Recently Watched Movies 2023

[HuskyHawk]

Banshees of Inisherin (2022) - I was attracted to watching this movie as the writer and director Martin McDonagh, and its two stars Colin Farrell and Bendan Gleason were the main cogs of the film "In Bruges", one of my favorite films of the past 20 years.

"Banshees of Inisherin" seems to be well done and is okay, but it just didn't grab me like "In Bruges" when I first saw that movie. "Banshees" is said to be a dark comedy. While the film is certainly in a dark mode, it didn't seem all that funny to me. The two stars play a couple of people who have been friends for a long time, but one of them at the beginning of the film decides to end the friendship, and the end of this friendship has all sorts of ramifications attached to it. As the film progresses, I found neither of these two guys all that likable, and for me that did not help this film. This is not a movie I am eager to see again.

Nailed it. Farrell's character is a bit simple and mildly annoying. Gleason's character is a terrible person, doing terrible things to himself and others. Nobody calls him out for it. There's nobody remotely likable except Farrell's wife. Great acting I suppose, but not funny, just depressing.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"Heart of Stone" is the new Netflix movie with Gal Gadot. Entertaining enough, but kinda goofy. Over the top spy caper.

 

[Dove]

"Knock on the Cabin" (2023) - Kinda wasnt expecting to like this move. Its really good.

An M Night movie.

Two parents and a young daughter are visited by strangers who warn of the apocolypse.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Blood &Gold. Netflix. German film in German with subtitles. Billed as a mix of inglorious Basterds and something else, but it’s not quite that. It’s good though. A group of rogue SS late in 1945 as the war is ending are looking for gold they learned about. Meanwhile a private defects. Don‘t want to spoil it but it’s a classic story of hero and heroine with good and bad townspeople and the SS. The Germans just keep it realistic and don’t go over the top. Solid film.

 

[superjohn]

"Knock on the Cabin" (2023) - Kinda wasnt expecting to like this move. Its really good.

An M Night movie.

Two parents and a young daughter are visited by strangers who warn of the apocolypse.

M Night Shamalan made something that's watchable since Unbreakable and Signs? I find this hard to believe.

 

[nwhoopfan]

M Night Shamalan made something that's watchable since Unbreakable and Signs? I find this hard to believe.

I think Split was probably his best movie. But that must've been by accident.

 

[Dove]

M Night Shamalan made something that's watchable since Unbreakable and Signs? I find this hard to believe.

It's good to believe. Just close your eyes, unclench your fists and just believe.

 

[CL82]

M Night Shamalan made something that's watchable since Unbreakable and Signs? I find this hard to believe.

Split was good as was the follow up Glass. The Last Airbender was terrible.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Been watching a lot of A24 recently, (why wouldn’t I, they’re incredible) specifically some of the Asian ones. Saw Past Lives in theaters about a month ago and loved it. Really moving and realistically emotional. Then I watched Minari, I liked it, didn’t love it as much as I thought I would though. But beautifully shot and acting was really great.

Finally, just watched The Farewell which may have been my favorite of the bunch. Super emotional, both happiness and sadness, and incredibly real in the portrayal of relationships within a family. Highly recommend all 3.

 

[HuskyHawk]

"Knock on the Cabin" (2023) - Kinda wasnt expecting to like this move. Its really good.

An M Night movie.

Two parents and a young daughter are visited by strangers who warn of the apocolypse.

So I watched it tonight. Confirm it’s pretty good. Dave Bautista is excellent. It does a good job of leaving you in doubt until the end. It’s simply an impossible situation. Constant tension from early on.

 

[dbmill]

Before Sunrise (1995) - This romance film was directed by Richard Linklater and stars Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. Hawke is an American on vacation in Europe, and Delpy plays a French woman. They meet on a Eurail train, and quickly develop a liking for each other. Hawke is flying back to the USA the next day, so he persuades Delpy to get off the train and spend the rest of the day and night together taking in the the sights in Vienna, where he is flying out of the next day.

Hawke and Delpy carry the movie from start to finish, and develop quite a chemistry together. They are almost in every scene in this movie. The film is basically a bunch of conversations between the two of them, with the occasional kiss thrown in. This movie is pretty much all talk and pretty much nothing else happens, so it certainly won't appeal to everyone.

While not a great film, I did think it was entertaining to some degree, although with all the talking I have to admit that my mind started to wander off from time to time. Still, I stuck with it to the end. As I indicated before, I would guess there are a number of people out there who would not be able to stick with this movie from start to finish.

By the way, Linklater directed one of our favorite films of the last 15 years, "Bernie".

