Ah. I think these were part of Masterpiece Theater at one time.
I believe that series is on the Max via BritBox. Thank you!
Gotta be one of the more expensive episodes, unless they fake all of Egypt in a studio.
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Some of the best wines from the Okanagan have merlot grapes: I have had many great cab merlots from there. And a lot more are being purchased here thanks to Mr. Trump.
Probably our next trip to Canada will be there.
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I watched The Last Showgirl on my flight from Vancouver to London last week. Primary reason was to see local icon Pamela Anderson in a dramatic role: she was great. And for those of you who have not seen her since her Baywatch days, she is more beautiful than ever. Must watch the reboot of The Naked Gun.
Since this is the movie thread, I would mention that I bumped into Dianne Wiest in the gift shop at the V&A today. She is quite recognizable! She was quite friendly and happy to chat. I never know what to say to a celebrity other than âI enjoyed your work in movie such and suchâ. I liked her in several Woody Allen roles and Parenthood but that was a long time ago.
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Memoir of a Snail (Hulu) Animated - definitely for adults. I thought it was trying to be sentimental, but was just weird and quite sad (not in a really emotional way)
Billy Joel: And So It Goes (HBO) (Two Parts) This is my musical era, huge fan and I am a Long Island boy. I absolutely loved this. With enough that I didnât know, well paced and interesting.
Happy Gilmore 2 (Netflix) About what you would expect, but even stupider, especially the ending âgolfâ game. Great cameos made up for a lot
AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute toâŚFrancis Ford Coppola (TCM) Noting terribly new or interesting, but a very noce tribute
The Departed. Had never seen it, because Iâm not really a fan of mob movies or violence or Scorsese. But it might be my favorite film now.
Rest of the family went to Disneyland last weekend and I stayed home, so I watched a bunch of movies.
Passengers Pretty decent sci-fi about a colony ship with about 5000 people in cryosleep on a 120-year journey to a distant planet. Chris Pratt is accidentally woken up way too early and he has to come to terms with being stranded, alone in space for the rest of his life. He makes some questionable decisions, but it sorta works out for him.
Prisoners Excellent thriller with Jake Gyllenhall as a detective trying to track down two missing children. Hugh Jackman is the father of one of the missing girls and he goes to great lengths to find her. Some good twists in this one and all the actors are top notch.
The End of the World Finally watched the final film in the âcornetto trilogyâ. Fun, but nowhere near Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz. Those are both incredible. This one is a good "get the gang back together for a night of nostalgia and drinking, then crazy stuff happens film.
Midsommar Never got around to watching this until now. Itâs 3 hours!! Really does a great job of building tension and setting the mood though. Nowhere near as gruesome as I had heard. Really more of a psychological horror film. Lives up to the hype if youâre in the mood to be uncomfortable for 3 hours.
The Fountain Really enjoy Aronofsky films, and this was no exception. Hugh Jackman again, this time heâs a medical researcher trying to find a way to cure his wife (Rachel Weisz)"s cancer. Along the way he takes a spiritual journey and finds the tree of life. Maybe. Itâs well done, switching back and forth between different parts of the narrative.
Hundreds of Beavers This is one of the silliest things Iâve ever seen. Itâs great. Very creative and takes some interesting turns toward the end. Best to go in blind. Any description wonât do it justice imo.
The Endless Low budget time-loop thing with a Lovecraftian undepinning. Two brothers go back to visit the UFO death cult they escaped from as children and then stuff gets weird. It was very well-done, with lots of subtle effects that give it an unsettling vibe.
Happy Gilmore 2 on Netflix. Sort of what youâd expect. All Sandlerâs friends get a small spot in this one. Didnât really need to be made, but fun enough.
After the Sunset on Netflix. Pretty good cast with Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, Woody Harrelson and Don Cheadle from 2004. Jewel thieves retire but are tempted to get one last score. Listed as an action comedy, I would agree.
Toy Story and Aladdin on Disney with the grandson. He is just getting into sitting through a whole movie.
My Motherâs Wedding at the theater. Kristen Scott Thomas directs and stars as the mother. She has three daughters from a couple different guys. She has been a widow for decades and is now marrying again. The trailers indicated that she had been married more than twice though. There are a lot of unresolved issues between her daughters though and they surface before and after the wedding. Not as good as it could have been although when Thomas is directing herself, the movie flows so well but lags when she isnât in the scene. Maybe an assistant director is responsible, not sure.
Freelance on Netflix. John Cena as a former seal, now turned lawyer in a small town is lured back to the action by an old buddy as a body guard for Allison Brie who is headed to interview a dictator in South America. He is supposedly responsible for most of Cenaâs team being killed during their assassination attempt. Light fun.
The Naked Gun at the theater. I would trust Seth Rogen to relaunch this franchise, but he wasnât up to it. No where near the writing skills from the originals.
