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Recently viewed movie thread - Rental, Streaming, Theater etc (7 Viewers)

Not really on first watch, but the bolded it why I still give lesser PTAs decent scores.   

I usually like PTAs take on non-typical movie relationships/romances, but these characters and age gap really kept me at arm's length with the movie.   I also gather from podcasts and articles afterwards that this has a bit of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood syndrome in that people who know the area/history appreciate it that much more.   They all gushed about the authentic feel of the valley and portrayals of real-life characters that I knew nothing about.  
I totally agree. I wanted to love it as a coming to age story but it just never got there and the age thing was beyond weird. I thought at some point they would skip ahead a few years where the kid was 18 or 19 (think he’s 19 irl) to show some growth and also get it off him being a literal kid. Nope. We’re just packing multiple storefront businesses into one year for a 15 year old kid. Okay. 

 
My local independent  theater played Drive, all three lotr movies, The Godfather part I and Fargo all in one week.

 
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I'm hearing that from way too many people. 

And I hated The Piano, too.

And this is the Best Picture favorite this year?  :rolleyes:
In the last couple days I've added King Richard and West Side Story to my watched list.  I am comfortable saying Power of the Dog is by far the best movie nominated for Best Picture that I've seen of the bunch.  

 
In the last couple days I've added King Richard and West Side Story to my watched list.  I am comfortable saying Power of the Dog is by far the best movie nominated for Best Picture that I've seen of the bunch.  
It was even better on a second watch imo but I get why many people didn’t like it

 
Remember the hitler reacts memes from a decade ago? I got around to watching downfall and it’s actually a really great movie. 

 
Cromwell kept showing up on the Amazon Prime "recommended for you" list, and it was free, so I watched it. This is the 60's Richard Harris one, in case there's some other one people might get it confused with. Not so good. Really clunky historical adaptation, subpar writing, tons of overacting. Skip it.

I mention that one because it led me into The Wild Geese. Interesting (1978) film. It's about this band of mercenaries Richard Burton puts together to attempt to rescue a deposed President of an African nation. Very 70's tone and production quality. The Joan Armitrading theme song stuck out to me from the outset as a sort of mirror universe James Bond theme, with the opening credits sequence also seeming like a mirror universe James Bond opening credit sequence, at least stylistically (note there were no prancing silhouettes of nude women). It's hard not to make a James Bond connection because, well, Roger Moore makes up the 2nd third of the main casting triumvirate, with Richard Harris being the final 3rd. Moore is pretty much a slightly (very slightly) grittier James Bond in this one, though he doesn't have quite as many scenes as Harris or Burton. Harris is a sort of egghead everyman, he really didn't have ton to work with here.

All three are nearly laughably too old for the physicality demanded of the action sequences, even given the premise that these mercenaries are over the hill to begin with. But they literally soldier on as best they can.

It's a bit of a 60's/70's trope film in the line of Dirty Dozen, Where Eagles Dare, etc. - a bunch of misfits, led by a few morally tortured geniuses, get sent on an impossible mission, knowing many won't come back alive, macho bonding ensues (or is revived from past relationships), resulting in manufactured heartbreak when said not coming back alive manifests. The ketchup blood packets were not spared.

The racial relations underlying theme gets put front and center in very heavy handed ways on multiple occasions, sometimes awkwardly inserted into scenes that didn't really lend themselves to that line of dialogue. I think the theme belongs in the film, I just think it could have been handled a bit less clumsily.

Most punches are telegraphed pretty well.

It may seem like I didn't enjoy this film, but actually I did. I think ultimately it was due to Richard Burton. Some may not like his particular style, but I think he's one of the greatest actors I've ever seen. In this role, it could have gone horribly wrong if someone else had taken it, probably going over the top and making it pure camp. But Burton is almost uniformly subtle and grounded throughout. It's worth seeing just for his performance. I wouldn't call it a must see overall though.

Oh, also Frank Finlay has a cameo, whom I really enjoy. I think, for a guy who was part Irish, his Irish Catholic priest tended a bit too much toward caricature, but I still got a kick out of him showing up.

 
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Mr. Mojo said:
I did watch Belfast (you recommended it) and enjoyed it.  :thumbup:
Doh - I misspoke earlier.  It's Belfast and Coda I haven't watched yet because I thought my wife would be more likely to enjoy those.  

 
Murderville

This Will Arnett Netflix vehicle is hilarious. Arnett and the cast know what's happening, but the celebrity guest does not, and has no script. So it's a lot of Arnett trying to crack up the guest. 

 
Good Girls

This is a tepid ripoff of Breaking Bad with females. That said, I do like many of the actors. The writing is perfunctory, it's true. Many of the actors are better than the writing, and that makes it worth a shot. 

