MUST-SEE MOVIES

[thebruce44]

My wife and I watched The Last Dual a couple weeks ago. I know it didn't do well at the box office, but I really enjoyed it. The way the story was told from the various perspectives, the pacing, the sets, the acting, and the action were all what I would expect from Ridley Scott. My wife enjoyed it too, though probably more for the story it told than for the same reasons I had (not that I didn't appreciate the story).

 

It may not be for everyone though. I'm one of those people who can enjoy the Directors cut of Kingdom of Heaven and Exodus Gods and Kings in a single weekend (back before having kids).

[wallus]

I thought Don't Look Up stunk. Just way too on the nose and starts to come off as smug and preachy.

 

Yes, I had the same impression after watching it. I had much higher expectations with all of the stars in it.

[Outlander]

The Last Duel was better than expected and had some real good performances. However, I didn't like all the different perspectives because I don't think there was enough differentiating perspective to warrant that. The multiple rapes scenes were especially unnecessary.

[bjkrautk]

Detoured off my Oscar nomination binge when I saw the other Edgar Wright film from 2021 was up on Netflix (the one which isn't "Last Night in Soho"). Highly recommend "The Sparks Brothers" to any music fans; I find myself wondering how I don't recall ever hearing of the band, despite them being adjacent to so much of the stuff I grew up listening to.

[bjkrautk]

Finished my self-imposed homework last night, with "Don't Look Up." I will stick by the rules of this site with respect to politics, and simply say that the connection between the Trump-ian President and the Steve Jobs-inspired donor muddles any satirical message the film tries to convey. (Also, I guess Big Tech doesn't follow the science, or at least not a peer review? Kinda loses the thread in the back third.) The film also disturbingly American-ego-centric, since apparently the U.S. is the only entity able to identify a comet, and the International attempt to deal with the comet fails because...reasons. Having not seen a single thing I could describe as enjoyable, I'll give this my best Gene Shalit, and simply say Don't Look It Up.

 

I had watched "The Lost Daughter" a few days prior. I think Olivia Coleman is a tremendous actress, would recommend "Broadchurch" to any fan of TV Drama, and thought her prior Oscar nominations were well-deserved. I just found her character impossible to relate to; if the backstory that slowly comes out about the character is supposed to make her sympathetic, it failed. Likewise, her motivations in concealing a key piece of information from Dakota Johnson's character for most of the film didn't make sense, and didn't have any meaningful resolution. Ed Harris' character was interesting to me, but I just didn't feel like I "got" this film.

 

Nothing about "Tick Tick ...Boom" should work for me, as someone who self-describes as not a Broadway-musical type. That said, it was the only one of the films out of the three that I could actually enjoy. Andrew Garfield's character actually felt like a real person (which shouldn't be surprising, considering the nature of the adaptation), as did the supporting characters. I'm sure musical theater fans have plenty of nits to pick, but if I were asked to recommend any of these three films, this would be my choice.

 

Having gotten all the Netflix out, I might try to see some of the Amazon film(s) before next week's nominations.

Edited February 1, 2022 by bjkrautk

[homer]

Detoured off my Oscar nomination binge when I saw the other Edgar Wright film from 2021 was up on Netflix (the one which isn't "Last Night in Soho"). Highly recommend "The Sparks Brothers" to any music fans; I find myself wondering how I don't recall ever hearing of the band, despite them being adjacent to so much of the stuff I grew up listening to.

 

I'll second the Sparks Brothers recommendation. My wife actually bought tickets to a show after watching that movie.

[nate82]

Finished my self-imposed homework last night, with "Don't Look Up." I will stick by the rules of this site with respect to politics, and simply say that the connection between the Trump-ian President and the Steve Jobs-inspired donor muddles any satirical message the film tries to convey. (Also, I guess Big Tech doesn't follow the science, or at least not a peer review? Kinda loses the thread in the back third.) The film also disturbingly American-ego-centric, since apparently the U.S. is the only entity able to identify a comet, and the International attempt to deal with the comet fails because...reasons. Having not seen a single thing I could describe as enjoyable, I'll give this my best Gene Shalit, and simply say Don't Look It Up.

 

 

Not to go into the politics too much but you are half right with the President in the movie and completely wrong with the big tech donor. The President in the movie is actually a mixture of Trump and Hillary if you didn't notice there is a picture of Bill Clinton in one of the scenes with the President giving it a kiss I believe? The President's son is a caricature of Trump's children. The donor is actually a Bill Gates inspired donor.

 

The movie was ok but I think they missed out on a lot of other caricatures they could have done and the satire they tried to do just didn't come off all that well. Majority of the satire in the movie just wasn't good at all and was borderline cringe to extreme cringe.

[RobertR]

The Last Duel was better than expected and had some real good performances. However, I didn't like all the different perspectives because I don't think there was enough differentiating perspective to warrant that. The multiple rapes scenes were especially unnecessary.

 

So, it's trying to do a modern version of RASHOMON. Interesting.

[thebruce44]

The Last Duel was better than expected and had some real good performances. However, I didn't like all the different perspectives because I don't think there was enough differentiating perspective to warrant that. The multiple rapes scenes were especially unnecessary.

 

So, it's trying to do a modern version of RASHOMON. Interesting.