Nobody 2 at the theater. Hutch (Bob Odenkirk) takes his family on vacation to the one place his dad took he and his brother when they were young. Turns out the waterpark is at the heart of a huge smuggling/gun running/drug ring. If you like the first one, this does not disappoint. Lots of bloody mayhem, maybe even better than the first.
Danielâs Gotta Die on Amazon. Four children (30-year-olds or so) receive an inheritance from their father (Iggy Pop) but they have to spend a weekend together at the family beach house (mansion). If they all stick it out, one son, Daniel will split the inheritance four ways, otherwise, he gets it all. The other kids are horrible people and all try to kill him at some point. I think this is the last film by Bob Saget playing the family lawyer. It was just OK, nothing special.
The Whole Nine Yards on Pluto. A favorite of mine and I try to rewatch it occasionally. Great role for Matthew Perry with a lot of mild slapstick. Bruce Willis is great as the hired killer living next door.
Honey Donât at the theater. I was really looking forward to this one and it didnât disappoint other than it felt way too short. We get Margaret Qualley as a hard-nosed private detective who gets mixed up with Chris Evans and his questionable church. She hooks up with Aubrey Plaza, a cop in the evidence department. Very noir and it had hints of Inherent Vice. Hard R on this one too.
Running on Empty on Amazon. Keir Gilchrist as a mortician who learns his death date (you can have it calculated with a high precision) and has less than a year to live. His wife divorces him and he goes to a dating service that tries to match people with similar death dates. The videographer, Lucy Hale, sort of falls for him and there is that. He also gets involved with a crazy pimp who wants his money almost like in Better Off Dead. This has a real festival film vibe and many will not care for it.
Relay at the theater. I had no idea what this was about going in, but it is one of the best films Iâve seen this year. Riz Ahmed plays a guy who helps people who are almost whistle blowers but decide against it and want to return materials to the companies they took them from. Relay refers to the TTY service that he uses to connect anonymously with his clients. For almost all of the movie, Riz has no spoken lines. The tension is pretty high right out of the gate and really doesnât relent. Quite the thriller.
Saw an interview with Riz Ahmed this morning. Looks like a good movie. He seems like a really talented guy.
Forgot one more - Sorry to Bother You
This was really fun. Set in Oakland, a guy gets a job as a telemarketer. Turns out heâs really good at it. Eventually he gets promoted, then the crazy stuff starts. Lots of hilarious situations in this one.
We were on Netflix, and my kid picked Now You See Me, a 2013 heist movie starring Morgan Freeman and several other A list celebrities. The plot was bad, and the writing worse. It was fun watching the actors try to pull off the terrible script, and the final reveal was the worst ending Iâve ever seen in my life. Like, there were plot-holes throughout, but it just suddenly went from WHAT to WTF to WTAF. I recommend it to anyone who wants to feel truly disappointed.
The second one with Harry Potter in it is worse and there is a threequel coming out shortly.
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I just saw this and agree completely.
Free on Tubi, btw
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Princess Mononoke on HBO. Decent but not as creative as some of the other Studio Ghibli movies imo.
Had a seven hour plane ride today so watched The Final Reckoning. Perfect airplane fare as it killed a lot of time and didnât require any mental effort to watch.
Audreyâs Children (Airplane) Nice story of a doctor with ground breaking childrenâs cancer research as well as being instrumental in founding Ronald McDonald House. Good character and story, but it just didnât move me as I would have expected.
Thunderbolts (Airplane) This was just fun. Enjoyed it very much
Downton Abbey: The Grande Finale - sometimes you gotta keep the wife happy. If you were a fan of the series youâll probably enjoy this one but not sure if it needs to be seen in the theater as it just seemed like an extended episode from the show and revisits the group about 10 years after the last one.
Stay Tuned (1992)
The Happytime Murders (2018) - well, that was something. overall found it somewhat enjoyable (despite rotten tom score that is low). rated R and there is a pretty graphic puppet sex scene. (yes, thatâs what i typed)
Unknown Number: The High School Catfish (Netflix) Good documentary but it left me with many questions. A bit slow up until the reveal
aka Charlie Sheen (Netflix) If he interests you, this was well done, graphic and honest.
Superman (HBO) Didnât like this at all. A bit too sci-fi and I think it was trying for a comic book feel but did it only half way, making many characters just too goofy to tolerate. I also disagree with the initial premise of stopping the war, until it was actually known it was a manufactured slaughter. Hated the villain Superman can react faster to voice commands than a person can react on their own
Civil War (HBO) Well done look at a modern US civil war through the eyes of the journalists and photographers, that mirrors our current political environment, without getting too political or naming sides. More importantly, if you watch this learn about Lee Miller, first, it canât be coincidence.
Two TCM short biopics. Always well done
Paddy Chayefsky: Collector of Words
William Wyler, un Alsacien Ă Hollywood
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