I watched one of two Harvey Weinstein documentaries on HULU
Engrossing but not all that surprising. But a good study of how a bunch of people can become complicit in criminal behavior.
About which you thought…?
I’m not an Avengers fan, although I’ve watched several of them. It was 3 hours plus, which ate up the entire flight. As those CGI films go, it was entertaining.
Shazaam! was like Big, but with superheroes. Not particularly well done, but somewhat amusing.
The new Pet Sematary was better than the first one, but there was nothing new in the horror genre there. Lithgow was solid, as usual. The story followed a pretty predictable path.
Thanks!
I just saw Contact. Yes, I know it came out in '97, but I didn’t run across it on TV until now and that’s pretty much the only way I ever see movies. I hope it’s okay to not spoiler anything I might say about this 22 year old movie.
So, I liked most of it. Frankly I just like to look at Jodie Foster; even though I am a straight woman, I just find her so beautiful. I also liked that her character was an unabashed atheist. When Matthew McConaughey space-blocked her for that I was completely pissed.
I thought the portrayal of everyone acting like loons because of the message from Vega was good, though I’m sure it would be even crazier than that in reality. (How the hell did that preacher dude get on the launch pad with Tom Skerritt though??)
Jodie was so brave during the countdown I almost cried. “Okay to go! Okay to go!” I have a hard time getting on freaking airplanes. Dang, I love that woman. 
What actually happened in space was a bit of a letdown, but how could it not be? I didn’t mind it, though it didn’t bring me to tears as it was obviously supposed to. I was more worried that the movie would end with Jodie finding belief in god. I think it ended decently, but would have been improved by a scene in which Jodie Foster kicked Matthew McConaughey to death. (“You kept me from fulfilling my lifelong dream, and this historic moment for the human race, because you loved me?! Uh! Uh! Uh!”)
I enjoyed *Contact *when I saw it at the time it came out, and have been meaning to go back and take another look at it. I particularly remember the great panning shot across the Solar System and interstellar space at the beginning, and the clever zoom when Ellie is responding to her father’s heart attack.
Ah, Contact…
I’ve rewatched it recently enough to post here, I suppose. A truly rare SF film that captures the main ideas of the Carl Sagan (yes) novel, which in turn reflect many of the themes he very publically worried about. Like, superstition having a firmer root in most peoples’ minds than fact-based scientific knowledge and reasoning.
The ending was, for me, really fulfilling. As her space pod falls through that weird portal that nobody really understands, she is whisked away into the hands of higher beings who have the power to curate her experience, making it gentle and emotionally meaningful to her. And IIRC, the “being” that communicates with her isn’t able to answer very many of her questions, but reassures her that “the only thing we (the aliens) have found to make the emptiness bearable, is each other.” That there are some feelings that transcend humanity and apply to any being in the universe. That we are not actually alone.
And that’s it…that’s all we get to have, as a takeaway, on this, our first step outside of our home. But, it’s huge. It is quite possible the best case “first contact” story imaginable. No doubt, this was the scenario Carl Sagan dreamed would happen some day.
Movie Night with the wife last night.
First we tried ‘Can you ever forgive me?’.
About 30 minutes in, she asked ‘Is this supposed to be interesting?’ It wasn’t. McCarthy plays yet another character who equates being unpleasant with being ‘real’. And her unpleasantness was just plain dull.
Then we switched to Annihilation. It was interesting, beautifully filmed, but is seemed like they sedated the entire cast before filming.
I recently watched Happy Death Day, a 2017 slasher film with a Groundhog Day premise. A self-absorbed sorority girl gets murdered by someone in a creepy mask, but she wakes up back at the beginning of that same day. She tries to avoid her fate, but keeps getting murdered and reliving the day over and over. She must find out who is killing her and how to stop them.
It was silly, but a lot of fun and clever at times. The lead actress is very good. You kinda hate her character at first, but she changes and grows and totally wins you over by the end.
There is a sequel that came out earlier this year. I will definitely check it out.
I watched Mortal Engines last night. I know it’s based on a novel, but I’m not its demographic, so I never read it. It all looked a little too stupid for me, for some reason and I didn’t really think I’d like it but I really enjoyed it. I’m not much of a steam-punk fan but I’ve played a little Bio-Shock and a little Dishonored - I can dig it.
I thought it looked great - of course, way over the top, but … mobile cities that eat other cities … what do you expect. The story made sense for the most part and it certainly was action packed. It pretty much kept me riveted and I had a lot of fun watching it. I can’t really figure out why Act II had to be Terminator IV, but I’ll watch it again.
It’s actually one of the few movies on my list that’s quite a bit better than the book it’s based on.
I actually went to a theater to watch The Art of Racing in the Rain a couple of weeks ago.
First off, it is not about racing, not really. Racing is incidental to the plot. That said, what racing they show is accurately portrayed, a huge selling point to me.