 

[HuskyHawk]

Twister. Was in the mood for this the other day. Part disaster movie, part rom-com. Helen Hunt in her Mad About You era, Bill Paxton, Cary Elwes as the bad guy and Jamie Gertz. The cast is pretty epic really, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Allan Ruck, Jeremy Davies. The special effects were great for the time, convey a convincing sense of terror if being unrealistic at times about what it is like "near" a tornado. Michael Crichton did the screenplay. Jan de Bont directed. Reportedly he insisted that it be filmed in Oklahoma. That saved it, because despite the CGI you get a proper sense of the place and it makes a difference. This was the #2 movie back in 1996, and is worth a watch.

 

[Palatine]

Twister. Was in the mood for this the other day. Part disaster movie, part rom-com. Helen Hunt in her Mad About You era, Bill Paxton, Cary Elwes as the bad guy and Jamie Gertz. The cast is pretty epic really, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Allan Ruck, Jeremy Davies. The special effects were great for the time, convey a convincing sense of terror if being unrealistic at times about what it is like "near" a tornado. Michael Crichton did the screenplay. Jan de Bont directed. Reportedly he insisted that it be filmed in Oklahoma. That saved it, because despite the CGI you get a proper sense of the place and it makes a difference. This was the #2 movie back in 1996, and is worth a watch.

All true. Still it's not a very good movie. Great special effects but used poorly. There is a scene where a twister drops a house on the road right in front of Bill and Helen. No problem they just drive through the house, room by room, easy peasy without slowing down. And, of course, there's a flying cow.

 

[HuskyHawk]

All true. Still it's not a very good movie. Great special effects but used poorly. There is a scene where a twister drops a house on the road right in front of Bill and Helen. No problem they just drive through the house, room by room, easy peasy without slowing down. And, of course, there's a flying cow.

I mean, there would be flying cows. That's legit. Still, not James Bond level implausible. The worst really was them getting so close to drop Dororthy. Nah. That isn't happening. Plus the noise is worse than what the film indicates.

 

[BrysonDeMan]

I remember this being a terrific film as well. I saw "A Clockwork Orange" a number of times when I was a student at UConn many years ago, and I haven't seen it since. I did record it recently on our DVR, so sometime soon I hope to watch it again.

i only partially remember drunken Rocky Horror Picture Show midnights in the ROTC while i was there

 

[dbmill]

i only partially remember drunken Rocky Horror Picture Show midnights in the ROTC while i was there

When I was a student at UConn in the late 1970's into the early 1980's, there were a few film society's at UConn that would regularly show movies, in addition to various dorms and other groups that would show movies as fundraisers. That was in addition to the films that the movie theater in Storrs would show (and they showed all sorts of stuff while they were still in business). I went to plenty of these movies while I was a UConn student.

I also recall Rocky Horror getting shown at ROTC, I might have gone once to see it at ROTC. During my freshmen and sophomore years, I went a number of times to Manchester with a friend who was also a student at UConn to watch midnight showings of Rocky Horror.

 

[CL82]

When I was a student at UConn in the late 1970's into the early 1980's, there were a few film society's at UConn that would regularly show movies, in addition to various dorms and other groups that would show movies as fundraisers. That was in addition to the films that the movie theater in Storrs would show (and they showed all sorts of stuff while they were still in business). I went to plenty of these movies while I was a UConn student.

I also recall Rocky Horror getting shown at ROTC, I might have gone once to see it at ROTC. During my freshmen and sophomore years, I went a number of times to Manchester with a friend who was also a student at UConn to watch midnight showings of Rocky Horror.

I saw Rocky horror at the ROTC hanger too. Around the same time, I got hired to be "security" at a showing of Alien in a lecture hall around the same time, which basically consisted of me standing up in the back of the theater and watching the film. I think it was a fundraiser for some on campus group.

 

[AreBee1969]

Because of a recent trip to Six Flags I had DC Comics on the brain and watched the three Henry Cavill Superman movies, but ended up watching them in reverse order.

Also watched Gal Godot in Heart of Stone. A mindless action movie but I liked it.

 

[AreBee1969]

Banshees of Inisherin (2022) - I was attracted to watching this movie as the writer and director Martin McDonagh, and its two stars Colin Farrell and Bendan Gleason were the main cogs of the film "In Bruges", one of my favorite films of the past 20 years.

