What movies have you been watching?

[Roadrunner53]

Haflander, if you want depressing and drab, try watching the movie: I Think We Are Alone Now.

[GuitarStv]

Haflander, if you want depressing and drab, try watching the movie: I Think We Are Alone Now.

The most depressing movie I've ever watched was Requiem For A Dream.  It's like being punched in the gut.  I don't want movies to make me feel that much.  :P

[sui generis]

Fight Club.  DH had never seen it.  He thought it was a lot weirder than he expected.  Didn't seem to love it.  Watching it for the second time was interesting, knowing the conceit.  Also interesting to see how it has stood up to the test of time.  Most interesting to me was thinking about the direction of the movie vs. the direction of the FIRE movement since that period, since there are all those anti-consumerism themes, and how different the paths are to being one's authentic self or "living your best life".

[Michael in ABQ]

Haflander, if you want depressing and drab, try watching the movie: I Think We Are Alone Now.

The most depressing movie I've ever watched was Requiem For A Dream.  It's like being punched in the gut.  I don't want movies to make me feel that much.  :P

That movie is probably the most effective anti-drug message I've ever seen - at least when it comes to harder drugs like heroin. I don't think I'd want to watch it again.

[Noodle]

Now that the supply of new movies has pretty much dried up, have been dipping into the archives a bit.

Watched "The Running Man" this weekend--the one where Arnold Schwarzenegger ends up in a 1980s version of The Hunger Games. It may perhaps be the most 1980s media artifact I have ever seen, starting with the font used for the opening titles and continuing with the enthusiastic use of neon spandex and a LOT of synthesizer. It was not good, but it was definitely fun. The cast was also surprisingly diverse for a movie from the 80s, although not even-handed in terms of gender.

Also recently watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which is a pretty standard older rom-com but features Kristin Bell in a supporting role, really leaning into her talent for playing less than appealing people. (See: the early episodes of The Good Place)

I do recommend the new Hulu movie Palm Springs. Also a rom-com (rated R tho) but I really enjoyed it.

[lost_in_the_endless_aisle]

Watched "The Running Man" this weekend--the one where Arnold Schwarzenegger ends up in a 1980s version of The Hunger Games. It may perhaps be the most 1980s media artifact I have ever seen, starting with the font used for the opening titles and continuing with the enthusiastic use of neon spandex and a LOT of synthesizer. It was not good, but it was definitely fun. The cast was also surprisingly diverse for a movie from the 80s, although not even-handed in terms of gender.

This is actually an excellent movie and is clearly very ironic and satirical. My favorite part is the "Climbing for Dollars" commercial. You have to kind of love Arnold Schwarzenegger to enjoy, but then again, who doesn't? Brilliantly over-the-top; basically the 80s version of Mad Max: Fury Road or Schwarzenegger's answer to Sean Connery in the 1974 John Boorman film Zardoz. These are decadal movies that everyone should watch at least once!

(Regarding the love for Requiem For a Dream expressed above, I don't get it. It seemed grotesquely heavy-handed and I would suggest the Australian film Samson and Delilah instead)

[ministashy]

Just watched 'Old Guard' via Netflix--brand new movie starring Charlize Theron, who once again proves she plays the best kick-butt female characters.  Also has a slightly different twist on the idea of immortals among us;  a bit formulaic in spots, but overall loved the action and the characterization.  Definitely worth a watch!

[wenchsenior]

Just watched 'Old Guard' via Netflix--brand new movie starring Charlize Theron, who once again proves she plays the best kick-butt female characters.  Also has a slightly different twist on the idea of immortals among us;  a bit formulaic in spots, but overall loved the action and the characterization.  Definitely worth a watch!

I liked it as well, b/c it concentrated on characterization and relationships rather than action.  I sometimes wonder if I would generally like action/superhero movies a whole lot better if more women directed them. 

