What movies have you been watching?

[iris lily]

My wife are re-watching the Die Hard movies. Die Hard being one of the best Christmas movies of all time after all.

I hadn't watched Die Hard all the way through in years. Still good. We're in the middle of Die Hard 2 now. I think Die Hard 3 is probably my favorite though. The 4th one.... well, I think it goes without saying that rebooting franchises years later has never worked out well (i.e. the terrible Indiana Jones 4 movie - aliens, really?).

I don’t watch chase ‘em shoot ‘ em up movies. I don’t watch movies with explosions and bad guys killing each other. Those bore me. But here’s my Die Hard story: years and years ago I was out of town for a professional conference and I found myself at loose ends one evening. There was a movie theater down the block from where I stayed. It was showing one of the Die Hard  movies, maybe II? It was not a megaplex and that’s all it was showing. The one with the wonderful Jeremy Irons.

Well, damn if that wasn’t enjoyable! And I had kind of turned into Bruce Willis anyway and was a Bruce Willis fan from a couple of his films from about that time.

[GuitarStv]

And I had kind of turned into Bruce Willis anyway

This must have been an adjustment for your husband.

[DaMa]

Watched The Invisible Man starring Elisabeth Moss on HBO Max last night.  The suspense was excellent.

[Michael in ABQ]

My wife are re-watching the Die Hard movies. Die Hard being one of the best Christmas movies of all time after all.

I hadn't watched Die Hard all the way through in years. Still good. We're in the middle of Die Hard 2 now. I think Die Hard 3 is probably my favorite though. The 4th one.... well, I think it goes without saying that rebooting franchises years later has never worked out well (i.e. the terrible Indiana Jones 4 movie - aliens, really?).

I don’t watch chase ‘em shoot ‘ em up movies. I don’t watch movies with explosions and bad guys killing each other. Those bore me. But here’s my Die Hard story: years and years ago I was out of town for a professional conference and I found myself at loose ends one evening. There was a movie theater down the block from where I stayed. It was showing one of the Die Hard  movies, maybe II? It was not a megaplex and that’s all it was showing. The one with the wonderful Jeremy Irons.

Well, damn if that wasn’t enjoyable! And I had kind of turned into Bruce Willis anyway and was a Bruce Willis fan from a couple of his films from about that time.

That would be Die Hard III - Die Hard with a Vengeance. That's probably my favorite one. It has Samuel L. Jackson as well.

We had a DVD of the 4th one that I got for free at one point but I couldn't find it. I think we gave it to Goodwill last year. Scrolling through Amazon after finishing Idiocracy (only $4.99 to buy) last night and I saw that Die Hard 4 was on Amazon Prime so we started watching it. Out of the various reboots of older franchises (Indiana Jones, Star Trek, etc.) it's probably one of the best (not that reboots set a very high bar).

[wenchsenior]

My wife are re-watching the Die Hard movies. Die Hard being one of the best Christmas movies of all time after all.

I hadn't watched Die Hard all the way through in years. Still good. We're in the middle of Die Hard 2 now. I think Die Hard 3 is probably my favorite though. The 4th one.... well, I think it goes without saying that rebooting franchises years later has never worked out well (i.e. the terrible Indiana Jones 4 movie - aliens, really?).

I don’t watch chase ‘em shoot ‘ em up movies. I don’t watch movies with explosions and bad guys killing each other. Those bore me. But here’s my Die Hard story: years and years ago I was out of town for a professional conference and I found myself at loose ends one evening. There was a movie theater down the block from where I stayed. It was showing one of the Die Hard  movies, maybe II? It was not a megaplex and that’s all it was showing. The one with the wonderful Jeremy Irons.

Well, damn if that wasn’t enjoyable! And I had kind of turned into Bruce Willis anyway and was a Bruce Willis fan from a couple of his films from about that time.

That would be Die Hard III - Die Hard with a Vengeance. That's probably my favorite one. It has Samuel L. Jackson as well.

We had a DVD of the 4th one that I got for free at one point but I couldn't find it. I think we gave it to Goodwill last year. Scrolling through Amazon after finishing Idiocracy (only $4.99 to buy) last night and I saw that Die Hard 4 was on Amazon Prime so we started watching it. Out of the various reboots of older franchises (Indiana Jones, Star Trek, etc.) it's probably one of the best (not that reboots set a very high bar).

That's the only Die Hard movie I've seen more than once, and it's mostly due to Jeremy Irons being so cool. And hot.

[iris lily]

And I had kind of turned into Bruce Willis anyway

This must have been an adjustment for your husband.

