Movie Thread

[Stockmann]

[. . .] 

Under what conditions would you consider returning to a movie?

Probably none. Haven't had a good theater experience since Despicable Me 2 (2013) and Inside Out (2015) -- nominally children's movies that the infants to pre-teens in the room were entranced by, and which contained enough adult material to keep the parents off their phones. I have no interest in comic book superhero special effects extravaganzas and inevitably a movie made for the big screen and for which I have high hopes, like Blade Runner 2049, lets me down. I can watch a movie in the comfort of my own home and not have to put up with jackasses talking with each other for far less money.

+1. Theoretically, it's hard to beat the big screen, but in practice I've had enough bad theater experiences, even with arthouse movies, that I'm not very keen on spending that money, and the inconvenience of heading to a theater at a prescribed time, for what may in practice be an inferior experience. Plus, it seems originality, creativity and high production values are primarily found in streaming services now anyway, with only a few recent-ish exceptions like Joker and The VVitch. I'm not keen on comic book extravaganzas, Disney and remakes/sprequels thereof, either, so that leaves basically zero incentive to return to regular theaters.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

SO is making air-popped popcorn in our ancient 70's popper. We're about to watch 'The Secret Life of Pets 2' (at home of course).

[ab_grp]

SO is making air-popped popcorn in our ancient 70's popper. We're about to watch 'The Secret Life of Pets 2' (at home of course).

That sounds fun!

We watched Mad Max: Fury Road last night.  I do not understand the draw of these movies and find them to be quite wacky.  I like violence as much as the next person, but there is not much of a plot to any of these movies.  I know there's a cool back story on the guy who made them, but how did this movie end up with a Best Picture Oscar nomination? Some of the stunts were definitely amazing but (like John Wick movies, which I do love) get to be too much, and I get bored and tune out, which seems a shame given how much work has gone into it.  It's hard to follow what's even happening after a while.  This episode seemed like a mix of the first and second movies plus an infusion of a lot of money.  There were also parts that were probably meant to be touching or sad but made me feel nothing, which is unusual and not a good sign.  On the plus side, once things got rolling (ha) the lead actors worked well together, and I would say it was a "fun" movie overall (but Best Picture nomination worthy? nooooooo).  I just ordered a bunch of Best Picture nominees and winners, and I hope they are better than Fury Road.

[Vkw10]

Our local movie theatre, part of a very small family chain, is doing parking lot drive-in theatre this month, with car side delivery of pre-ordered food. We bought tickets for Star Wars series, which is playing in order of production. First show was last night, with pizza and beer delivered to car. It was fun, despite temperature in high nineties.

Movie was projected on canvas hung from building walls. Sound was played over radio, with instructions on tuning in through a phone apps.  Each car was assigned four parking spaces, with an empty space between assigned spaces and lawn chairs allowed in assigned spaces. Partner has loaded jugs of water and plant misting bottles in car for tonight, along with lawn chairs. He and nephew plan to sit outside, where they can join in on reciting the dialog tonight. I'm not fluent, so I'll stick to mimicking sound effects.

[mamselle]

Once I was at a large, large outdoor film showing of "Casablanca."

The number of people reciting the dialogue must have been audible across the river and on the other side of town.

M.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

A drive-in movie sounds like fun, but the foolishness regarding the viral outbreak in my state is appalling. I think we'll stay home.

[ab_grp]

I don't know if I have mentioned this here or to some family/friend, so I apologize if this is repeat content that you did not sign up for.  Youngest daughter has gone to the temporary drive in here at the local theater.  I forget what she saw.  She tried twice. The first time, she only got there 1.5 hours before the movie, and there were no spots left.  The second time, she got there hours before the movie and had success.  The sound was like what Vkw10 said, over a radio frequency or some such.  I guess here they tell you where to park, so unlike the movie theater you can't reserve a specific seat or spot ahead of time (can't buy tickets ahead of time) or pick one out when you get there from what's left.  They had the concession stands and restrooms open inside the theater, and she reported that people seemed to be following safety guidelines, though I'm not sure I trust her eye for that necessarily.  Doesn't really sound like much fun to me to be there for 4 or 5 hours versus having my own food, AC, bathroom, couch, breaks, etc., but at 16 I'm sure it's cool to do, and she's probably just happy to be out of the house.  I do think it's a neat idea if they can do it safely.

Have fun, Vkw10! I'm not fluent either, so I'd be in the special effects mimicry camp with you.

[mamselle]

Hmm. My fluency in 'Wookie' is rusty.

I'd better stick with the 18th c. for now.

M.

