Elvis - I watched it on HBOmax but I believe it’s still in theaters. If so, I highly recommend seeing it on the big screen but it’s still very good either way.
I’m not a huge Elvis fan but I don’t think one needs to be to enjoy it. I will note that it is directed by Baz Luhrmann and lest that discourage anyone who hates his style, this is pretty restrained for him.
As this wasn’t particularly on my radar, I had completely forgotten Tom Hanks plays Colonel Parker. He does not disappoint. I’ve no idea how accurate the portrayal is but if it’s anywhere close, it’s no wonder he was able to swindle EP and co. for so long. A special nod to Shonka Dukureh who plays Big Mama Thornton. Hot damn, I could have watched her for another hour (unfortunately, the actress has died).
It calms down, but the first part of the film is decidedly unrestrained.
But I agree about the Big Mama Thornton actress.
Yeah, it seemed clear to me from the post-credits scene that there had been a subplot about Annie Potts gathering the old crew together that would have made that deus ex machina make a lot more sense, but was cut for some reason.
I really enjoyed the first half of the movie, but then it went completely off the rails. Too bad.
A movie I’ve watched recently on DVD is The Dogs of War, starring Christopher Walken.
He plays a mercenary leading the takeover of an African nation (the fictional nation of Zangara) for foreign interests.
I watched Blade Runner tonight for the first time in at least 30 years. There were maybe a couple of moments that didn’t hold up, but overall it still blew me away.
Also, I don’t think I would have cared about the score the last time I saw it, but the Vangelis accompaniment is terrific.
I watched the 2006 The Black Dahlia (based on James Ellroy’s book this morning because it’s so hot, and I was bored. Bad bad bad. Bad acting. Stupid story. Josh Hartnett has no sex appeal, and Hillary Swank doesn’t look anything like the actress playing the Dahlia she was supposed to be the spitting image of. Just completely ludicrous plot. It was like they were trying to create an L.A. Confidential vibe, but missed by a mile. Avoid at all costs.
This sounded like the true story covered by the film Citizen X. Reading about Child 44 found out it was “loosely based” on the same story. I’d recommend the original.
I was lucky to read L.A. Confidential (technically a sequel to The Black Dahlia) first. The former is a much better story and I’m not sure if I would have read the rest of Elroy’s LA Quartet if I had started with Dahlia.
Well, the movie was definitely waaaaaaaay better than the Dahlia movie.
I got around to watching some dusty old SF that Amazon Prime has been recommending to me for years.
Things to Come (1936) is one of those notable films I’ve never seen in its entirety until now. Like almost everything HG Wells wrote, it is remarkably prescient. One thing he got wrong is that he thought the objection to space travel would be the cost in lives rather than money. Written another way the heroes, John Cabal and Oswald Cabal could be stand-ins for the Military Industrial Complex. And Ralph Richardson’s warlord looks pretty harmless next to the real life monsters that started to come to power even while the film was being made.
The Magnetic Monster (1953) Written and Directed by Curt Siodmak. First - It’s not a monster movie. More like a nuclear disaster movie akin to Three Mile Island or Chernobyl. It’s told in a procedural Dragnet style and is quite engaging until it tries to shoehorn the hero’s pregnant wife into the story. Love interest and melodrama apparently weren’t a strong suit of SF writers of that era (is it yet?)
He’s also funny in the aforementioned Midnight Run as a cynical bounty hunter, and as a commando plumber, of all things, in Brazil.
Haven’t seen that, but I really liked the 2002 remake with Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce.
I liked but didn’t love Citizen X, which featured Stephen Rea, Donald Sutherland and Max Von Sydow. Worth a look as a police procedural in a non-AngloAmerican setting, though.
That’s how I appreciated it, too. It was a TV movie, so it didn’t have the polish of a theatrical release.
I’m not a giant fan either, but I loved this movie. Bigger fan now. I do like Baz’s style though. The musical performances were all pretty great.
Thor, Love and Thunder.
Really hated the tonal juxtapositions, and Thor’s oafish whimsy. This isn’t new in the recent Thor movies, but I found this one particularly jarring, with goofiness directly in situ with kidnapped children.
I think I watched MORBIUS last night, but I drank a half bottle of tequila to wash it from my memory. The hangover is a small price to pay.
I’m gonna watch MOONFALL tonight.
You fool! Run! Why are you doing this to yourself???
I absorbed Moonfall this afternoon. I flipped it on, laid down on the couch and promptly initiated my afternoon nap routine. Woke up with the credits rolling. I’ve been told that’s the better way to enjoy it, but I’ll probably give it another shot with my eyes open.
I just watched MIRRORMASK on DVD, starring Stephanie Leonidas and Gina McKee. I really enjoyed watching this movie.
I cannot overemphasize what a mistake that would be. Just a terrible, terrible film.
Out of tequila, stores closed. My dog who greenlit this? Switching to gin. Sweet bliss take me.
Looking for a movie to watch tomorrow. I see there is a new Jurrasic World movie. Any thoughts on a beverage pairing?