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Recently viewed movie thread - Rental Edition (3 Viewers)

I believe there is a much shorter War and Peace starring Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda. I can't imagine that is very good even if it was directed by the great King Vidor.
Haven't seen that, but "short" and War and Peace just don't compute for me.
It's 3.5 hours so it's still a really long movie. It just happens to be about half the length of the Russian film.
 
I believe there is a much shorter War and Peace starring Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda. I can't imagine that is very good even if it was directed by the great King Vidor.
Haven't seen that, but "short" and War and Peace just don't compute for me.
It's 3.5 hours so it's still a really long movie. It just happens to be about half the length of the Russian film.

1950s historical epics haven't held up well for the most part. I appreciate the spectacle though and they're sometimes entertaining for the wrong reasons.
 
I like the book (or did, it's been decades since I read it) and this is a crucial missing element indeed. I've seen some more recently produced Russian shows (Sophia, Catherine The Great) and this older production seemed far behind those in terms of acting and directing, as well as being more of a veneer of adaptation rather than an in depth translation of the original materia

The only Tolstoy I ever read was Anna Karenina. We're all fortunate that its many movie adaptations have been normal length romances focusing on Anna rather than 8-10 hour epics that give Levin's boring farming chapters equal billing.
 
Delicious now on Prime is one of my favorite new films.
A foodie movie set in France just before the original Bastille Day.
 
This week my wife returned the five For Your Consideration screeners to our movie friends and picked up 9 new ones. It feels strange watching DVDs again; then again, I hate scrolling through streaming services trying to find something interesting. Appreciate this thread so much.

Not all of these are from the current awards season but they’re new to me:
  • Bardo: False Chronicles of a Handful of Truths
  • Bones and All
  • Dune (2021)
  • Empire of Light
  • The Fabelmans
  • Nope (2021)
  • The Son
  • The Whale
  • White Noise
Will report back.
  1. Liked the cinematography of Bardo but found the storytelling tedious.
  2. Bones and All is a road trip rom-drama about cannibals who fall in love. How about you watch it & LMK what I missed?
  3. Liked Empire of Light, Olivia Colman is brilliant (per usual.)
  4. I suspect most people will like The Fabelmans. I found it self indulgent. Let’s put it this way: take away that it’s a semi-autobiographical tale of Spielberg’s formative years & I doubt anyone would find it interesting. IMO
  5. Nope is a yes. Great to see Steven Yeun (Glen Rhee TWD) again.
  6. Both The Son and The Whale were adapted from plays. I enjoyed the former more but man does Brendan Fraser kill it in the latter - Oscar worthy performance. Recommend both.
  7. I forgot I previously watched White Noise which probably tells you everything.
  8. ETA forgot we tried to watch Dune. Awful. So was the 1984 attempt. Missed the mini series. Loved the book. IDK made it 1/3rd of the way through (?) & was bored to tears.
 
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My updated Godard (RIP) rankings

1. Vivre Sa Vie
2. Contempt
3. Pierrot Le Fou
4. Bande a Part
5. Weekend
6. Alphaville
7.Breathless
8. Le Petit Soldat

Anyone else a fan? Other recommendations?
 
@BobbyLayne Interesting to hear you liked Empire of Light and couldn’t even make it through half of Dune. Kind of contrarian views there. I’ll give Empire of Light a whirl though.

Lately I’m finding I like a lot of movies/series which are a slow burn. I don’t need something to be happening to be drawn into a story - if the characters are interesting.

Dune is a terrific epic tale, but it’s been 45+ years since I read it. Just didn’t find the characters worth investing in. IDK just have a bit of small story bias rn, maybe later I’ll revisit it and appreciate the power-exploitation & intrigue dynamics.

My least favorite style of storytelling is dialogue as the plot device, explanatory lines that could literally be told/said by anyone in the cast. Dune is heavy on exposition- understandably as it’s a sprawling story & I think some find it hard to follow - and I just didn’t think the characters had anything interesting to say.

There’s plenty of action though & most reviews have been super positive. Just wasn’t in the mood for it I guess.

:shrug:
 
@BobbyLayne Interesting to hear you liked Empire of Light and couldn’t even make it through half of Dune. Kind of contrarian views there. I’ll give Empire of Light a whirl though.

