Recently Watched Movies 2024

[nwhoopfan]

"Dangerous Waters" I believe was Ray Liotta's final film. He was only on screen a very brief time.

Saffron Burrows and Odeya Rush are a single mom and daughter. Saffron is all giddy over her new boyfriend Eric Dane. He takes the two of them for a nice little trip on his sailboat off the coast of Florida. Things start to go wrong and then just keep getting wronger. For a while it works at least halfway decent as a tense survival story. Goes completely over the top for the finale. I've seen much better, but I've seen worse.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan. This is a French language film, 2023. Some notable actors including Vincent Cassel and Eva Green. This is part 1 of a two part adaptation of the famous Alexandre Dumas story. It’s more true to the book than any of the others I recall. Really well shot and absolutely brings you the feel of the era in a lot of ways. Small things like major characters not always being clean. Some things aren’t explained entirely so some familiarity with what’s going on in a broad geopolitical sense is helpful. We liked it.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Jack Reacher. Had to rewatch this for comparisons sake. Despite not having the proper Reacher size & intimidation factor, Cruise is pretty good. The acting is better than in the show. The story is solid and moves at a good pace. Nothing too ridiculous happens (compared to MI or James Bond movies). Rosamund Pike, I was always a fan, but if you've seen this movie something is um, different about her. Turns out she was pregnant. Same thing that allowed Kristen Bell to pull off Baywatch. She's well cast as a defense lawyer here. Robert Duvall has a terrific small part, perfect casting. David Oyelowo is a police detective, fairly early in his film acting career, I think.

 

[nomar]

Kicking of a new year with Rebel Moon. Zack Snyder movie on Netflix. It's basically a DC superhero movie set in space. It has all the same flaws that those recent DC movies have. Too much emphasis on fight scenes, slow motion and a lack of an actual story arc. It's amazing how similar this is. There's a plot of sorts, and some character development (not enough and spread too thin) but the basics of storytelling are lacking. The lead character is a strong, athletic young woman on a moon that comes under threat from the Motherland (Empire). Sound familiar? Yet there was more storytelling and more compelling character development in Star Wars Rebels than in this. Zack Snyder needs to watch one of the Kurt Vonnegut lectures on storytelling. It's not terrible, but it's not good.

Watched this with my dad.

Let me say this, I'm glad it didn't cost anything to watch.

We agreed that it was definitely entertaining enough and we'll both watch the second one but it's unoriginal and corny as h3ll.

 

[ZooCougar]

Godzilla Minus One Minus Color.

I reviewed the color version and my review was as glowing as Godzilla's breath. If you haven't seen it yet then what are doing? My son is obsessed with Godzilla at the moment so we had to go see it.

The Black and White version is by far the definitive version in my very subjective opinion. Everything just hits differently.

This Godzilla, who is by far the most insane version ever looks even more impressive without color. Even the classic Godzilla theme music sounds better.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Watched "Dumb Money" (Netflix) this morning and totally enjoyed it. I have not traded individual stocks in 20 years, so as the GameStop story was happening, I paid little attention to it. I didn't get the class warfare aspect of it, nor did I follow the hearings that essentially covered up the market manipulation of the hedge funds to protect their own through nefarious means. I think all of that was well covered and explained in this flick, but more than that, it was entertaining on it own. Paul Dano did a great job as Kitty, and Pete Davidson was everything I'd expect from a South Boston area DoorDash driver - this might've been the perfect role for him. Many other name-brand actors involved, including an almost unrecognizable Seth Rogen, clean-shaven with jet black hair. I feel this was just as good as The Big Short in terms of explaining complicated financial matters while telling an engaging and often humorous story.

I liked the movie, but I disagree about Dano. It is not fair to compare him to Woodley, who is an incredible actress, but when you are getting out-acted by Pete Davidson in every scene you are in together, you are not a good actor. Dano spent the whole movie with this stupid, mouth half open look that honestly confused me because I didn't know what to think about the character's motivation. Is he lost? Stupid? Having a breathing problem? I don't know, and I don't think Dano did either. Dano is playing a youtube influencer, but he has no charisma.

