Rate the Last Movie You Saw

[TacomaDiver]

Been on a movie kick after work recently (which is good because I miss watching movies, and it's been too damn hot to do anything, so sitting in the basement is a nice reprieve.)

To cross-reference the Netflix thread, we did watch the latest Beverly Hills Copy movie - Axel F - BUT first we had to watch BHC II and III. The second one wasn't bad, didn't capture the magic of the first (so few sequels do), but compared to the third, it was a masterpiece. The third one just wasn't very good, but oddly enough my wife had seen it before but assumed it was a "Die Hard movie . . ."

The Axel one was better than the third, not as good as the second. Completely unnecessary to make the movie other than to cash in on nostalgia (like so much of our media today.) As far as nostalgic movies goes, it was better than the latest Ghostbusters movie. I was so bored.

Other movies we've watched recently:

• Civil War - I appreciate the vagueness as to who the good guys and bad guys were. After all, it was about war journalists. My wife was very uncomfortable with a bit of the subject matter because it hits close to reality at times.
• Girlfight - I saw this AGES ago and really wanted to revisit it, so it was fortuitous that Criterion was releasing it. Holds up well and still enjoyable.
• Anatomy of a Fall - we tried watching this on Hulu but the subtitles didn't work right for me (the movie is in English and French, but I couldn't get subs just for French, I could either have none or descriptive hearing). Not sure if it was me, Hulu or what. So I bought the Criterion bluray. Once I figured out those subs (no clue why I struggled with this!). Very dramatic. And I completely understand the praise thrown on Snoop (Messi) the dog. Did she do it?
• The Beekeeper - Jason Statham. Retired "something outside the law". Beekeeper. You know exactly what you're getting and it doesn't disappoint. It was a nice change of pace from some of the more dramatic movies we've been watching.
• Lone Star - another recent Criterion acquisition. I literally bought this because I know of the artist that did the cover. Really enjoyed this even though I have questions about the ending. Quite the slow burn. Felt like a play at times with some of the transitions. Also had a serialized feel to it.

No movies tonight - we have soccer!

[Ben Staad]

Twisters 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Summer flick. Not bad and not very good. Casting was a bit off for me on this one and I felt the characters were a bit childish.

[Halaineza]

Waiting to see again Intersteral on the new screen.

[TacomaDiver]

Watched the new Dev Patel film Monkey Man on Friday night. Even with all of the comparisons to John Wick (they even mention John Wick in the dialogue, and I do like how one of the IMDB reviewers calls it John Weak) it was a decent action flick. I'm starting to get back into films (and all of the technical aspects of them) so I appreciated that this film even got made, and then released theatrically. I wasn't able to catch it in the theaters, but did buy the 4k UHD of it.

Great tale of revenge, and I enjoyed how the story tapped into some Indian folklore (something I don't know very much of.) Plus, it wasn't a super hero movie, and the hero got his butt kicked quite a bit.

[dannyboy121070]

Last night was OUT OF DARKNESS, a film that I was frantic to see when it played in theaters last fall. My wife refused to go, because "Cavemen and monsters? And subtitles? No.", and no one else was interested in subtitles either, so.....

Thank God I was too cheap to pay the $5.99 rental, and waited until it hit Paramount+ yesterday, because wow, I was ready to put my fist through the TV by the time it ended. The clean-shaven face of the tribal leader was bad enough, but the reveal of what they were on the run from actually made me squirm with anger. No spoilers, but...fuck you for marketing the film the way you did. I can't really blame the filmmaker for making the film he wanted to make, but this was totally marketed in a misleading way. Enough said. Just don't waste your time.

[dannyboy121070]

I watched a new doc about The Beach Boys last night on Disney+, which was excellent. Highly recommended if you're a fan.

[Sock Monkey]

It started out strong. I read about 25% of it in bed one night, I just could not put it down. The author was given permission to follow the film from pre-production though release, so she made a lot of friends on the set. By the end, it seemed as if she was including things about crew members that we didn't need to know, just to include them, and the book dragged mercilessly. Did I need to read about the costume fittings of extras, and the goings-on of Bruce Willis' stand-in...? No. So...I guess it depends on how Inside Baseball you want the book to be. To me, there was just too much extraneous information for the book to be considered enjoyable.

That kinda makes it sound like it'll be a pass for me. I love some Inside Baseball stuff, but there is a tipping point. Maybe if I find it used somewhere cheap...

[dannyboy121070]

I'm glad you liked AMERICAN FICTION! It's just a funnier, smarter, and even more fun of a movie than what I thought it was going to be.

I hadn't heard of THE DEVIL'S CANDY, but have always been fascinated about the issues surrounding THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES. How was it?

It started out strong. I read about 25% of it in bed one night, I just could not put it down. The author was given permission to follow the film from pre-production though release, so she made a lot of friends on the set. By the end, it seemed as if she was including things about crew members that we didn't need to know, just to include them, and the book dragged mercilessly. Did I need to read about the costume fittings of extras, and the goings-on of Bruce Willis' stand-in...? No. So...I guess it depends on how Inside Baseball you want the book to be. To me, there was just too much extraneous information for the book to be considered enjoyable.

