Eastern Promises. Missed it when it was released some years ago. Another Cronenberg masterpiece and an outstanding performance by Viggo Mortensen.
Iāve only seen a couple Miyazaki movies and am very excited to watch them when my daughter gets older. We just started introducing some cocomelon, so are a few years away.
Your Place or Mine on Netflix - Ashton Kutcher and Reese Witherspoon canāt save this rom-com. Youād expect better from them but they were very shallow, even for them.
We Have a Ghost on Netflix starring Anthony Mackie. He is not into this part at all as far as I can tell. The younger son is very good and the story isnāt too bad as he and the girl next door try to find out why the ghost in his house is āstuckā. Tig Notaro is fun as the government spook investigating the ghost.
The Pez Outlaw on Netflix is a documentary on Steve Glew, who illegally(?) imported Pez dispensers from Eastern Europe in the early to mid 1990ās. Interesting story and a lot I didnāt know about Pez.
WifeLike on Showtime. This start Jonathan Rhys Meyers who really did just want the paycheck from this one. Very poor performance from him. There are two stories happening simultaneously and we are supposed to be fooled by this. Not really. Basic premise is that rich men can buy āreplicantsā of their wives, once they have died I guess. Meyersā job is to track down the stolen women and return them to the facility to be reprogrammed. There is also a terrorist group trying to free the women/robots.
Advertising gone bad: So I saw an ad for Operation Fortune and it sounded interesting, it has Aubrey Plaza in it, and Guy Ritchie directs. So I think āHmm. I should check that out.ā But then over the succeeding week, I hear endless ads for the movie. Now I assume the movie sucks horribly and thereās no way Iād go to see it without an endorsement from someone whose taste I really trust.
I realize there is a huge hype train behind EEAAO but I found it scattered and silly and pretty unwatchable and too dam long.
I give it 1 *
My Year of Dicks (Hulu) Oscar nominated animated short. 15 yo looking to lose her virginity, with a mix of live action. Nothing new and even though animated lacked a realism of manner and speech that it needed to work.
The Flying Sailor (YouTube) Oscar nominated animated short. I knew the story from visiting Halifax, but the film lacked , watching out of order flashbacks.
Ice Merchants (YouTube) Oscar nominated animated short. Imaginative and interesting. Though I some issues with the animation proportion of characters. I believe this should win of what I have seen.
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (AppleTV) Oscar nominated animated short. Winnie The Pooh-ish. Tries to be inspirational, but overly simplistic.
Le Pupille (Disney / Hulu) Oscar nominated short. Sort of odd, felt oddly dubbed, and the overall story was just not that interesting
Nattrikken (Night Ride) (YouTube) Oscar nominated short. This one was funny and appealing.
I believe this should win of what I have seen.
Haulout (YouTube) Oscar nominated documentary short. Russian alone with walrus migration. Commentary on global warming, but slow.
Stranger at the Gate (YouTube) Oscar nominated documentary short. PTSD soldier plans a terrorist attack on a mosque and changes his mind and outlook as he is actually embraced by the Muslim community when casing the Mosque
Navalny (HBO Max) Oscar nominated documentary on the Russian politician. Good, but little outside the news reels
Fire of Love (Hulu) Oscar nominated documentary. Volcano chasers (I didnāt feel they did it for much more than excitement, not scientific advancement) Overly heavy romantic narration of incidents from 30 years ago. Beautifully filmed.
All That Breathes (HBO Max) Oscar nominated documentary. I feel this is the best of the lot, as it brings the animal rescue (particularly birds) against the political, social and ecological changes of a country (India). I believe this should win of what I have seen.
Empire of Light (HBO Max) Good look at racism, but also more so about sexism and mental health. Well done, but lacking something.
On the documentary shorts, I have no strong opinion. I found Martha Mitchell the most informative. Probably lean to Elephant Whispers as the best I have seen.
Operation Fortune
Fun Guy Ritchie film with interesting cast. Story is light-hearted and entertaining. Has the looks of a franchise.
Demon Slayer - Kimetsu no Yaiba - To the Swordsmith Village
It was quite strange and not like other Japanese animated Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - To the Swordsmith Village features. It was not really a movie, it opened with a lot of confusing action and music, settled into 2 episodes and then had a final part that appeared to be a new movie that ended with a cliffhanger of sorts.
Have you watched Attack on Titan? Final season came out.
Iām not done yet. I had to rewatch because itās been so long.
I remember that I finished the prior seasons. I have no idea what happened off the top of my head. Would have to rewatch as well.
Hadnāt watched Taxi Driver since its release in 1976 so rewatched it tonight and enjoyed it: it has aged well. Incredible performance by De Niro.
Everything Everywhere All At Once We watched this for my daughterās birthday. She wanted a campy comedy and this wasnāt it. Iām not sure how we picked it, i knew nothing about it. Anyway, i didnāt love it, and wonder why it has so much buzz.
Glass Onion this was an entertaining romp, with an underlying thread of social justice. There were a couple of points that were just a little too unrealistic, but Iām looking forward to the next one.
The Harder They Fall gorgeous cinematography (i rarely wish for a larger screen, but i did for this) and great acting, but the plot is all over the place, and the theme is depressing. And itās really a lot more violent than i prefer. But if you donāt mind a high body count, itās worth watching.
Women Talking, on Prime. It was fine for something to have on in the background while doing other things, not something Iād rewatch.
The Dilemma, also on Prime, with Kevin James and Vince Vaughn. Also Winona Ryder and Jennifer Connolly. It has Kevin, so you already know my feelings. Iām not big on Vince or Winona, so probably wouldnāt watch again.
Women Talking (Prime) {was also my next Netflix disc, so Iāll send it right back} I liked it. Best picture material? Novel concept and quite slow, but it interested me.
Aftersun (Airplane) Also slow, and a bit confusing at times (Am I the only one who WIKIs a film to figure out what I just watched?) but there was something about it.
Both pictures should be honored just to be nominated
I do it all the time now, mainly to look up some actors/directors/production details. Now I even have to use willpower to stop myself looking at the wiki page while Iām watching it (That reminds me - I have to look up the wiki for what I watched last night - Sleepless in Seattle).
I use IMDB for that (usually before the movie, avoiding spoilers)
I use Wiki if I am just not sure I figured out what just happened. Sometimes during a movie, but have to be careful how far you read
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Yeah, even the same kid changesā¦ My kid and I just rewatched a Hilda episode, and she was pretty horrified of by the plot, despite having seeing the same episode when she was 4, 5, 6. I think something has shifted in her mind, at 6 3/4. And related to that is a couple fantastic night mares that her brain has conjured.
Iād still say āGrave of the Fire-fliesā is more of a grown-up horror story. My kid loves stories about orphans facing abuse and adversity. Sheād feel down about it, but not horrified like me.
See, I think itās fine for kids to be horrified. Thatās how a lot of us grow up to like different movie genres.
I think a movie would have to be borderline snuff films for kids to actually be long-term traumatized. But just sad and depressing? Thatās life. Let kids experience emotions.
Now if youāre doing it out of selfish reasons likeā¦you donāt want kids to have nightmares and bother you, then thatās a fair point too.
Yeah, we talked about this before. I donāt think itās necessarily or even usually a bad thing.
But sex can be incredibly harmful, and nobody really understands why imo.
I donāt recall being traumatized by sex scenes pre-puberty. If anything, I was more weirded out by my parentsā reaction to it in my presence. That had a pretty negative impact on me. Made me think sex is shameful or something once I knew about it, and to never talk to my parents about it. Being gay didnāt help either of course.
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I time-traveling ninjaād you
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