I think part of my issue with Dano in this movie is that the rest of the cast is so strong that his weakness becomes more glaring. I think Woodley is one of, if not the best actress of her generation. She easily pulls off any role she plays, and she doesn't have all the annoying ticks and poses of many younger actresses. She could get a statue in the next 5 years if she picks the right roles. Sebastian Stan is awesome too, even though his role in Dumb Money was pretty small.

This movie is really good, and I am glad someone made it. The GameStop short squeeze is one of the more messed up events that happened in financial markets in the last 5 years, and the movie didn't even cover the massive bailout that funds did for RobinHood and the Citadel affiliate that was handling the GameStop order flow.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. Thought this was pretty good. I do think the military contractor company as the bad guy is ridiculously over-used. It's so convenient because they are armed and capable but not a government. Governments are more likely to be the bad guy. Cobie Smulders is the co-star and is appealing as usual. There's a nice is she or isn't she with a teen girl who may be Jack's daughter and acts like him in a lot of ways. Adds something useful to the story. Overall it's solid, not amazing.

Side note: Cruise is an odd duck, but also seems like a very nice guy. Danika Yarosh plays the teen girl (and turned out pretty good). Well it seems she had an interest in flying, so Cruise taught her how to fly planes. Had a stunt guy teach her to drift cars as well.

 

[CL82]

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. Thought this was pretty good. I do think the military contractor company as the bad guy is ridiculously over-used. It's so convenient because they are armed and capable but not a government. Governments are more likely to be the bad guy. Cobie Smulders is the co-star and is appealing as usual. There's a nice is she or isn't she with a teen girl who may be Jack's daughter and acts like him in a lot of ways. Adds something useful to the story. Overall it's solid, not amazing.

Side note: Cruise is an odd duck, but also seems like a very nice guy. Danika Yarosh plays the teen girl (and turned out pretty good). Well it seems she had an interest in flying, so Cruise taught her how to fly planes. Had a stunt guy teach her to drift cars as well.

So having watched both movies, are you more of a Cruise or Ritchson fan for Reacher? In my opinion, Cruise is always good, but he seems to be playing Cruise and not individual characters.

Have you read the books? In the books, Reacher's physical presence is a defining characteristic for him.

 

[HuskyHawk]

So having watched both movies, are you more of a Cruise or Ritchson fan for Reacher? In my opinion, Cruise is always good, but he seems to be playing Cruise and not individual characters.

Have you read the books? In the books, Reacher's physical presence is a defining characteristic for him.

Did not read the books. I'm split. Cruise is a much better actor and gives the character a bit more appealing personality. He's more human. Ritchson has the size to intimidate in ways Cruise can't forcing some situations to be absurd (like four on one vs Cruise feels way different if it is Ritchson). But Ritchson is wooden and seems to lack any personality. His Reacher is a jerk.

Probably would be better with someone like Jason Momoa who could combine the traits.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Watched "Lift" (Netflix) earlier. I was hesitant to pull the trigger on this as I'm more or less ambivalent about Kevin Hart as both a comedian and an actor, although I did like him in "Man from Toronto". That said, this was an entertaining movie about a gold heist at 30,000 ft in the air. Hart leads a team of thieves with different skills to try and pull it off. It's got the kind of complicated planning equal to "Money Heist" or "Mission Impossible" - Hart seems to have endless funds for whatever he needs. It's hard to buy Hart as holding his own with professional thugs in a fight (especially since no one seems to get bruised), but it's pretty solid entertainment, while still formulaic.

Watched this yesterday. It was entertaining, probably fairly forgettable but no complaints. Most of the cast was unfamiliar to me. I liked the pilot and the hacker from his team.

 

[CL82]

Did not read the books. I'm split. Cruise is a much better actor and gives the character a bit more appealing personality. He's more human. Ritchson has the size to intimidate in ways Cruise can't forcing some situations to be absurd (like four on one vs Cruise feels way different if it is Ritchson). But Ritchson is wooden and seems to lack any personality. His Reacher is a jerk.

Probably would be better with someone like Jason Momoa who could combine the traits.

