Post of the day.
Glad you could find your way back to your computer, Typo!
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019) - Tom Hanks is Fred Rogers, but the movie is more about Lloyd Vogel (a fictional character based on author Tom Junod) as played by Matthew Rhys. It’s a pretty touching, occasionally maudlin, well paced - even in the midst of Hanks’ understated portrayal, not so much an imitation as a suggestion. I’d watch it again. I wouldn’t recommend it as light-hearted afternoon fare (which is how I watched it) but it’ll do. A solid above-average Hanks movie but, I’m having a hard time really pulling the trigger on declaring it a great movie but the Mr. Roger’s angle really sort of pushes you over the edge. For the movie being essentially the telling of Llyoyd Vogel’s family problems, you really get the full picture of what a kind man Fred Rogers really was.
If you’re a fan of Rhys’s, check him in out in the current HBO miniseries Perry Mason. He’s very good.
We watched this a couple of days ago. We also thought it was delightful. The dialog was clever and the pacing was good. Recommended!
Saw again, after many years, Roxanne with Steve Martin and Daryl Hannah. It was a nice, simple film that let Steve Martin shine. It was also a decent movie to watch with our nine-year old granddaughter (plus it held her attention, which is hard to do with lots of films).
Holmes and Watson (2018)- rated 3.8 at IMDB, pretty much universally hated, a death knell to the careers of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly … I didn’t hate it. The first act is really the worst, so if you can sit through the first 20 minutes or so, you can take the rest of it. Not, reapeat, not the worst movie I ever saw. Truly high praise, relatively speaking.
The good part of watching that movie is that it reminded me of a play I saw on, I think, HBO years ago featuring Frank Langella as Sherlock Holmes. I managed to find it - in several parts - on YouTube. Here’s a link, sort of - it’s to Scene 1 part 1. It’s low quality video and not as compelling as I remember, but worth a view if you don’t mind hunting down the parts. I think it’s in five acts, if that helps.
I just saw it an agree: I really enjoyed it but felt like it could have been even better. but I did think it had plenty of energy.
what did people think of having the “surprise” person show up near the end? since it is a surprise, I feel like I shouldn’t name them even though the movie is from last year. I read reviews and a lot of people hated that part and at least one thought it was fantastic.
I was not real happy during the scene - WTF- but the next day I feel like it worked and one of the things I liked about the movie was I couldn’t predict what was going to happen for much of it.
well, the main part of the ending was predictable but for me, not until about half way through. and I liked that.
The Greatest Showman, Hugh Jackman’s movie about P. T. Barnum.
On the one hand, it’s about Barnum trying to put on a great show. On another, though, it’s about Jackman himself doing the same thing. And doing a very good job of it. It’s a fun, entertaining movie. Enough interpersonal tension to add drama, but it doesn’t dwell on it, and a lot of spectacle that isn’t quite the movie depicting how things happened, but how the characters perceive it as happening, and of course it isn’t quite real, because it’s about the Prince of Humbug.
I liked that scene and thought it worked well - funny and heartwarming. The actor’s strong resemblance to the person he was playing was a real plus.
Finally saw Knives Out today. Loved it. Didn’t go the way I thought it would, but I found the way it did go very satisfying.
Ex Machina (2014)
I’d been interested in this since it first came out, but had never gotten around to it. It’s a much smaller film then I expected. Not exactly groundbreaking, but nevertheless riveting, and beautifully shot to boot.
A bit of trivia: Nathan’s house is actually a hotel in Norway, where you can stay (once you’ve made the considerable effort to get there) for as little as $200 per night.
Agreed. There’s a good thread on the movie here: Ex Machina is the best movie I've seen in years (Spoilers) - #281 by glowacks
TCM ran Jacques Demy’s film set in late 60’s LA. It’s prominently featured in Echo in the Canyon, so I thought I’d check it out.
It’s very…French. Very nouvelle vague. Languid doesn’t half describe it. Plus a lot of non-professional actors. Still, a fascinating tour of everyday counterculture Los Angeles in the late 60’s (and I have a suspicion that it had some influence on Five Easy Pieces)
“Knives Out” (Amazon) Finally got around to seeing this. I think this was a case of being over-hyped. It was entertaining, but not “great” as I’d been hearing. Christopher Plummer was awesome. The previews made it look more quirky, comedy, but I didn’t think it was much of either.
“The Old Guard” (Netflix) I enjoyed this. Kind of an interesting spin on the Wolverine/Highlander immortality theme, with a little of the “A-Team” hire-us-for-those-impossible-missions bent to it.
