The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Well shot and directed.
Simple story of a rich family slowly going broke due to spoiled kid.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)
This would have been a good horror film to watch in theaters if it werenât for Covid. Iâve heard it follows the video game series better than the original. It seems like it may be a combination of the first two games based on Albert Wesker and William Birkin. Ended in a cliff-hanger if you watch past the initial credits, so hopefully they are already filming the next movie.
Spenser Confidential (2020)
Mark Wahlberg stars in this completely forgettable movie. Wrong to say completely forgettable- it will be my frame of reference for poorly written movies for the foreseeable future.
Oh great, thereâs a sequel in the works!
Did you ever watch the Urich series?
I did not. Despite it being a big deal growing up bc I lived in the area. One day they shot a scene in my town. (Hand wanking gesture)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings I enjoyed this. Good action, good comedy.
Spencer Stewart was good, people who knew Diana seemed to think she nailed it. The film was awkward, overly moody and over directed and needed contrast to ânormalâ Diana. kept my interest, though. Wouldnât put her over the other Oscar nominees I have seen, but critics seem to disagree.
Free Guy ok. Truman Show, meets Groundhog Day, meets Matrix. The story line didnât always gel for me, especially the extreme interest in a video game to the Real World. Reynolds need to mix it up more.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage Big fan of Hardy, great supporting cast, Hated the relationship between him and venom, hated the humor.
Encanto Very good, but not great. Some of the songs too busy. Story a bit convoluted
The Starling Story of mental illness after a loss. No contrast to their normal. Poorly written.
The Mitchells vs the Machines Fun and quirky. I enjoyed this, not totally family entertainment
Oscar nominated shorts. All were good but not great.
Three Songs for Benazir
Lead Me Home
Robin Robin
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Paul at his cutest. But I do not get the enthusiasm for this movie. Perhaps too dated.
Very young Dennis Hopper, Wayne Rogers, Joe Don Baker, and Harry Dean Stanton are also in the movie.
And, now I know where Toy Story 3 got its âspend a night in the boxâ line from.
Nightmare Alley (2021)
Oh, my. This is an awesome movie.
A Quiet Place II - I liked it, well done, good tension
Probably needed to rewatch the prior
Free Guy - light hearted fun comedy.
Stop & Go on Hulu. This is the first âpandemicâ movie Iâve seen. Two sisters are on a road trip shortly after COVID hit and are trying to get to their grandmother at the nursing home. It is mostly a comedy, but the references to what we all went through in the early days was the first time I had seen it on screen.
Long Story Short on Netflix, a story about a guy (Rafe Spall) who never has time for anything. He meets a woman in a cemetery who gives him a wedding present. He doesnât realize what it is until much later, but he lives one year (the same day, his anniversary) for an hour or two and then wakes up next year. It is a little bit Groundhog Day, but not really. It was very interesting to see him realize how precious our time really is.
TCM in March is all Oscar winners. There are 3 movies listed I have not seen (one is a 15 minute short)
TCM.com has a pdf listing all of these March movies. For those looking for movies to watch, the safe bet is to DVR everything then pick off some. Not every movie is worth watching even though they are all Oscar winners.
PZ - where do you catalogue and add notes to your movie history? iheartmovies, or somewhere else? I have a spreadsheet but that doesnât cut it. The AO used to serve as an archive, butâŠ
https://www.icheckmovies.com/
The initial set-up was difficult.
I believe I went through IMDB, rated movies and could then download into ICM. Basically went through year by year looking at list of most popular films
I only spreadsheet movies I want to watch, maybe I should save all I have seen if the site ever fails
My brain.
That stops doing its job when you have seen hundreds of foreign movies where the titles donât translate well.
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Summer of Soul (âŠOr, When the RevolutionâŠ) Good music fest documentary. Unlike Woodstock or Monterey, this was made years later and was able to add perspective on the cultural and political environment of the times. (ABC, HULU, Netflix Disc)
No Time to Die Very good entry in the Bond genre. Excellent actors as the villain. Good story arc among the Craig Bond films, the other Bondâs movies were more episodic, standing on their own. (Netflix Disc)
If there is to be a new Bond, I hope it will be a new arc (even if a rehash of a prior Fleming story). But James Bond was a person - 007, is a designation. But you canât bring in a new actor in the same universe and call him James Bond.
West Side Story Loved it. I am a movie guy, and loved the original. But always hated Tony (seemed weak, no idea how he was a gang leader) and the miscasting of Maria. This version keeps all the music and a lot of the choreography, which was made the original special. (Disney+)
But, it is a more macro view. You see the neighborhood and what is happening. You see âciviliansâ and their reactions to the gangs. The gang members had more edge. The fight scenes had more edge, breaking from the ballet aspect, but fitting well.
Some of the songs were the best renditions I have ever heard. By the time Rita Moreno sings her song my wife and I were teary. and her character not only fit well it built a bridge to better understand Tony. The one scene I have to say was done better in the original was Anita in the pharmacy. The original had more power.
Anita was Oscar nominated. I feel Maria & Tony should have been.
and Spielberg did some great stuff with camera angles and shadows, use of light and dark.
It did justice to the original, it honored it and it built upon it - brilliant
Raya and the Last Dragon Nice animated film, but it just didnât feel completely fresh as a story. The IMO the weakest of the years nominees, in a very good year for animation (Disney+)
Flee A rare film. Nominated for Foreign Language, Animated and Documentary. I watched it dubbed (which applied only to the principal and the interviewer). A good film. Best chance as a documentary (Hulu)
Saw The Batman last night. Had some fun parts. Was longer than it needed to be. Really dark film. Like literally hard to see what is happening since itâs so dark. Not sure if there was a daytime shot with the sun in the sky. It was raining pretty much nonstop. Kinda fun to see the janky redneck batmobile. Real weird to hear Nirvana the whole time as the main theme - I guess I am that old.
Is this a new DC universe, an alternate DC universe (like Suicide & Joker) or a new entry into the current DC Universe (I would be surprised if done with WW, Aquaman & Flash)
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The Protégé with Samuel L Jackson as an aging hitman, Maggie Q as his protégé and Michael Keaton as the bad guy. A bit formulaic and I am getting tired of Jackson in these sorts of roles, but Maggie Q was great and Michael Keaton was very strong. Not much new here, but a fun watch.
The One from 2001 with Jet Li, Jet Li, Delroy Lindo and Jason Statham. This is a film about the multiverses. Jet Li plays a number of characters, all really the same guy, just in different versions of the multiverse. The other two are time cops so to speak and they are chasing one of the Jet Lis through space via wormholes that open when black holes collapse(?). The bad Jet Li is trying to kill all of the other ones of himself as he absorbs their âpowerâ as do all the others left behind. Not that good, but the fight scenes are pretty funny, unintentionally.
Seven Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss is a story about a cult whoâs members use a particular bath tub to commit suicide. The tub is in an apartment that the couple moves into. They are initially surprised as people waltz into their apartment and kill themselves. They start digging into the teachings and find a lot of positives, aside from the suicide and decide to help people on their journey with some lethal punch. Thereâs a clueless detective who killed the cult leader (Taika Waititi) who wants to be a screen writer. Kate Micucci is really good as the woman but the male lead is very week. Call it a dark comedy.