[Sock Monkey]

I watched AMERICAN FICTION on Amazon the other night...what a great film! Thought-provoking, hilarious, great cast...Geoffrey Wright was amazing, as always. Highly recommended.

I just finished reading THE DEVIL'S CANDY: THE ANATOMY OF A HOLLYWOOD FIASCO, about Brian De Palma's film adaptation of THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES, so I decided to watch A24's documentary DE PALMA, which was very interesting. I haven't seen all of his films, and this made me want to go seek out some of the ones that I've missed. Fascinating stuff.

I'm glad you liked AMERICAN FICTION! It's just a funnier, smarter, and even more fun of a movie than what I thought it was going to be.

I hadn't heard of THE DEVIL'S CANDY, but have always been fascinated about the issues surrounding THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES. How was it?

[Martin]

I watched AMERICAN FICTION on Amazon the other night...what a great film! Thought-provoking, hilarious, great cast...Geoffrey Wright was amazing, as always. Highly recommended.

I just finished reading THE DEVIL'S CANDY: THE ANATOMY OF A HOLLYWOOD FIASCO, about Brian De Palma's film adaptation of THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES, so I decided to watch A24's documentary DE PALMA, which was very interesting. I haven't seen all of his films, and this made me want to go seek out some of the ones that I've missed. Fascinating stuff.

Thank you for posting about American Fiction. That was one I was planning on going to the theater to see but life got in the way. It had dropped off my radar and I did not realize it was on Prime. I will try and find the time to get to it soon. 

[dannyboy121070]

I watched AMERICAN FICTION on Amazon the other night...what a great film! Thought-provoking, hilarious, great cast...Geoffrey Wright was amazing, as always. Highly recommended.

I just finished reading THE DEVIL'S CANDY: THE ANATOMY OF A HOLLYWOOD FIASCO, about Brian De Palma's film adaptation of THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES, so I decided to watch A24's documentary DE PALMA, which was very interesting. I haven't seen all of his films, and this made me want to go seek out some of the ones that I've missed. Fascinating stuff.

[dannyboy121070]

I also watched Dev Patel's MONKEY MAN on Peacock, which was vaguely disappointing. I was frantic to see this film, after all the hype of how brutal and relentless the action was, but it dragged a bit for me, despite some really good fight scenes. Patel is great in the film, but it was a lot longer than it needed to be, and the shakycam beatdowns were too few and far-between to hold my interest.

[dannyboy121070]

Thanks for the heads up on the doc. I have MAX so that works out for a change!

As far as vampire films, I really try to steer clear of them. Frankly, I just don't find them that interesting or scary, unless it's completely brutal vampires like in 30 Days of Night. Same goes for werewolves. Though to be honest, my main issue is that most modern werewolf films I have seen in recent years are just riffing on the puberty/sexual awakening themes of Ginger Snaps. After more than a couple of these, my weariness begat my wariness. Finally, I really enjoyed Nathalie Emmanuel in Game of Thrones and keep looking for her to pop up in something decent. The only thing that I have seen her in is Die Hart 2, which was playing at a family member's house and...yeah, from what I saw, I'm good not doubling back to catch the other 70-something minutes I missed.

Yeah, I think THE INVITATION was her chance at stardom, and it seems to have flopped. I was wondering if she'd done anything lately. But I suppose being in a Kevin Hart vehicle is good exposure.

[Sock Monkey]

The Jodorowsky doc is streaming on Max, and THE INVITATION was the newer vampire one. How they can just take a title from another recent movie is beyond me, but, yes, the Kusama one was vastly superior! As far as recent vampire films go, I've seen a LOT worse than this. A LOT, lol. And Nathalie Emmanuel is easy on the eyes, so there was that.

Thanks for the heads up on the doc. I have MAX so that works out for a change!

As far as vampire films, I really try to steer clear of them. Frankly, I just don't find them that interesting or scary, unless it's completely brutal vampires like in 30 Days of Night. Same goes for werewolves. Though to be honest, my main issue is that most modern werewolf films I have seen in recent years are just riffing on the puberty/sexual awakening themes of Ginger Snaps. After more than a couple of these, my weariness begat my wariness. Finally, I really enjoyed Nathalie Emmanuel in Game of Thrones and keep looking for her to pop up in something decent. The only thing that I have seen her in is Die Hart 2, which was playing at a family member's house and...yeah, from what I saw, I'm good not doubling back to catch the other 70-something minutes I missed.

[dannyboy121070]

The Jodorowsky doc is streaming on Max, and THE INVITATION was the newer vampire one. How they can just take a title from another recent movie is beyond me, but, yes, the Kusama one was vastly superior! As far as recent vampire films go, I've seen a LOT worse than this. A LOT, lol. And Nathalie Emmanuel is easy on the eyes, so there was that.