We’d never seen “La-La Land” and watched it a few days ago.
Meh. Glad that “Moonlight” won the Oscar that fateful night.
She’s got some depth to her, he’s almost unwatchably lousy. The songs are sweet and well-written. It was personally gratifying because I trained Ari Robbins, the A Camera/ Steadicam Operator on the movie and so watching the astonishing opening sequence as well as all of the other moving shots made me, well, proud !
I won’t be watching it again. My current Hell television involves two channels. One shows “Oh, Heavenly Dog!” nonstop and the other shows this.
Shoplifters (2018). A very well made drama with a lot going on. I was thoroughly confused on the family arrangement for most of the film, which is revealed near the end. Knowing the full story, I want to watch it again.
Hated La-La Land, one of the very few movies I’ve quit during a viewing.
Moonlight…was only good up until the kid became an adult. Ironically, the part with Mahershala Ali is the part I didn’t like at all(no fault of his own).
The Alpines (Prime, 2021) The blurb, “A psychological thriller that follows seven friends coming together for a weekend getaway after several years of little to no contact. An exploration of a world made up of characters solely powered and driven by a seven deadly sin”
Bullshit. There was nothing ‘thrilling’ about it. A stale I Know What You Did Last Summer clone that achieved nothing new and did so much worse than I have come to expect from the worn out genre. It was mostly a romance movie without passion. Two thirds into it I paused and checked the title again to make sure we were watching the correct movie. We stuck it out for the end in case there was a compelling twist. There wasn’t. A stupid waste of film and time. Rated 3.5 stars average from 169 votes, that is incredibly generous.
I can’t think of a reason to recommend this. Any movie I can think of that is similar, and there are a lot, is better than this.
Spencer (Amazon Prime for $3.99) Princess Diana spends Christmas at Sandringham.
This is the kind of film for which the phrase “self-indulgent clap-trap” was invented. An opening title card says “A fable based on a true tragedy”…which means: entirely invented.
Diana is shown as a compete loon. She wanders the halls, abuses the servants, vomits a lot, talks to pheasants and an apparition of Anne Boleyn. The background of her neuroses is never discussed, other than that she’s pissed off that Charles gave her and Camilla the same pearl necklace for Christmas. The royal family is there, but only as props. (Diana does have a few charming scenes with her sons.)
Kristin Stewart will undoubtedly get an Oscar nomination for her performance – which consists entirely of mimicking all of Diana’s tics and mannerisms. Every line is delivered in a breathy whisper. Her head is always at a 45 degree angle…down and to the left…down an to the right…
It’s a Wonderful Life
Probably the tenth time or so I’ve seen it since I first did in college, and it’s just as wonderful as ever.
The Bishop’s Wife
I’ve always heard this 1947 Cary Grant film described as a Christmas classic, but my family was underwhelmed, to say the least. The story is, a NYC bishop focuses too much on his work and neglects his family; a handsome angel shows him a better way. Some superficial similarities to It’s a Wonderful Life, but not nearly as engaging, good or fun a film.
Ecstasy of Order
An interesting documentary about the Russian videogame Tetris (which I’ve been playing for many years): how the game was created, how it’s played, the geeky subculture of its top players and the mixed-up lives of at least some of them.
Murder on the Orient Express
I saw the 2017 remake, directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh. Like its 1974 predecessor, it has an all-star cast, of which Daisy Ridley is a particular standout. However, it tries to punch up the story with pointless action sequences (and dodgy CGI) that just aren’t what the 1934 Agatha Christie novel is about. I far prefer the 1974 version, in part because Albert Finney was just so much better in the role of Poirot.
Donnie Brasco
A powerful 1997 crime drama about a deep-undercover FBI agent working his way up the Mafia hierarchy in Seventies New York, even as his neglected marriage starts to fall apart. Al Pacino and Johnny Depp, long before they became virtual parodies of themselves, are both terrific as an aging gangster and the FBI agent who becomes like a son to him.
Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania - Even Adam Sandler bailed on this straight-to-Prime yawnfest. They really should have stopped at two at most.
But everything popping up on Netflix was weird and depressing and I wanted to watch something mindless and generally cheerful, which this certainly was.
Watched The Seven Percent Solution as the latest of my Sherlock Holmes marathon. Very good movie. Probably one of the best ones I’ve watched so far in terms of all round production as well as entertaining story plot.
I also watched Red Sparrow. Ok but nothing more than that.
Pump Up The Volume (1990) - on HBO Max
Christian Slater stars as a shy high school kid in a new school who has an alter ego: Happy Harry Hard-On, a pirate radio host. His radio show sparks a “rebellion” among his classmates at their repressive school, at which something shady is going on.
I loved loved loved this movie when I was in high school. It was 100% written with teen angst in mind and it pushes all of those buttons. I was a little afraid to watch it again for fear of being massively disappointed but, all told, I think it holds up quite well. I mean, being honest, the plot is ridiculously obvious and there is a bit too much over-wrought writing, but Slater is perfect for the part and Samantha Mathis is delightful as “hot 90s alternative girl” Nora. The soundtrack is still awesome, with Leonard Cohen, The Pixies, Public Enemy, Bad Brains, Beastie Boys, and many more. Turn your brain off and enjoy it!
This, Heathers and Real Genius (which may have aged more) are the creme de la creme of teen movies from the time. Breakfast club and the rest get all the credit (to be fair I’ve never seen Say Anything, so might need to remedy that to comment). But those are the good ones.
I agree with you 100%. I’ve been pissing people off with the “You know, there are a lot of decaffeinated brands on the market today that are just as tasty as the real thing” line from Real Genius for over 30 years
Errementari (Netflix, 2017) Also called The Blacksmith and the Devil. Set in the Basque region of Spain during the First Carlist War (1830’s) this Faust-like traditional Basque fairy tale is about a Blacksmith in turmoil who gets mixed up with a little girl and suspicious towns folk looking for treasure.
It was good. The cinematography was solid, a Sleepy Hollow vibe only with more color. The acting was fine and the plot was interesting being somewhat reminiscent of Pan’s Labyrinth meets Constantine. I have never seen a movie filmed in the Basque language before so that was new for me. It’s a fairy tale so while the action is perhaps too violent for little kids and they wouldn’t be able to keep up with the Close Captioning, it’s still this traditional story’s target audience so that is a bit strange. But if you’re ok with this going in it’s worth it.