[wenchsenior]

Watched "The Running Man" this weekend--the one where Arnold Schwarzenegger ends up in a 1980s version of The Hunger Games. It may perhaps be the most 1980s media artifact I have ever seen, starting with the font used for the opening titles and continuing with the enthusiastic use of neon spandex and a LOT of synthesizer. It was not good, but it was definitely fun. The cast was also surprisingly diverse for a movie from the 80s, although not even-handed in terms of gender.

This is actually an excellent movie and is clearly very ironic and satirical. My favorite part is the "Climbing for Dollars" commercial. You have to kind of love Arnold Schwarzenegger to enjoy, but then again, who doesn't? Brilliantly over-the-top; basically the 80s version of Mad Max: Fury Road or Schwarzenegger's answer to Sean Connery in the 1974 John Boorman film Zardoz. These are decadal movies that everyone should watch at least once!

(Regarding the love for Requiem For a Dream expressed above, I don't get it. It seemed grotesquely heavy-handed and I would suggest the Australian film Samson and Delilah instead)

Well, that director is certainly not known for subtlety but I agree his style is better when he works in some comedy, fantasy, or satire elements.  Sometimes heavy-handed black comedy is exactly what I'm in the mood for (e.g., his movie Mother!).  I really enjoyed that one, though the party scene needed to be cut down by about 10 minutes. But man, I laughed out loud a whole bunch of times. 

[Roadrunner53]

Has anyone watched Kingdom (zombie) series on Netflix? It is a Korean series and just two seasons. I read that it is a hidden gem and has rave reviews. It is only 6 episodes per season, so 12 in all so far. I watched the trailer for season 1 and it looks action packed! It is more involved than just zombies running around. There is a story surrounding the reason people have turned into zombies. Like a disease.

There is another series called Kingdom on Netflix that someone told me was really good too.

[Michael in ABQ]

I just spent 24 hours in a plane and ended up watching 5 movies, I can only remember four of them so that doesn't speak to highly of the last one.

Motherless Brooklyn - A bit slow but I enjoyed it. I watched an interview with Edward Norton and he said this was basically the movie that he always wanted to make and had to call in every favor and will be stuck making whatever he can for the next few years to pay the bills.

Birds of Prey - Not very good, kind of a sequel to Suicide Squad

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - 4th or 5th time seeing it, probably the best of the new Trilogy.

John Carter - Not very good, I can see why it was a huge box office flop.

I'm now stuck in quarantine for two weeks so I'll be watching a bunch of movies I downloaded.

Logan Lucky - I never heard of this when it came out a couple of years ago but it was pretty good. Good cast, good story, and a nice twist at the end.

[lost_in_the_endless_aisle]

Watched "The Running Man" this weekend--the one where Arnold Schwarzenegger ends up in a 1980s version of The Hunger Games. It may perhaps be the most 1980s media artifact I have ever seen, starting with the font used for the opening titles and continuing with the enthusiastic use of neon spandex and a LOT of synthesizer. It was not good, but it was definitely fun. The cast was also surprisingly diverse for a movie from the 80s, although not even-handed in terms of gender.

This is actually an excellent movie and is clearly very ironic and satirical. My favorite part is the "Climbing for Dollars" commercial. You have to kind of love Arnold Schwarzenegger to enjoy, but then again, who doesn't? Brilliantly over-the-top; basically the 80s version of Mad Max: Fury Road or Schwarzenegger's answer to Sean Connery in the 1974 John Boorman film Zardoz. These are decadal movies that everyone should watch at least once!

(Regarding the love for Requiem For a Dream expressed above, I don't get it. It seemed grotesquely heavy-handed and I would suggest the Australian film Samson and Delilah instead)

Well, that director is certainly not known for subtlety but I agree his style is better when he works in some comedy, fantasy, or satire elements.  Sometimes heavy-handed black comedy is exactly what I'm in the mood for (e.g., his movie Mother!).  I really enjoyed that one, though the party scene needed to be cut down by about 10 minutes. But man, I laughed out loud a whole bunch of times.