Haha! “Tuned” into Bruce Willis That’s what I meant to say. But my husband likes Brucie alot so who knows…

[chaskavitch]

That's the only Die Hard movie I've seen more than once, and it's mostly due to Jeremy Irons being so cool. And hot.

Seriously. The song he sings in the Lion King is the only reason I can get through listening to the soundtrack like a MILLION TIMES with my 4 year old.

I'll watch almost any terrible movie if he's in it.

[wenchsenior]

That's the only Die Hard movie I've seen more than once, and it's mostly due to Jeremy Irons being so cool. And hot.

Seriously. The song he sings in the Lion King is the only reason I can get through listening to the soundtrack like a MILLION TIMES with my 4 year old.

I'll watch almost any terrible movie if he's in it.

I laughed so much a few years ago. My youngest sister and I, who don't always share viewing tastes, were trying out watching The Borgias. She's approximately 35 years younger than Irons, but there was a scene with him and the character of his mistress, and she put her face down in her hands and muttered rather hopelessly, "THAT. SEXY. BASTARD." as if it was against her better judgement but she was powerless to resist.

[chaskavitch]

That's the only Die Hard movie I've seen more than once, and it's mostly due to Jeremy Irons being so cool. And hot.

Seriously. The song he sings in the Lion King is the only reason I can get through listening to the soundtrack like a MILLION TIMES with my 4 year old.

I'll watch almost any terrible movie if he's in it.

I laughed so much a few years ago. My youngest sister and I, who don't always share viewing tastes, were trying out watching The Borgias. She's approximately 35 years younger than Irons, but there was a scene with him and the character of his mistress, and she put her face down in her hands and muttered rather hopelessly, "THAT. SEXY. BASTARD." as if it was against her better judgement but she was powerless to resist.

Haha, that's hilarious (and absolutely correct).  I haven't watched that show, but it HAS to be better than the Borgia series with Sam Neil as the head of the family. 

He's ages older than me.  Now that I look it up, he's 37 years older, and just a few months younger than my dad o_0

[Metalcat]

TIL women find Jeremy Irons sexy.

I did not see that coming.

[Kris]

TIL women find Jeremy Irons sexy.

I did not see that coming.

Me neither.

I find him repulsive to the point of having difficulty watching a movie with him in it.

[Metalcat]

TIL women find Jeremy Irons sexy.

I did not see that coming.

Me neither.

I find him repulsive to the point of having difficulty watching a movie with him in it.

He's so good at being repulsive. I too sometimes have a hard time watching him because I can't extricate him from the pedophile in Lolita.

[Kris]

TIL women find Jeremy Irons sexy.

I did not see that coming.

Me neither.

I find him repulsive to the point of having difficulty watching a movie with him in it.

He's so good at being repulsive. I too sometimes have a hard time watching him because I can't extricate him from the pedophile in Lolita.

Exactly. He’s a good actor, for sure. But repulsive as hell. And not just for that role. I am permanently scarred by Damage.

[wenchsenior]

TIL women find Jeremy Irons sexy.

I did not see that coming.

Me neither.

I find him repulsive to the point of having difficulty watching a movie with him in it.

He's so good at being repulsive. I too sometimes have a hard time watching him because I can't extricate him from the pedophile in Lolita.

Exactly. He’s a good actor, for sure. But repulsive as hell. And not just for that role. I am permanently scarred by Damage.

Heh; yeah I can definitely see that.  He does tend to take roles where he's weird or repulsive, for sure; he's also got a very strong and particular kind of charisma, which I could totally see being very off-putting if it isn't your cuppa.  But I remember years ago participating in a "gossip about movies/tv" website and he used to come up very regularly on the 'sexiness' thread over the ~15 years that site was active...so he definitely has broad appeal. He's an actor that I mostly love to watch b/c of his charisma and skill (e.g., Margin Call), and then that occasionally tips over into sexiness for me. 

ETA...this brings up a particular mystery of revulsion when it comes to certain performers who can be pretty widely agreed to have charisma and have a big following that agrees on their sexiness. It's so weird how that happens sometimes.  Like I have serious difficulty watching Michelle Williams, Gina Gershon, Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro, and several others. They kind of gross me out in a very basic way. No idea WHY, there's nothing objectively wrong with them and I'm sure they are very nice people (and certainly competent actors).  My mother is that way about Neve Campbell, David Boreanaz, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Tom Cruise (dating to the 80s, not b/c of the recent crazy), Tom Hardy, and a whole bunch of others that slip my mind (she can be challenging to watch movies with LOL).  My husband gets very twitchy trying to watch Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Jessica Chastain, Billy Bob Thorton, and a few others.

