Wait Until Dark was great when I first saw it as I didn’t know the story. It was not as suspenseful the second time!
A Real Pain (HULU) A neurotic and a manic depressive road trip buddy film on a Heritage Trip to Poland and a side trip to visit Grandma’s birth place. There is a lot of good stuff in here and I really enjoyed it, though constantly uncomfortable. A few things bothered me, that most wouldn’t have noticed, so I’ll let it go.
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (Kanopy) Really good documentary on political unrest in the Congo around 1960. Jazz soundtrack from the popular musicians speaking out, as well as headlines, interviews and news clips from the time. Long, but well constructed. Could win best Doc.
Straume (Flow) (Max) Interesting animated feature as a Cat and animal friends try to survive a flood. All actual animal sounds, no voices. I liked it, but could have been a 30 minute short
Incident (YouTube) Documentary short, using police cams, voice recordings and local cameras and Traffics cameras to show a police shooting. Some editorial comment, but more explanatory, then judemental and it let the video form the story. Well done.
I watched this. Eh.
Sounds a lot like Sliding Doors, which came out 24 years earlier. Gwyneth Paltrow either does or does not catch a train and arrive home in time to find her boyfriend in bed with another woman. It then follows the very different paths her life takes if she does or doesn’t know this. (Worth the watch if you haven’t seen it. It holds up, and it’s very cleverly done.)
Have never seen Sliding Doors. Do the two paths ultimately intersect? They do in this movie. This movie reminded me a lot of Uncertainty with JGL from 2008 that I saw at TIFF.
I’m not going to tell you how Sliding Doors ends… you will have to watch it for yourself!
It came out in 1998, so the concept may have also been copied in Uncertainty… I haven’t seen that either.
When you do watch it, people always ask “but which scenario was real??? My strong opinion (to be read after you’ve watched it) is that
the first scenario where Helen misses the train and doesn’t know about Gerry’s cheating is what really happened to her. The second scenario where she catches it and finds out is a “what if”. So at the end, only the Helen who missed the train is around and she meets James on the elevator at the hospital… we know that’s going to end well for the two of them because we saw the “what if” scenario. But in reality she’s going to have to start over on her PR firm and her new relationship 6 months (or however long the movie takes place over) behind the “what if” scenario. It’ll go well though… she’s going to have a happy ending.
Good for her!
Oh, don’t think you mean it the way I mean it.
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Midnight Run.
Watched w my kid and her gf. (19 and 18 yrs old) the classic held up fine imo
Game Night
Very standard but quite enjoyable comedy/action/adventure where a couples game night turns out to have a real mystery to solve. Some plot points are totally obvious, but in this kind of movie it didn’t matter to me, and they count on that. Every time I see a Rachel McAdams movie, I think her acting is bad and then enjoy her in the movie.
Kingsman: The Secret Service
I don’t know. I’m bored of Marvel and DC and haven’t seen one in years. I keep seeing the same formula over and over. And this kind of movie bores me, too. It’s just the same over-the-top BS with a bit of obvious humor thrown in. Very high death count with moderate blood but lots of impalings of sorts in the over the top fights. 2nd in command bad guy’s murder method was an eye-roller imo. Plot, if you need it: Secret non-government gentleman spy org takes on a non-gentleman recruit, as evil guy puts evil plan into action.
The only interesting thing was first thinking how wild and ridiculous the plot was with respect to people buying into the bad guy, and then thinking in terms of today’s US politics how, no, it’s not wild and ridiculous at all.
And one bonus point for the bad guy calling Elon for a loaner when a piece of his evil network fails. Elon obliges, of course.
Anastasia (1956) - Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner, Helen Hayes 
Sicario - del Toro is chilling throughout.
FBI+CIA+Special task force + del Toro’s character > Drug Cartel.
Going to watch the 2nd one soon.
In one scene, del Toro brought a 5 gal water jug into a makeshift interrogation room.
They didn’t show what happened. You heard something and there was a drain - however, the drain just stayed dry (no water was draining into it. did they force him to drink the water then? I have no idea what could have happened otherwise. Should I be afraid to google it?
Regarding the spoilered . . . most likely an allusion to water boarding . . .
3 Likes
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Nick Cage playing, literally, Nick Cage. I didn’t think it would hold up, but every time it seemed to be getting too slow or serious or whatever, it picked up. I really enjoyed it.
Nick Cage, who needs to pay off some debt, takes a $1M job to hang with a rich olive oil mogul, who really wants Nick to read his screenplay. But on the way he runs into a couple CIA agents who say the oil mogul is really a smuggler who has kidnapped a girl to get a politician to bow out of a race. The CIA agents want Nick Cage to spy on the mogul. Some hilarity does ensue. Effectively the whole movie is Nick Cage goofing on the Nick Cage persona. And the movie is pretty much one of those self-referential kinds.
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Sicario 2. Just as good. But I wonder: How did the abducted girl, the daughter of the drug cartel leader, know that del Toro’s character was also her abductor?
Sing Sing on Amazon ($9.99). This is the last movie with Oscar nominations that I plan on watching. I was ambivalent going into it, but it was really well done. Based on a true story of an inmate based performing arts program at Sing Sing. Most of the cast was current and former members of the program and that was why they were so believable in their roles. The story focuses around a couple of the inmates and their lives/struggles in prison. Very worth a watch.
Watched The Founder about the early history of McDonald’s, enjoyed it
Conclave (Peacock) Great cast, well made, i liked everthing about this but the story. Too much, too unbelievable. The final twist was unneeded and added little
I need a catholic opinion. Really, really spoiled.
Benitez, was an unknown, a Cardinal for less than a year and won based on one speech, but moreso, had votes from the beginning, how? Was it needed to keep him in consideration?
I get they were all flawed, but it all just seemed off
A Complete Unknown (Theater) Loved it, great acting and portrayal of known people. Loved the music and so much of it. You don’t learn much of the deeper person, but i think that may be the point.
Both Chalamet and Norton can definitely win
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also just saw this.
lapsed catholic. but in the voting that was presented…you can vote for anyone. he could have voted for himself from the beginning for all anyone knows. could have been a protest vote of sorts from someone(s). i have no idea if they narrow the list of candidates round to round.
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There’s no mention of narrowing the list until more than a week in, when they restrict it to the top two candidates. It’s possible, by my reckoning, to have up to 34 ballots before then.
On the afternoon of the first day, one ballot (referred to as a “scrutiny”) may be held, but is not required. If a ballot takes place on the afternoon of the first day and no-one is elected, or no ballot had taken place, a maximum of four ballots are held on each successive day: two in each morning and two in each afternoon. Before voting in the morning and again before voting in the afternoon, the electors take an oath to obey the rules of the conclave. If no result is obtained after three vote days of balloting, the process is suspended for a maximum of one day for prayer and an address by the senior cardinal deacon. After seven further ballots, the process may again be similarly suspended, with the address now being delivered by the senior cardinal priest. If, after another seven ballots, no result is achieved, voting is suspended once more, the address being delivered by the senior cardinal bishop. After a further seven ballots, there shall be a day of prayer, reflection and dialogue. In the following ballots, only the two names who received the most votes in the last ballot shall be eligible in a runoff electionwhere a two-thirds majority is still required.