Recently Watched Movies 2024

[Deepster]

I'm glad I didn't watch it in a theater. Don't know if my head would've exploded. As I mentioned in my earlier post on the movie, I had to shut it off maybe 40 minutes in as I couldn't wrap my head around everything that was going on and make sense of it... or whether I should've even been enjoying it or offended. And beyond the plot, it was incredible moviemaking - the cinematography, the sets, the colors, the effects. It was one of the more mind-blowing movies I've seen in quite some time. After I took my break and digested the part I watch, I was then able to thoroughly enjoy it. I enjoyed both DaFoe and Ruffalo.

Agree with you and Waq. And I’ll say. I have talked about it with various folks since seeing it and for a movie to spur that conversation means it did its job for me.

 

[CL82]

Dune 2. The special effects were very well done and seamlessly woven into the film. The problem with Dune 2 is we know the story so it doesn't hold many surprises. It is a top flight cast who gives underwhelming performances. It pretty much chugs along well polished with no sharp edges. A+ movie making, visuals, cinematography, editing, sound. But it adds up to less than the sum of it's parts. I was disappointed bordering on bored. Two and a half stars.

I think that's the first lukewarm review of it I've seen. That pretty much describes exactly how I felt about the first one. I had hopes part 2 was better.

I think casting is a part of the problem. Timothée Chalamet can't pull off being a charismatic leader or a lethal fighter. For me at least, I had difficulty connecting with the character enough to really care what happens to him. Similarly, though to a lesser extent, Zendaya may not have been the best choice. She looks terrific and has an "exotic" look which is perfect for the role, but she is an adequate actress. Not great, but perfectly serviceable. Rebecca Ferguson also doesn't do a great job. There should be more sense of menace/power behind a Bene Gesserit. That may be more a directing issue though. That's three major characters that are kind of "meh."

On the other hand, the movie is visually stunning and manages to tell what is a pretty complex storyline reasonably effectively. For all of the flowers I listed in the first paragraph, I enjoyed part one. Full disclosure, I haven't watched part two yet, but I definitely will and am looking forward to it, but that is partially out of fondness for the story and partially due to my appreciation of the cinematography.

For what it's worth I also think that epic novels that happen on a very grand scale often are exceptionally difficult to transfer to the big screen. The notable exception that comes to mind is Lord of the Rings which did an outstanding job with a complicated, and much beloved story. I have a few quibbles with it, like the creation of storylines so that female characters had a higher profile and the elimination of the battle in the Shire which highlights the evolution of the main characters, but overall it was incredibly well done.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Watching "Airplane II" on Amazon. I've seen it before of course, but it's been a long time. The 80s, what a decade. This is rated PG, easily an R in following decades. The gags are nearly constant, a few miss but it's still pretty funny all these years later. Definitely better than whatever passes for comedy these days.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Watching "Airplane II" on Amazon. I've seen it before of course, but it's been a long time. The 80s, what a decade. This is rated PG, easily an R in following decades. The gags are nearly constant, a few miss but it's still pretty funny all these years later. Definitely better than whatever passes for comedy these days.

I like Airplane II a lot, even though it was a different team than made the first one. William Shatner was hilarious.

 

[NEforceUConn]

I finally watched Kill Bill vol 1 and vol 2.

What a waste of my time, and I loved Pulp Fiction. Oh well.

 

[Deepster]

I finally watched Kill Bill vol 1 and vol 2.

What a waste of my time, and I loved Pulp Fiction. Oh well.

What didn't you like? Vol 1 is my favorite of all Tarantino movies. The Bride vs. the Crazy 88/O-Ren Ishii is the best thing I think he's ever filmed.

 

[NEforceUConn]

What didn't you like? Vol 1 is my favorite of all Tarantino movies. The Bride vs. the Crazy 88/O-Ren Ishii is the best thing I think he's ever filmed.

Glad you liked it, not my cup of tea. That scene, the Transporter scene where he beats 40 henchmen and John Wick killing 60 Russians is too far out there for me.

But I know people loved Kill Bills and I’m happy for them.