Note: this isn't the same as not liking a performer b/c they have tics or whatever that are irritating to you (hello Naomi Watts and pretty much all of last decade Meryl Streep who I used to love).  This is more visceral than that.

It's almost like, in certain contexts, charisma repels just as strongly as it can hypothetically attract.  Weird.

[iris lily]

TIL women find Jeremy Irons sexy.

I did not see that coming.

Me neither.

I find him repulsive to the point of having difficulty watching a movie with him in it.

He's so good at being repulsive. I too sometimes have a hard time watching him because I can't extricate him from the pedophile in Lolita.

Exactly. He’s a good actor, for sure. But repulsive as hell. And not just for that role. I am permanently scarred by Damage.

Damage was...a film for sure.

If you didnt see him as the sad and delusional lover in Butterfly, you missed one of his better roles.

[Kris]

TIL women find Jeremy Irons sexy.

I did not see that coming.

Me neither.

I find him repulsive to the point of having difficulty watching a movie with him in it.

He's so good at being repulsive. I too sometimes have a hard time watching him because I can't extricate him from the pedophile in Lolita.

Exactly. He’s a good actor, for sure. But repulsive as hell. And not just for that role. I am permanently scarred by Damage.

Damage was...a film for sure.

If you didnt see him as the sad and delusional lover in butterfly, you missed one of his better roles.

I have seen that. It was nauseating.

Which, again, is a testament to his acting. I just am unable to see him as sexy, for that reason.

[iris lily]

That's the only Die Hard movie I've seen more than once, and it's mostly due to Jeremy Irons being so cool. And hot.

Seriously. The song he sings in the Lion King is the only reason I can get through listening to the soundtrack like a MILLION TIMES with my 4 year old.

I'll watch almost any terrible movie if he's in it.

I laughed so much a few years ago. My youngest sister and I, who don't always share viewing tastes, were trying out watching The Borgias. She's approximately 35 years younger than Irons, but there was a scene with him and the character of his mistress, and she put her face down in her hands and muttered rather hopelessly, "THAT. SEXY. BASTARD." as if it was against her better judgement but she was powerless to resist.

Haha, that's hilarious (and absolutely correct).  I haven't watched that show, but it HAS to be better than the Borgia series with Sam Neil as the head of the family. 

He's ages older than me.  Now that I look it up, he's 37 years older, and just a few months younger than my dad o_0

I only watched some episodes of The Borgias due to the presence of Jeremy Irons  but even he can’t save the poorly written script. Was years ago I watched it but I do remember the costumes were pretty and some of the sets were  pretty.

Jeremy Irons was the only great thing in either of the filmed versions of Lolita. He was sophisticated and European, like the book’s character . They never got the nymphet role right, the g irls were too old. HH liked his nymphets 11-12 years in age.

For those who don’t like him you could add to your list of reasons why: he made his Irish neighbors angry by painting his castle pink.

[Warlord1986]

The Borgias was awesome, and it introduced me to Sean Harris. He's my muse, and I named my beloved kitty-sweetums Micheletto after the assassin.

I watched 'Waves' with Luca Marinelli. He is pretty. The movie was a movie.

[sui generis]

Logan Lucky.  Fun heist movie (even though the plot holes are still nagging at me the next morning).

[By the River]

Watched "Mud" over the weekend on netflix.  Good movie overall and the role that Matthew McConaughey was meant to play.  Good kid actors as well. 

Beautiful scenery (look at my username if you think otherwise.)

[sparkytheop]

Finally watched The Hurt Locker last night.  Good movie that I had avoided because I thought the title was dumb (I had no clue what the movie was about until I saw it recommended on Hulu).

[Metalcat]

Watched "Mud" over the weekend on netflix.  Good movie overall and the role that Matthew McConaughey was meant to play.  Good kid actors as well. 

Beautiful scenery (look at my username if you think otherwise.)

It's so slooow though. I can't do these slow movies, which are so popular and lauded these days. I feel like I'm on a sedative when I watch them.

I love me a serious, contemplative, heavy movie, but this trend of movies just being reeeaaaaaallllllly slow is unbearable for my overactive brain. I want to speed them up to 1.5 speed like I do with recorded university lectures so I won't get distracted.

[Luke Warm]

we watched 'ma rainey's black bottom' on netflix last night. it was good all the way around.

[sui generis]

Not sure why I'm even posting this, because I'd be surprised if anyone has seen it and I'm certainly not recommending it.  But, we watched Gerry, a film starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck.  They get lost in "Death Valley" while hiking and have to try to survive.  Them wandering aimlessly (in a surprising diversity of desert scenery that you could not actually hike through in the course of just a few hours anywhere on the planet) comprises most of the movie.