Lately I’m finding I like a lot of movies/series which are a slow burn. I don’t need something to be happening to be drawn into a story - if the characters are interesting.

Dune is a terrific epic tale, but it’s been 45+ years since I read it. Just didn’t find the characters worth investing in. IDK just have a bit of small story bias rn, maybe later I’ll revisit it and appreciate the power-exploitation & intrigue dynamics.

My least favorite style of storytelling is dialogue as the plot device, explanatory lines that could literally be told/said by anyone in the cast. Dune is heavy on exposition- understandably as it’s a sprawling story & I think some find it hard to follow - and I just didn’t think the characters had anything interesting to say.

There’s plenty of action though & most reviews have been super positive. Just wasn’t in the mood for it I guess.

:shrug:
To each their own. I enjoy exactly the kind of dialogue driven movies you noted. I just ranked my favorite Godard movies above and those are pretty light on action and heavy on dialogue, long conversational scenes. Dune's dialogue is pretty bad and it was a ton of heavy exposition. I do think the 2nd half finishes strong though and the audio-visuals are spectacular. There is room for both but I can understand why Dune might not work for some.
 
My lazy *** watched Ran, Banshees of Inisherin, and Empire of Light today. All quite different, but all worth a watch. Of them, I liked Empire the least though. Just a predictable, well acted movie. It also looked amazing, and of course pulling on the theater heart strings will hit me a tad. It just didn't have as many wow and WTF moments as the other two, so it got lost in the shuffle a bit today. I feel like Mendes had a little TOO much he was trying to say in one movie.
 
My lazy *** watched Ran, Banshees of Inisherin, and Empire of Light today. All quite different, but all worth a watch. Of them, I liked Empire the least though. Just a predictable, well acted movie. It also looked amazing, and of course pulling on the theater heart strings will hit me a tad. It just didn't have as many wow and WTF moments as the other two, so it got lost in the shuffle a bit today. I feel like Mendes had a little TOO much he was trying to say in one movie.
Don't bury the lede, what about Ran and Banshees?
 
My lazy *** watched Ran, Banshees of Inisherin, and Empire of Light today. All quite different, but all worth a watch. Of them, I liked Empire the least though. Just a predictable, well acted movie. It also looked amazing, and of course pulling on the theater heart strings will hit me a tad. It just didn't have as many wow and WTF moments as the other two, so it got lost in the shuffle a bit today. I feel like Mendes had a little TOO much he was trying to say in one movie.
Don't bury the lede, what about Ran and Banshees?
:lol:

Ran I thought was great, beautiful to look at, but a familiar story of course. The rental on Amazon claimed it was in 4K and I thought it looked great.

Banshees I was expecting worse from the reactions - like Ari Aster level misery. I laughed quite a bit, and thought the concept was great. The ending left me a little cool, but I really liked it up until then. Not sure it's in my top 5 of the year, but it was very good.
 
Ran I thought was great, beautiful to look at, but a familiar story of course. The rental on Amazon claimed it was in 4K and I thought it looked great.

Banshees I was expecting worse from the reactions - like Ari Aster level misery. I laughed quite a bit, and thought the concept was great. The ending left me a little cool, but I really liked it up until then. Not sure it's in my top 5 of the year, but it was very good.
I am curious what your top 5 ends up looking like. I still need to see a few more. Firing up the Maverick 4K disc tonight for a rewatch.
 
Ran I thought was great, beautiful to look at, but a familiar story of course. The rental on Amazon claimed it was in 4K and I thought it looked great.

Banshees I was expecting worse from the reactions - like Ari Aster level misery. I laughed quite a bit, and thought the concept was great. The ending left me a little cool, but I really liked it up until then. Not sure it's in my top 5 of the year, but it was very good.
I am curious what your top 5 ends up looking like. I still need to see a few more. Firing up the Maverick 4K disc tonight for a rewatch.
It's tough, but I usually grade movie experiences highly, so that would vault up Maverick and Barbarian. Without looking at a list, Tar would be my frontrunner. I know i liked Northman more than you, and would have to think about movies like After Yang that I saw towards the beginning of the year and remembered really digging.
 
