What movies have you been watching?

[techwiz]

Re-watched Home Alone

Interesting fun fact: The black and white movies with the guy and the machine gun weren't real movies but created just for the Home Alone movies (partly so they would not have to pay royalties).  The movie in Home Alone was called "Angels with Filthy Souls", followed by a sequel "Angels with even Filthier Souls" in Home Alone 2.

[nessness]

I was in the mood for a cheesy Christmas romantic comedy the other day and went with Love Hard on Netflix. I'm not sure I'd call it a "good" movie but it fit the bill and was entertaining.

[Metalcat]

I was in the mood for a cheesy Christmas romantic comedy the other day and went with Love Hard on Netflix. I'm not sure I'd call it a "good" movie but it fit the bill and was entertaining.

I watched it and Single All The Way with my sappy sister. Single All The Way was legitimately cute and funny. Very good dialogue.

[Kris]

I was in the mood for a cheesy Christmas romantic comedy the other day and went with Love Hard on Netflix. I'm not sure I'd call it a "good" movie but it fit the bill and was entertaining.

I watched it and Single All The Way with my sappy sister. Single All The Way was legitimately cute and funny. Very good dialogue.

I enjoyed Single All The Way, too. There were some cheesy overly-stereotypical parts that made me roll my eyes, but the two main characters were adorable and had such great chemistry that the movie won me over!

[evme]

I saw Ghostbusters: Afterlife in the theater this past week and while I know it's not cultured cinema... I really loved it. I love that the main character is a young girl, and that she's the smart one too. I loved seeing the callbacks to the original film and I admit I cried at one of the big end scene setups (I'm likely not spoiling it if I say what appearance, but I'm not gonna state it just because I don't want to accidentally reveal anything to someone that really hates spoilers).

Husband stated it was definitely a love letter to the original.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife was directed by Jason Reitman, whose father, Ivan Reitman, directed the original Ghostbusters movies. Seems only fitting.

[evme]

Re-watched Home Alone

Interesting fun fact: The black and white movies with the guy and the machine gun weren't real movies but created just for the Home Alone movies (partly so they would not have to pay royalties).  The movie in Home Alone was called "Angels with Filthy Souls", followed by a sequel "Angels with even Filthier Souls" in Home Alone 2.

Haha, I never knew that! Thanks for the trivia. I think they were going for a James Cagney "Angels with Dirty Faces" vibe with those clips they made just for the movie.

[slackmax]

Altman's Three Women, with a young Sissy Spacek. A seemingly bland, uninteresting plot so far, but the film has me mesmerized. Widescreen, maybe Panavision. Just beautifully shot. Pastel colors everywhere.

The plot so far is that Sissy meets an older woman (twenties) and moves in with her, as she, Sissy, starts a new job at the same place as the older woman. Older woman is strangely ignored by the people she interacts with. No one wants to talk with her (Shelly Duvall).   That's kind of interesting. Waiting to see what that's all about.

It's fun seeing both actresses at such young ages.

Set in the Seventies, I think, judging by hair styles and cars. 

Only 20 minutes into the movie. Looking forward to the rest.

My apartment had decor just like Duvall’s in that film.

Sounds like you had a nice apartment, Iris Lily ! 

[FIRE Artist]

I finally watched Nomadland after having read the book this past summer.  As is usually the case, the book was much better, but the movie did a good job of portraying the hardships of that lifestyle.  One thing I noticed though is that they made the Amazon gig look much, much better than the book reports it to be. 

As a result of reading the book, and a healthy stash/FU money, my inner bag lady has moved into a van and works at an Amazon fulfillment centre during the holidays to make ends meet, and spends the rest of the year in Arizona hawking her plein air oil paintings. Moving’ on up. 

[mspym]

Very late to the game, and also I had to Not Look at the screen for parts of it, but we watched Chopper last night and I really liked a lot of the directorial decisions/shots/editing. Just a well made film.

[alcon835]

I watched "The History of Time Travel" on Amazon Prime this weekend. Very slow start, but when it picks up....just WOW. What a film!

I don't want to describe it least I give away spoilers, but its worth watching.