Agreed--Mother! is a very fun movie and more suited to Aronofsky's style

[mspym]

Hmmmm Mother! started out interesting and then swiftly descended into nonsense that wasn't nearly as clever an allegory as the director thought it was in the second half of the film.

- Motherless Brooklyn good noir, liked the pacing. Baldwin is exceptional.
- Logan Lucky - much better than I expected it was going to be
- American Animals - proof than brains don't properly develop until your mid-20s
- Sorry to Bother You - good in the same super uncomfortable way that Okja was good.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Getting ready to start 'Videodrome'...  wish me luck!  I'm a sucker for 80's sci-fi...  I was too young to see this at the time.

[sui generis]

Watched Cloud Atlas finally, from about 8 years ago and....I think it was terrible?  It's surprising because with Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Susan Sarandon, etc you would think it would be at least ok, but I'm pretty sure it was bad.  It's hard for me to tell because I just finished reading the book and that definitely influenced my viewing in good (I understood what was happening) and bad (some of the choices on departing from the book were weird) ways.

But DH hadn't read the book and he was rather lost.  I don't see how someone with no background keeps up, or at least can enjoy the first 2/3 of it before they start to get a better feel for what's going on.

Also, the makeup was *hideous*.  The "white face" for Halle Berry and Bae Doona were awful.  The aging makeup was bad (I think, even if I allow for the intervening years) and the, I guess you'd call it, "asian face"(?) applied to some white actors (primarily trying to, I guess, remove the appearance of the eye-fold?).

Finally, having all the actors play multiple roles felt gimmicky and made me dislike it more.

[Kris]

Watched Cloud Atlas finally, from about 8 years ago and....I think it was terrible?  It's surprising because with Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Susan Sarandon, etc you would think it would be at least ok, but I'm pretty sure it was bad.  It's hard for me to tell because I just finished reading the book and that definitely influenced my viewing in good (I understood what was happening) and bad (some of the choices on departing from the book were weird) ways.

But DH hadn't read the book and he was rather lost.  I don't see how someone with no background keeps up, or at least can enjoy the first 2/3 of it before they start to get a better feel for what's going on.

Also, the makeup was *hideous*.  The "white face" for Halle Berry and Bae Doona were awful.  The aging makeup was bad (I think, even if I allow for the intervening years) and the, I guess you'd call it, "asian face"(?) applied to some white actors (primarily trying to, I guess, remove the appearance of the eye-fold?).

Finally, having all the actors play multiple roles felt gimmicky and made me dislike it more.

Interesting. I read Cloud Atlas, and when I heard there was a movie being made, my first thought was, "This is one of those books that cannot successfully be made into a movie." So I decided consciously not to see it. Sounds like I may have been correct.

[Warlord1986]

Just watched 'Old Guard' via Netflix--brand new movie starring Charlize Theron, who once again proves she plays the best kick-butt female characters.  Also has a slightly different twist on the idea of immortals among us;  a bit formulaic in spots, but overall loved the action and the characterization.  Definitely worth a watch!

I liked it as well, b/c it concentrated on characterization and relationships rather than action.  I sometimes wonder if I would generally like action/superhero movies a whole lot better if more women directed them.

That movie was so good. I returned to Tumblr just so I could squee over how awesome Charlize Theron is, how much I adore Joe and Nicky, and how Nile is the hero we both want and need.

Also, Luca Marinelli is my new boyfriend. I must protect my cinnamon roll.

[mspym]

Luca is a peach of a cinnamon roll. Charlie Theron just keeps getting hotter.

Continuing the queer movie theme, we just finished watching Portrait of a Lady on Fire and it is just excellent.

[Warlord1986]

Luca is a peach of a cinnamon roll. Charlie Theron just keeps getting hotter.

Continuing the queer movie theme, we just finished watching Portrait of a Lady on Fire and it is just excellent.

I'm unfortunately heterosexual, but Charlize Theron's picture is next to 'damn fine' in the dictionary.