It reminded me so much of a story I read in, I think, Outside Magazine, when I was really young.  Two best friends road tripping, stop for a short hike, get lost for days, one bloodily stabs and buries the other "out of mercy" but then survives and it turns out they weren't even that dehydrated.  The movie was different but made me want to look up the story again.  The survivor served about a year and a half after he pleaded to second degree murder.  He's now an apparently successful insurance broker. Life's weird, I guess.

Back to the movie - it is one of a trio of movies about death that famous(?) director Gus Van Sant made, all based on real events (so I was right to be reminded of that story it turned out).  The other two are about Columbine and Kurt Cobain's suicide.  I think I'll skip the others. 

[sparkytheop]

Not sure why I'm even posting this, because I'd be surprised if anyone has seen it and I'm certainly not recommending it.  But, we watched Gerry, a film starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck.  They get lost in "Death Valley" while hiking and have to try to survive.  Them wandering aimlessly (in a surprising diversity of desert scenery that you could not actually hike through in the course of just a few hours anywhere on the planet) comprises most of the movie.

It reminded me so much of a story I read in, I think, Outside Magazine, when I was really young.  Two best friends road tripping, stop for a short hike, get lost for days, one bloodily stabs and buries the other "out of mercy" but then survives and it turns out they weren't even that dehydrated.  The movie was different but made me want to look up the story again.  The survivor served about a year and a half after he pleaded to second degree murder.  He's now an apparently successful insurance broker. Life's weird, I guess.

Back to the movie - it is one of a trio of movies about death that famous(?) director Gus Van Sant made, all based on real events (so I was right to be reminded of that story it turned out).  The other two are about Columbine and Kurt Cobain's suicide.  I think I'll skip the others.

I've seen it... It came in a set of DVDs I bought several years ago (can't remember what the overall theme was, but it was one of the better movies in the mix).  I "watched" it while doing something else, probably quilting, and remember the ending and that I don't think there was much dialog through the movie.  The ending reminded me of something I'd see with Stephen King, and there may have been a Twilight Zone episode with a similar story.

[wenchsenior]

Watched "Mud" over the weekend on netflix.  Good movie overall and the role that Matthew McConaughey was meant to play.  Good kid actors as well. 

Beautiful scenery (look at my username if you think otherwise.)

DH and I really liked Mud, too.

[Psychstache]

Not sure why I'm even posting this, because I'd be surprised if anyone has seen it and I'm certainly not recommending it.  But, we watched Gerry, a film starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck.  They get lost in "Death Valley" while hiking and have to try to survive.  Them wandering aimlessly (in a surprising diversity of desert scenery that you could not actually hike through in the course of just a few hours anywhere on the planet) comprises most of the movie.

This 'film' stole a part of my life and my soul that I will never get back.

[lost_in_the_endless_aisle]

Not sure why I'm even posting this, because I'd be surprised if anyone has seen it and I'm certainly not recommending it.  But, we watched Gerry, a film starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck.  They get lost in "Death Valley" while hiking and have to try to survive.  Them wandering aimlessly (in a surprising diversity of desert scenery that you could not actually hike through in the course of just a few hours anywhere on the planet) comprises most of the movie.

It reminded me so much of a story I read in, I think, Outside Magazine, when I was really young.  Two best friends road tripping, stop for a short hike, get lost for days, one bloodily stabs and buries the other "out of mercy" but then survives and it turns out they weren't even that dehydrated.  The movie was different but made me want to look up the story again.  The survivor served about a year and a half after he pleaded to second degree murder.  He's now an apparently successful insurance broker. Life's weird, I guess.

Back to the movie - it is one of a trio of movies about death that famous(?) director Gus Van Sant made, all based on real events (so I was right to be reminded of that story it turned out).  The other two are about Columbine and Kurt Cobain's suicide.  I think I'll skip the others.

Yes, Gerry is one of my favorite Gus van Sant movies -- scout-about, rock-marooned, shirt-basket, dirt-mattress, turbaned-up, etc. Good stuff. It is based on a true store--see this. I've read the book based on the incident and it's as inexplicable as what happened in the movie. Elephant is decent (Columbine) but haven't seen the other.

[Metalcat]

I'm watching "John Dies at The End" and it's fucking fantastic.

I mean, I doubt anyone would enjoy it had they not read the web series, and I'm not sure most people would enjoy the web series, but I thought it was brilliant back in the day, and the movie captures that batshit fuckery tone quite brilliantly, although it leaves out, like, all of the philosophical allegory, so it's *just* a movie about batshit fuckery.

It would be kind of like making a movie of Infinite Jest, but making it mostly about tennis.

