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

I enjoyed Midnight Run in the theater and finally re-watched it again some months ago. It was still great. One of my favorite De Niro movies, plus I'm a fan of Yaphet Kotto, who has a supporting role in Midnight Run.

I saw Tenet this weekend and mildly enjoyed it. Knowing that it's Nolan's take on James Bond helped a lot -- the plot, motivations, science, etc. are as unrealistic as any 007 film. The problem I have with this is the same problem I have with the Daniel Craig version of Bond -- they're so serious in tone that it clashes with the nature of the story which is driven by a ludicrous premise.

I mean, time-travel is a notoriously hard idea to implement without plot holes. To make this even MORE difficult by utilizing "reverse time" instead? Well, it's no wonder that the idea and execution fail if you give it any thought at all. But that's the key -- you shouldn't be giving this any thought, just accepting it and enjoying the ride. This would be easier to do if the film had a lighter tone. I don't think many people are viewing Tenet as a summer-time "popcorn" film, but it works better if you do.

TENET could have worked as a summer popcorn flick if there weren't so many rules to the reverse time. The need to have "reverse air", the way reverse objects defy newtons law (the bullet falling up into a hand that 'catches' it) etc. Layer that on top of a dubious mythology, obtuse motives, and a rather placid and bland 'protagonist' and it really makes for a grind of a film, especially given the audio issues in theater. 25 years ago this could have been a Schwarzeneggar film directed by Renny Harlin and it would have had all sorts of reverse time shenanigans like jumping out of a window only to land in a reverse time helicopter and getting the bad guy with a reverse time grenade

I'll catch it again sometime when I can watch with subtitles, I expect it will clarify much.

Courtesy of HBO, I am re-watching The Lord of the Rings trilogy, extended version of each movie. I previously saw the theatrical release version of each movie just once in the theater, and I watched the extended version of Fellowship of the Ring at a friend's house sometime in the early '00s. So I am not a huge Lord of the Rings fanboy, though I did enjoy reading the books in my early teens.

These extended versions are really long, clocking in at an average of four hours each. So I watched The Fellowship of the Ring over the course of Saturday, in breaks from a couple of outdoor projects plus during meals. Same with The Two Towers on Sunday. As the longest of the trilogy, The Return of the King will need to wait until next weekend.

The extended time seems to primarily to fill in some additional characterization, at the cost of some slow, melodramatic pacing. The various attempts at humor fail to get a laugh from me. The casting of all the principal characters is impressive, and the acting is solid. Some of the effects fall slightly flat, including somewhat variable sizing of the hobbits, but overall these are visually impressive movies. Aside from the slowed pace of the additional and extended scenes, the results are still epic and a great translation from book to film.

Seems hard to believe they’re 20 years old now.

Cruella - A technically well-crafted film that I'm just not the target audience for.

I feel like 101 Dalmatians told us all we needed to know about her character. But the sequel's already been greenlit so others clearly got more out of this than I did.

Netflix’s Gunpowder Milkshake was not as good as I wanted it to be. The trailer promised bright colors, style and violence, a lighter John Wick with Karen Gillan, Lena Headey, Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett, Carla Gugino and Paul Giamatti in lead roles. It definitely had all of those things, but that was all it had. There was color, there was stylized dialogue. There were at least two stand-out action scenes (the hospital fight being great without qualification and the slow-mo tracking shot only held back by way too much digital blood), and none worse than ‘acceptable.’

The biggest problem was in the tone. The kind of problem where a girl goes from finding out here father is dead and standing over the body to reminding someone she’s “eight and three-quarters” literally minutes later in film time. There’s a goofy decapitation, and an earnest reconciliation between estranged mother and daughter. Pick a lane Milkshake. Be an earnest film about the violence men do to women and how they have to fight back or be Commando. I’m fine with either, but you can’t have Arnold take a break from puns and slaughter to seriously question whether he’s been a good father to Alyssa Milano.

If Matrix was here, he'd laugh too.

I like you; I'll have heart-to-heart father talk with you last.

hotseatgames wrote: If Matrix was here, he'd laugh too.

That chain mail wife beater was an inspired wardrobe choice,

Ha! Turns out it was actually a knit sweater, not chainmail.

Commando is too woke for me.....

.. Alyssa Milano saves herself

And now that I think about it, RDC saves Arnie like twice!

Sorry, reading too many comments about the new he-man show.

A visiting friend suggested we watch 9 to 5, which I of course knew about but hadn't seen. I recommend it, not that it needs my recommendation some 40 years on, but in so doing I wish that the whole movie could've had the sharpness and insight of its opening act or so rather than spending so much time on a convoluted and not terribly funny "caper" that somewhat blunts the more realistic parts.

Finally got around to watching Bad Lieutenant (1992), which was at various times, compelling, awful, tedious, and shocking. I dozed off for awhile in the second half, but suspect that I didn't miss anything crucial. I respect the way that Keitel committed to the part, but his WUUUU of remorse was grating and a bit silly. Otherwise, the absence of any insight or self-reflection made for an empty and superficial viewing.

Also watched Centurion (2010), which was more or less The Warriors (1979) in Roman Britain. As a Wire fan, I was looking forward to seeing Dominic West in a movie, but he was just okay and Michael Fassbender was the real star. Since it was a Neil Marshall movie, it was a disappointment riddled with plot weaknesses (not quite plot holes) and anachronisms. However, it steered clear of the usual action movie good/evil axis, with a scary villain who was also an orphan and a rape survivor. One of the supposed good guys was absurdly treacherous, and a couple of others were also less than admirable. The action scenes were decent, so Centurion works as a normal quality action movie if that is all you require.

CENTURION and THE EAGLE both came out around the same time and have some plot similarities ( Romans stuck behind barbarian lines) but CENTURION is the superior movie IMO. The supporting cast is pretty strong with Liam Cunningham ( Game of Thrones ) , Riz Ahmed ( NIGHT OF, SOUND OF NOISE ) among others.