It's tough, but I usually grade movie experiences highly, so that would vault up Maverick and Barbarian. Without looking at a list, Tar would be my frontrunner. I know i liked Northman more than you, and would have to think about movies like After Yang that I saw towards the beginning of the year and remembered really digging.
After Yang was solid. I really liked the dance scene at the beginning. I've got Babylon pretty high and I am also surprised how much I liked The Batman relative to everything. I would like to give those both a rewatch pretty soon.
 
It's tough, but I usually grade movie experiences highly, so that would vault up Maverick and Barbarian. Without looking at a list, Tar would be my frontrunner. I know i liked Northman more than you, and would have to think about movies like After Yang that I saw towards the beginning of the year and remembered really digging.
After Yang was solid. I really liked the dance scene at the beginning. I've got Babylon pretty high and I am also surprised how much I liked The Batman relative to everything. I would like to give those both a rewatch pretty soon.
Those two I haven't seen. Tonight the plan is to watch Decision to Leave. But now you have Maverick in my head and I had thought about that one briefly today as a palate cleanser to the heavier movies I watched today.
 
White Noise
Bizarre timing.
A movie comes out about a train derailment unleashing a black plume of toxic smoke into a small community in Ohio then a few months later this happens.
-------------------
NowThis
@nowthisnews
The fiery derailment in Ohio of a train carrying toxic chemicals has highlighted the potentially disastrous consequences of train accidents and raised questions about railroad safety
Picture
---------
Reminded me of the movie Heat with a showcase running gun battle threw the streets after a failed bank robbery then a few months later this happened.

The North Hollywood shootout, 20 years later
---------------
I'm sure that I'm missing many other times that this has happened with a fictional portrayal of an event then it happens in real life soon thereafter.
Has this event been documented?
 
I was bored last night and saw Almost Famous was on. Hadn't seen it since it originally came out and remembered liking it, so figured it would be a nice enough distraction. Upon rewatch I have to admit, though, that @wikkidpissah has always been right - that movie was awful.


hold me closer, tidy answer
Wish you were still around to elaborate wp

I watched this last night after gf said it was her favorite movie of all time. She fell asleep halfway through of course. I mean, the music in it was interesting and they spotlighted some albums I should probably check out. There's a lot of pretty people in it and the storyline isn't too bad. I guess.

Am I missing something here? I thought it was boring and ran for way too long. I like Phillip Seymour Hoffman but the character he played was super cringe. This seems like one of those movies that was cool at the time it came out, but it didn't age well and had zero depth. I like to think there's some grand theory I'm missing but I think it's just an ok movie.
 
I was bored last night and saw Almost Famous was on. Hadn't seen it since it originally came out and remembered liking it, so figured it would be a nice enough distraction. Upon rewatch I have to admit, though, that @wikkidpissah has always been right - that movie was awful.


hold me closer, tidy answer
Wish you were still around to elaborate wp

I watched this last night after gf said it was her favorite movie of all time. She fell asleep halfway through of course. I mean, the music in it was interesting and they spotlighted some albums I should probably check out. There's a lot of pretty people in it and the storyline isn't too bad. I guess.

Am I missing something here? I thought it was boring and ran for way too long. I like Phillip Seymour Hoffman but the character he played was super cringe. This seems like one of those movies that was cool at the time it came out, but it didn't age well and had zero depth. I like to think there's some grand theory I'm missing but I think it's just an ok movie.
If you look it’s here somewhere. He ranted on the movie several times- despised it.
 
Not sure what to think about Everything Everywhere All at Once. I didn't hate it, I liked what I believe are the central themes of it and at times it was a fun ride. I just think if they trimmed some of the more absurdist elements of it, like the anal toys fight, hot dog hands and bagel black hole, it could have been a more impactful story. Great performances and visuals. I guess I liked it but it's not something I'd sit through again.
 
Not sure what to think about Everything Everywhere All at Once. I didn't hate it, I liked what I believe are the central themes of it and at times it was a fun ride. I just think if they trimmed some of the more absurdist elements of it, like the anal toys fight, hot dog hands and bagel black hole, it could have been a more impactful story. Great performances and visuals. I guess I liked it but it's not something I'd sit through again.
Interesting, the dedication to absurdism is what I loved most about it.
 