Second, it’s not really about the dog, it’s about a family in crisis as viewed by the family dog. I thought it was quite well done. It is based on a book of the same title. They had to drop some plot details and simplify a couple of things for the big screen or the movie would have been way too long, but they actually stayed pretty close to the plot. I thought it was well acted, not overdone. It is not an action film, despite the name, it’s drama.
Finally, the key/lesson to the movie (and book) is stated upfront, early in the show but it’s easy to forget it until the end.
I enjoyed it. I need to watch movies more often.
This past weekend I watch Captains Courageous, which I’d never seen before. I really enjoyed it, but I was left wondering how the crew felt about a captain who’d gotten one of their shipmates killed because he couldn’t bear to lose a race. Or why the land-based authorities apparently had nothing to say about it, either.
That was a nit pick, though. Overall, I loved the relationship between Manual and Harvey, especially Harvey finally learning that when you win something by cheating, it was not worth winning. I enjoyed how, when left without recourse, Harvey actually grew and learned. Tough love can be very effective sometimes. And I had a bit of hope, at the last scene, that Harvey had learned how to relate to his father without lying, and his father had learned how to be a real father who listened and did things with his son, rather than just tossing money and toys at him and thinking that was enough.
MotW: Blinded by the Light.
I know what you’re thinking. It’s one of those movies where they take a classic song, slap it on as a title and if you’re lucky play a few bars during the closing credits. And the song has no connection to the movie at all.*
Nope. A kid from a Pakistani family in Luton**, UK discovers Bruce Springsteen in 1987 (!) and life changing events and movie ensue. So a lot of Springsteen music and lyrics are used. Contrasted with the actual contemporary music of the era: Wham!, The Bangles, Debbie Gibson and of course a mention of Tiffany.
I enjoyed the experience of watching it. But the question is: was I enjoying it because of the music or the movie itself? I guess the plot, etc. was okay. Several people in it were really good actors. In particular Aaron Phagura as the friends Roops and Hayley Atwell as the standard inspirational teacher. (And doing an amazing job channeling Kate Mara with a British accent.)
So I’d say fairly okay movie kicked up a level by the music.
Give it 4 cassettes.
- E.g., the movie Moonlight Mile was going to be named after a Beatles tune, but it was going to cost too much so they went with a Rolling Stones tune. The only other change was to edit in the song the couple dance to in one scene after filming. The song doesn’t really mean anything in terms of the film. But it’s still a good movie.
** Which I know mainly from several Monty Python sketches as a generic, drab, boring, British city. In this movie it’s plagued by layoffs, racism, and Margaret Thatcher.
I watched the original Pet Sematary this weekend. It’s been near thirty years since I saw it last.
I was surprised at how well it’s held up. It was tightly scripted; there was nothing in there that wasn’t important to the story. They mention this guy’s a doctor, well, I hope you were paying attention because next thing you know he’s trying to save the life of a nice young man who’s been hit by a car.
I was also impressed by the talent of the child actors, Gage especially. During some of the scenes, he looked like a baby trying to make the mad face without laughing, but I think it still worked.
Of course, Fred Gwynne stole the show. I haven’t seen the remake, but I just don’t know how there could ever be another Jud Crandall.
Five dead cats (or however we’re rating these things).
I finally saw The Favourite. The costumes were great but why in heaven’s name they put modern music in here and there is beyond me. It takes you completely out of the mood of the picture. Beyond that, I found it to be boring and the bits they showed in trailers were about the only entertaining parts.
Just watched “The Mule”, after telling myself I’d never watch another movie by this racist asshole. Should have listened to myself, as it was basically just another two hours of him couching his racism under a thin veil of civility. Not as bad as Gran Torino, but still crap.
The problem was the trailers tried to pitch it as slapstick comedy, when it wasn’t. I enjoyed it thoroughly, but only saw it after learning that it was not, in fact, a slapstick comedy, but more of a period drama.
I don’t recall the music, so I guess I didn’t find it too distracting.
Finally watched United 93. Very difficult to watch, even after 18 years have passed, and very well done.
Then watched the silliness that is Aquaman, but it was okay.
MotW: American Woman. (Note: there’s a lot of stuff out there with the same title. A lot.)
Sienna Miller stars as a woman who undergoes a major tragedy and then it’s affects over the years. Directed by Jake Scott (son of Ridley). Scott has mostly done music videos, e.g., Everybody Hurts.
Very hard to watch at times, esp. in the beginning. Miller’s character is incredibly unsympathetic at first. But then time happens.
Really great cast. Christina Hendricks as her sister. (The usual understated great job.) Will Sasso as the brother-in-law. (If you only know him from stuff like the 3 Stooges movie or that Shatner sitcom, you’ve missed some good stuff. He is a subtle genius in Drop Dead Gorgeous.) Aaron Paul drops in as one of the men in her life. (So a Mad Men/Breaking Bad conjunction.) Amy Madigan as the mom. Pat Healy as the living embodiment of evil. (Well, I exaggerate, a little.) And so on down the cast list.
Like I said. Hard to watch for quite a bit of it. But still uplifting in its way.
Note: No attempt to play off the Guess Who song is intended.
Give it 4 frying pans.