Still delightful though. Well, as delightful as an extremely violent movie based on a web series about the profound darkness of humanity can be...but yeah, delightful.

[LaineyAZ]

A suggestion:
Could posters add a sentence or two in this topic regarding movie comparisons, e.g., "if you liked ABC movie, you'd probably like this one."
Asking because I know no one wants to recommend movies without giving a description, but the description may also give away some of the plot.
To avoid that, we could give a brief description and then list some other movies it compares to? 

This would certainly help me a lot because although I'm not a huge movie buff, I'd consider myself an average movie fan.  I appreciate this thread because of the ideas it generates to try different movies, but I'm having a hard time deciding to actually try them based on the posted description.
Make sense? 

[Metalcat]

A suggestion:
Could posters add a sentence or two in this topic regarding movie comparisons, e.g., "if you liked ABC movie, you'd probably like this one."
Asking because I know no one wants to recommend movies without giving a description, but the description may also give away some of the plot.
To avoid that, we could give a brief description and then list some other movies it compares to? 

This would certainly help me a lot because although I'm not a huge movie buff, I'd consider myself an average movie fan.  I appreciate this thread because of the ideas it generates to try different movies, but I'm having a hard time deciding to actually try them based on the posted description.
Make sense?

Not to be rude, but I'm not going to do this.

I put a fair amount of description and personal take on the movies I talk about here. I can't easily presume what people will like or what they won't or whether a movie is adequately similar enough to a another movie to make it a fair comparison.

For example, I was just coming here to recommend Togo, which is a Disney movie, but possibly also one of the most stressful movies I've ever seen in my life, lol.

I don't know if this movie was so intense for me because I used to run dog sleds and a friend just died falling through river ice to save her dog, or if it would make most people feel like they were going to throw up half the time, but it was very intense...in a good way.

It's a true story about a fucking batshit run for medicine in a remote Alaskan town by a dog sled team lead by Togo, a dog named as the most heroic animal of all time.

There's a river ice scene that will stay with me for a long, long time. Again, in a good way.

The following is for anyone who needs to know in advance if the dog dies. Some people can't watch "Old Yeller" movies.

Spoiler: show

He doesn't, DH needed to know that before agreeing to watch the damn movie.

The movie was incredibly sweet, pants-shittingly stressful, and the dogs are all gorgeous. If you like dogs, Willem Dafoe, stunning and terrifying arctic scenery, and bravery, this is the movie for you.

I can't compare it to anything else as I've never seen anything else like it. I *highly* recommend it if you're in the mood to feel.

[chaskavitch]

For example, I was just coming here to recommend Togo, which is a Disney movie, but possibly also one of the most stressful movies I've ever seen in my life, lol.

I don't know if this movie was so intense for me because I used to run dog sleds and a friend just died falling through river ice to save her dog, or if it would make most people feel like they were going to throw up half the time, but it was very intense...in a good way.

It's a true story about a fucking batshit run for medicine in a remote Alaskan town by a dog sled team lead by Togo, a dog named as the most heroic animal of all time.

The movie was incredibly sweet, pants-shittingly stressful, and the dogs are all gorgeous. If you like dogs, Willem Dafoe, stunning and terrifying arctic scenery, and bravery, this is the movie for you.

I can't compare it to anything else as I've never seen anything else like it. I *highly* recommend it if you're in the mood to feel.

Ooh, the story of everything before Balto in the diphtheria run.  Now I'm very interested in the fact that you used to run dog sleds, though. 

I just watched A Scanner Darkly for the first time, and I'm mostly just confused about what was real and what was not.  I should probably read the book now to see if I can get any clarity. 

[Metalcat]

For example, I was just coming here to recommend Togo, which is a Disney movie, but possibly also one of the most stressful movies I've ever seen in my life, lol.

I don't know if this movie was so intense for me because I used to run dog sleds and a friend just died falling through river ice to save her dog, or if it would make most people feel like they were going to throw up half the time, but it was very intense...in a good way.

It's a true story about a fucking batshit run for medicine in a remote Alaskan town by a dog sled team lead by Togo, a dog named as the most heroic animal of all time.

The movie was incredibly sweet, pants-shittingly stressful, and the dogs are all gorgeous. If you like dogs, Willem Dafoe, stunning and terrifying arctic scenery, and bravery, this is the movie for you.

I can't compare it to anything else as I've never seen anything else like it. I *highly* recommend it if you're in the mood to feel.

Ooh, the story of everything before Balto in the diphtheria run.  Now I'm very interested in the fact that you used to run dog sleds, though. 

I just watched A Scanner Darkly for the first time, and I'm mostly just confused about what was real and what was not.  I should probably read the book now to see if I can get any clarity.

