Last movie you've watched

The Sandbox Movies/TV/Book/Music/Etc
1309

Thank you letting me know.

The Beekeeper at the theater. Jason Statham and revenge. What could be better. This time, there are a few other recognizable names in the movie, Jeremy Irons, Josh Hutcherson, Minnie Driver, Phylicia Rashad and Jemma Redgrave. He is a former government asset called a beekeeper whose job was to maintain the order of the hive (America). He retires and actually starts keeping bees. The turn of events leads to much mayhem. Highly enjoyable if this is in your wheel house.

Off to see All of Us Strangers and American Fiction this afternoon, Book of Clarence Monday and probably Lift on Netflix early next week.

1310

Landscape with Invisible Hand on Amazon. Sci-fi set a few years after first contact with superior alien race that basically outcompetes humans financially. They live in floating cities and all the wealth and industry is transferred up, so the humans left on the surface live in a rapidly deteriorating situation. Tiffany Haddish is the mom, and her teenage son is an artist. Has some funny parts. It’s an interesting and novel take on alien invasion.

1 Like
1311

All of Us Strangers at the theater. A truly remarkable movie that and I still don’t really understand what I was supposed to take away from it. Adam (Andrew Scott) plays a screen writer who is very lonely. He meets a neighbor (Paul Mescal) by chance. They are both gay and have an in depth discussion of words. Adam travels to his family’s home, but his parents died in a car accident when he was 12. The parents greet him and has discussions with them on many subjects. Trying to discern what is real, imagination, ghost story is pretty open to your own interpretation. Stunning movie with one of the slowest burns in memory. Striking cinematography too.

American Fiction at the theater. Jeffrey Wright is amazing in this movie. Thoroughly enjoyed it and ending is anything but conclusive. He is tired of white readership demanding demeaning works by black authors, so in a fit of rage, he writes what he considers to be trash. The story unfolds from there. Sterling K. Brown plays a brother who has sort of discovered he is gay. Their mother, Lesley Uggams, is failing. He meets a neighbor. His literary agent tries to convince him there are many ways to be successful as an author. Pretty scathing morality play. I see why it is up for awards.

1312

Equalizer 3 on Netflix. Denzel Washington is reunited with Dakota Fanning (Man on Fire). This is not as good as the first one, but better than the second. Not unusual. Pretty much what you’d expect. Worth a watch if you liked either of the first 2.

1313

The Book Of Clarence at the theater. Not sure what to make of this movie. It may have been serious or might have been a mockery. Maybe something in between. Clarence (LaKeith Stanfield) is a contemporary of Jesus and Thomas’ twin brother (get it, Clarence Thomas?). He is a shady guy selling weed, stealing from the Romans, etc. He decides to become another Messiah to solve some financial problems. He believes in knowledge over faith at all times. He preaches this message. Over time, he starts to believe. Very interesting take, but I am not sure what the movie was trying to say. Almost all of the cast was black, as it should have been. The few Romans were white. Slow start, but it picked up.

1314

Killers of the Flower Moon

If I hadn’t read the book (twice) I would have had no idea what was happening.

Such a sad story that needs telling but this movie did a terrible job of it.

1 Like
1315

Good Grief (Netflix) Nice film on loss, though hoped for a bit more depth and a bit more humor.

You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah (Netflix) Ok coming of age story, mostly from the “bully’s” perspective. It’s Me Margret was better

Leo (Netflix) I liked this better than I expected, worth a try

Bank of Dave (Netflix) Nice little movie for rooting for the underdog.

The Killer (Netflix) Good cast, slightly different feel for a movie about an assassin.

Leave the World Behind (Netflix) Decent general concept - good cast - not sure it fully made sense as it played out

Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (ABC) I was aware of the story as it happened but still an interesting watch for sexualizing young actresses and models. Didn’t realize Agassi was such a jerk

PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie (Airplane) Strictly for the little kids. I believe my grand kids watch the TV show

Gran Turismo (Airplane - also on Netflix) Watchable, but very formulaic

La sociedad de la nieve (Netflix) Very well done - foreign version of the same story as Alive which was also well done

The Equalizer 3 (Netflix) Entertaining, what you would expect. FYI - heavily subtitled if that matters to you

Beau Is Afraid (Showtime) Odd, weird. I think I was assuming somethings were his fantasy when they actually happened and not being able to differentiate made this work less for me

Golda (Showtime) It was ok, just focused on the Yom Kippur war and not as gripping as it could have been. I would have wanted more of her life.