Not sure what to think about Everything Everywhere All at Once. I didn't hate it, I liked what I believe are the central themes of it and at times it was a fun ride. I just think if they trimmed some of the more absurdist elements of it, like the anal toys fight, hot dog hands and bagel black hole, it could have been a more impactful story. Great performances and visuals. I guess I liked it but it's not something I'd sit through again.
Interesting, the dedication to absurdism is what I loved most about it.
As a fan of Rick and Morty, I can embrace absurdity but not at the expense the human element. More isn't always better and I thought some of the extended scenes took me out of the story. I did like it but I think they could have tightened it up instead of throwing "everything" at the screen. I admire the effort and originality and I'm sure it will win lots of awards.
 
Not sure what to think about Everything Everywhere All at Once. I didn't hate it, I liked what I believe are the central themes of it and at times it was a fun ride. I just think if they trimmed some of the more absurdist elements of it, like the anal toys fight, hot dog hands and bagel black hole, it could have been a more impactful story. Great performances and visuals. I guess I liked it but it's not something I'd sit through again.
Interesting, the dedication to absurdism is what I loved most about it.
As a fan of Rick and Morty, I can embrace absurdity but not at the expense the human element. More isn't always better and I thought some of the extended scenes took me out of the story. I did like it but I think they could have tightened it up instead of throwing "everything" at the screen. I admire the effort and originality and I'm sure it will win lots of awards.

It was just OK for me

Watch White Noise now…WTF
 
Thanks to @Eephus :thumbup:and his prodigious movie watching, I decided at the beginning of the year that my wife and I would start watching more movies. We alternate each week, with no complaints from the other on the choice and in between one we both agree on. It's been nice to just not have to decide between show, news, sports etc and just spend the night on one thing. Before, if we watched one movie every other month, that would be a lot.
So far this year, we've watched: (mine are bolded)
The Sting
The Verdict
Gladiator

Mystic Pizza
Solace (Anthony Hopkins)
Everything, Everywhere All at Once
Amsterdam
Goldfinger

There are a few that I wouldn't put her through and plan to watch myself when I find the time.
 
Watched Plane on Saturday. Not sure how it received all the positive reviews. Terrible CGI and not even a fun action flick.
 
All Quiet On The Western Front

Superb.
Good movie but made a bit of a mess of the book IMO. Felt like they saw 1917 and wanted to do a WW1 movie but they felt attaching a known title to it would increase it's viability. I don't like some of the changes made.
Was it supposed to be totally based on the book? I wasn’t sure.

As far as the depiction of combat and tactics used during WW1 though, I thought it was a very strong portrayal.
 
Was it supposed to be totally based on the book? I wasn’t sure.

As far as the depiction of combat and tactics used during WW1 though, I thought it was a very strong portrayal.
Of course movies always deviate from the books. I just thought the spots they did missed the mark in a big way. Yes the depictions of the war was fantastic. I enjoyed, well made. I just can’t understand some of the choices.
 
The Outfit on Prime was really good. Gangster tale set in the 50's. The entire movie takes place in one location giving it a feel of a play at times. Excellent cast. The lead, Mark Rylance is apparently a very famous British stage actor. He was perfect in his role.

eta: I had linked the trailer but I'd say to not watch it. It gives away too much, imo.
 
The Outfit on Prime was really good. Gangster tale set in the 50's. The entire movie takes place in one location giving it a feel of a play at times. Excellent cast. The lead, Mark Rylance is apparently a very famous British stage actor. He was perfect in his role.

eta: I had linked the trailer but I'd say to not watch it. It gives away too much, imo.
I just watched it last weekend and also really enjoyed it.
 
Anyone watch The Woman King on Netflix yet? If you like action, sword fights, battles, historical epics, etc then this is for you. Very well made movie, a lot to enjoy.
 
Thanks to @Eephus :thumbup:and his prodigious movie watching, I decided at the beginning of the year that my wife and I would start watching more movies. We alternate each week, with no complaints from the other on the choice and in between one we both agree on. It's been nice to just not have to decide between show, news, sports etc and just spend the night on one thing. Before, if we watched one movie every other month, that would be a lot.
So far this year, we've watched: (mine are bolded)
The Sting
The Verdict
Gladiator

Mystic Pizza
Solace (Anthony Hopkins)
Everything, Everywhere All at Once
Amsterdam
Goldfinger

There are a few that I wouldn't put her through and plan to watch myself when I find the time.
The Sting is an all-timer, has been on showtime, so good.
 
