What MOVIE(s) have you been....seeing? watching?

Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga - Will Farrell and Amy McAdams play a Norwegian singing duo on a quest to win the Eurovision Song Contest. It has its moments, but it just isn't funny enough. I feel like in his older years Farrell feels bad about mocking other people, so he instead tries to pay homage. In this sort of in-between state, it's hard to tell if you should be laughing with him or at him. Slight thumbs up.

Bad Education - Hugh Jackman plays a school superintendent in a rich district as an embezzlement scandal emerges. Even though its based on reality, the movie manages to be full of twists and surprises (so I don't want to say too much). Jackman is absolutely excellent. Highly recommended, thumbs way up.

Crip Camp - A documentary about handicapped kids who went to a camp that allowed them to be free and normal kids for the summer. Going in, I thought it would be more about the camp than the kids. Instead, it talks about how empowering that camp was and how those kids grew up to enact real change in the world. It's especially relevant when you see how a relatively small group of people can make a positive difference. It's very good, but I was a little disappointed to not learn more about the history and creation of the camp itself. They talk about hippie idealism without really spending much time with the hippies themselves. Solid thumbs up.

My mother-in-law is staying with us for a while (Covid), and my daughter has insisted that m-i-l watch the MCU Avengers arc (or whatever the term is). In order, we've seen:

Guardians of the Galaxy (out of order, but what made my daughter want to do this)
Captain America - The First Avenger
Iron Man
Thor
Captain America - The Winter Soldier
The Avengers
GotG 2
Avengers - Age of Ultron

In the space of about a week and a half. I'm not sure what happened to The Incredible Hulk, but as far as we could tell it wasn't on Disney+ (which is where we're getting the movies). Even the weaker ones of these (Thor, AoU) are okay.

Greg Aleknevicus wrote: Barry Lyndon? Man, what a boring slog. I'm a Kubrick fan but that was one of the worst movies I've sat through. It ain't slow, it's glacial. Made all the worst by having intertitles that tell you what's going to happen, and then taking 25 minutes to slowly show you.

The only praise I can give, is that it's an interesting idea -- a period film VERY heavily influenced by paintings of the era. So much so that at many points you'll feel as though you're watching still images rather than, you know, a "motion" picture.

I like it though. I think I need something slow in my life, maybe. I have the world's most patient tomato plant in the backyard and BARRY LYNDON slowly doing their thing. I'm digging it.

I see your point about the paintings though, a number of shots are clearly composed as homage. Just saw a scene where Redmond and his belle look over a English country garden for about 20 seconds and you can tell it's there to make you as the view just gawk at the composed insane extravagance of that shit. Not to mention the insane battle scene where redcoats just keep chugging towards a French line and get mown down like so much grass.

RobertB wrote: My mother-in-law is staying with us for a while (Covid), and my daughter has insisted that m-i-l watch the MCU Avengers arc (or whatever the term is). In order, we've seen:

Guardians of the Galaxy (out of order, but what made my daughter want to do this)
Captain America - The First Avenger
Iron Man
Thor
Captain America - The Winter Soldier
The Avengers
GotG 2
Avengers - Age of Ultron

In the space of about a week and a half. I'm not sure what happened to The Incredible Hulk, but as far as we could tell it wasn't on Disney+ (which is where we're getting the movies). Even the weaker ones of these (Thor, AoU) are okay.

Hulk isn't on Disney+ (yet) for reasons, but it's streamable for a few bucks. My kids did a massive rewatch (or first watch in some cases) of everything MCU. They abandoned Hulk halfway through, so I don't think you're missing much.

(This week they're doing Hobbit+LOTR)

Hulk and Age of Ultron are skippable movies. It would have been better to watch Winter Soldier after the first Avengers movie. No harm in seeing the first Guardians movie out of order. Every MCU movie after Age of Ultron is worth seeing, though Captain Marvel and Spider-man: Far From Home are both optional, imo.

Beware of Hulk vs The Incredible Hulk.

The Incredible Hulk is pretty mediocre.

Hulk - Ang Lee's Hulk is awful. Its only redeeming feature is that it has Jennifer Connelly in it.

