I’ve rarely gone to a movie in the theater, even pre-Internet, without knowing enough about it to know it was going to at least be worth seeing, even if, as it turned out, I didn’t love it.
Love and Monsters - Amazon Prime
A charming indie action-comedy about a nice but nebbishy guy in a post-apocalypse where giant mutant insects and amphibians roam the land. He decides to set out across the dangerous wilderness to find his girlfriend, last seen 7 years ago when said apocalypse happened. Hijinks ensue.
This is a movie I could best describe as “by the numbers.” You know where it’s going, there are no surprises, every I is dotted and every T is crossed, and the “big twist” is telegraphed 10 miles away. That said, the lead is a goofy and charming everyman, the monsters hit the right balance of “dangerous but a bit too cartoonish to be frightening,” and the ending is satisfying.
Nothing amazing, but a pleasant way to waste a couple hours. Younger teens would probably love it.
You must have been on TCM. I also passed, but I’m still only halfway through Giant which immediately followed Cleopatra. At least Giant is only 3:20. Meh.
I haven’t seen Cleopatra in about 50 years. I recall thinking it was maybe not bad at the time but I could never sit through it again.
Giant, on the other hand, I did see recently, for the second time. (I kinda half-watched it; I was at work and my desktop TV had TCM on cable, so I let it play.) No offence to fans of Edna Ferber, George Stevens, Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean or anyone else involved, but it was as awful a slog as I remembered it to be.
Hudson with his laughable “Rex Stetson” accent (if you’ve seen “Pillow Talk” you’ll know what I mean) was miscast. Dean was OK in the earlier parts in which he was young but looked ridiculous made up as an older man. Liz looked great but it wasn’t one of her better performances. It’s just a big sprawling Texas-sized soap opera, yet I suppose it succeeds on that level.
I don’t know if this really qualifies as a “movie”, but it’s worth a mention if anyone else has a chance to see it. It’s a two-hour documentary from PBS about Oliver Sacks, Oliver Sacks: His Own Life. It’s a very moving story about a gentle and wonderful man who, despite a troubled life, was a pioneering neurologist, a caring and empathetic physician, and a prolific author. He was shunned and ignored for many years and achieved real fame and recognition only late in life; the movie Awakenings had much to do with sparking general public interest and a new respect from his peers (another film well worth watching, starring Robin Williams as Sacks). Sacks died in 2015 at the age of 82, peacefully and on his own terms, after being told he had metastasized cancer and had about six months to live.
I just watched Awakenings a couple of nights ago. I was looking for something to watch and decided to look at what Netflix had in the Classics category. I had seen it years ago when it came out on VHS. It’s a great movie and it was all new to me!
I Love My Dad
Somewhat of a misfire, though watchable. Patton Oswalt plays a dad who pretends to be his son’s girlfriend online…so he can re-establish connection with him. It’s supposed to be the true story of the director. It’s sold as a comedy, but it isn’t very funny at all. It’s a short 95 minute movie, but I wasn’t all that pulled in. Nice movie, nothing special.
Enemy, Jake Gyllenhaal. I’m no better informed now as to what the hell that was about than I was before I watched it.
Just watched Belfast. O.k., first question, if Branagh can make a restrained and thoughtful movie like this, why are his Agatha Christie movies so freaking awful and bloated?
Anyway, loved the movie. The performances were all superb. I did need closed captions a few times, but they weren’t absolutely necessary. I’d seen Judi Dench’s final scene before, but it still made me cry. Big 
Been stupid enough to watch a couple of those. Two words: Agatha Christie. Very contrived and not at all well done in the that dept. (Don’t get me started on the Ustinov one set on a island with Roddy McDowell and Diana Rigg. Oh, Evil Under the Sun. McDowell could have just as easily done it.)
Is Beast good?
His Agatha Christie films weren’t about the Agatha Christie mysteries. They were entirely about him going “LOOK AT ME AND HOW AWESOMELY I’M ACTING and oh some people are dead or something.” And thus they were as bloated as his ego.
I mean, he’s a talented man but his Poirot films are ridiculously self-indulgent.
Also, his screenwriter Michael Green just doesn’t really “get” Christie. Not as bad as Sarah Phelps, but not one of the good Christie adapters who can subtly three-dimensionalize the characters without losing the classic flavor.
I saw Emily the Criminal last night.
I love Aubrey Plaza but this movie was kinda…eh. It’s not bad. It is watchable. But also entirely forgettable. The actors do a good job but the story is a trope and it settles into that trope rather than do anything new or interesting. You will not be talking about this movie to anyone.
Not worth the ticket price. Wait for cable. Worth a watch when you have noting else to watch.
So much this.
Oh, and I meant to add a comment about the Turkish Delight in Belfast. “Nobody likes Turkish Delight.” Ha. I was so curious about it when I read that’s what the Witch gave Edmund. Sounded yummy. Er, not so much.
Thanks for that link! I read that reivew (for The ABC Murders) and read another for Ordeal by Innocence by the same reviewer. I’ve not seen any Sarah Phelps adaptations, and now I know not to.
Speaking of Agatha
Rewatched Witness for the Prosecution
Great film, mostly becasue of Charles Laughton’s brilliant performance as the lovable curmudgeon lawyer.
Contrast this against the Miniseries Version, where the focus is not the Barrister but the solicitor Mayhew. Much slower, more depressing and the resolution is even darker.
Not sure which is more true to Christie’s original. Never read it.
I’ve not read the short story it’s based on, but I’ve read Christie’s stage play, which she adapted herself. It’s much closer to the Laughton version.
I have to wonder if John Mortimer got his idea for Rumpole of the Bailey from watching Laughton’s performance as Sir Wilfrid
I was a tourist in Turkey for a few days and everywhere I turned, people were giving me Turkish Delight.
Cubes of gelatinous corn starch and sugar. Not very delightful.
According to the Wikipedia page on the 1982 TV movie, it’s apparently more faithful to Christie’s original short story
The 2015 miniseries was written by Sarah Phelps. Apparently folks on this Board didn’t care for her Poirot adaptations. (see above comments)