Movie Thread

[ab_grp]

We watched I am Mother with Hilary Swank and Rose Byrne and others.  It's a post-apocalyptic story about a young girl raised by a robot mother.  I don't want to give too much away, because it is a suspenseful tale and one that I didn't feel as though I understood completely.  Part of the reason is because the story has a lot going on, but I also apparently ordered the German version by mistake.  Fortunately, there is an English language option (but no English subtitles) with the actual actors (not dubbed, though I guess you could expect that since they are not German, as far as I know).  But there were some in-movie captions that were in German that we couldn't parse.  I just read a Wikipedia article about it, which confirmed my suspicion that some of the information shared in those captions was important for our understanding.  We both enjoyed it and thought it was well done, in any case.  Lots to think about.

[Sun_Worshiper]

Tenet

First, let's be clear that Christopher Nolan is the most important mainstream director working today. He is the only person in this era of remakes, sequels, and "extended universes" making blank check concept blockbusters. And there is a lot to like about Tenet: The action is incredible, the concept is neat, the performances are very good, and there are some astonishing individual scenes (and the soundtrack slaps). Unfortunately, the sum of those parts is an overstuffed, incoherent, and emotionally empty film. I still must recommend Tenet for all of the good things about it, but overall it doesn't work.

B-

[ergative]

Tenet

First, let's be clear that Christopher Nolan is the most important mainstream director working today. He is the only person in this era of remakes, sequels, and "extended universes" making blank check concept blockbusters. And there is a lot to like about Tenet: The action is incredible, the concept is neat, the performances are very good, and there are some astonishing individual scenes (and the soundtrack slaps). Unfortunately, the sum of those parts is an overstuffed, incoherent, and emotionally empty film. I still must recommend Tenet for all of the good things about it, but overall it doesn't work.

B-

You may enjoy Catherynne Valente's take on the film.

This rando youtuber also agrees with you, I think.

Really, I've been enjoying the Tenet discourse so much I feel no need to watch the film itself.

[Sun_Worshiper]

Bohemian Rhapsody

Biopic about the legendary group, with particular focus on Freddie Mercury. Audiences loved this film but critics did not, and I see why on both counts: The movie is fun, feel good, and fast paced, hitting all the key Queen songs and moments, while taking little time to develop characters or delve into complex matters. It also offers a shallow take on Mercury's personal life and illness. While I can understand why critics were not enthralled with Bohemian Rhapsody, I enjoyed it and I think the artistic choices to short-shift character development and Mercury's battle with AIDS were the right ones, given the standard biopic format. By the end, I had a good sense for Mercury's genius and for what made Queen's music special, and I had a good time with the music.

Grade: B+


Promising Young Woman

A novel twist on the "rape and revenge" genre, which follows Carey Mulligan's Cassie as she terrorizes the men and women that wronged her friend. The film is dark and quite funny, with a great central performance and lots of twists and turns that kept me engaged. The ending is very satisfying, although It does not entirely makes sense - better not to overthink it.

Grade: A-


Freaky

Remake of Freaky Friday, with the twist being that the switch is between an awkward teen girl and a middle-aged male serial killer. As these sorts of movies go, this one is pretty good, and Vince Vaughn gives it his all and delivers a nice performance. But there is nothing particularly new here and it didn't entirely hold my attention.

Grade: B

[ab_grp]

We rewatched Nobody with Bob Odenkirk two weeks ago and found it just as entertaining as the first time.

A couple days ago, we watched Moonlight with Mahershala Ali.  I wasn't quite sure what to think about it at the time, so I've been thinking a lot about it since.  It was certainly an excellent and beautiful movie and very heartbreaking at times, a story told in three parts about a young boy/man growing up in a harsh life in Miami and struggling with his sexuality.  I felt that I had not really grasped everything about the story, so I read and watched a couple analyses and have a somewhat better understanding of the symbolism and some of the other complexities.  I'd certainly have to (and want to) watch it again.  Some of the director's choices interested me, such as not having the three actors playing the main character (Chiron) meet each other during production, and the same for the three actors playing his friend Kevin so that they would each develop their own ideas for their personas.  The actors were very good.  I'm guessing that I'll keep thinking about it for a long while.

[mamselle]

This is an older movie I just discovered online after reading up on the late British comic, Victoria Woods: Housewife, 49.

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afduf9L7N-w

Set in WWII, truly moving, excellent actors, based on a real-life diary.

M. 

[ab_grp]

My husband convinced me to watch Bowfinger, a comedy from 1999 starring Steve Martin as the title character.  The gist is that Bowfinger, a filmmaker desperate to find any success at this point in an unsuccessful career, finds a script and decides to try to make a movie starring major movie star Kit Ramsey (played by Eddie Murphy).  The budget is slim, so he decides to make the movie without Kit actually knowing he's in the movie.  The rest of the cast and production crew is understandably ragtag, and the actors also do not know that Kit does not know he's in the movie.  It's plenty screwball (madcap?), but once it gets going it is pretty hilarious.  The situations and personality issues all come together very well.  Steve Martin did not stray far from his usual type of character, but Eddie Murphy and Christine Baranksi were pretty great.  I thought it was a clever premise well executed.

[Sun_Worshiper]

The Suicide Squad

This standalone sequel to the widely hated 2016 movie of the same name (minus "The") follows a squad of criminals assembled to go on suicide missions on behalf of the US government. The characters are interesting and, although the first half drags, the third act is strong. Unexpectedly, the film is also a pretty sharp commentary on US imperialism.