Shellhead wrote: Hulk and Age of Ultron are skippable movies. It would have been better to watch Winter Soldier after the first Avengers movie. No harm in seeing the first Guardians movie out of order. Every MCU movie after Age of Ultron is worth seeing, though Captain Marvel and Spider-man: Far From Home are both optional, imo.

I wouldn't be shocked if I have Winter Soldier and the first Avengers movie flipped; too many movies in too short a time. In fact, I know I did flip them on that list, since The Avengers has all those scenes on the helicarrier (or whatever they call it in the MCU).

My daughter insisted that we watch AoU, because it's the origin of Vision. We were riffing on the last scene of the movie, where Hawkeye comes home, and the family is just hanging out; another day at the Barton Farm, and daddy is home after a long day at work. The Barton's didn't seem to care too much about the news about the better part of a town in Europe getting lifted 20,000 feet in the air, then getting blowed up real good.

RobertB wrote:

Shellhead wrote: Hulk and Age of Ultron are skippable movies. It would have been better to watch Winter Soldier after the first Avengers movie. No harm in seeing the first Guardians movie out of order. Every MCU movie after Age of Ultron is worth seeing, though Captain Marvel and Spider-man: Far From Home are both optional, imo.

I wouldn't be shocked if I have Winter Soldier and the first Avengers movie flipped; too many movies in too short a time. In fact, I know I did flip them on that list, since The Avengers has all those scenes on the helicarrier (or whatever they call it in the MCU).

My daughter insisted that we watch AoU, because it's the origin of Vision. We were riffing on the last scene of the movie, where Hawkeye comes home, and the family is just hanging out; another day at the Barton Farm, and daddy is home after a long day at work. The Barton's didn't seem to care too much about the news about the better part of a town in Europe getting lifted 20,000 feet in the air, then getting blowed up real good.

I guess she's right. Age of Ultron is one of my least favorite MCU movies, but it's important because it introduces both Vision and Wanda and sets the stage for the central conflict in the excellent Captain America: Civil War. (EDIT: hint, it has a lot to do with that town in Europe getting dropped 20,000 feet.) It's just that Age of Ultron tries to handle too many characters and tie together points from too many other MCU movies.

I come around the corner and my wife is watching The Shaggy Dog. Yep, that one, 1959, black & white, Fred McMurray. I gave her the look and she said, "I don't know how long we'll have Disney and I'm sure not willing to pay for it!"

It's a spy movie.

We got Disney and yeah there are a bunch of those era ones on there that I watched as a kid and haven't seen since. I put them all on the list and I show the kids the list and they pick them off it. We haven't watched the Shaggy Dog yet.

Some of them have some pretty bizarre kind of moments that I either didn't notice as a kid or are just reflective of how times change.

Herbie, set in San Francisco, has these far out hippies in a van eating burgers. And the odd bit of sexual harrassment.

The Cat from Outer Space (I think), I mean, ****SPOILER**** the denouement is all about betting obscene amounts of money and then cheating to win it.

Took the kids out for the first movie since lockdown and their first drive in experience. Gotta say, a parking lot that has been cooking in 100 degree sun all day is not ideal, but it works. Movie was some indie film, a period piece I think

I got to see the Hamilton movie on Disney+. This was my first time seeing any part of it. It is amazing. Highly recommended.

We watched Hamilton on Friday as well. I saw it on stage twice, once in San Francisco and once in New York (after the original cast had moved on).

The filmed version does an excellent job, including some shots that just aren't feasible from any house seat (like some of the close-ups). It's very well done, and I'd recommend it too.

Despite having seen it staged, it was still great to put the album voices together with the faces, and to realize what an incredible cast they'd put together. Daveed Diggs is just compelling to watch.

Watched several movies over the weekend, while taking breaks from cutting up wood and demolishing a wall in my basement.

Wanna see a fun comic book movie featuring Chris Evans, Zoe Saldana, and Idris Elba? I mean, besides Avengers - Infinity War? Check out The Losers, an over the top action movie based directly on a Vertigo (DC) comic of the same name. It's more or less an '80s action movie with modern production values and a post-modern edge. Lots of violence and explosions, a bit more characterization than expected, and a bit of self-mocking humor.