I watched the History of Time Travel this week while visiting family and we enjoyed it!  Interesting premise and unique approach. Definitely would never have heard of it if not for this thread!

Yay! I'm so glad you watched it! Yes, extremely unique premise and film. Turned into quite the surprise for the wife and I. She wasn't so interested when I kicked it off initially, but by the end she was more into it than I was!!!

[slackmax]

Rewatched "Run, Lola, Run" on VHS tape. Still looks and sounds great. Had to insert the tape 3 times to get the old VCR to accept it, lol. 

I just realized one more thing that makes the old movies better, imo. Soundtrack!

This movie has a real soundtrack. Techno from the period.

In German with English subtitles. Ya, du bist eine. 

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Netflix binge ongoing...  Probably driving people crazy, but I enjoyed 'Death to 2021' (made me nostalgic for Death to 2020...)

Now watching 'Don't Look Up' which is on way too on target.  Our outdated and imploding US political landscape would crumble if the all-powerful universe accidentally attacked us.  Microbes seem to be gaining the upper hand, aided and abetted by social media.  But meanwhile, I'm endlessly entertained, distracted, and have satisfying imaginary wealth...  so yeah, I'm totally enjoying the ironic sitting on my butt idly watching of this, hoping mankind survives 2022 while kinda' thinking I should probably do more but not knowing what.

[lazycow]

'Die Hard' on Christmas Day. A classic. We watch it as a family every year. Unfortunately, we also watched - and I blame my husband for this - 'Bad Santa'. Urgh, horrible, awful film. I felt like I needed to scrub myself clean afterwards. No redeeming features whatsoever.

My daughter and I watched 'Superbad' recently.  We are definitely *not* the target audience but surprised ourselves by thoroughly enjoying it.

[Zamboni]

^^I also enjoyed Don't Look Up on Netflix.

I binged the old Matrix trilogy over the weekend, but I haven't watched the newest one yet.

[LaineyAZ]

Here's a third vote for "Don't Look Up."  Just saw it yesterday and really liked it. 
The premise is the world's response to a foreseeable disaster (analogy to climate change) and how politicians, news media, and others respond.  Yes, it's over the top but sadly it's also our current reality. 
Cate Blanchett and Jonah Hill were the standout actors for me.

[wenchsenior]

I found Don't Look Up to be a pretty blunt and nonimaginative swing at science denialism, but the cast really elevated it (Cate Blanchett esp did a lot with a cliche role).  We laughed a fair amount.  One big flaw is that it mostly focused the blame (and thus the satire) on the media and politicians, and mostly only side-swiped the individual average voter.

We (husband is a scientist and I have 2 science degrees) mused at how much more of a relief it would be if an asteroid did the planet in quickly, as opposed to the slow-moving but inevitable destruction that humanity is actively choosing and embracing. Humanity deserves every bit of misery we are going to get, and humans are morally culpable for it. The billions of other species on earth don't, and are not.  An asteroid would be great b/c it would let humans off the hook, morally speaking.

[sui generis]

I watched "Old" on a plane yesterday, which I guess is the latest M. Night Shyamalan movie.  God, it was terrible.  The dialogue, the actors (some more than others)....

Spoiler: show

though at least they kept dying off!  The one thing I liked was the special effects/make-up that did a really good job of subtly and seamlessly making characters older and the good job they did with the casting changes for the children as they grew up.

And it's not as if any of it makes sense at all, but one thing I'm not sure of what the movie was trying to do was about the first dead woman that Mid Sized Sedan was waiting for.  I thought he said he was meeting her there and she was swimming in, and then apparently she died on the way in.  I don't know why she was swimming in in the first place, but I think the movie meant to imply that she blacked out and drowned (liked Jaron) but she shouldn't have blacked out and drowned on the way in, just like none of them blacked out on the way in, only on the way out.

[JoJo]

I watched "Old" on a plane yesterday, which I guess is the latest M. Night Shyamalan movie.  God, it was terrible.  The dialogue, the actors (some more than others)....

