Chiming in on Unfrosted — it kept my wife and I watching. No leaving for the kitchen or bathroom. No checking our phones/iPads. For us that’s rare, so thumbs up. B+?
One of us chuckled or laughed every 5 minutes. We didn’t laugh at the same things. There were lots of gags that were clever but not LOL. And there where lots of lines that went by too fast to grasp; I’ll probably try it with subtitles next time.
I picked up a copy of the live-action The Little Mermaid recently at a going-out-of-business sale, and we watched it over the weekend. I was very impressed with the visuals – they really went out of their way to make these impressive, especially the “Disney 100th anniversary” opening sequence. The only disturbing thing was the depiction of Flounder and Sebastian, who were weirdly cartoony and out of synch with the other characters. And Sebastian had “Mr. Crabs” eyes
I had no problem with Halle Bailey as Ariel. In fact, with Noma Dumezweni as Queen Selina the film had a “Bridgerton” vibe. I didn’t realize it was Art Malik as Grimesby. Melissa McCarthy was good as Ursula, although it looked as if they shot her scenes in a funhouse under black lights.The cameo by Jodi Benson was good, and the change at the end with Ariel having a much more active role was a change for the better.
I did kinda miss the French chef and “Le Poisson”, but that might have come off pretty grotesque in the more realistic fashion. They added some new songs, but they weren’t show-stoppers.
Regarding Frosted. We found it mildly amusing, occasionally chuckle-out-loud funny (the Mad Men sequence was a nice touch, as was the “Thurl Ravenscroft” bit with him wearing Viking horns). The whole thing went on a bit too long, but it had its moments. My immediate thought was that Jerry Seinfeld is a lousy actor and that casting someone like Jason Bateman would have made it better, but it was Jerry’s movie, so I guess he had to play the lead.
When I was about 9 years old, my family was a “test family” for various products. Among the unnamed products we tested were what later became Tang and Pop Tarts. We hated them both!
For the first time, I saw the movie, “The Wraith” with a young and handsome Charlie Sheen and Nick Cassavetes. I thought it was Sheen’s first movie but, in actuality, it wasn’t. It was an unlikely combination of retribution and undying love, and I enjoyed it.
Tried to watch 3 Days in Malay, a WWII movie on Hulu. Don’t bother. Poor acting, and I’m pretty sure they didn’t hire a consultant for the military aspects, nor ever bothered to read a history book. We struggled through 20 minutes.
Enchanting is right, it’s a lovely film. Certainly low stakes, just a little shell and his grandma living in an Air BnB. There are a lot of touching moments, funny moments, sad moments, Marcel and his grandma are well imbued with personality, it’s impossible not to like them.
Just saw this, and it was just unrelenting stupid fun. It’s full of knowing winks to the audience to indicate that at no point should any of it be taken seriously. I can’t remember the last time I just flat out enjoyed a film so much. And yes, it’s a love letter to stuntmen. And deservedly so.
Also, I am rapidly reaching “Would watch Hannah Waddingham read the phone book” fanboy status.
And there’s a mid-credits scene (after the stunt clips) worth watching.
Agreed. It wasn’t bad at all; it was just one of those goofy projects that appear to have largely been done for the entertainment of the participants, with the audience a secondary concern. “It’s incredibly silly” sums it up in its entirety.
The dumpster kids were my favorite part, tbh.
When you’re a self-satisfied, self-indulgent billionaire, it’s what you do. Honestly, Jerry Seinfeld has been doing it since the early 90s, shortly after NBC bought the series.
Miller’s Girl 2024
Takes the classic Lolita story and flips it around. The 18 year old teen manipulates the situation and there’s no successful seduction. The high school senior writes a sexually explict Lolita story in a style & structure used by author Henry Miller. The essay is turned into the teacher as a mid term paper and a clumsy feature of her seduction plan. Any sexual scenes are fantasy depictions from the essay and are obviously not real.
There’s a interesting twist ending that I won’t spoil.