I hated A Scanner Darkly for some reason. Sometimes I like weird shit, sometimes I hate it. That's why I can't compare movies very well. I'm fickle.

Yes, I used to run dog sleds, there's surprisingly little to the story though. It was a part time job taking tourists on runs, which is what most dog sledders do these days.

It definitely made the movie more palpable though. I could *feel* it.

[chaskavitch]

For example, I was just coming here to recommend Togo, which is a Disney movie, but possibly also one of the most stressful movies I've ever seen in my life, lol.

I don't know if this movie was so intense for me because I used to run dog sleds and a friend just died falling through river ice to save her dog, or if it would make most people feel like they were going to throw up half the time, but it was very intense...in a good way.

It's a true story about a fucking batshit run for medicine in a remote Alaskan town by a dog sled team lead by Togo, a dog named as the most heroic animal of all time.

The movie was incredibly sweet, pants-shittingly stressful, and the dogs are all gorgeous. If you like dogs, Willem Dafoe, stunning and terrifying arctic scenery, and bravery, this is the movie for you.

I can't compare it to anything else as I've never seen anything else like it. I *highly* recommend it if you're in the mood to feel.

Ooh, the story of everything before Balto in the diphtheria run.  Now I'm very interested in the fact that you used to run dog sleds, though. 

I just watched A Scanner Darkly for the first time, and I'm mostly just confused about what was real and what was not.  I should probably read the book now to see if I can get any clarity.

I hated A Scanner Darkly for some reason. Sometimes I like weird shit, sometimes I hate it. That's why I can't compare movies very well. I'm fickle.

Yes, I used to run dog sleds, there's surprisingly little to the story though. It was a part time job taking tourists on runs, which is what most dog sledders do these days.

It definitely made the movie more palpable though. I could *feel* it.

I definitely wouldn't say I *liked* A Scanner Darkly.  It was weird.  I can appreciate why Philip K. Dick wrote the book after reading his dedication, but like I said, mostly I'm just confused.

I lived just outside of Wasilla, AK when I was little and we used to ride our fourwheeler out to watch the Iditarod go by after it left Anchorage.  I remember enjoying it, and I think I might have a dog bootie that someone lost on the way, but that's the extent of my dog sledding experience.  I didn't know anyone took tourists out, that sounds like it would be fun (as a tourist, at least).

[slackmax]

'The Invisible Man' with Elizabeth Moss. I liked it. But I'm a fan of Moss. Plot is not the same as the Ray Bradbury plot, but it IS about a man who can make himself invisible by wearing a special suit he has invented, so yes, there is an invisible man it the movie. And, spoiler alert, an invisible woman. 

[Metalcat]

^I would probably put that in a spoiler box

[wenchsenior]

For example, I was just coming here to recommend Togo, which is a Disney movie, but possibly also one of the most stressful movies I've ever seen in my life, lol.

I don't know if this movie was so intense for me because I used to run dog sleds and a friend just died falling through river ice to save her dog, or if it would make most people feel like they were going to throw up half the time, but it was very intense...in a good way.

It's a true story about a fucking batshit run for medicine in a remote Alaskan town by a dog sled team lead by Togo, a dog named as the most heroic animal of all time.

The movie was incredibly sweet, pants-shittingly stressful, and the dogs are all gorgeous. If you like dogs, Willem Dafoe, stunning and terrifying arctic scenery, and bravery, this is the movie for you.

I can't compare it to anything else as I've never seen anything else like it. I *highly* recommend it if you're in the mood to feel.

Ooh, the story of everything before Balto in the diphtheria run.  Now I'm very interested in the fact that you used to run dog sleds, though. 

You guys really need to read this book, if you haven't already. Amazing.

https://www.amazon.com/Cruelest-Miles-Heroic-Against-Epidemic/dp/0393325709

[sui generis]

W.E..  I learned after watching it that this movie was widely panned.  I'm glad I didn't read those reviews before watching the film.  Both DH and I thought it was interesting and not a waste of 2 hours.  I think it was widely panned because Madonna wrote and directed it and everyone just piled on.  Many admitted it was aesthetically lovely (which it was) and critiqued the dialogue and especially the modern (fictional) storyline.  But I enjoyed it overall, particularly the historical (semi-fiction) storyline about Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII and his eventual abdication.  The movie treated a lot as though viewers had some level of knowledge about the events of the time, so it sent us looking stuff up after watching to learn more, which I always find fun.

Two interesting themes it explores:

Spoiler: show

At the end, Wallis' (fictional) private letters disclose how she feels trapped because David gave up the throne for her and that it's a bit depressing to have to just be with him forever now. Can you imagine the pressure of a person having just given up a kingdom and an empire for YOU, all the while, his family will no longer speak with him and "society" hates you now, so you can't even do all the fun things you used to do together?