I haven't seen the second season of Reacher yet, I'll save it until after the basketball season, so I can't really speak to that performance, but Reacher is a bit of a jerk In the way that only someone with moral certainty and an absolute disinterest in others opinions of him can be.

Hey definitely give the first book a shot even though you know the plot from season one. It's fast paced and well written.

 

[Dove]

Self Reliance (2023) - This movie is a fun way to kill time. Jack Johnson is pretty good as a nobody who suddenly is offered a million bucks to simply stay alive for 30 days while killers stalk him. Anna Kendrick co stars for a while.

There's a few laughs here.

 

[nwhoopfan]

On a total whim watched "Tom & Jerry" (2021) last night on Netflix. Mixed live action and animation. It's totally silly of course. I found it funny and entertaining though. Slapstick humor still works. It's too bad it has all but disappeared. Pretty good human cast--Chloe Grace Moretz, Michael Pena, Ken Jeong.

 

[Deepster]

On a total whim watched "Tom & Jerry" (2021) last night on Netflix. Mixed live action and animation. It's totally silly of course. I found it funny and entertaining though. Slapstick humor still works. It's too bad it has all but disappeared. Pretty good human cast--Chloe Grace Moretz, Michael Pena, Ken Jeong.

Wow, they actually nabbed a couple decent actors for that hunk of garbage.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The Beekeeper. 2024, stars Jason Statham. It's a slightly new twist on the same old story. Retired force of nature who cannot be stopped by mere mortals come out of retirement. Like Bourne, Equalizer and even the Taken movies. It's the "you pissed off the wrong guy" story. Josh Hutchingson & Jeremy Irons are supporting. I thought this was a lot of fun for about 3/4 of it, then the suspension of disbelief just became a bit too much. I think it went off the rails at a particular point when Irons hires some particular people to deal with Statham. If you see it, you'll recognize it. Wasn't at all necessary except as a means to allow our protagonist to remain a protagonist. There were much more subtle, clever and less violent ways to do that and the film should have chosen them. Still not bad.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Tried "The Re-education of Molly Singer," new on Netflix. I like Brit Robertson. I wanted to like it. I just couldn't. Had to shut it down about halfway thru. There appears to be an attempt to revive the raunchy comedy, which I can appreciate, but they need to actually be funny, right? I didn't get a single chuckle out of this, although several groans. Just nothing about it was working. Also even if the lead is intentionally unlikable, there's gotta be a little bit about them that is appealing. An idiot that just keeps making idiotic decisions just isn't entertaining to me. Maybe this was a redemption tale eventually, but I couldn't hold out long enough to see.

This is a bit like "No Hard Feelings." While that could've been better, it certainly came closer to hitting the mark. In this one instead of an adult woman who refuses to grow up dating a teen guy, she is sent to rehab his social status after he becomes a pariah at his school on his very first day on campus, after accidentally maiming the star football player.

The gay best friend character rolls out every cliche imaginable, and again none of it is funny.

 

[Palatine]

The Holdovers (2023) It is a well made character piece. Comfortable formula about outsiders who come together to heal earth other. The teacher/student thing has been done and redone, but they add in a grieving mother, the African American cook at the school and it works, it adds depth to the movie. The background of the movie is it takes place over the Christmas holiday in 1970 at a boys bordering school and these are the folks who for varying reasons get left behind. The school is in Connecticut, somewhere near Candlewood Lake. This local touch makes the film more fun for those from the Nutmeg state. As I said, it is a good film with good performances. The story is paced nicely, it feels authentic. Two and a half stars.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Heart of Stone. One of these made for Netflix movies. Stars Gal Gadot who does look fabulous. Some good supporting actors like Paul Ready and Jamie Dornan. Alia Bhatt is an Indian actress who’s cute as a button in one of her first international roles. The core premise techcologiically impossible and so thoroughly infeasible. If you ignore that this is a lot of fun. Gorgeous scenery in the Italian Alps, Lisbon and Iceland. Not trying to be more than what it is, an entertaining action movie.

 

[Husky25]

I mentioned in the 2023 movie thread that I listen to The Ringer's Rewatchables podcast. I've listened to all of the episodes for movies I've already seen. Now I am going back and watching the movies, among other films, for the episodes I've skipped over.