B+


The Mitchells vs. the Machines

Animated film distributed by Netflix that follows the dysfunctional Mitchell family (typical nuclear family, plus dog) as they go on a road trip to drop the angsty, artistic daughter off at college. While they are on the road, a machine uprising commences, leaving it up to the Mitchells to save humanity. This is a lot of fun, heartwarming, and the social commentary on our relationships with technology is sharp.

A


Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

This is Marvel's ​Asia-centric movie. Overall it is fun and the actors are great, but the character development is weak and the third act didn't really work for me. I do want to see more of these characters in the future though and it was refreshing to see a superhero film with Asian characters and that engages effectively with Chinese culture.

B+


Disconnected

This movie follows three interconnected stories about Internet upending people's lives. As is always the case with these kinds of films, some of the stories work better than others and imo the movie would have been stronger if they just dropped one of the three, which is only tangentially related to the other two and was not very interesting. The movie is also incredibly melodramatic with endless slow motion scenes and tons of crying and yelling. That said, the crises that these people face ring true, the performances are good, and the score is great.

B

[Hegemony]

I saw "Shang-Chi." It was a lot better than "Black Widow," but to my mind that's not actually saying much. It was best in the light-hearted parts. Near the end there's an apocalyptic battle between two mythical beasts that bored me practically to tears. So much CGI, so much lack of suspense. The fight scenes on the scaffolding were a whole lot better, and overall it had some nice surprises.

[ab_grp]

We watched Draft Day (Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, and others) last night.  I don't watch the NFL, though I do watch college football.  Still, there's something so intriguing about the draft and all the deals that take place to trade picks.  In the weeks leading up to my dissertation defense, I was so stressed that I couldn't listen to music or anything else in the car, only the draft analysis which I happened to stumble upon on sports talk radio.  I thought it was fascinating, hearing about all the strategizing going on.  In any case, I don't think you need to be a football fan to enjoy the movie.  It is certainly a bit predictable, but it's a cute story and funny and suspenseful enough.

[Sun_Worshiper]

Mother

South Korean thriller from Bong Joon-ho (director of Parasite) about a mother who goes to extreme lengths to prove that her mentally challenged son was wrongly convicted of murder. The film starts slow, but it becomes extremely captivating once it gets going. There are lots of twists, turns, and misdirects that all worked on me and the ending is absolutely devastating. This is really brilliant and I highly recommend, but keep in mind that the first hour is slow and so you have to stick with it.

Grade: A


Daniel Isn't Real

Thriller about a college student with an imaginary friend that brings out the worst in him. Through most of the movie it is unclear whether the young man has Schizophrenia or is being haunted by a demon, and the film works best when that is left ambiguous - it falters a bit once the cat is out of the bag. But overall, it is scary and disturbing, with a good cast (including Arnold Schwarzenegger's kid, who gives a pretty darn good performance).

Grade: B+

[downer]

I recommend The Alpinist. https://youtu.be/SRpVyzagXLQ

[ab_grp]

Mother

South Korean thriller from Bong Joon-ho (director of Parasite) about a mother who goes to extreme lengths to prove that her mentally challenged son was wrongly convicted of murder. The film starts slow, but it becomes extremely captivating once it gets going. There are lots of twists, turns, and misdirects that all worked on me and the ending is absolutely devastating. This is really brilliant and I highly recommend, but keep in mind that the first hour is slow and so you have to stick with it.

Grade: A

Thanks! Definitely putting this on the list, and thanks for the tip about the first hour.  We thought Parasite was one of the best movies in years and enjoyed Snowpiercer as well (though that one seems to polarize people for some reason).

[Sun_Worshiper]

Mother

South Korean thriller from Bong Joon-ho (director of Parasite) about a mother who goes to extreme lengths to prove that her mentally challenged son was wrongly convicted of murder. The film starts slow, but it becomes extremely captivating once it gets going. There are lots of twists, turns, and misdirects that all worked on me and the ending is absolutely devastating. This is really brilliant and I highly recommend, but keep in mind that the first hour is slow and so you have to stick with it.

Grade: A

Thanks! Definitely putting this on the list, and thanks for the tip about the first hour.  We thought Parasite was one of the best movies in years and enjoyed Snowpiercer as well (though that one seems to polarize people for some reason).

Glad to share! Let me know how you like it.

I'm also looking forward to watching Memories of Murder, another Boon Joon-ho movie, which is on Hulu (as is Mother).

[ab_grp]

Mother

South Korean thriller from Bong Joon-ho (director of Parasite) about a mother who goes to extreme lengths to prove that her mentally challenged son was wrongly convicted of murder. The film starts slow, but it becomes extremely captivating once it gets going. There are lots of twists, turns, and misdirects that all worked on me and the ending is absolutely devastating. This is really brilliant and I highly recommend, but keep in mind that the first hour is slow and so you have to stick with it.

Grade: A

Thanks! Definitely putting this on the list, and thanks for the tip about the first hour.  We thought Parasite was one of the best movies in years and enjoyed Snowpiercer as well (though that one seems to polarize people for some reason).

Glad to share! Let me know how you like it.

I'm also looking forward to watching Memories of Murder, another Boon Joon-ho movie, which is on Hulu (as is Mother).

Will do! We watch on DVD or Blu-ray, and I see that there is a three-pack of his movies available on Amazon (Mother, The Host, Barking Dogs Never Bite), so I might pick that up and check those others out as well.