Recently Watched Movies 2023

[HuskyHawk]

Shazam 2. The first Shazam was an unexpected treat. Quite funny and Zach Levi did a great job as a kid thrust into the role of adult superhero. Shades of Big. One of the best DC movies. This one falls a bit flat. It has some funny moments, and it's a nice family movie in the PG13 sense. Plenty of silly CGI action and good villains in Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu. There's more coming of age high school awkwardness and angst here, plus the older foster sister Mary, being a 20s age person dealing with kids and missing her own age group. She's the only one without two actors for the role. Looked at that way, it works well enough.

 

[Dove]

To Leslie (2022) - My wife put it on and it turned out to be a really good movie. Andrea Riseborough is in almost every scene where she plays a woman who won $190,000 in a lottery and drank it away, and leaving her young son. She barely ends up at a motel where she lands a job and is saved by the two guys who run it. Mark Maron costars.

Worth a watch. Not a slow burn and not a firecracker.

On Netflix.

 

[nomar]

Three Thousand Years of Longing. Prime. Stars Tilda Swinton as Alithea and Idris Elba as the Djinn. Alithea is a professor of narratives, storytelling. The stories that defined civilization through the ages. She’s in Istanbul for a conference and finds a genie in a bottle. Most of the film is just the two of them, punctuated by stories of the Djinn’s past. She is a lonely soul and loves stories so devours this. He wants her to wish, but she’s very cautious. It’s a romance of sorts and has some nice story elements. Definitely a date movie, but a decent one.

Wanted to like this but, unfortunately, didn’t. Not terrible, just not very good IMO.

Worst movie I’ve seen recently: 65, starring Adam Driver.

 

[nomar]

I hope this one didn't have a Jeopardy scene.

Who is Babe Root?

 

[HuskyHawk]

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. Same cast and characters. This is the finale of that group. The core story here revolves around Rocket, who is my favorite of the crew. We got origin stories for the others, and now finally get his. It's fairly well done in that regard, and there are side stories about Peter since new Gamora doesn't remember their relationship (and isn't in the group). Is it silly and does it contain the usual excessive CGI infused action/fighting scenes? Yes, of course. But it is funny and the Rocket story is a good one. The music is superb as usual. Notable are the acoustic version of Creep at the opening, which sets the tone for who Rocket seems himself as. It's well done. Since you've been gone - Rainbow was a semi-forgotten treat. Reasons - Earth, Wind & Fire, but overall it trended more recent than past films. There may be a Vol. 4 - but Peter Quill, Gamora, and Mantis won't be part of it.

 

[formerlurker]

I don't feel like scrolling through 9 pages to see if this has been mentioned but this is a really solid rainy/smoky day flick when you're glued to the couch.

Yup, you don't f around with action Allison Janney.



I'm praying for the sequel.

 

[Palatine]

RRR (2022) An Indian epic about freedom fighters during brutal English rule in the 1920s. This movie goes from the absurd to the ridiculously absurd. Very sylish. Well shot. Way too long long at over three hours. The special effects (especially the animals) are unconvincing. But overall this is first class film making on a monumental canvas.

The story and plot would be pretty thoughtful if the material wasn't treated in surreal fashion. There are dance scenes on a scale that puts Busby Berkeley to shame intertwined with the killing of children and massive riots with hundreds of extras. The fight scenes make John Wick seem realistic.

Did I mention way to long? At two hours this would have been fantastic escapism. It's lapses into indulgence which kills the viewing experience. Two stars.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"Abandon" (2002) is one of many movies from around that time frame that I missed. Can't remember if I intended to or not. Stars Katie Holmes, right at the end of her run w/ Dawson's Creek. A very slow burn psychological thriller. An imperfect movie, but interesting enough. Maybe what really appealed to me about it was how many familiar faces were in the cast, early in their careers. Charlie Hunnam, Zooey Deschanel, Gabrielle Union, Melanie Lynskey, Gabriel Mann. Also a few older established actors like Benjamin Bratt and Fred Ward.

Hopefully without spoiling it, I will say this. Many movie titles seem random or somewhat meaningless. Not this one. It was very deliberately chosen.

 

[Jay-Bone]

But overall this is first class film making on a monumental canvas.

Two stars.

 

[temery]

Fast X. Movie is ok, but Jason Momoa isn't good playing a bad guy.

Fast X (2023) ⭐ 5.8 | Action, Adventure, Crime

2h 21m | PG-13

www.imdb.com

 

[nwhoopfan]

Tried "Renfield" yesterday. Quit about halfway thru. Some false advertising with that one. It was really two different movies. There was what you thought you were getting, looking at the relationship between Dracula and Renfield thru a modern lens as codependent and toxic. Then there was this whole other thing happening, with Awkwafina as a cop surrounded by dirty cops, trying to take down the biggest crime syndicate in New Orleans by herself. The first part was working okay, the other part I had zero interest in. Is Awkwafina in every movie? It seems like it. I find her extremely annoying and not particularly compelling. Cage was chewing scenery as only he can, looking like he was having a great time in the role.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Tried "Renfield" yesterday. Quit about halfway thru. Some false advertising with that one. It was really two different movies. There was what you thought you were getting, looking at the relationship between Dracula and Renfield thru a modern lens as codependent and toxic. Then there was this whole other thing happening, with Awkwafina as a cop surrounded by dirty cops, trying to take down the biggest crime syndicate in New Orleans by herself. The first part was working okay, the other part I had zero interest in. Is Awkwafina in every movie? It seems like it. I find her extremely annoying and not particularly compelling. Cage was chewing scenery as only he can, looking like he was having a great time in the role.