Over the last few weeks,
The Ice Storm - Movie staring Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Tobey McGuire, and Christine Ricci. It was released in the late 90s, but is set in the early 70s in New Canaan. It's has sort of a Big Chill feel to it, but the with a stranger, yet compelling plot. I wouldn't necessarily call it "rewatchable," but worth the initial viewing.

Blackhat - Michael Mann movie starring Chris Helmsworth that is sort of all over the place. I'd call it a mix between Miami Vice and Swordfish, where a hacker is released from prison by the government and pitted between the US and Chinese governments, as he helps capture another, but villainous, hacker. Evidently, Michael Mann didn't like the theatrical version and moves some scenes around for the director's cut. It was okay, but may require additional viewings.

Thief - Another Michael Mann movie starring James Caan. Pretty enjoyable.

The Martian - Good movie set in the not so distant future, even when it came out. For obvious reasons, I thought it was a mix of Castaway and Apollo Thirteen. Matt Damon was really good and probably better than Hanks in the Castaway-type scenes. Though it is not a comedy, he hit the mark on achieving a dry comedic delivery.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith - The Movie that ended Brad and Jen, and began Brangelina. Total popcorn flick. Vince Vaughn may have been miscast. At the end of the day, he plays himself again, as if Jeremy Gray or "Double Down" Trent existed in this theatrical world.

Lost in Translation - Couldn't tell you what it is, but I liked it a lot.

 

[CL82]

Lost in Translation - Couldn't tell you what it is, but I liked it a lot.

Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, what's not to like? This is another Bill Murray movie where he channels Buster Keaton and becomes a straight man for the weird stuff that happens around him. This is the first movie that I remember Scarlett Johansson. I remember thinking that she had a good career ahead of her. She really has a presence on the screen. of course, I had no idea that a lot of that career would be as a marvel action hero.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, what's not to like? This is another Bill Murray movie where he channels Buster Keaton and becomes a straight man for the weird stuff that happens around him. This is the first movie that I remember Scarlett Johansson. I remember thinking that she had a good career ahead of her. She really has a presence on the screen. of course, I had no idea that a lot of that career would be as a marvel action hero.

This reminded me of a very small Bill Murray cameo role that I thought was absolutely brilliant. In Zombieland, he plays Bill Murray. Very funny stuff.

"Just played nine holes over at Riviera, just walked on, nobody there".

 

[nwhoopfan]

This reminded me of a very small Bill Murray cameo role that I thought was absolutely brilliant. In Zombieland, he plays Bill Murray. Very funny stuff.

"Just played nine holes over at Riviera, just walked on, nobody there".

Pro tip: not a good idea to prank somebody by pretending to be a zombie...during a zombie apocalypse.

 

[CL82]

This reminded me of a very small Bill Murray cameo role that I thought was absolutely brilliant. In Zombieland, he plays Bill Murray. Very funny stuff.

"Just played nine holes over at Riviera, just walked on, nobody there".

"I saw Eddie Van Halen at the Hollywood bowl. He's a zombie."

 

[dbmill]

Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, what's not to like? This is another Bill Murray movie where he channels Buster Keaton and becomes a straight man for the weird stuff that happens around him. This is the first movie that I remember Scarlett Johansson. I remember thinking that she had a good career ahead of her. She really has a presence on the screen. of course, I had no idea that a lot of that career would be as a marvel action hero.

I saw Lost In Translation when it was first released, and saw it several times after that. I haven't seen it in a while, but way back at that time I loved that movie. Another interesting role for Bill Murray, that's for sure.

 

[Deepster]

Lost in Translation - Couldn't tell you what it is, but I liked it a lot.

Lost in Translation is a phenomenal movie. Sofia Coppola directing and I feel it's Bill Murray's greatest performance. To give context, I watched it when I was coming out of a long, miserable marriage. I really connected with the release he had from experiencing the foreign landscape with ScarJo. And he never went overboard, never hit on her, wasn't a creep. But they helped each other get through their own crappy situations. I'd say brilliantly done.