Elba and Saldana did another movie together in 2010, The Takers, but it's forgettable. Great production values and decent cinematography, and plenty of superficial cool, in service of a mediocre story weighed down with cliched dialogue. The talents of Matt Dillon are also wasted here, though this was probably an appropriate movie for other cast members like Chris Brown, Hayden Christensen, and Paul Walker. Moreso than most Hollywood movies, The Takers displays a deep misunderstanding of both cops and criminals, leaving us with dim-witted puppets going through the motions.

I wasn't aware of seeing Dave Bautista in anything except the MCU movies, though it turns out that he also appeared in Riddick, Spectre, and Blade Runner 2049. So I wasn't even sure what he looked like without the Drax the Destroyer paintjob. Now I won't forget, because I have seen him in the wonderful My Spy exclusive movie from Amazon Prime. If you like his deadpan humor in the MCU movies, you will definitely enjoy Bautista's star role in My Spy. The story is a bit rubbish, as the CIA would not be running an operation in Chicago, but the movie doesn't take itself seriously enough for this to be a problem. My Spy is really a comedy, as our CIA operative matches wits and will against a clever pre-teen girl who threatens to blow his cover. There are some nice action sequences, but the heart of the movie is the unlikely friendship that develops between the lead characters. The writers also display a real understanding of kids that is refreshing. This is the second time in less than a year that I have been blown away by a kid starring in an Amazon Prime exclusive movie. If they keep doing movies like My Spy and Troop Zero, Disney is in trouble.

Saw a couple films.

I had high hopes for Black Panther as it has been described to me as one of the best MCU films, but I found it dull. The main character just doesn't have much of a personality and is just beaten up from scene to scene until he wins to mantain the status quo. Kind of. Between him and a fairly one-note villain, there was not much to engage me in the movie. The arms dealer and the bald warrior were fun, but they were minor roles.

Perhaps like other Marvel films, there's too much fighting towards a foregone conclusion. It doesn't matter how many blows a character lands on another, it won't matter by the next cut. I always get the feeling I have to watch 5 minutes of meaningless beatdown before the actual narrative kicks in. To the director's credit, it's much better than the average MCU film in showing the action. You can see the punches, and the kicks and there's a sense of physical space lacking in, say, Infinity War.

I just feel that there should be a difference in the narrative if a punch connects or not. And really, why have an ideological conflict in your film if punching each other is going to be the way to resolve it?

Putting my critic hat on, it seems to me the formula completely overshadows the interesting aspects of the film. It's literally and metaphorically an aristocratic film: The chosen one gets beaten up, then wins because he must. Whatever plot or ideological ideas behind the actual conflict doesn't matter because what really drives the film is the same old "I am the righteous king who must take back his throne" plot.

Despites its themes, the movie is not very far from King Solomon's Mines. It uses the same ideas and stereotypes of Africa only changing them from negative to positive. Now wood drums are good instead of bad, same with rhinos and spears but the villain is still an extremist who loses all conviction by murdering people. I noticed the movie is written in such a way to avoid saying "black". There are references (jumping from slaver ships), but the actual group is not mentioned until the scene in which Killmonger uses Imperalist phrases (An empire where the sun never sets, for example) to describe his vision of the future. Did you notice how the African artifacts are in "Great Britain's museum" instead of the actual, real British Museum? That's no coincidence.

Being honest, I question how much you can do with the set-up. Unlike the United States, Wakanda, like Sokovia, does not exist. It's an American invention for other Americans to consume and has very little to do with Africa or ther people who live there.

So yeah, for me the film was dissapointing. As a superhero film, its main characters are too dull. And as a political film, it's overshadowed by corporate formula to say anything.

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The Matrix was also dissapointing. It fels a bit too long, a bit wonky, and its script was obviously watered down. Using humans as batteries is nonsense and it's obvious the actual background is computer programs using human brains as their host computers. I never managed to get into the film, there was always something off that put me out of it.

Like, what's the point of the fairytale references? Why is the ending so abrupt yet the first act so much longer than it needs to be? I truly felt The Matrix needed to be a better movie, with a clearer script and better dialogue and nicer editing. It's just not fully there. The main character has no personality, the woman falls in love because it's a Hollywood requirement. It fell short for me. It also didn't need to be longer than 2 hours.

I don't know, it dissapointed me and not because the special effects have aged poorly or anything. And I saw it at the cinema for the first time yesterday so it's not like I had a bad introduction to it.