I still have to watch it because some was filmed at my cousin’t farm in Louisiana

 

[nwhoopfan]

I still have to watch it because some was filmed at my cousin’t farm in Louisiana

Hopefully you'll enjoy it more than I did. I think it's what you would call a horror comedy. I was surprised by how gory it is, although it's done in a campy manner.

 

[Palatine]

Jay-Bone. This is the difference between great film making and a great movie.

But overall this is first class film making on a monumental canvas.

Two stars.

 

[superjohn]

Hell or High Water (2016)- Just watched it again and I'm reminded of how much I love this movie. One of the best movies I remember of the past 5-10 years.

Barbarian (2022)- Started off great and the second half started off genuinely great and creepy but then it got dumbed down and too campy for me. I'm sure some people will love it but I wish it continued on the trajectory it was on.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Spider-Man - Across the Spiderverse. Sequal to a really good animated Spider-Man movie a few years back. This one again features Miles Morales as SpiderMan, Gwen Stacey as Spider-woman from a different universe, and many other spider people from alternative universes. Some of these are quite clever and they have a lot of fun with it. This is clearly a nod to comic books, and the art in particular. The characters are drawn in a wide range of styles. We've got a cool Indian Spider-man who lives in a hybrid of Mumbai and Manhattan. We've got an awesome punk rock Spiderman, including guitar, named Hobie, who is voiced by Daniel Kaluuya. It's complicated of course, as any of these multi-universe things are, but the ride is certainly enjoyable. It does run a bit long, the longest U.S. animated movie ever.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Antman...Quantumania...etc etc. I didn't have high expectations, but I watched it anyway. I think Marvel has painted themselves into a corner. They can't get themselves out of the multiverse now, but none of the movies involving it have really worked IMO. I should probably tap out instead of getting frustrated with the direction they are going.

The movie certainly had a lot of color, and just a lot of stuff going on all over the screen. About half of the movie seemed like an extremely extended cantina scene from Star Wars. And not in a good way.

 

[HuskyNan]

Antman...Quantumania...etc etc. I didn't have high expectations, but I watched it anyway. I think Marvel has painted themselves into a corner. They can't get themselves out of the multiverse now, but none of the movies involving it have really worked IMO. I should probably tap out instead of getting frustrated with the direction they are going.

The movie certainly had a lot of color, and just a lot of stuff going on all over the screen. About half of the movie seemed like an extremely extended cantina scene from Star Wars. And not in a good way.

Too much CGI - I found the movie physically tiring. Marvel needs to go back and watch Iron Man and the original Avengers to see how the characters should drive the movie, not the special effects

 

[Hey Adrien!]

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

Another vignette from the Coen Brothers, this time featuring six chapters that take place in the Wild West.

The first chapter, "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" was absurd, funny and visually stunning but as the film moved on the chapters got darker and bleaker.

Overall, a beautiful piece of film, but not for me. Felt pretty unsettled after, but I guess that was the point.

 

[Dove]

The Inspection (2022) - Almost changed the channel but kept watching. Pretty good movie. Gay black kid with an ***hole mom signs up with the Marines. Graduates boot camp while surviving the backlash of the platoon.

 

[Dove]

The Lost City (2022) - Channing Tatum and Sandra Bullock are funny here. Forget the story and plot. Its funny.

The Brad Pitt scene is hysterical.

 

[Dove]

Avatar: The Way of Water

Was expectinh this to be a weak sequel but was very surprised at how great the movie was. Thoroughly enjoyed this one despite it being one hour too long..

 

[HuskyBaggins]

Shazam 2. The first Shazam was an unexpected treat. Quite funny and Zach Levi did a great job as a kid thrust into the role of adult superhero. Shades of Big. One of the best DC movies. This one falls a bit flat. It has some funny moments, and it's a nice family movie in the PG13 sense. Plenty of silly CGI action and good villains in Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu. There's more coming of age high school awkwardness and angst here, plus the older foster sister Mary, being a 20s age person dealing with kids and missing her own age group. She's the only one without two actors for the role. Looked at that way, it works well enough.

Yeah, this one was a "meh" for me. The adults pretending to be dorky 12 year olds gets old really fast.

 

[HuskyBaggins]

Fast X. Movie is ok, but Jason Momoa isn't good playing a bad guy.

Fast X (2023) ⭐ 5.8 | Action, Adventure, Crime

2h 21m | PG-13

www.imdb.com

Yeah, he's trying too hard. Doesn't really have the persona for that. Overall, surprisingly good for being the TENTH iteration

 

[Palatine]

Wanted to like this but, unfortunately, didn’t. Not terrible, just not very good IMO.

Worst movie I’ve seen recently: 65, starring Adam Driver.

Completely agree. 65 is a dud. I could write a number of paragraphs describing how bad it is, but I don't want to spend time thinking about it. Don't watch it.