[sparkytheop]

I just watched "The Cleanse", and I have no clue what I just watched.  It was weird.  Not bad, not great, just weird.

[WhiteTrashCash]

If anyone out there likes DC Comics characters, they have a few full-length feature animated movies at www.cwseed.com that you can watch for free. I watched "Constantine: City of Demons" and next up is "Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman".

[travelbug]

Loved the Old Guard. Charlise Theron is fantastic. 9/10

Bombshell. Better than I thought 7/10.

The Gentlemen. Hilarious. 9/10

[lazycow]

The Speed Cubers on Netflix. It is only 40 mins long. Doco not so much about solving the Rubiks cube, more about the friendship between the top 2 cubers in the world, one of whom has autism. Really lovely.

[mspym]

The Speed Cubers on Neflix. It is only 40 mins long. Doco not so much about solving the Rubiks cube, more about the friendship between the top 2 cubers in the world, one of whom has autism. Really lovely.

+1
It's really nice

[sui generis]

Finally saw Cinema Paradiso this weekend.  It's been at least a couple decades since I've been hearing about it, and had the impression it's a classic on the order of like Godfather or Citizen Kane, but in Italian.  Definitely enjoyed it and it was worthwhile, and the kid who plays the main character as a young boy has to be the most adorable child I've ever seen.

Spoiler: show

Although I liked the movie overall, I was pretty pissed at Alfredo.  It doesn't make it ok that Savatore and Elena's lives turned out well in the end.  Making choices for other people's lives like that is simply unethical.  I understand how S & E just had to accept it and move on once they learned of it.  As Michelle Obama said recently, "It is what it is." But, it sort of ruined the whole premise of the movie for me, which was largely about this really lovely relationship S & A had, only to find out at the end how unethically A acted in that respect.

[slackmax]

I unearthed some fun looking VHS tapes decluttering. 'In the Shadows' is the first one. Watching it now. Looks like a romance about poor white teenagers. The boy has a drinking problem. The girl leaves him and gets a job as a caretaker for a wealthy woman who has 6 months to live.  Entertaining so far. Looks like the 80's.

Next on the list is 'Sleepless in Seattle'. I've already seen it, but that was so long ago. It'll look new, since it's so old.

Amazing the VHS tapes are still in good shape. 

[Warlord1986]

I watched 'Ricordi' which is a pretentious Italian art film about two young adults, their terrible childhood memories, and their existential angst. But at least it starred Luca Marinelli and his pretty, pretty eyes.

Luca Marinelli is gonna get me through the last quarter of 2020.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Renewed my Disney Plus sub to watch Hamilton, and just watched 'Phineas and Ferb - Candace Against the Universe'.  A refreshing watch, going back to watching the show in years passed.  No, it did not change my life, but it was a whole lot of fun for the family.  "We don't need to impress strangers on the internet with the erudite niche movies we are watching", is what I think Candice would say. :)

[Roadrunner53]

I unearthed some fun looking VHS tapes decluttering. 'In the Shadows' is the first one. Watching it now. Looks like a romance about poor white teenagers. The boy has a drinking problem. The girl leaves him and gets a job as a caretaker for a wealthy woman who has 6 months to live.  Entertaining so far. Looks like the 80's.

Next on the list is 'Sleepless in Seattle'. I've already seen it, but that was so long ago. It'll look new, since it's so old.

Amazing the VHS tapes are still in good shape.

I guess I am an old fuddy duddy, but I really enjoyed renting movies back in the day! We would go to the video store and plan to just get a few movies and end up with an armful that we would never find time to watch all of them. It was fun to read the titles and select them to take home. Sometimes we would invite friends over to watch movies. It was a 'thing'! Like dinner and a movie. Now, it is really nice to have all the streaming services, but ho hum...just flip the remote...just not a 'thing' anymore. I have to admit, I do like not having to leave my house to go to the video store but it was fun to do in 'the olden days'!