 
Got the opportunity to view an newly-released independent film entitled: "The Man in Room 6".  2.5 hour film was done on a $60k budget around the St. Louis area. Was pretty good. Got a great Q&A opportunity afterwards with the director. I would characterize the film as being a combo of Jordan Peele/David Lynch/Wes Craven feel to it.  Pretty deep script and was well done. Highly recommend it. Here is a review of it I found:

http://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2022/03/the-st-louis-lensed-shocker-the-man-in-room-6-screening-at-the-lincoln-theater-in-belleville-il-friday-march-18th/

Teaser:

https://vimeo.com/302722644

 
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The Best Years of our Lives

I liked it, but wouldn't rank it among the tippy top of classic movies. I can see why it played well in post-WWII America, though.

 
Best Years of Our Lives would rank pretty close to the top of Best Picture winners if I ever sat down to rank them. Masterpiece of a movie IMO. 

 
I finally saw The Batman. There was a lot to really like- especially the score. I think it went off the rails in the last 30 or so minutes. Everything was perfect but then it turned into a kind of copy of the Nolan movies which was a letdown. Really well made though and Colin Ferrel was fun as the penguin. 

 
Saw The French Dispatch. Loved it. My second favorite Anderson movie next to Rushmore. A love letter to French New Wave and The New Yorker. What wasn't to like?

Seriously been thinking about it all night. It takes a certain genius to make a watchable film out of that sort of sourcing without seeming pretentious or overdone. Precious enough for the femme fatales of New Wave and Anderson himself, serious enough to provoke pangs of empathy and laughter both. 

Well done. Bravo. 

 
Saw The French Dispatch. Loved it. My second favorite Anderson movie next to Rushmore. A love letter to French New Wave and The New Yorker. What wasn't to like?

Seriously been thinking about it all night. It takes a certain genius to make a watchable film out of that sort of sourcing without seeming pretentious or overdone. Precious enough for the femme fatales of New Wave and Anderson himself, serious enough to provoke pangs of empathy and laughter both. 

Well done. Bravo. 
Wes is such a skilled film maker. With $25 million he makes a movie that looks like it cost $100 million. He does such an immaculate job with production design and for skillfully using digital FX in ways that people don't notice. 

 
Wes is such a skilled film maker. With $25 million he makes a movie that looks like it cost $100 million. He does such an immaculate job with production design and for skillfully using digital FX in ways that people don't notice. 
Wow, was it that much? I thought it looked like he had a huge budget. That's crazy. 

What would you say his effects were in this one? I will admit to already being an Anderson fan and granting him his artifice that I often don't notice. I just typed a bunch of stuff that I thought was artificial but I don't want to spoil it for others so I quickly erased it. 

Film had me a bit excited again. It didn't feel as distant as some of his others have been. He seemed to really love the subjects and sources of the film. 

 
Wow, was it that much? I thought it looked like he had a huge budget. That's crazy. 

What would you say his effects were in this one? I will admit to already being an Anderson fan and granting him his artifice that I often don't notice. I just typed a bunch of stuff that I thought was artificial but I don't want to spoil it for others so I quickly erased it. 

Film had me a bit excited again. It didn't feel as distant as some of his others have been. He seemed to really love the subjects and sources of the film. 
The the biggest FX were actually practical: models and matte paintings using forced perspective to create the look of a 3D space. I know it was shot on film. The B&W was shot on B&W film as well.  There were 130 different sets for the movie. There were some digital sets. I know the prison set was digital set, the police precinct was digital as well. There were a few elaborate shots that needed to be precise that they used digital fx to help create. He hides the digital FX so well that I don't notice them and would have to really study the movie to catch them which is why they are done so well. 

 
Ilov80s said:
Also your French New Wave comment reminds me I have Band of Outsiders here and I need to watch it. 
I'd love to watch it again. I think last time I saw it was ten years ago and don't remember it all that well. 

 
I'd love to watch it again. I think last time I saw it was ten years ago and don't remember it all that well. 
It’s funny how much it’s exactly like a Wes film and yet nothing like it. Godard was always so much of a wing it guy where Wes draws every scene of the movie out before it’s filmed but in the the end it results in a lot of similarities. 
 

The dance scene where they cut to silence for narration of each character is iconic. 

 
They dance The Madison, if I recall correctly. A sort of made-up dance for the movie. 
Yeah just a great scene. I am more of a Truffaut guy than a Godard guy if we are talking French New Wave but Godard is infinitely cooler. That dance scene is probably Godard’s peak. 
 

Also so cool Godard is still alive. He even goes on Instagram some times to answer questions. He has to be near the last of the French New Wave now that Belmondo died a few months ago. 

 
Blade Runner in the theater tomorrow night. I've never seen that one on the big screen.
Great experience. As I sat there it dawned on me why we should watch movies in theaters - no interruptions.

Your phone is off - you can't answer calls or texts or look stuff up.

You can't pause/rewind/fast forward. 

Nobody is asking you to cross something off your Honey-Do list.

You just need to engage your attention span for a couple hours and actually experience something.

I hope theaters never die.

 
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