# Movies you've seen recently (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 29, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906 "2014-09-29T21:53:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 423
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8460 "2024-01-20T23:18:12Z")
The only non-Potter movie David Yates directed. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8461 "2024-01-21T01:39:34Z")
**Napoleon Dynamite** Recommended. I lived in China 20 years ago when this was released and not only did I miss it, I just kept delaying seeing it so long that I eventually realized I had missed its cultural moment. I decided to see and you know what? It was very cute and I even laughed a few times. What a strange and oddly charming movie. Has almost no plot, just weird and bizarre people being weird. Worth a viewing. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8462 "2024-01-21T01:45:27Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I decided to see and you know what? It was very cute and I even laughed a few times. What a strange and oddly charming movie. Has almost no plot, just weird and bizarre people being weird. I just asked my daughter to pick me up some Chapstick at the store - “My lips hurt real bad!” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8463 "2024-01-21T07:01:03Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Napoleon Dynamite > [@Mahaloth](#): > > What a strange and oddly charming movie. Has almost no plot, just weird and bizarre people being weird. I kinda liked it, but I didnt like Napoleon being mean to the llama. Made no sense. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8464 "2024-01-21T07:11:36Z")
Oops, deleted. Inaccurate ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8465 "2024-01-21T07:13:34Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Alpaca 🙂. To be fair (sorta, I mean it is just a silly movie), they can sometimes kinda be temperamental little shits. One of my co-workers owned a couple for awhile. Yeah, okay, thanks for that, but still. But I did like parts of it. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8466 "2024-01-21T07:16:26Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yeah, okay, thanks for that, but still. Appears my insufferable pedantry falls flat - I remembered her as an alpaca, but apparently she WAS a llama. Oh, well - a little humiliation is good for the soul 😀. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8467 "2024-01-21T07:35:04Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Appears my insufferable pedantry falls flat - I remembered her as an alpaca, but apparently she WAS a llama. Oh, well - a little humiliation is good for the soul 😀. Now, if anyone asks if I was ever wrong, I can say, “yes I was- I thought I was wrong once but I really wasn’t!” 🤪 😀 😛 😆 ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8468 "2024-01-21T12:26:24Z")
I went to see _Queen Rock Montreal_, a concert film from 1981, remastered for IMAX, last night. If you want to see it, go to your local IMAX today or tomorrow (Jan. 21-22, 2024). It’s an exclusive four-day run that started on Friday. I believe it’s also available on DVD/BD, but not in IMAX, of course. It was great to see them again at the height of their powers. I saw them live in Baltimore a year before this was filmed. I got one of Roger Taylor’s drumsticks, with his name embossed on it, after the show. (A roadie tossed a bunch of them to a few of us hanging around near the stage.) ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8469 "2024-01-21T15:19:15Z")
**Maestro** (Netflix) Bradley Cooper wrote, directed and stars as Leonard Bernstein; Carey Mulligan as his long-suffering wife, Felicia. The starring and directing are fine; my issues are with the story. As far as the script is concerned the most interesting thing about LB is that he was gay, and his wife was conflicted about it. We get 1 scene of him writing; 1 teaching; and 1 conducting – which to me was the best scene in the movie, but it just made me want to know more about Mahler’s 2nd Symphony. There’s no usual biographical structure - it doesn’t try to do “this happened, and then he went there and did this and wrote this…”. No mention of the Young People Concerts, or West Side Story, or the Tom Wolfe/Radical Chic years. The score consists entirely of LB’s music, which is nice…but that’s the only way we know what he wrote. Sarah Silverman has a small part as LB’s sister. She has no scenes with LB and no one addresses her by name, so we assume she’s LB’s sister and not a random psycho. I suspect much of her part wound up on the cutting room floor. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8470 "2024-01-21T17:32:14Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > The starring and directing are fine; my issues are with the story My ignorance keeps me from knowing which of two things were true: either this is pretty much what Bernstein was like, or it’s not. If it’s not, then Cooper blew it — but Cooper has always struck me as a terrific actor, and he’s up for award after award for this, and so I’m guessing that’s not it. But if he’s doing an eerily accurate impression, then I guess my takeaway is that Bernstein constantly — acted like he was delivering rehearsed lines, while trying to sound unrehearsed? Kind of like a guy who’s clearly (a) saying stuff for effect, in a skit or something, and (b) _picturing_ himself saying stuff before, y’know, _saying_ it? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8471 "2024-01-21T17:37:27Z")
I watched Hitchcock’s _Stage Fright_ last night. Had expectations, but man, this movie sucked on Ice! It did however give me a greater appreciation of the talents of Madeline Kahn. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8472 "2024-01-21T18:23:04Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > As far as the script is concerned the most interesting thing about LB is that he was gay At the time “bisexual” wasn’t really a thing, but he did sleep with men and women. Whether he was predominantly gay or “properly” bisexual, we’ll never know. But it can’t have been easy for his wife. > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > My ignorance keeps me from knowing which of two things were true: either this is pretty much what Bernstein was like, or it’s not. > > If it’s not, then Cooper blew it — but Cooper has always struck me as a terrific actor, and he’s up for award after award for this, and so I’m guessing that’s not it. But if he’s doing an eerily accurate impression, then I guess my takeaway is that Bernstein constantly — acted like he was delivering rehearsed lines, while trying to sound unrehearsed? Kind of like a guy who’s clearly (a) saying stuff for effect, in a skit or something, and (b) _picturing_ himself saying stuff before, y’know, _saying_ it? To the best of my knowledge of Bernstein’s life, it was very much what he was like. It was all amped up for dramatic purposes as per usual, but you should check out some of his television shows like the [Young Person’s Concerts](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6JsfDIo4TA&list=PLU0HyYmOgH8Xn06fDThwLDh95igfZpurQ&index=1) or [Omnibus](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Eo0qYrugY) to see him presenting, and [various](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHBgXER1xLQ) [interviews](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKnU37HaBJY) to see how he speaks off the cuff. IMHO Cooper absolutely nails it (and if the last interview link above is remotely accurate, so does Mulligan). ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8473 "2024-01-21T18:38:40Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > At the time “bisexual” wasn’t really a thing, but he did sleep with men and women. Whether he was predominantly gay or “properly” bisexual, we’ll never know. But it can’t have been easy for his wife. I’m sure he was bisexual; but the movie content makes it appear that Felicia was an anomaly. We see him with tons of men, but she’s the only woman in his life. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8474 "2024-01-21T19:11:08Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I’m sure he was bisexual; but the movie content makes it appear that Felicia was an anomaly. We see him with tons of men, but she’s the only woman in his life It his how Freddie Mercury was as well? ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8475 "2024-01-21T21:23:53Z")
There was a piece of music used near the end that I absolutely _loved_. It was called Music for a Found Harmonium. Sadly, it was not on the soundtrack CD. But I bought an online friend’s CD for his"Rhythm and Blues Ceilidh Band" – the Fabulous Potato Heads, and it was on it! Yay! ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8476 "2024-01-21T21:24:24Z")
@Dendarii_Dame and I saw “Get Shorty” last night, a movie that we had never seen before, and enjoyed it very much ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8477 "2024-01-21T21:57:36Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I watched Hitchcock’s _Stage Fright_ last night. Had expectations, but man, this movie sucked on Ice! It did however give me a greater appreciation of the talents of Madeline Kahn. 😉 My sister recorded this and was listening to the intro in the other room. I had to google what the reference to Kahn was about. Now I get it! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8478 "2024-01-21T22:04:44Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > @Dendarii_Dame and I saw “Get Shorty” last night, a movie that we had never seen before, and enjoyed it very much Heads up, there is a sequel to that movie. > **[Be Cool](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_Cool)** > > Be Cool is a 2005 American crime comedy film based on Elmore Leonard's 1999 novel of the same name and the sequel to Leonard's 1990 novel Get Shorty (itself adapted into a 1995 film of the same name) about mobster Chili Palmer's entrance into the music industry. This was Robert Pastorelli's final film, as he died one year before its theatrical release. > The film adaptation of Be Cool began production in 2004. It was directed by F. Gary Gray, produced by Danny DeVito (who produced and co-starred... ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906/8479 "2024-01-21T22:28:42Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Heads up, there is a sequel to that movie. Also a rather different, but still entertaining IMHO, [3 season TV show](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Shorty_(TV_series)). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906.md?page=422) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-1/699906.md?page=424)