And then second, not really "explored" so much as mentioned a couple times in passing is whether or not they were Nazi sympathizers.  The movie makes them seem pretty innocent, but post-watching research makes it seem much less-so, which is disappointing.

[Psychstache]

Our weekend watching included one new and one rewatch.

The new was One Night in Maimi... on Amazon Prime. I thought it was fun and explored the themes of the civil rights movement and racial strife in interesting ways. The Ali and Malcolm X characters were great, and I could listen to Leslie Odom Jr. sing anything and enjoy it.

The rewatch was Catch Me If You Can, which I hadn't seen in almost 20 years. DiCaprio and Hanks kill it of course. I'm not usually a big fan of movies that lean heavily on a father/surrogate father kind of theme, but this one works and it works well.

[Noodle]

W.E..  I learned after watching it that this movie was widely panned.  I'm glad I didn't read those reviews before watching the film.  Both DH and I thought it was interesting and not a waste of 2 hours.  I think it was widely panned because Madonna wrote and directed it and everyone just piled on.  Many admitted it was aesthetically lovely (which it was) and critiqued the dialogue and especially the modern (fictional) storyline.  But I enjoyed it overall, particularly the historical (semi-fiction) storyline about Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII and his eventual abdication.  The movie treated a lot as though viewers had some level of knowledge about the events of the time, so it sent us looking stuff up after watching to learn more, which I always find fun.

Two interesting themes it explores:

Spoiler: show

At the end, Wallis' (fictional) private letters disclose how she feels trapped because David gave up the throne for her and that it's a bit depressing to have to just be with him forever now. Can you imagine the pressure of a person having just given up a kingdom and an empire for YOU, all the while, his family will no longer speak with him and "society" hates you now, so you can't even do all the fun things you used to do together?

And then second, not really "explored" so much as mentioned a couple times in passing is whether or not they were Nazi sympathizers.  The movie makes them seem pretty innocent, but post-watching research makes it seem much less-so, which is disappointing.

I saw it this summer and enjoyed it--while not without its flaws, I did not think it deserved the hate it got, and I thought it was a really interesting idea for it to be directed by one of the few women in the world who has experienced a level of fame (and public criticism) similar to the Duchess of Windsor. It was especially interesting to watch in conjunction with "The Crown" to see both sides of the story--why Edward did it, and why the royal family was so angry with him about it.

[iris lily]

Not sure why I'm even posting this, because I'd be surprised if anyone has seen it and I'm certainly not recommending it.  But, we watched Gerry, a film starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck.  They get lost in "Death Valley" while hiking and have to try to survive.  Them wandering aimlessly (in a surprising diversity of desert scenery that you could not actually hike through in the course of just a few hours anywhere on the planet) comprises most of the movie.

It reminded me so much of a story I read in, I think, Outside Magazine, when I was really young.  Two best friends road tripping, stop for a short hike, get lost for days, one bloodily stabs and buries the other "out of mercy" but then survives and it turns out they weren't even that dehydrated.  The movie was different but made me want to look up the story again.  The survivor served about a year and a half after he pleaded to second degree murder.  He's now an apparently successful insurance broker. Life's weird, I guess.

Back to the movie - it is one of a trio of movies about death that famous(?) director Gus Van Sant made, all based on real events (so I was right to be reminded of that story it turned out).  The other two are about Columbine and Kurt Cobain's suicide.  I think I'll skip the others.

Van Sant’s Columbine film was pretty interesting. casey affleck usually chooses interesting roles, so i may watch this some day.

[sherr]

I just watched A Scanner Darkly for the first time, and I'm mostly just confused about what was real and what was not.  I should probably read the book now to see if I can get any clarity.

I have not seen A Scanner Darkly but I have read the book, and in the book:

Spoiler: show

The main character's mental state slowly degrades over the course of the story as Substance D turns him more and more into a paranoid schizophrenic. Arctor is an untrustworthy narrator, and many of the scenes that you see from his perspective are not actually real, but a result of his delusions. Increasing in frequency as the book goes on.

Eventually at the end of the book he has completely lost it, and is consigned to the mental institution. Which turns out to be a front for the organization that is manufacturing the drug, and they put him in the field with the other far-gone people to work as a laborer. He is different from the other addicts though in that - over the course of his career as a narc - he has been programmed to recognize the flower as the source of the drug. In fact, you find out that the cops have been intentionally steering him in this destructive direction all along; he is the perfect mole, one that doesn't even know he is one.

