Recently Watched Movies 2022

[ZooCougar]

Free Guy was really good. I love an original story for a change.

And here is an old one. Defending Your Life with Albert Brooks. I hadn’t seen this movie since Middle School. It had Rip Torn in it, so right off the bat it’s above average.

It occurred to me after watching Free Guy, that they could remake Defending Your Life with Ryan Reynolds and it probably would not suck.

 

[CL82]

Timeline. 2003. You know you are running out of appealing options when you re-watch probably the worst Michael Crichton book based film. It's not bad, it just could have been quite good. Big cast, Gerard Butler, Billy Connolly, Paul Walker, Frances O'Conner, Neal McDonough, Anna Friel etc. Archeologists word on a site an English - French battle in 14th century France. Billionaire found he can send people to that exact time and place, so funds their dig. Crew travels back to save the professor (Billy Connolly). It's got swords, technology, romance and an evil tech billionaire (who isn't really evil at all). Anna Friel is absolutely adorable, and Gerard Butler is perhaps appropriately smitten. Paul Walker has a crush on Frances O'Conner, and he's just creepy about it. Clingy and cringe. The movie is ok. I recall the book was better.

The book was definitely better. That’s one of those movies that you can watch if you read the book and fill in the blanks yourself.

Which movie is worse Timeline, Congo or Disclosure?

 

[storrsroars]

Free Guy was really good. I love an original story for a change.

And here is an old one. Defending Your Life with Albert Brooks. I hadn’t seen this movie since Middle School. It had Rip Torn in it, so right off the bat it’s above average.

It occurred to me after watching Free Guy, that they could remake Defending Your Life with Ryan Reynolds and it probably would not suck.

Much as I love Albert Brooks, I cannot forgive him for participating in remaking The In-Laws.

That said, if there is a remake of Defending Your Life, John Malkovich would make an awesome Bob Diamond.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"Matrix Resurrections"...I tried. I had fairly low expectations for it, but I just couldn't do it. Started out SOOOOO meta, it was like a big freaking joke. And they pretty much ret conned everything from the first 3 movies. Did any of it happen? It did...or it didn't...or it did? I don't know. There was some action, but it just felt so been there and done that, so phoned in. The first one was unlike anything that had ever been seen on screen before and set the bar. This was just meh. I almost gave up after 30 minutes, but I kept going. It just got really, really dull, so I finally pulled the plug at an hour. There was still almost 1 1/2 hours of run time. I will sleep well not ever knowing what happened the rest of the way. This is definitely a franchise that should've been left alone and not pulled out of retirement.

 

[ZooCougar]

The book was definitely better. That’s one of those movies that you can watch if you read the book and fill in the blanks yourself.

Which movie is worse Timeline, Congo or Disclosure?

13th Warrior

 

[CL82]

13th Warrior

Much better book than the movie, but I would say that’s more watchable than any of the three movies I listed.

 

[Palatine]

The book was definitely better. That’s one of those movies that you can watch if you read the book and fill in the blanks yourself.

Which movie is worse Timeline, Congo or Disclosure?

That's easy. Congo is the worst by far. Timeline is simply mediocre. Disclose is actually somewhat interesting.

 

[CL82]

That's easy. Congo is the worst by far. Timeline is simply mediocre. Disclose is actually somewhat interesting.

That’s a fair take. I think I’d go with disclosure as the worst. Moore and Douglas have zero chemistry in his interest in her just has a creep factor. But in fairness, I’m not a big Demi Moore fan. I often get the sense that she’s an actress trying too hard to play a character in movies. Ghost would be the exception.

Timeline is fine as the middle movie and I agree with your characterization that it’s mediocre. I didn’t feel like there was adequate character development which made it kind of tough to follow if you haven’t read the books.

Congo being the best of the three is faint praise, but there was some action and some tension. Not great, but if all three were playing and they were the only things on, it would be the one I would choose.

 

[Palatine]

That’s a fair take. I think I’d go with disclosure as the worst. Moore and Douglas have zero chemistry in his interest in her just has a creep factor. But in fairness, I’m not a big Demi Moore fan. I often get the sense that she’s an actress trying too hard to play a character in movies. Ghost would be the exception.