M Night has a couple of great movies but there are a couple where he's turned good actors very, very bad (and I gotta attribute a bunch of that with the directing) and with idiotic dialog.  I also agree "Old" was terrible.  The other one I can think of is "The Happening". 

[eyesonthehorizon]

An asteroid would be great b/c it would let humans off the hook, morally speaking.

If you shoot someone just as they're strangling someone else does that make them less of a murderer? I feel like we're culpable for whatever we're doing/ going to do, but I also think a lot of us are trying to actively stem the tide, those working the hardest just happen to have the least power. Between that & the many, many species that will survive our stupidity one way or another (but wouldn't survive an asteroid) I'd rather let things play out, see if we unf[]k our habits before it's too late for us.

Really, really enjoyed a Matrix trilogy rewatch a couple weeks before the new one. Resurrections was a joy & came along at the right time, Lana Wachowski clearly had a lot of opinions & sentiment to imbue, but I won't say much - it's nice to go in blank.

[wenchsenior]

An asteroid would be great b/c it would let humans off the hook, morally speaking.

If you shoot someone just as they're strangling someone else does that make them less of a murderer? I feel like we're culpable for whatever we're doing/ going to do, but I also think a lot of us are trying to actively stem the tide, those working the hardest just happen to have the least power. Between that & the many, many species that will survive our stupidity one way or another (but wouldn't survive an asteroid) I'd rather let things play out, see if we unf[]k our habits before it's too late for us.

Really, really enjoyed a Matrix trilogy rewatch a couple weeks before the new one. Resurrections was a joy & came along at the right time, Lana Wachowski clearly had a lot of opinions & sentiment to imbue, but I won't say much - it's nice to go in blank.

Heh, good point. Never mind.  No way around it, we just suck, morally speaking.

[slackmax]

Anyone see the new "Dune" yet?  I saw the old one, 20 years ago or so, and liked it. How's the new version?

Also, anyone see "Licorice Pizza"?

[slackmax]

Just saw Dune at the theater. It was OK. Lots of grandeur and decent soundtrack. But I didn't love it. Just not my type of movie. I should have known that.

[uniwelder]

Anyone see the new "Dune" yet?  I saw the old one, 20 years ago or so, and liked it. How's the new version?

Was not a fan. 

We watched the new Dune remake on HBO and found it rather disappointing.  Its 2 1/2 hours and is only the first part, so I hoped they'd find a way to fit content, but the visual effects and fight scenes took time away from details of the story.  My wife and I both read the book and watched the 1984 movie and 2000 miniseries, and think the miniseries is the best by far.

I'm honestly so sick of big budget fight scenes.

It's all been done to death and I feel like I'm just watching the same movie over and over and over again.

It increasingly feels like plot is just a vehicle for combat scenes.

I get your point and agree overall, but that wasn’t completely true in this movie. The fight scenes could have been shorter, but equally true about the long spans of silent landscapes and camera focusing on facial expressions and dramatic pauses.

edited to add--- We also watched Don't Look Up.  Really enjoyed it, though its so sad how well it depicts our current society.

[Zamboni]

Enjoyed the new Dune. Thought it was well cast.

Just watched the latest Venom with my son. 8-0 Obviously it was his choice, not mine.

Enjoyed the latest installment in The Matrix, mostly because I enjoy a love story with older people. I found them a much more convincing couple this time around than in the original trilogy. Keanu did a good job pining away. Also enjoyed all the scenes with the therapist, the way the tech buzzword bullshit meetings were shot, the suicide contemplation, all the treadmill analogies, and the "what is crazy?" aspects of all of it. Obviously the original The Matrix was the best of the four, but I think this one is my second favorite.

[slackmax]

Enjoyed the new Dune. Thought it was well cast.

I thought the cast were OK.  It's just that this movie type doesn't draw out a good actor's talents, inho.  For example, I thought Javier Badem was way better in 'No Country for Old Men'. He was OK in Dune, yeah, but.

Once again, my mistake was thinking I would like a blockbuster action scifi movie.

[GuitarStv]

Once again, my mistake was thinking I would like a blockbuster action scifi movie.