"Banshees of Inisherin" seems to be well done and is okay, but it just didn't grab me like "In Bruges" when I first saw that movie. "Banshees" is said to be a dark comedy. While the film is certainly in a dark mode, it didn't seem all that funny to me. The two stars play a couple of people who have been friends for a long time, but one of them at the beginning of the film decides to end the friendship, and the end of this friendship has all sorts of ramifications attached to it. As the film progresses, I found neither of these two guys all that likable, and for me that did not help this film. This is not a movie I am eager to see again.

In Bruges was on a different level. As good as Gleason and Farrell were, Ralph Fiennes stole the show for me. I did like Banshees but but not as much. I did drag on for a while and was really dark and twisted.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Insidious 1-4. I haven't seen #5, but for fans of horror movies, Insidious was really good. Scary as hell. So we watched the sequel and then the next two. James Wan directs the first three. Each of these leaves you essentially hanging. While not billed at the lead, Elise, the medium played by Lin Shaye is really the actress/character that ties everything together. Insidious Chapter 2 continues where the first left off, but both have flashbacks to reveal more about Patrick Wilson's character Josh. Insidious Chapter 3 is a prequel and is probably the best film of the three, if the least scary. Insidious: The Last Key (#4) take place between 1 and 3, so is a prequel to 1 but not to 3. If you like horror films that aren't the gore/slasher type, give them a try.

The one currently in cinemas is Insidious: The Red Door (#5) and it's a sequel to Chapter 2 chronologically.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Insidious 1-4. I haven't seen #5, but for fans of horror movies, Insidious was really good. Scary as hell. So we watched the sequel and then the next two. James Wan directs the first three. Each of these leaves you essentially hanging. While not billed at the lead, Elise, the medium played by Lin Shaye is really the actress/character that ties everything together. Insidious Chapter 2 continues where the first left off, but both have flashbacks to reveal more about Patrick Wilson's character Josh. Insidious Chapter 3 is a prequel and is probably the best film of the three, if the least scary. Insidious: The Last Key (#4) take place between 1 and 3, so is a prequel to 1 but not to 3. If you like horror films that aren't the gore/slasher type, give them a try.

The one currently in cinemas is Insidious: The Red Door (#5) and it's a sequel to Chapter 2 chronologically.

The trailer for that new exorcist movie coming out in the fall that they showed before Oppenheimer looked absolutely terrifying. It was so intense I almost couldn't believe they were showing it.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The trailer for that new exorcist movie coming out in the fall that they showed before Oppenheimer looked absolutely terrifying. It was so intense I almost couldn't believe they were showing it.

The Pope’s Exorcist is streaming now and is quite good. Our new parish priest knew him and trained in Rome. Guess we are ok if the worst happens.

 

[dbmill]

Before Sunrise (1995) - This romance film was directed by Richard Linklater and stars Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. Hawke is an American on vacation in Europe, and Delpy plays a French woman. They meet on a Eurail train, and quickly develop a liking for each other. Hawke is flying back to the USA the next day, so he persuades Delpy to get off the train and spend the rest of the day and night together taking in the the sights in Vienna, where he is flying out of the next day.

Hawke and Delpy carry the movie from start to finish, and develop quite a chemistry together. They are almost in every scene in this movie. The film is basically a bunch of conversations between the two of them, with the occasional kiss thrown in. This movie is pretty much all talk and pretty much nothing else happens, so it certainly won't appeal to everyone.

While not a great film, I did think it was entertaining to some degree, although with all the talking I have to admit that my mind started to wander off from time to time. Still, I stuck with it to the end. As I indicated before, I would guess there are a number of people out there who would not be able to stick with this movie from start to finish.

By the way, Linklater directed one of our favorite films of the last 15 years, "Bernie".

Beyond Sunset (2004) - This is a romantic sequel to "Before Sunrise" which takes place nine years after the original movie. Once again, it is directed by Richard Linklater and starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. This film is pretty similar to the original as the two stars this time meet in Paris, and spend a day together wondering around Paris before Hawke once again has to fly home to the USA. Once again, this film is basically one conversation after another. I believe it is safe to say that if you thought the first film was okay, you will find this film to be pretty watchable as well. I thought it was okay.

 

[AreBee1969]

The Pope’s Exorcist is streaming now and is quite good. Our new parish priest knew him and trained in Rome. Guess we are ok if the worst happens.

LOL! I watched by myself and enjoyed it. I was raised Catholic and as pretty much an atheist, it intrigues me that Amorth was a real person.

 

[NEforceUConn]

Just saw John Wick Chapter Four. I must be getting old because I thought it was terrible. Upon review I loved the 1st one, liked the 2nd one and barely tolerated 3rd one. This 4th iteration confirms my recommendation to watch the first and forget all the sequels.