Timeline is fine as the middle movie and I agree with your characterization that it’s mediocre. I didn’t feel like there was adequate character development which made it kind of tough to follow if you haven’t read the books.

Congo being the best of the three is faint praise, but there was some action and some tension. Not great, but if all three were playing and they were the only things on, it would be the one I would choose.

C'mon. Congo was silly and unbelievable, with B movie special effects.

 

[CL82]

C'mon. Congo was silly and unbelievable, with B movie special effects.

Time travel is more believable than a gorilla using speech synthesis?

Shrugs.

 

[Palatine]

My final word on the subject. If you can make it through this entire scene, you're a better man than I.

 

[CL82]

My final word on the subject. If you can make it through this entire scene, you're a better man than I.

Spielbergesque. And, if I may say so, those were some ugly gorillas.

#amyisright

Timeline however is epically bad, but don’t take me word on it.

Timeline is a horrible, no good, very bad film

 

[Palatine]

House of Gucci. A remarkable true story turned into a boring piece of nothing. Adam Driver gives a one dimensional performance and he may be deepest character in the piece. What is going on with Ridley Scott?

 

[8893]

I don’t love Maher but this is worth watching for Branagh’s discussion of Belfast:

 

[CL82]

I finally watched Dune. It was visually stunning and it felt true to the book, so it’s probably been over three decades since I read it. I think some people complemented Zendaya, she really doesn’t have much to do in this movie except look exotic, which she does with the blue Fremin eyes. The David Lynch version seem to struggle and get bogged down in the material. I thought they did a nice job laying out the back story while keeping the pace of the movie.

 

[Dove]

Fresh - (2022)

Okay, this one in cray. Watchable. We enjoyed it.

 

[dbmill]

Finally saw Belfast last night. I agree with you that it's the best of the 2021 movies I've seen, but I still think it was a pretty weak year for movies; and I still think that Garfield's performance in tick, tick...BOOM is the best performance of the year, although I also thought Will Smith did a great job in King Richard, which we watched earlier this week.

As you know, I am a longtime Vanatic and I knew all the songs in Belfast very well. But I have noticed something of a trend this past year that I am still trying to figure out why it doesn't always strike the right chord with me, and that is the use of music in movies.

In particular, Tender Bar, Licorice Pizza and Belfast all had great songs throughout, but I felt like they were a bit overused in each, almost like a crutch to conjure nostalgia and essentially make a music video. As you note, the Van songs in Belfast almost seemed made for the scenes in which they were used, but because I had such a bond with those songs already, I knew otherwise and it somehow affected the impact on me in a way that seemed a bit cloying or saccharine, especially in a movie that really didn't otherwise need to rely on gimmicks.

And sadly, I will admit that Van's Covid "hoax" activities have still left me a bit soured on him and have made his music less impactful for me, but damn that man can sing.

Anyway, Belfast was by far the best of the bunch and told a compelling human story in a very effective, charming and bittersweet way.

Belfast (2021) - We just watched this movie tonight, and thought it was a solid production. Have to admit I did have trouble with the accents, but that does happen at times when watching Irish and/or British films. Whatever the case, I was really impressed with Jude Hill playing the lead role of the 9 year old Buddy, he really carries the film. It is also rare to see a child actor get lead billing in any movie, even when they are at the center of the film. Also enjoyed the performance performance of Judi Dench in a small supporting role playing Buddy's grandmother.

 

[CL82]

Free Guy is an eminently watchable movie. The plot is Ryan Reynolds is a non-playable character in a computer game that gains awareness and begins to question his surroundings. At this point I’ll pretty much watch anything Ryan Reynolds does. It doesn’t disappoint. The female lead is played by the same woman who plays the assassin on killing Eve. And her performance is fine, but it’s most notable for the fact of how different it is from her Killing Eve role.

 

[ZooCougar]

In light of current events I watched Sam Peckinpaugh’s “Cross of Iron”.

Is this the best WW2 movie ever made? It might be my second favorite behind Inglorious Basterds.