[WhiteTrashCash]

Just saw "The New Mutants" a couple of days ago. It's a new wide release only playing in theaters right now which for most of the USA means drive-in theaters. It is the final film of Fox's "X-Men" series which was filmed right before Disney bought 20th Century Fox and folded the X-Men into their Marvel Cinematic Universe. I thought it was pretty good. It's basically a teen drama with horror and superhero elements. Basically, if you liked "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", you would like this movie. Nothing too fancy and not a huge spectacular like Marvel's "Infinity War". Just a quiet little drama about teens with superpowers. Kind of like a live-action young adult novel.

Like I said, it's only in theaters right now and I saw it at the drive-in, but it'll probably be out on-demand pretty soon with the way everything is right now.

[sui generis]

"A Simple Favor" - only watched it because I read the book and didn't like it, but heard the movie was better. And it was!  That feels really rare.  But the book was pretty bad.  The movie doesn't take itself as seriously, so it's easier to watch and sort of fun.  Not quite Knives Out level of fun, but not bad.

[mspym]

"A Simple Favor" - only watched it because I read the book and didn't like it, but heard the movie was better. And it was!  That feels really rare.  But the book was pretty bad.  The movie doesn't take itself as seriously, so it's easier to watch and sort of fun.  Not quite Knives Out level of fun, but not bad.

It's a fun movie!

Rebecca- what an odd movie, Mrs Danvers was the best part of it.

[Michael in ABQ]

The Next Three Days It's about 10 years old but a solid movie. Russel Crowe plans how to break his wife out of jail. Some nice twists. My wife and I watched it years ago but I decided to re-watch it and I'd forgotten most of it so it was nice.

Margin Call Also about 10 years old, it was ok. Kevin Spacey was one of the main actors. He's a good actor but I can't look at him the same way after the stuff that came out a couple years ago. 

[cliffhanger]

Has anyone seen Tenet yet?

The local theater has opened back up and this movie looks cool/wild enough to see soon.

[wenchsenior]

The Next Three Days It's about 10 years old but a solid movie. Russel Crowe plans how to break his wife out of jail. Some nice twists. My wife and I watched it years ago but I decided to re-watch it and I'd forgotten most of it so it was nice.

Margin Call Also about 10 years old, it was ok. Kevin Spacey was one of the main actors. He's a good actor but I can't look at him the same way after the stuff that came out a couple years ago.

I LOVE Margin Call.  Really glad I probably watched it 5 or 6 times before the news about Spacey came out.

[slackmax]

I unearthed some fun looking VHS tapes decluttering. 'In the Shadows' is the first one. Watching it now. Looks like a romance about poor white teenagers. The boy has a drinking problem. The girl leaves him and gets a job as a caretaker for a wealthy woman who has 6 months to live.  Entertaining so far. Looks like the 80's.

Next on the list is 'Sleepless in Seattle'. I've already seen it, but that was so long ago. It'll look new, since it's so old.

Amazing the VHS tapes are still in good shape.

Well, I finished watching the whole movie 'In the Shadows'. It was worth watching, for me, since I just wanted to watch a movie I hadn't seen before, on my VCR.

But I can't recommend the movie. The plot is disturbing. The teenage couple succeed in their plot to acquire the money from the dying woman. The woman actually finds out about it, and since she is now in love with the boyfriend, she let them get her money anyway! So sick. 

The final scene has the poor family of the girlfriend showing up with their suitcases and moving into the mansion, which will be their new home. I suppose that is a 'feel good' ending?  Not.

One redeeming thing, I guess, is that the boyfriend, to whom all the money was left, gives it away to his girlfriend, and he opens a one-man landscaping business (and maybe lives in the mansion too, ha ha).   We see him going off to work in the morning in his landscaping truck, with his name on the side.

[sui generis]

We watched The Bridge on the River Kwai. It was really quite bad. Honestly haven't seen anything that bad in a while. I guess... the cinematography was pretty good...