 

Just read a summary of Rashomon, and yeah...it would appear that The Last Duel drew some inspiration there.

 

Responding to Outlander, I loved all the different perspectives. The differences were subtle, the way she kicked her shoes off in a playful manner in Driver's version of events, vs her kicking them off in a panic as she tripped in her version. The rape scene, especially from her perspective, was obviously not enjoyable, but necessary for the film. Anyway, while it wasn't a perfect film by any means, I thought it was very good and worth the watch.

[homer]

Finally got around to seeing Nobody on HBO and boy is that a fun flick. I didn't think Bob Odenkirk could pull action hero but he totally did.

[TURBO]

Finally got around to seeing Nobody on HBO and boy is that a fun flick. I didn't think Bob Odenkirk could pull action hero but he totally did.

 

That was the first movie I attended in person since the Pandemic had started, and I thought it was great!

[DuWayne Steurer]

Gunpowder Milkshake. -- There's no real earth shattering story here, but Karen Gillan is awesome, Paul Giammati is great in everything he does, and the action scenes are creative, ultra-violent, and the set pieces are super fantastic. The bowling alley fight scene is outlandish and amazing. The little bit of a plot is just cohesive enough to be worth the brutal action scenes.

 

The Dig -- taking it down a notch.... Didn't expect this one to keep me engrossed. Turned out to really be an interesting picture. There were just a few creative liberties taken to make the story interesting enough for a two hour movie, but putting that aside, they took a story about finding an ancient archeological site in the English country side discovered by an excavator just before WW2 and turned it into a great, compelling drama film. Definitely recommend if you're into that type of thing.

[TURBO]

Had an Edward Norton film fest this past weekend.

 

The Italian Job, Primal Fear, and The Score.

 

All good movies, with decent twists.

 

Still working my way through the collection. Watching the multi-movie pacs that don't fit alphabetically. lol

[RobertR]

DRIVE MY CAR is showing up on HBO Max on March 2nd. It gets my highest recommendation.

 

WEST SIDE STORY is showing up on HBO Max and Disney+ early March as well.

 

I think LICORICE PIZZA is the last Best Picture nominee without an announced streaming date.

[RobertR]

And for something available now, I thought Soderbergh's KIMI on HBO Max was a refreshing throwback thriller combining REAR WINDOW, THE CONVERSATION, and BLOW OUT in a relevant story. Zoe Kravitz is very solid as the lead and I appreciated that it was a nice lean 90 minutes.

[TURBO]

In the 80's, I thought "1941" was hilarious and great.

 

In 2022, I found it long, and not so great.

 

There are classic moments, some that me and my buddies from that time period still quote in normal conversation, but for the most part, it isn't a movie I'd need to watch again. A nice stroll down memory lane is about it.

[RobertR]

FWIW, HBO Max is going to have 5 of the 10 BP nominees on the service in March. So, if you're curious to check them out, that seems like a good bet.

[homer]

Kimi on HBO Max was a surprisingly good thriller. Some stuff in the second half was a little unbelievable but overall it was good. I really dig Soderbergh's style. You could see the Hitchcock influence in this one.

[homer]

Watched Free Guy last night. I was surprised at how funny it was. I haven't played a video game in probably 12 years but apparently, most of the tropes from back then still apply.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Saw The Batman. I have comic burnout, but am a huge Batman guy so I had to see it. Very, very good if you like the true to source material character. More detective and less brute. I have some nit-picky things but it's well done. It is the best depiction of the comic book character by a wide margin.

[DuWayne Steurer]

"Nobody" was great. The end set piece was utterly ridiculous and fantastic. Christopher Lloyd taking part in a violent gun-fight set piece was nothing short of awesome. I know everyone else has said it, but convincingly turning Bob Odenkirk into a bad-ass action guy ..... wow!

 

Movie #1 down on film-fest Friday.

 

Movie #2 is going to be The Kings Man

[stoutdude04]

"Nobody" was great. The end set piece was utterly ridiculous and fantastic. Christopher Lloyd taking part in a violent gun-fight set piece was nothing short of awesome. I know everyone else has said it, but convincingly turning Bob Odenkirk into a bad-ass action guy ..... wow!

 

Movie #1 down on film-fest Friday.

 

Movie #2 is going to be The Kings Man

 

Curious your thoughts on The Kings Man. I assume youve seen the others. How would you rank the 3 and what you think of The Kings Man.

[DuWayne Steurer]

The middle one (IMO of course) was the weakest. It wasn't bad, but it it just didn't pop the way the first one and the new one did.

 

I loved this movie today. It has a lot less focus on the action and more on building the world and the story, but there's still plenty of set pieces that move along with the story. Ralph Fiennes is simply an amazing actor, and I have never seen a movie he's in that wasn't great.

[TURBO]

That is a series I have always wanted to see, but just haven't. I'm moving it up on my importance list!

[DuWayne Steurer]

Watched "The Green Knight" this afternoon. My goodness what an audio and visual feast. So many people have complained and downvoted this movie for not having enough action and fight scenes, but if you know the story of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, you'd know going in that it's not really an action/adventure story, but a story of discovery. Within that framework, it's an absolutely mesmerizing film that just crushes the visual aspect, and if you have surround sound, just absolutely crank it. Disappointed I missed this one in the theater, because it feels like it deserves that kind of viewing experience.