“Blow the Man Down” (Amazon) I had heard about this somewhere, and decided to check it out. Kind of dark, bleak movie. One of those “town is not as quaint as it may appear” stories. Suspenseful enough, though. And interesting inter-relationships.
“Lost and Found: The True Hollywood Story of Silver Screen International Cinema Pictures” (Amazon). This documentary won’t be for everyone. It is about a (clearly) exploitation production house in the 70’s - 80’s. What is entertaining is learning all the dirty tricks this producer would pull, and seeing how horrible these movies that were churned out were. These things are even below “amateurish” level ! But hilarious for the same reason. It took me a couple sittings to complete, but it is worth it.
“Boiled Angel” (Amazon) This is an interesting documentary about the only comic book artists/cartoonist ever to be convicted for obscenity. Warning, though cartoonish, some of the images are graphic and disturbing. But it is an interesting recap on this attack on 1st amendment rights. (Of course, the case took place in Florida !).
As usual, I’ve been watching a ton of movies, but I can’t remember most of them. The last few I do recall.
First of all, I re-watched Role Models (2008) with Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott. It’s hilarious. It’s not a great movie by any stretch, but it’s hilarious. “Congratulations, you’re stupid in three languages.”
And then the disappointment. Two films that I was thoroughly disappointed with when I never in million years thought I would be:
The Verdict (1982) Paul Newman is an alcoholic lawyer who’s thrown a bone in a medical malpractice suit but decides eschew the settlement and go to court because that’s the right thing to do. Here’s the thing, he advocated on behalf of his client like shit. He was steamrolled at every turn by the slick defense lawyers. He had his star witness and his key piece of evidence thrown out, but his ever so boring summation speech (which was basically, “don’t we all want to be good? And just?”) sways the jury and wins the day - spoiler for an almost thirty year old movie, but it sucks anyway, so fuck it. Good performances, obviously, but the story lacks if you ask me.
And Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood (2019) I’ve been anxious to see this movie for quite some time. I finally got some time were I could just curl up and ignore everything else and watch it and … that’s it? As far as I can tell, the story is: what would happen if the Manson people went to a different house? I mean, sure, it was cool to see Brad Pitt kill someone with a telephone and a python boot, but it didn’t seem like much of a pay-off after sitting through the first hour and half of Tarrantino dialogue.
My latest five:
Hamilton
The filmed production of the Broadway hit. Not quite as good as seeing it live (which I did a few years ago, from 'way up in the cheap seats in Chicago), but still a great experience. Highly recommended.
The Wizard of Oz
Dunno how our young sons never saw it before, but now they have, and I enjoyed seeing it again with them. Still a masterpiece: great story, cast, songs, scenery, cinematography, etc. The transition from B&W to color is still breathtaking.
Kiki’s Delivery Service
This Miyazaki animated movie wasn’t quite as good the second time around, but is still a charming, good-natured, kid-friendly movie about a spunky young witch coming of age in a new city. Phil Hartman’s voicing of her cat, Jiji, is a highlight.
Bad Times at the El Royale
A very Coenesque crime movie about a run-down hotel out in the sticks, and seven strangers who converge there, each with their own secrets and agendas, in early 1969. Funny, violent, a little spooky - very good stuff.
Radioactive
Disappointing, kind of blah, paint-by-numbers biopic of Marie Curie, with somewhat forced flash-forwards to show how her research led in part both to benign medical uses of radiation and the A-bomb. I’d say skip it unless you’re a fan of hers.
We watched Gone with the Wind
Scarlett O’Hara was a total bitch who should have been spanked repeatedly. All the guys fall in love with her, even though she’s as cuddly as a snake.
We watched The Naked Jungle
Charlton Heston was a total dick. She fell in love with him anyway. Who woulda thunk it?
We watched The Killers
Really good film noir!!
Where’d You Go, Bernadette? Cate Blanchette gives a good performance in a film with some real script issues…glad we didn’t pay money for it. Just when you think it’s about a woman with some serious psychiatric/emotional problems whose life is falling apart, it zips through a 3rd act “journey of self-discovery” towards a happy ending. Meh.
We watched A Place in the Sun where Shelly Winters and Elizabeth Taylor full in love with brooding and dull Montgomery Clift. Clift knocks up Shelly but doesn’t love her. He wants to marry the young, rich and hot Elizabeth.
He takes Shelly out to a lake to drown her, all the while looking brooding and troubled. My says ‘Hey, maybe he’ll drown hisself!’, which, as it turned out, would have been the smart move on his part.
Then we watched Inherit the Wind. Beautifully shot and wonderfully acted with courtroom scenes that would never, ever happen in a court of law.