Some remaining strand of his scrambled brain recognizes the flower, and he puts it in his shoe to show to his "friends" (undercover cops), presumably starting a course of events where the cops actually have enough evidence to get a warrant and eventually prosecute the New-Path.

[slackmax]

Got about half way through 'Get Him to the Greek', a movie about an aging rock star  and the relationships that go on around him.
 
Just too formulaic, uninteresting, shallow, predictable. I guess I have become a snob, ha ha.

[uniwelder]

I just watched A Scanner Darkly for the first time, and I'm mostly just confused about what was real and what was not.  I should probably read the book now to see if I can get any clarity.

I have not seen A Scanner Darkly but I have read the book, and in the book:

Spoiler: show

The main character's mental state slowly degrades over the course of the story as Substance D turns him more and more into a paranoid schizophrenic. Arctor is an untrustworthy narrator, and many of the scenes that you see from his perspective are not actually real, but a result of his delusions. Increasing in frequency as the book goes on.

Eventually at the end of the book he has completely lost it, and is consigned to the mental institution. Which turns out to be a front for the organization that is manufacturing the drug, and they put him in the field with the other far-gone people to work as a laborer. He is different from the other addicts though in that - over the course of his career as a narc - he has been programmed to recognize the flower as the source of the drug. In fact, you find out that the cops have been intentionally steering him in this destructive direction all along; he is the perfect mole, one that doesn't even know he is one.

Some remaining strand of his scrambled brain recognizes the flower, and he puts it in his shoe to show to his "friends" (undercover cops), presumably starting a course of events where the cops actually have enough evidence to get a warrant and eventually prosecute the New-Path.

Its been a few years since watching A Scanner Darkly, but I enjoyed it and remembered it as you described here.  I tried getting a friend to watch it once, who had a crush on Keanu Reaves and swore to love all films featuring him, but couldn't get past the digitized animation and had to turn it off 2 minutes in.

[slackmax]

Just finished 'Sometimes Always Never'. Starring Bill Nighy.  English movie about English folks. I liked it.  Not Nighy's best role, somewhat miscast, possibly, but enjoyable. Interesting interpersonal situations. 

[Samuel]

Rewatched Chef on Netflix (Jon Favreau). Hadn't seen it since it came out in 2014. Still a very enjoyable movie. Not amazing, but clever and fun and very travel and food porny, which I especially enjoy.

It made me a little sad and nostalgic, though. The contrast between pre and post COVID life struck me harder than any other movie/tv show has during this whole ordeal (and I've watched a lot of movies/TV in the last 10 months). It's all bustling bars and restaurants, road trips to fun cities, live music... basically people having fun together and, you know, living life. I know we'll get back to that eventually but ouch, the contrast to my especially dreary last few months was somehow both discouraging and encouraging.

[Prairie Gal]

Watched A River Runs Through It recently, and liked it very much. It features a young Brad Pitt, as an added bonus.

[haflander]

Someone got me Disney+ for Xmas, because I'm a Star Wars fan. I'm a movie snob and don't like the typical comic book blockbusters; I've never seen one Marvel movie. Anyway, I decided I would give them a try. I watched Captain America, and it just reinforced my disdain for these kinds of movies. I've already fallen asleep while watching it twice...maybe I should try a time other than right before bed.

I much prefer movies that require you to think, or provoke emotions in one way or another. The formulaic nature of these superhero movies is such a bore.

I could definitely see Disney+ being worth it for parents. Hard to put a price on peace and quiet if you have little ones. There's a lot of National Geographic content too for animal and nature lovers.

I have to admit that I love the Mandalorian, and of course Baby Yoda. Everything about that series is great, and I hear the series' success is encouraging Disney to develop several other similar Star Wars series.

[Dicey]

It's been mentioned before, and technically it's a series, not a movie, but I stayed up until 2:30 last night watching the first episodes of Last Tango in Halifax. can't wait to watch more. So glad there is more.

[OtherJen]

Our weekend watching included one new and one rewatch.

The new was One Night in Maimi... on Amazon Prime. I thought it was fun and explored the themes of the civil rights movement and racial strife in interesting ways. The Ali and Malcolm X characters were great, and I could listen to Leslie Odom Jr. sing anything and enjoy it.

The rewatch was Catch Me If You Can, which I hadn't seen in almost 20 years. DiCaprio and Hanks kill it of course. I'm not usually a big fan of movies that lean heavily on a father/surrogate father kind of theme, but this one works and it works well.

Ooh, good to know that One Night in Miami is worth watching. It's on my list.

We watched the MLK/FBI documentary the other night. It was generally well done but disturbing in terms of both the events of the film and how in some aspects of racial politics, nothing has changed in 60 years.