Movie Thread

[Larimar]

I liked Brave too. The song "Touch the Sky" is lovely. Merida is an interesting character, and I wish I had long red vibrant hair like hers! I also liked that Queen Elinor wasn't portrayed as entirely wrong in what she wanted for Merida, and from her. She was coming from an experienced adult's perspective. However, she had forgotten the joy of life and the freedom and energy of youth. Merida for her part didn't understand the big picture, the reasons why the family had their expectations of her. Both characters had that space to grow through the story, and that's intelligent character writing. One tiny visual touch that I appreciated as saying that Elinor had learned from her daughter as well as Merida from her mother was at the very end of the film, when the two were riding their horses together. Queen Elinor had her hair down, long and loose, instead of the tight braid she'd had before.

[ab_grp]

That's a great description and observation! You have elucidated my thoughts better than I have about what I liked better about this movie: that they both had space to grow through the story.  They both changed (and they both learned more about each other and to appreciate each other) in a way that felt much more organic and believable, and I felt good rooting for both of them in this journey.  It was a sweet story! And I agree... love that hair! 

[Larimar]

Thanks!

I'm looking forward to the Little Mermaid remake.

[clean]

I had hoped to see Renfield this weekend. I have been too busy to do it before now. It premiered 4/18 I believe.  Well, just 2 (maybe 3) weeks later it is gone!  I did see that I could rent it on tv though! 
It looks like the big bet is for Guardians of the Galaxy, with multiple screens devoted to it.  I just checked the showings and the local Alamo is open for 9 am showtimes!  That is pretty early for a movie theater to be open on Sunday! 

Anyone planning to see Guardians this weekend or soon?

[ab_grp]

Watched Top Gun two nights ago (last seen decades ago) and Top Gun: Maverick last night.  Both are entertaining, but I was pretty blown away by the new one.  I saw a few folks here recommend seeing it on the big screen (or better), and I can't really imagine doing so.  My feet were sweating watching it on our TV! I was so enthralled and on the edge of my seat.  A friend mentioned that her movie club Best Picture Oscar vote resulted in a tie between this one and Everything, Everywhere....  I'm not sure I'd go that far.  Action-wise, it is pretty incredible.  Even more incredible was reading afterward that the actual actors actually did the flying?! These are not pilots who acted in the movie but actors who learned to pilot F-18s.  I had read that Tom Cruise did a lot of his own flying and stunts, but he is a bit out there and seems to have plenty of time and money to invest in these pursuits.  I am really surprised and impressed that the other actors did this.  It was also pretty interesting to read about the camera work.  Lots of thought went into all of this.  The human dynamic storyline is fairly thin, and Fightertown, USA still has an excess of machismo, but I really enjoyed this one much more than I thought I would.  It was funny and touching and just exciting to watch.

[clean]

The P51 Mustang in the picture was owned (and flown) by Tom Cruise, so he is a pilot. 
(not related to the Top Gun movies but John Travolta is also a pilot and owns (according to the always reliable internet) six planes, including a Boeing 707 and a 727). 

[hmaria1609]

Whenever I hear the song "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins, I think of the original "Top Gun" movie. I remember watching it at my uncle's house as a kid. 

"Top Gun: Maverick" won the Academy Award in one of the sound categories.

[ab_grp]

We've seen a couple other movies lately, though I don't have too much to say about them. 

Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2 were both very fun and required more tissues than I would have expected.  I'd seen the first one before, but it had been quite a while.  I have seen quite a few Marvel movies but don't really care about the universe so wasn't totally sure who everyone was outside the main group, but I don't think it mattered much.  It probably enhances the experience somewhat if you do care about the universe and can catch on to all the easter eggs, like most movies with various homages. 

Ad Astra was better than I had expected, in that I had heard that it was veeeerrry slow.  I don't think it was any slower paced than plenty of movies I personally enjoy.  While there was a thoughtful feeling to it, I guess I am not completely sure what the point was, if there was one.  Maybe it was just meant to be an interesting story without layers.  Maybe I missed them.  My husband is the one who has been badgering me (not really) to watch it, so I figured we might as well get it over with.  He liked it a lot until a particular point that was not too far into the movie, so I don't think that's a great sales pitch for it, but from the reviews it seems that people either love it or don't.  On a side note, there is some meme I had seen a while back, seemingly everywhere, that my mind attached to this movie for some reason but that apparently has nothing to do with it (the "always has been" meme with the astronauts).  Maybe I saw a version of it with Brad Pitt? I have no idea.

[Sun_Worshiper]

Nope (2022)

Jordan Peele's latest horror film, about a family of horse ranchers that come across a UFO over their property. This seems to be regarded as Peele's weakest movie, after Get Out and Us, and although I agree that it has the weakest story and pacing, for my money this has the most interesting theme and the most disturbing imagery.