Sam Peckinpaugh was sort of Tarantino before Tarantino existed. Tarantino credited Peckinpaugh as an inspiration and in Cross of Iron you can see where the Hans Landa character came from. In this incredibly violent and satirical anti war film we see a disillusioned German Regiment on the eastern front. Then one day this neophyte Bavarian Captain shows up and the situation goes from bad to absurd.

This movie isn’t well known but it is classic and was lost in the fray because it came out against Star Wars. Surprisingly, it was highly successful in West Germany. And for sure has one of the best one liners ever at the end.

 

[ZooCougar]

Free Guy is an eminently watchable movie. The plot is Ryan Reynolds is a non-playable character in a computer game that gains awareness and begins to question his surroundings. At this point I’ll pretty much watch anything Ryan Reynolds does. It doesn’t disappoint. The female lead is played by the same woman who plays the assassin on killing Eve. And her performance is fine, but it’s most notable for the fact of how different it is from her Killing Eve role.

Loved it.

 

[ZooCougar]

I finally watched Dune. It was visually stunning and it felt true to the book, so it’s probably been over three decades since I read it. I think some people complemented Zendaya, she really doesn’t have much to do in this movie except look exotic, which she does with the blue Fremin eyes. The David Lynch version seem to struggle and get bogged down in the material. I thought they did a nice job laying out the back story while keeping the pace of the movie.

I loved it. But I am at a point where I believe that the ultimate is to be in prestige format series on cable or streaming. It’s just so hard to get it all in a 3 hour movie. Supposedly there is a 5 hour version out there.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Rewatching the Star Wars prequels at the request of my daughter (triggered by the Obi-Wan trailer). The writing is so awful. Aside from Hayden Christianson, the acting isn't bad, just hamstrung by bad scripts. They need to remake these somehow (get Dave Filoni to do it). They could have been epic. The entire Clone Wars era lasts like 20 minutes of screen time. Instead we get pod races that add nothing to the store, gungans that add nothing, weird gladiator evens that add nothing (other than Natalie Portman in the ripped white suit). Such a waste. Natalie Portman looks great throughout the 2nd film really, amazing hair. Lucas should have hired other people as good as her hairdresser.

 

[CL82]

Rewatching the Star Wars prequels at the request of my daughter (triggered by the Obi-Wan trailer). The writing is so awful. Aside from Hayden Christianson, the acting isn't bad, just hamstrung by bad scripts. They need to remake these somehow (get Dave Filoni to do it). They could have been epic. The entire Clone Wars era lasts like 20 minutes of screen time. Instead we get pod races that add nothing to the store, gungans that add nothing, weird gladiator evens that add nothing (other than Natalie Portman in the ripped white suit). Such a waste. Natalie Portman looks great throughout the 2nd film really, amazing hair. Lucas should have hired other people as good as her hairdresser.

The core idea behind the first Star Wars is so clean. It’s basically the heroic quest, good vs. evil, avenging the death of a father, etc. The prequel‘s take us into a byzantine world of intergalactic politics. It is boring.

 

[Palatine]

I believe that Star Wars is an infomercial for action figures.

BTW, Hayden Christionson is terrific in a little seen movie about the New Republic magazine scandal. It's called "Shattered Glass." A very good little movie and HC carries it.

 

[dbmill]

Rewatching the Star Wars prequels at the request of my daughter (triggered by the Obi-Wan trailer). The writing is so awful. Aside from Hayden Christianson, the acting isn't bad, just hamstrung by bad scripts. They need to remake these somehow (get Dave Filoni to do it). They could have been epic. The entire Clone Wars era lasts like 20 minutes of screen time. Instead we get pod races that add nothing to the store, gungans that add nothing, weird gladiator evens that add nothing (other than Natalie Portman in the ripped white suit). Such a waste. Natalie Portman looks great throughout the 2nd film really, amazing hair. Lucas should have hired other people as good as her hairdresser.

My wife and I loved the original Star Wars trilogy, not sure how many times we have seen those movies, but it has been a bunch. We watched all three movies of the prequel trilogy, and it is pretty poor stuff. I recall I pretty much had to be dragged to the last one. Have not watched any of the prequel trilogy movies since, and have no desire to, as it would just be a waste of our time.