Nyad (Netflix) I liked this, great cast, good chemistry Benning and Foster who I both like a lot.

Maestro (Netflix) It was good, not great - wanted more of his career and less of his personal life

Reptile (Netflix) Solid cop drama

Nimona (Netflix) Lessons on acceptance and being different, but overall it didn’t grab me

The Nun II (Max) I have see all in the series, but these don’t work for me

Meg 2: The Trench (Max) It is what it is, but the additional creature got silly

Saltburn (Prime) Odd, weird - Too much just didn’t make sense to me as to motives.

Wes Anderson shorts (Netflix) - Henry Sugar was the best - all fairly entertaining
Poison
The Rat Catcher

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (Starz) Nice coming of age movie and search for a religious meaning

1 Like
1317

Watched Mahalia on Netflix.

Greatly enjoyed it but I loved Mahalia Jackson’s voice and activism so hard for me to be objective about it. Danielle Brooke’s acting and singing was excellent.

1 Like
1318

Asteroid City - on the plane - compared to other wes anderson movies Ive seen, this one was weirder. unreal cast (as usual). but left me with jaw hanging like “huh?”

1319

The Holdovers - good actors. was ok.

1320

The Family Plan

Totally, and I mean totally, formulaic dad-was-a-killer-but-now-his-cover-is-blown movie. Not horrible, but there are way better movies of the genre. Bad camera-work, bad pacing, unmemorable bad-guys, stuff that doesn’t make sense, acted a bit over the top in parts, but it also has the standard pluses of the genre. And anything with Michelle Monaghan gets bonus points imo.

1321

Frequently Asked Questions About Time Tavel - think this is an older film 2009? That we found n Max. It was cute and diverting in a quirky sort of way. Fun light fare that you don’t need to think to hard about.

Queenpins - if you’re a fan of Kristen Bell, I am, you’ll probably like this one. Based on a true story, though I’m sure they took some artistic liberties, of a group of women who ran a counterfeit coupon ring in the early 2010s and how they got caught. A number of good laughs along the way.

1322

Asterix and Obelisk (i forget the exact name, a recent movie.) It was fun. It matched the books pretty well.

Oppenheimer i really enjoyed this one, and will be happy if it wins some awards. (Although i never watch enough of the nominees to really know what’s best.)

1 Like
1323

LOTR I: The Fellowship of the Ring [always worth a rewatch]

3 Likes
1324

Barbie on Max, Past Lives on Showtime and The Maltese Falcon on Tubi.

Trying to catch up on Oscar nominated films this year and threw in a classic I had never seen start to finish. Only one I haven’t seen this year is Zone of Interest and it isn’t streaming anywhere.

1325

Cleo from 5 to 7 (HBO): Well done but not really my thing
The Breakfast Club (HBO): First time seeing as it’s slightly before my time. Definitely worth a watch. It’s amazing how many great movies John Hughes came out with. Uncle Buck and Christmas Vacation are 2 of my all-time favs.

1326

The Other Zoey on Amazon. A standard rom com with a touch of amnesia (from a concussion) and mistaken identity (both girls named Zoey). Not great but a fun watch.

1327

Sing Street (on delta flight). Irish school kid in the 80s w a shit home life starts a band to impress a girl. Was not bad

1328

Spy Intervention on Amazon. I can’t tell if this is just bad or trying to be a spoof. Imagine if Wes Anderson wrote story about a spy who finds love and drops out. He gets called back into service as the one bad guy that got away is back in town. Such a weird one.

Rustin on Netflix. Trying to catch up as much on nominated films and actors/actresses. I had never heard of Bayard Rustin. Quite the character and the film follows his work surrounding the 1963 March on Washington DC. His open homosexuality was a weight on his ability to fit in with the movement. The film covers the work arranging the march and the toll it took on him.

1329

Killers of the Flower Moon it’s awfully long, and we took an intermission (and had lunch) in the middle. We were lucky in having picked what might be the ideal spot to do that. The movie picked up and changed pace when we returned.

I really liked it, and see why it is getting critical attention. The acting was very persuasive, the cinematography was gorgeous, the movie took some interesting risks in its structure that, i think, worked.

1 Like