 

[nwhoopfan]

the Transporter scene where he beats 40 henchmen

Yeah but he had makeshift crampons and they were on an oil slick.

 

[Deepster]

Glad you liked it, not my cup of tea. That scene, the Transporter scene where he beats 40 henchmen and John Wick killing 60 Russians is too far out there for me.

But I know people loved Kill Bills and I’m happy for them.

Yeah, I get it. It's a homage to the 70's Kung era. It's not intended to be a "real fight". The campy foreign acting and facial expressions, beyond impossible acrobatic moves, etc. I really appreciate the scene he created that incorporated a lot of that era into a 9-10 minute clip.

I mean, the dragons in Game of Thrones aren't real. E.T didn't exist. There's a lot of far out things in movies.

 

[NEforceUConn]

Yeah, I get it. It's a homage to the 70's Kung era. It's not intended to be a "real fight". The campy foreign acting and facial expressions, beyond impossible acrobatic moves, etc. I really appreciate the scene he created that incorporated a lot of that era into a 9-10 minute clip.

I mean, the dragons in Game of Thrones aren't real. E.T didn't exist. There's a lot of far out things in movies.

Dragons aren't real? Ha!

Next you will be telling me that UConn does not have a standing offer to join the B1G.

 

[Husky25]

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024).

Pretty balanced between nostalgia and the new storyline. It was quite enjoyable, particularly since I saw it in the theatre with my son, but the originals are still the best.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Damsel. New movie on Netflix with Millie Bobby Brown (who must have a contract with Netflix) and Ray WInstone. Smaller roles from Angela Basset and Robin Wright (ironic casting). It's not breaking new ground really. Elodie (Brown) lives in a kingdom, is betrothed to a price in a faraway land. There's a dragon (voice by the wonderful Shohreh Aghdashloo) there and things aren't what she was expecting. Elodie is pretty handy and capable, chops wood and isn't a dainty lass. That matters in the end. I liked the Enola Holmes movies (first is better) and this is another "girl power" offering, but in a way that is just fine really (unlike some of the Marvel efforts). I enjoyed it for what it is. Some of the sets are obvious sets, but there's some nice exterior shots in what I recognized as Portugal.

Just watched it. I liked the look of the movie. Definitely built the fairy tale/fantastical world imagery well. I thought it was well done overall. Maybe just a tad long w/ Elodie and the dragon in the cave, but I wasn't checking my watch or anything. The glow worms were really cool and an interesting touch.

 

[nwhoopfan]

"The Greatest Hits" is new on Hulu. When I saw the trailer I thought it was an uncredited remake of "Press Play." There are some similarities too similar to ignore--young woman is able to time travel when she hears specific songs, keeps trying to save her boyfriend who died, but she can't change the past; there was even a record store in both that looked the same; the ultimate how to save him was the same. But enough of the details of the story are different enough to say it wasn't a total ripoff. I did enjoy it. Both of the leads were charming and engaging--Lucy Boynton and Justin Min.

 

[CL82]

I finally watched Kill Bill vol 1 and vol 2.

What a waste of my time, and I loved Pulp Fiction. Oh well.

 

[NEforceUConn]

Tonight my faith in pictures was restored by watching (again) that time classic “Chronicles of Riddick”.

 

[CL82]

The Boys in the Boat (2023)

This movie tells the story of the University of Washington eight-man rowing team that was sent to compete in the Berlin Olympics. Primarily it's the story of Joe Rantz his background and his struggle to make the team. He is an entirely watchable enjoyable movie that really does not do justice to the very good book that it's based on.

(A lot of spoilers below from the book. Read it your own peril.)

The director, George Clooney, misses the mark here by adding manufactured narratives and leaving out some of the pivotal themes of the book. A big part of the book is its telling of the impact of the great depression. In a relatively affluent time, that's hard for people to appreciate. Clooney hint at it in a few scenes but really doesn't touch it strongly enough. Another sub theme is Rantz's life story and how it impacted his ability to trust.