Thanks to @Eephus :thumbup:and his prodigious movie watching, I decided at the beginning of the year that my wife and I would start watching more movies.
Just wanted to say that setting aside time with my wife every night to watch at least an hour of something together is the best thing we've done in the past 5 years. I started it probably 2-3 years ago by turning off the computer and going into the living room to watch whatever she was watching. That progressed to taking turns choosing what to watch, and now it's an established routine we both enjoy. We watch mostly series, and you're more into movies (I think) but the important part is the time together, on the regular.
 
Thanks to @Eephus :thumbup:and his prodigious movie watching, I decided at the beginning of the year that my wife and I would start watching more movies.
Just wanted to say that setting aside time with my wife every night to watch at least an hour of something together is the best thing we've done in the past 5 years. I started it probably 2-3 years ago by turning off the computer and going into the living room to watch whatever she was watching. That progressed to taking turns choosing what to watch, and now it's an established routine we both enjoy. We watch mostly series, and you're more into movies (I think) but the important part is the time together, on the regular.
Definitely important. We've only just started watching movies again. Thankfully we agree on most shows, movies and even sports so time spent together has never been an issue. We're rarely apart more than 2 or 3 hours in a day now that we moved and both WFH.
 
FEBRUARY MOVIES

Beverly Hills Cop (1984 - M. Brest)
Bedazzled (1967 - S. Donen)
Big Guns/No Way Out (1971 - D. Tessari)
Waterloo (1970 - S. Bondarchuk)
The Menu (2022 - M. Mylod)
My Favorite Wife (1940 - G. Kanin)
**** Tracy Special: Tracy Zooms In (short) (2023 - W. Beatty/C. Merrill)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977 - L. Gilbert)
The Two Jakes (1990 - J. Nicholson)
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014 - A. Inarritu)
Greased Lightning (1977 - M. Schultz)
Cunk on Earth (series) (2022 - C. Watt)
Malcolm X (1992 - S. Lee)
Driven (2001 - R. Harlin)
Magic Mike (2012 - S. Soderbergh)
Magic Mike’s Last Dance (2023 - S. Soderbergh)
The Da Vinci Code (2006 - R. Howard)
Tucker: The Man and his Dream (1988 - F. Coppola)
Lumumba (2000 - R. Peck)

After my first two films this month began with the letter B, I considered seeing how long I could push it. The answer was not very far. Beverly Hills Cop and Bedazzled still hold up well although I'm always surprised by the violence of BH Cop if I haven't seen it in a while. Big Guns was a hard-boiled Italian poliziotteschi with a typical vengeance plotline.

The discussion here about the Russian War and Peace sent me in search of Sergei Bondarchuk's Waterloo, which I haven't seen since the 70s. It's not very good although scale of the battle scenes still impress.

I liked The Menu and thought it was hilarious. It was supposed to be a comedy right?

Never saw The Two Jakes before. The pieces were all there but it's an impossible task to measure up to Chinatown. I thought the tying together of the two films' stories was forced and obvious

Birdman was the only other "B" movie. I don't know what I was expecting but the movie defied them. I think the single shot technique was more effective in the confined space of Birdman than in 1917 where it just seemed like a gimmick.

Greased Lightning
and Driven are two not very good car racing movies. The former at least had Richard Pryor and Pam Grier. The latter stands among the worst films ever.

For Black History Month, I watched two biographies of 60s Black nationalist leaders. Malcolm X was very good but Spike held every shot a couple of beats too long which really added up. By comparison, Lumumba was a fast paced story of the first Prime Minister of the Congo that didn't waste much time on historical exposition.

Cunk on Earth was very fun. Not all the jokes hit but there were so many of them it hardly managed. Philomena Cunk is a great character.

Saw Magic Mike's Last Dance in the theater which was something. I'd never seen any of the series so we watched the first one the night before. I suppose I now have to see XXL at some point. I'm a huge Soderbergh fan so even the flimsiest story Last Dance was technically interesting and entertaining.
 

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