There are a few blockbuster scifi movies.  2016s 'Arrival' was pretty good.

[slackmax]

Once again, my mistake was thinking I would like a blockbuster action scifi movie.

There are a few blockbuster scifi movies.  2016s 'Arrival' was pretty good.

That reminds me, I did see Arrival, and thought it was  good.

[lost_in_the_endless_aisle]

Once again, my mistake was thinking I would like a blockbuster action scifi movie.

There are a few blockbuster scifi movies.  2016s 'Arrival' was pretty good.

That reminds me, I did see Arrival, and thought it was  good.

Arrival is excellent and I think of it more of an allegorical exploration of existentialism rather than a straight-up sci-fi.

######

Don't Look Up

Saw this knowing very little about it except the basic premise. I thought it was a satire on institutional dysfunction, misaligned incentives, and bad sense-making in general, so I was surprised and a little confused when I learned it was targeting climate change specifically. That frame doesn't make sense for reasons well-articulated here. But I enjoy the movie for what it is rather than what it ostensibly was trying to be. Regarding the ending:

Spoiler: show

I wish the comet destruction scenes were far more horrifically graphic; that would have really driven the message home as to what's on the line and the contrast with the comedic elements would have been that much more drastic. The movie also suffers the same nonsense in depictions of the comet as in Greenland (a pointless but watchable action movie) where it's seen floating through the sky when in fact a comet or asteroid that size in Earth's atmosphere would create such intense light that it would vaporize anything within sight. For ideas on how the destruction could have been better articulated, this real-time simulation of the effects of the Chicxulub impact might be of interest, and this too if you like prequels. However, that gripe aside, the Bronteroc ending was hilarious and it's notable how those included on the escape ship were nearly all conspicuously part of the gerontocracy class.

[iris lily]

The Lost Daughter with Olivia Coleman. Streaming on
Netflix, but also an art house film in theaters I think.

She plays a nail single woman of middle-age who has a past that involves daughters. The whole film is about mothers, motherhood, difficulties of motherhood, regrets of motherhood, challenges of motherhood. All of this is expressed by several women in the film.

Each and every role is very well acted. The setting is pretty and it’s a very nice little film. With each scene you think it’s leading somewhere and it does not live there. It moves off in a different direction which is rather interesting in this film anyway.

The ending is a tad bit ambiguous even for me, and I do not expect my movies to be wrapped up in a neat and tidy package.

[GuitarStv]

Once again, my mistake was thinking I would like a blockbuster action scifi movie.

There are a few blockbuster scifi movies.  2016s 'Arrival' was pretty good.

That reminds me, I did see Arrival, and thought it was  good.

Arrival is excellent and I think of it more of an allegorical exploration of existentialism rather than a straight-up sci-fi.

Many people seem to misunderstand this genre quite badly.  Most good science fiction tends to be an exploration of very human themes and questions while using the trappings of science/aliens/future.  It's very common though for literary critics to try to use this fact to disqualify science-fiction from the genre . . . which they seem much happier to view as predominantly little green men in pew pew fights against space marines.  This delegitimizing has been going on for a long time and is a bit of a pet peeve of mine.  It's why Margaret Atwood was disgusted at the idea of calling The Handmaids Tale science fiction (oh no, it's speculative fiction - not that dirty genre with the space marines and robots).

[techwiz]

FINCH a Tom Hanks film set in the post-apocalyptic about a robot who is built to protect the life of his beloved dog.


Not a bad science-fiction movie.

[GuitarStv]

FINCH a Tom Hanks film set in the post-apocalyptic about a robot who is built to protect the life of his beloved dog.


Not a bad science-fiction movie.

I was like 'Tom Hanks, dog, robot . . . this has to be a good movie to show my 8 year old son.'  I'm very glad that I watched it first to see if it was OK.  This is a surprisingly dark/bleak movie that is not suitable for a young kid.  Not a bad movie, but the bleakness kinda surprised me.

[Warlord1986]

I went on the Shakespeare Globe Player website and saw they had 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' with the delightful John Light as Oberon for sale.

I say I am a mustachian, but I am a lying liar who lies. I bought it. And enjoyed it with cheap wine and popcorn.