Grade: A-



Something in the Dirt (2022)

The latest horror film from Lovecraft inspired directing duo Aaron Morehead and Justin Benson. This is not quite in the same league as their best work (The Endless or Spring), but it is still quite good and a must-see for anyone who follows their work. If I had taken the time to give my review right after I watched this, I'd probably have given it a higher score, but a month or so later it hasn't stayed with me like The Endless.

Grade: B+



3000 Years of Longing (2022)

Fantasy/romance staring Tilda Swinton as a lonely academic who accidently summons a genie and is granted three wishes. As she contemplates how to proceed with her wishes, or whether to do so at all, the genie tells her about his 3000 years of loneliness - which she, of course, can relate to. This was a very watchable film with some great visuals and nice performances by Swinton and Idris Elba, but if you ask me what it is about or why the characters do what they do, then I'd be at a loss.

Grade: B



To Leslie (2022)

This film follows a seemingly hopeless alcoholic, who once won the lottery, as she unwillingly moves back to her home town. This is probably the most chilling depiction I've seen of extreme alcoholism and the lead actress (Andrea Riseborough) deserves a lot of credit - she did receive an academy award nomination, which is an interesting story of its own. I'm not sure I totally buy the narrative, but I'm glad it ended the way it did.

Grade: A-

[ab_grp]

We have Nope but haven't watched it (same with Us), though we did see and enjoy Get Out.

Last night we watched Midsommar.  I had been thinking about that movie lately and realized it's about that time of year.  According to one article, it is celebrated on the Friday in a particular period of June, which would have been yesterday, so we decided to watch it then.  What a whack movie.  It's by the same folks who did Hereditary and was thankfully not as completely frightening as that one was, but it's definitely got a lot of yikes about it.  They're very good at building dread.  The story is about a group of 20-somethings (I guess) who go to one of their hometowns in Sweden where there is an annual midsommar festival.  This year is a particularly big deal because they really do it up every 90 years.  This being a movie with some horror aspects, of course some of the rituals are a bit much for the out-of-towners.  Probably the most unbelievable parts involve the characters who are supposedly writing PhD theses and how that all transpires.  I definitely did not catch on to all that was happening during the movie, so reading the IMDB trivia helped clear some things up after the fact.  Very creepy movie.  I think we both thought it was pretty good, though maybe not great.  You do have to suspend a fair amount of disbelief (beyond the supposed PhD work).

[ab_grp]

The night after our Midsommar viewing, we watched John Wick: Chapter 4.  We both enjoyed it and thought it fit in well with the rest of the series, but although there are some really wowie zowie reviews on IMDB (best action movie ever!! 10/10), I agree that "there is such a thing as too much."  I thought that during the previous film as well.  The fight scenes are elaborate and extremely well choreographed, but they just go on and on and on to the point where it's hard to even pay attention.  And then the movie can go on and on and, well, it is nearly 3 hours long.  One interesting bit of trivia is that John Wick only utters 380 words in that time, so you can guess what's happening during most of it.  There is content that adds to the overall plot arc of the series, but I have started to lose track of who is allied with whom, who that guy is, why that guy is mad, etc.  There are some aspects that are very true to my previous impressions, and there are some great scenes, but I said to my husband that I started feeling unsure about whether I was still rooting for John or was now rooting for his adversaries just so that the movie would end more quickly.  Longest 3 minutes in history, I thought at one point.  Sort of like encountering a crossword that is very cunning and cleverly constructed but is just a bitch to solve.  Not that it's hard, but it's just not enjoyable! From what I read in some of the trivia, I think the fight guys saw particular architecture and had an idea that they fell in love with too much.  Overall, it was entertaining but just didn't know when to stop.  Apparently it was initially 225 minutes.  Nearly 4 hours? Good grief.  Thank goodness they cut it down to what they finally served up.  It's fun, but I think a lot of fans will have to prepare for how long it ends up feeling.

[Sun_Worshiper]

I loved Midsommar. I saw it right after traveling to Sweden and Denmark over a summer, so the references to summer festivals and Northern European folklore resonated with me, as did the critique of anthropology.

Hereditary was cool too, but I remember having to google it after to clarify what happened - which I feel shouldn't be necessary.

[ab_grp]

I loved Midsommar. I saw it right after traveling to Sweden and Denmark over a summer, so the references to summer festivals and Northern European folklore resonated with me, as did the critique of anthropology.

Hereditary was cool too, but I remember having to google it after to clarify what happened - which I feel shouldn't be necessary.

Both of those movies have stuck with me.  I wish I didn't keep thinking about them in the middle of the night (especially Hereditary)! I think I needed help from trivia with both of them, because I missed some pretty interesting stuff initially.  That would have been pretty neat timing to have been in that region during that time period! I would be glad to have seen it after traveling, for sure. 

[clean]

A final (with Harrison Ford anyway, at least I hope!) Indiana Jones movie is out soon. 
Barbie is already out.
Anyone seeing something on the Big Screen as we near the July 4 break?

[mythbuster]

Barbie doesn't come out until July 21. Same weekend as Oppenheimer. I have friends planning the double feature. Its being referred to as the Barbenheimer.