There’s been controversy about the age difference of the actors. But it’s very, very clear the “affair” is a romantized fantasy written by the student. There’s no explict scenes or nudity. It’s quite tame compared to movies I saw thirty to forty years ago.
C+ or B primarily because I strongly dislike Henry Miller’s style of writing. I’ve never been impressed with writing that uses vocabulary that’s never used in real life. Obscure words that are only used to imply great literary style. Give me Pearl S. Buck, John Steinbeck or Hemingway instead.
I’m very late to the party in that I just watched the first John Wick movie. Eh, I found it fairly dull. The stunt work was fine, but the lack of a decent narrative meant the action scenes didn’t have much of a meaning. I’m also getting tired of Russian gangsters as antagonist.
I quite like the John Wick series, but I recently watched The Meg 2.
Don’t bother.
To be fair, as vanity projects go Unfrosted is one of the better results, in that it’s often actually funny. On the far side of the spectrum we find The Ridiculous Six, which is not only painfully unfunny but often actively offensive.
Convoluted story of mystery novelist writing a fictional book about a murder he is actually plotting to commit to avenge the hit-and-run death of his son. His search for the culprit (a total a-hole) leads to extensive screen time spent with one of the worst families ever. Beautifully lit and shot Argentinean film noir with scattered stylistic flourishes, a bland leading man and some Nicholas Cage-level (over)acting ferocity from the female lead (Laura Hidalgo). The 1969 remake in color may be one of director Claude Chabrol’s better films, but it was not as good as this version, imo.
Queen of the Desert
Highly recommended.
One of the most overlooked movies of the past decade or so. Werner Herzog wrote and directed this movie and it is one of his best works. Tells the story of Gertrude Bell, played by Nicole Kidman. TE Lawrence is even played by Robert Pattison
The whole thing is incredible and beautiful. Somehow, it was released to almost no acclaim or attention and I know few who have seen this movie. My wife and I, however, love it.
Add this one to your viewing queued. It’s gorgeous and incredible.
Abigail
Highly recommended.
Go in blind; don’t watch any trailers or anything. A very fun, and very funny movie. A group is hired to hold a wealthy man’s daughter hostage. The movie succeeds because they made sure to give all the main characters clear personalities and the little girl gives a great performance. She played Matlida in the Matilda movie as well and she was great in that, too.
Again, just go in blind. Terrific movie.
Naked Lunch
Not recommended.
I can’t believe a movie with this many strange things is so boring. I’ve seen about 7 David Cronenberg movies and this was the dullest, in my opinion. It’s surreal, but just kind of flat.
“I can think of two things wrong with that title.” 
And yes, kids sneaking into this movie since it is R-rated and called Naked Lunch would leave very disappointed. Very.
Pearl Harbor 2001
I always enjoy the film. Alec Baldwin is very good as Jimmy Doolittle. I like most of the cast.
Yes, it has historical inaccuracies. But it’s still a good movie.
For accuracy watch Tora,Tora,Tora and In Harm’s Way.
I also like Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo with Spencer Tracy and some of Hollywood’s best supporting character actors. I plan to watch it and Tora,Tora,Tora on Memorial Weekend.
I’ll watch In Harm’s Way, later this week.
Personally, I’m not a David Cronenberg fan, and my least favourite is eXistenZ, one of the worst movies “based on a computer game” because that game is Myst, the computer equivalent of a slideslow.
Naked Lunch, well, when I used to smoke cannabis, it was good for that. The incredibly trippy nature of it worked well, in that state you can conclude that most of the movie is him hallucinating where he is and what he is doing, with occasional moments of clarity when reality creeps in
Cannabis, however, I eventually concluded, does lower your critical reasoning, so I can completely see how it is pretty much unwatchable in any other state. That makes it extra funny to think what Nelson Muntz is thinking.
“Ha-ha.” (points at Mahaloth)
It’s not streaming. My friend/co-worker’s husband is in the DGA and had a Blu-ray copy sent to him. I bet it hits USA streaming and blu-ray soon, though.