John Light has no chill, and he dances around that damned stage half naked, kissing Puck, being extra, and being utterly wonderful.

I regret nothing.

[Dicey]

We loved "Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice". It's new on YouTube. It's free and really, really interesting. As YT does, it went straight into another film, "Muscle Shoals", which was also very good. Amazing cast of characters who recorded there and the stories behind their music.

[slackmax]

'Women in Love' from BBC,  based on the DH Lawrence novel. Takes place in Victorian (?) England. One of the themes is 'sex vs love'.  I found this movie enthralling. Very intimate study of two couples. Lots of full frontal nudity, for both the men and the women.  I wasn't expecting that!       

[slackmax]

'Eraserhead'. Can't recommend this movie. But you might like it. I think it is interesting so far. Watched about an hour. Very weird, one of a kind movie. Sci fi. Bizarre people and events. Black and white. Plot holes everywhere. Very interesting though. Worth watching for sci fi freaks and film buffs, maybe. Cult classic?

[mspym]

I thought the new Dune was appropriately epic and I am glad I saw it at a cinema. I honestly did not notice the time passing, which is very unusual for me.

[Dr Kidstache]

Watched Don't Look Up at the encouragement of a friend and I *hated* it. Good satire is thought-provoking but Don't Look Up wasn't thought-provoking at all, just entertaining. I honestly felt a bit used watching it. The movie purports to skewer the greedy exploitative media but basically just made a buck off me by portraying exactly current reality with a comet thrown in. Maybe I'm just really cynical {shrug}

[Kris]

Watched Don't Look Up at the encouragement of a friend and I *hated* it. Good satire is thought-provoking but Don't Look Up wasn't thought-provoking at all, just entertaining. I honestly felt a bit used watching it. The movie purports to skewer the greedy exploitative media but basically just made a buck off me by portraying exactly current reality with a comet thrown in. Maybe I'm just really cynical {shrug}

I mostly felt the same. Lefty friends have been loving it, but my reaction was, “So, literally portraying the current reality is not satire.” :eye roll:

[Wolfpack Mustachian]

Watched Don't Look Up at the encouragement of a friend and I *hated* it. Good satire is thought-provoking but Don't Look Up wasn't thought-provoking at all, just entertaining. I honestly felt a bit used watching it. The movie purports to skewer the greedy exploitative media but basically just made a buck off me by portraying exactly current reality with a comet thrown in. Maybe I'm just really cynical {shrug}

Thanks for the comment. This was my experience as well, and you articulated it well. I just watched it and was thinking, yep, yep, yep, I *obviously* see what what they're getting at. Yep, yep, that's a problem. It wasn't funny enough (to me) to be worth it from that angle, and it was way too heavy handed to be thought provoking. When I finished it, I just felt vaguely dispirited.

[Dr Kidstache]

Watched Don't Look Up at the encouragement of a friend and I *hated* it. Good satire is thought-provoking but Don't Look Up wasn't thought-provoking at all, just entertaining. I honestly felt a bit used watching it. The movie purports to skewer the greedy exploitative media but basically just made a buck off me by portraying exactly current reality with a comet thrown in. Maybe I'm just really cynical {shrug}

I mostly felt the same. Lefty friends have been loving it, but my reaction was, “So, literally portraying the current reality is not satire.” :eye roll:

Um, I'm about as "lefty" as they come

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Watched Don't Look Up at the encouragement of a friend and I *hated* it. Good satire is thought-provoking but Don't Look Up wasn't thought-provoking at all, just entertaining. I honestly felt a bit used watching it. The movie purports to skewer the greedy exploitative media but basically just made a buck off me by portraying exactly current reality with a comet thrown in. Maybe I'm just really cynical {shrug}

I didn't think it was necessarily skewering the left or right so much as it skewered politicians telling their supporters not to look at an impending disaster.  Then, low and behold, they look up and see that they have been lied to.  It's a dismantling of giving power to others and basically a call to thinking for ones self, in a fun and encouraging format.  But I don't fault people for thinking this is a Democratic Party funded bash on the Right, or whatever, that's just par for the course these days.

