% fact and 100% boring as hell." I wish Hollywood would stop ruining historical events.