Rantz's early childhood is portrayed in the book is being pretty until his mother dies, kind of gruesomely. Eventually, his dad remarried a woman who is the archetype wicked stepmother. She never really likes her husband's children from the first marriage and joe in particular she forces her husband to kick him out of the house. Joe ends up being allowed to sleep in the school house and pays for it by cutting wood. He serves food in the dining tent of a logging camp in exchange for being fed. his family ends up moving to a different state cutting all ties with him .He takes a series of physical jobs and becomes pretty fit. That explains why he was able to compete and make the team.

Joe struggles to trust other people, understandable given the fact that his family abandoned him. That impacts his ability to get into sync with his teammates and causes him to get moved on and off the varsity boat.

Another sub story is the competition between the freshman boat and the varsity and junior varsity, and the next year the JV boat and the varsity boat. It is the JV boat that ends up going to Berlin.

Finally, they really underplay in the movie the degree to which the Germans tried to rig the contest. Moving the two fastest teams, the Americans and the English into the two slowest lanes that actually had a full headwind such that the American team had to actually turn its rudder and have the boat move up the course at an angle in order to be able to stay in its lane. That cost them tremendous and they were able to make a run other teams once they were out of the wind.

As I said at the start the movie perfectly good but the book is excellent and I'd highly recommend it.

 

[nwhoopfan]

an entirely watchable enjoyable movie that really does not do justice to the very good book that it's based on.

I read the book a number of years ago, really enjoyed it don't remember much in the way of details. I put it on my library list around Christmas, when I watched the movie. Finally got the book the other day, just getting started.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I had every intention of skipping "The Bricklayer." But it's fairly new on Netflix, what the heck. It's not exactly terrible, it's just not particularly good. Aaron Eckhart is a retired, disgruntled CIA operative. One of his former assets he was running is going rogue in Greece, so he has to go tie off a loose end. He gets partnered with a by the book agent completely lacking field experience (totally makes sense, right?) played by Nina Dobrev. Fairly generic action spy caper. I must've totally missed something, because the twist at the end made zero sense. I really have a hard time accepting Tim Blake Nelson in a serious role. To me he will forever be the halfwit from "O Brother Where Art Thou."

 

[HuskyHawk]

The Out Laws. This pretty much sucked. Toilet humor that wasn't very funny except maybe once or twice. If you're Beavis or Butthead you'd love this movie. Everyone else can skip it.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I saw Anyone but You on a plane. It is everything wrong with romcoms. I don't need to provide examples, you can come up with them yourself even if you didn't see the movie. Powell and Sweeney spend most of the movie barely dressed which is the only reason I can think of for the $200+ million gross. This movie sucks.

 

[Palatine]

Tonight my faith in pictures was restored by watching (again) that time classic “Chronicles of Riddick”.

Another excellent performance by Karl Urban. He is very under rated as a bad guy.

 

[nwhoopfan]

He is very under rated as a bad guy.

He's good as a good guy too.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Watched "Top Secret!" on Netflix last night. Those 80s spoofs hold up well. At least if it's Zucker and Abrams.

 

[storrsroars]

I had every intention of skipping "The Bricklayer." But it's fairly new on Netflix, what the heck. It's not exactly terrible, it's just not particularly good. Aaron Eckhart is a retired, disgruntled CIA operative. One of his former assets he was running is going rogue in Greece, so he has to go tie off a loose end. He gets partnered with a by the book agent completely lacking field experience (totally makes sense, right?) played by Nina Dobrev. Fairly generic action spy caper. I must've totally missed something, because the twist at the end made zero sense. I really have a hard time accepting Tim Blake Nelson in a serious role. To me he will forever be the halfwit from "O Brother Where Art Thou."

Not sure why Eckhart decided to become an action star. The fight scenes here are not particularly well-executed or convincing. The whole bricklayer thing seems like it was just stuck onto a mediocre action flick script. It's fine for mindless entertainment, and to watch the hero get the crap kicked out of him multiple times, but you've seen much, much better.

 

[nwhoopfan]

The whole bricklayer thing seems like it was just stuck onto a mediocre action flick script.

Maybe in sticking w/ the current Hollywood trend of shared universes, they are creating the butt kicking tradesmen universe. You've got The Bricklayer, the Beekeeper, what's next?