If the Coronavirus Pandemic hasn't brought us together as Americans and as a global species, I hardly think a 2 hour movie will make everyone feel better about knowing what our problem is and how to solve it.

[Jon_Snow]

I thought the new Dune was appropriately epic and I am glad I saw it at a cinema. I honestly did not notice the time passing, which is very unusual for me.

Oh, agreed. The movie ended and it felt like it had been perhaps an hour long…definitely not the listed 2 hours 35 minutes it actually was.

[mspym]

I thought the new Dune was appropriately epic and I am glad I saw it at a cinema. I honestly did not notice the time passing, which is very unusual for me.

Oh, agreed. The movie ended and it felt like it had been perhaps an hour long…definitely not the listed 2 hours 35 minutes it actually was.

I spent the movie making reaction faces and cut up the inside of my lips on my teeth, which I only discovered afterwards. If I compare it to Heat, that movie could have easily cut out a good 50 minutes and been a better film for it. They kept building to dramatic climaxes and then the film kept on going.

OK, I don't know if this is the right place to put this but it's easily Movie Length (2h20m) and is one of the more interesting and dense without being dry pieces of analysis I have seen in a long time AND will give you a good handle on what the heck NFTs/blockchain/Web3 is - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ_xWvX1n9g "If someone pitches you on a "great" Web3 project, ask them if it requires buying or selling crypto to do what they say it does."

[Kris]

Watched Don't Look Up at the encouragement of a friend and I *hated* it. Good satire is thought-provoking but Don't Look Up wasn't thought-provoking at all, just entertaining. I honestly felt a bit used watching it. The movie purports to skewer the greedy exploitative media but basically just made a buck off me by portraying exactly current reality with a comet thrown in. Maybe I'm just really cynical {shrug}

I mostly felt the same. Lefty friends have been loving it, but my reaction was, “So, literally portraying the current reality is not satire.” :eye roll:

Um, I'm about as "lefty" as they come

So am I.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

I thought the new Dune was appropriately epic and I am glad I saw it at a cinema. I honestly did not notice the time passing, which is very unusual for me.

Oh, agreed. The movie ended and it felt like it had been perhaps an hour long…definitely not the listed 2 hours 35 minutes it actually was.

I spent the movie making reaction faces and cut up the inside of my lips on my teeth, which I only discovered afterwards. If I compare it to Heat, that movie could have easily cut out a good 50 minutes and been a better film for it. They kept building to dramatic climaxes and then the film kept on going.

OK, I don't know if this is the right place to put this but it's easily Movie Length (2h20m) and is one of the more interesting and dense without being dry pieces of analysis I have seen in a long time AND will give you a good handle on what the heck NFTs/blockchain/Web3 is - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ_xWvX1n9g "If someone pitches you on a "great" Web3 project, ask them if it requires buying or selling crypto to do what they say it does."

Bringing your comment back to movies, I watched South Park: Post Covid: The Return of Covid this weekend and there is plenty of stuff about NFT's.  I didn't even know this 'movie' (extra long episode) existed, so I gave it a try and it's a lot of fun.

[GuitarStv]

'Eraserhead'. Can't recommend this movie. But you might like it. I think it is interesting so far. Watched about an hour. Very weird, one of a kind movie. Sci fi. Bizarre people and events. Black and white. Plot holes everywhere. Very interesting though. Worth watching for sci fi freaks and film buffs, maybe. Cult classic?

I've read about this movie . . . it's one of those artsy movies that had a big impact on a lot of people.  I've been interested in checking it out some day, but will definitely have to be in the right mood.

[techwiz]

Re-watched an older movie from 1995 
 

Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt hunt for a serial killer.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

@techwiz did you find out what was in the box?

[techwiz]

@techwiz did you find out what was in the box?

Spoiler: show

The head of Tracy(Gwyneth Paltrow) who is detective Mills (Brad Pitt)pregnant wife. The head is never shown on screen this movie did a good job of making things more disturbing because of what it didn't show. Apparently there were rumours the studio wanted other endings such as a head of one of his dogs.