[mspym]

We recently watched Luce and it was excellent. Thoughtful, well acted, beautifully shot. Tackled race and expectations around race especially in cross-racial adoption in a way that just sat with me for several days afterwards.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Unknown Origins on Netflix.  While I'm waiting for The Boys on Prime, this was really satisfying!

[slackmax]

I unearthed some fun looking VHS tapes decluttering. 'In the Shadows' is the first one. Watching it now. Looks like a romance about poor white teenagers. The boy has a drinking problem. The girl leaves him and gets a job as a caretaker for a wealthy woman who has 6 months to live.  Entertaining so far. Looks like the 80's.

Next on the list is 'Sleepless in Seattle'. I've already seen it, but that was so long ago. It'll look new, since it's so old.

Amazing the VHS tapes are still in good shape.

OK, I went ahead and watched 'Sleepless in Seattle'.  I admit it is a dumb movie, but I liked it, maybe because the VHS tape was still so clear!

The last VHS I have is some Star Trek movie with Liam Neeson. I like Liam as an actor, so I'll give it a shot.

[OtherJen]

We watched Midsommar. Good lord, that was weird.

[BikeFanatic]

Just watched the movie Flower on Hulu zoey Deuch stars. I really liked it. Was billed as a comedy but not a comedy rather a thriller, I would say. A few plot twists. Best movie I have seen in a while.

[iris lily]

Haflander, if you want depressing and drab, try watching the movie: I Think We Are Alone Now.

The most depressing movie I've ever watched was Requiem For A Dream.  It's like being punched in the gut.  I don't want movies to make me feel that much.  :P

Pig Hag is pretty damn depressing, a film of self loathing.

[iris lily]

We watched Midsommar. Good lord, that was weird.

ha! I was in the right mood to watch it. Liked it, but yeah, Midsommer is weird!

[slackmax]

I'm 15 minutes into 'The Goldfinch', about a boy whose mother is killed in an explosion in an art museum. Interesting so far. And nothing annoying yet.

I just hope my dvd player still works next time I turn it on. It has been flaking out intermittently  lately. Or more likely the VCR it feeds into is flaking out, lol.   

[iris lily]

I'm 15 minutes into 'The Goldfinch', about a boy whose mother is killed in an explosion in an art museum. Interesting so far. And nothing annoying yet.

I just hope my dvd player still works next time I turn it on. It has been flaking out intermittently  lately. Or more likely the VCR it feeds into is flaking out, lol.

The Goldfinch was such a wonderful novel for me, I refuse to watch the film. Even tho  one of my friends said the film is really pretty good, I don’t know. The novel was epic.

[wenchsenior]

I'm 15 minutes into 'The Goldfinch', about a boy whose mother is killed in an explosion in an art museum. Interesting so far. And nothing annoying yet.

I just hope my dvd player still works next time I turn it on. It has been flaking out intermittently  lately. Or more likely the VCR it feeds into is flaking out, lol.

The Goldfinch was such a wonderful novel for me, I refuse to watch the film. Even tho  one of my friends said the film is really pretty good, I don’t know. The novel was epic.

The novel was really great, but I couldn't see how they could do a good adaptation at film length. And then reviews for the film were TERRIBLE.  Astonishingly terrible, given the source material. So that was a definite skip for me.  Too bad.

[Roadrunner53]

Watched on Netflix, Kingdom. It is a zombie plague movie set back in the 1500's Korea. Very good and there is a story behind the plague. There are two seasons, six episodes each. Goes very quickly. Can't wait for season 3. Hub who hates zombie movies really like the story!

[OtherJen]

We watched Midsommar. Good lord, that was weird.

ha! I was in the right mood to watch it. Liked it, but yeah, Midsommer is weird!

Oh yeah, we liked it too. The creepiness was amplified by the pretty summer setting.

[Wolfpack Mustachian]

I watched A Quiet Place for the first time last night. The premise can seem a little over the top, but I think it was well done and suspenseful.