[mahagonny]

1920, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Young John Barrymore. Excellent. It's interesting how silent movies would show you a text screen when needed, but often would just show people talking with the idea that you would figure out from their expressions and the situation what the conversation was. Even then, the good director kept things in the right tempo. The movie 'M'  (I guess a few years later) impressed me the same way. In spite of no talking, no closeups, etc. it had momentum and climax and didn't waste a minute. Of course where the actors were stage actors, they knew how to convey things from a distance.
Just enjoying stuff. Somebody reading this knows 1000 times as much about it as me!

[Hegemony]

I loved "Mad Max: Fury Road." Lots of smart stuff going on there, and a lovely sense of steampunk mayhem. Just because something doesn't appeal to one person doesn't automatically mean it's a bad movie.

Our local independent cinema has a deal now where you can rent out the whole cinema. It has several screens — I mean several rooms, with one screen each — but the largest is quite large, maybe 60 seats, and you could invite many friends to come watch at a socially-distanced distance. The cinema will screen nearly any movie you want, from modern films to classics, and it comes with a large credit towards concessions, which includes wine.  This sounds like so much fun that I would be tempted to do it if my household were any bigger than two, and if we didn't already have a movie projector.  We're high risk so we're not going to invite friends to come and rent the cinema with us.  But it does sound really fun.

[ab_grp]

I loved "Mad Max: Fury Road." Lots of smart stuff going on there, and a lovely sense of steampunk mayhem. Just because something doesn't appeal to one person doesn't automatically mean it's a bad movie.

I absolutely agree.  I was just surprised that it was up for a Best Picture nomination.  It wasn't a bad movie, and there were interesting points to it.  The choreography was very well done.  Spouse loves it too.  Maybe it just didn't click as much with me.  I was wondering if I had missed something.  There are plenty of movies I love that others don't, that's for sure.

[mythbuster]

We watched "The Post" streaming last night. It may be the most pro-feminist movie that Spielberg has ever done. There is a scene early on that literally made me scream. Kay Graham is getting ignored and man-splained all at the same time- which really is the point of the scene. Mr. Buster couldn't understand my frustration until I explained it to him. His response was "well, she didn't speak up". Apparently we need some supplementary spousal training.
     By the end she's much more . . .  let's call it assertive. Lots of subtle points being made about things other than abuse of government power. I was glad to see Spielberg still had some subtly left in him.
   And the line at the end by Graham that this should be the once in a generation crisis made us both laugh. The true last scene (recreating the Watergate break in) really shouldn't be needed.

[hmaria1609]

We watched "The Post" streaming last night. It may be the most pro-feminist movie that Spielberg has ever done. There is a scene early on that literally made me scream. Kay Graham is getting ignored and man-splained all at the same time- which really is the point of the scene. Mr. Buster couldn't understand my frustration until I explained it to him. His response was "well, she didn't speak up". Apparently we need some supplementary spousal training.
     By the end she's much more . . .  let's call it assertive. Lots of subtle points being made about things other than abuse of government power. I was glad to see Spielberg still had some subtly left in him.
   And the line at the end by Graham that this should be the once in a generation crisis made us both laugh. The true last scene (recreating the Watergate break in) really shouldn't be needed.

I watched that movie on my overnight flight to London in 2018.  Also we have Katherine Graham's memoir and biographies about her on our shelves at the library.  There's also one titled Katherine Graham's Washington, a compilation about DC by well-known personalities who knew her and the city.

[ab_grp]

We watched a couple movies over the weekend.  First up was La La Land, new to both of us.  We enjoyed it pretty well overall, but I'm not sure it will stick with me.  Next was Get Out, which we both thought was very cleverly done and certainly weird and creepy, though I would not categorize it as horror (more psychological thriller).  Both of the movies had some unexpected elements.  Finally, last and certainly least, was the 1984 version of Dune.  Husband had seen it many times (not at all recently) and loves the book.  We read the book last year or so, and I liked it quite a lot despite a few weaker characters and sequences.  The movie... atrocious acting and some really strange choices.  I can see why the director does not want to talk about it.  They seemed to leave out some important plot points as well.  But, I imagine it has to be difficult to make a book like that into a compact movie.  We also picked up the mini-series version from 2000, so I hope they expanded a bit in the right directions in that version.  I would definitely recommend Get Out, and I'd like to see both that one and La La Land again to pick up on points we might have missed the first time.

[clean]

I was looking forward to Greyhounds in the theater before it all went to hell.  It is available on Disney I think.  Has anyone seen it? Is it worth the subscription to see it?

I guess that Disney would come with other things as well, IF I had the time!  (like Hamilton and The Mandalorian).