Anyone planning to Watch Song Sung Blue?
I’m a Neil Diamond fan. The soundtrack should be a great tribute to Neil’s music.
Post a review if you go see it at the theater.
Over the past week:
The Housemaid A twisty thriller along the lines of Gone Girl. A woman with secrets is hired into a rich tech bro’s household as a maid, only to discover the woman of the house is apparently focused on destroying her. I have to admit it sucked me in and I didn’t see the twist coming until just before it corkscrewed into the narrative. Ignore the plot-holes and it’s a fun ride.
Resurrection An episodic sci-fi/fantasy set in a dystopian world in which dreams are outlawed and only outlaws have dreams. The episodes don’t really hang together in a coherent theme, but in the skilled hands of the director (Bi Gan), each episode is a mini-masterpiece. It requires some investment from the viewer, so not recommended for the casual watch.
Anaconda A group of middle aged friends reunite to fulfill their youthful dream to remake the 90’s film Anaconda (yeah, the one with the horrible overacting Jon Voight, among others). The movie is sort of a The Hangover meets Anaconda, but the purity of the group’s ambitions and the gameness of the actors in the raunch bits redeems it (a bit). I had fun and laughed out loud a few times, but can’t recommend it, especially if you can’t stand Jack Black.
Song Sung Blue Apparently based on the true story of a couple who started a successful Neil Diamond tribute band, it has as more melodrama stuffed into it than I thought was humanly possible. Lot’s of well produced versions of Neil Diamond’s songbook (we all know Hugh Jackman can sing, but who knew Kate Hudson had pipes?). If you want an evening of Neil Diamond songs embedded in the most cliche ridden tale of the ups and downs (a lot of downs) of a blue collar family (with the means to afford tons of expensive costumes and audio equipment), this is tailor made for you. For myself, the early introduction of Chekov’s heart condition had me spending the last half hour of the movie waiting for it to go off. Not recommended for anyone but dedicated Neil Diamond fans or those who have never seen a movie.
I’ve seen The Holdovers described as “Scent of a Woman, but much more realistic.” Which it is, when you think about it: both are about a high school student and an older man. They don’t get along at first, but they bond over an adventure in the city.
Fine so far, but fine dining, a suite at a fancy hotel, a hired limo and driver, custom-made suits, an afternoon tea dance, and test-driving a Ferrari are out of most adults’ and teens’ reach. A beer and burger joint, bowling, and a beater car, as in The Holdovers, are however. I like both, but I think I prefer The Holdovers because it is much more relatable.
As for Home Alone, the first time was fun, the second time was “Meh,” the third time was “Again?” and the fourth time was “No, just no.”
I watched the 1973 Walking Tall tonight. It was on TCM, so why not? I had seen it before, sometime in the 1970s, when it was on TV. After tonight’s viewing, I’m on the fence as to whether or not I liked it. On the one hand, I do tend to like movies with some sort of basis in actual history; on the other hand, this one was a little too over the top in spots. How much fake blood did they use, anyway?
Thank you @peccavi
I’ll wait until Song Sung Blue is offered on Prime.
Now, until like two days ago, I thought SSB was a docudrama about Neil Diamond, ala Bohemian Rhapsody or Rocket Man. The trailer doesn’t make it obvious.
Now I find out it’s about a cover act? Geeze.
Next you’ll be telling me Michael is about a Jackson impersonator!
That’s an old movie where multiple viewings may not be necessary, but it’s unfortunate that the Rock remake was done to ramp up the action; not to set the historical record straight. The stories from the old Dixie mafia are underrepresented in popular culture, whereas for me at least I could live happily without yet another version of the Lucky/Meyer/Bugsy story.
The tv ads are misleading. I also expected a movie about Neil Diamond. I’ve eagerly been waiting for the theatrical release.
Oh well.
Actually, I saw it at a sneak preview two weeks ago. Our theater does previews on Mondays without telling you what it is, so I went in without knowing anything, and with no expectations.
No, it’s not Citizen Kane, but it was an enjoyable couple of hours. It’s based on a documentary from 2008. I’m sure some things were a bit of artistic license, but the main parts of the story are true. And that’s a lot to cram into about 2 years. You see Hugh Jackman’s character fighting with sobriety, and Kate Hudson falling into addiction. Yeah, a bit corny at times, but well acted. I liked some of the directorial decisions like not prettying-up the main characters and showing working poor living without over emphasizing it. I was surprised at how well I knew a lot of Neil Diamond songs. Might be doing karioki tonight, and I’m thinking of doing Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show.
Marty Supreme
Boy, I disliked almost everything about this movie. I’m usually okay with unlikable characters but there are only two sympathetic characters in this film (one of them is a dog and the other doesn’t speak English.) I especially hate the cinematography with the non-stop closeups (a dermatologist’s wet dream) and the totally undeserved redemption arc. It’ll probably win ten Oscar’s.
Miller’s Crossing (1990). I hadn’t seen it since it arrived in the theater and had no interest because it’s pretty intense and I wasn’t sure I wanted to dive into it. But my son wanted to watch it, so we watched it, and man is that a fantastic movie. Definite Coen Bros stylistic vibes, and great acting.
I read this thread often but simply don’t see or watch that many movies anymore, but a couple days at my brother’s house (where they have 3-4 movie services and apparently that is all they watch) plus seeing one tonight on a whim, I decided I would make my contribution to this entertaining thread.
First the Holiday Movies (I don’t count Die Hard, since everyone watches it at Christmas and it is a very good movie–or at least everyone has an opinion of it).
So…
The Black Phone (2021), standard horror/thriller with child kidnapped by mass murderer-psycho and held in a basement with a…black phone…calls occur and sister is slightly psysic and…sorry, not scary, not bloody, and rather bored me. Not recommended.
The Beekeeper (2024). Basically Jason Strahan goes John Wick on Telemarketers ripping off old people after a friends’ suicide, taking out assorted bad guys, phone marketers, mercenaries and FBI/Police agents in quantities that even Arnold Schwarzenegger would say “Man, that’s unrealistic”. Fairly mindless fare but not something I’d watch again.
The Accountant 2(2025). Sequel to “The Accountant”, which I thought was a better movie in terms of plot and direction, but this one features the relationship between the two brothers and does have it’s interesting moments. Again, a fairly large body count and you get Ben Affleck line-dancing whether you want it or not, but I might watch the Accountant 3, which is in development.
The Martian (2015). Bored my family, but i still think it is the best Science Fiction movie ever and is in my top 5 all-time. YMMV, but it’s well-plotted, well-written and the actors all fit their roles perfectly. And Rich Purcell is still a steely-eyed missile man.
The Incredibles 2. I loved the first one but never got around to watching the second one until tonight when I was bouncing from the NFL game and…while I think the original is better and I figured out the plot twist early on, it was still enjoyable and if you have to kill a couple hours you can do worse.
And that is my 2025 report, probably will not see that many movies in the next six months, but I done my duty.
I have questions…
Yeh that is an eyebrow-raiser. How the hell does that film bore someone?!
Agree with you about this one - I watched it again a while back due to the decent reviews and was left baffled as to how it got them.
Wake up Dead Man (AKA Knives Out 3)
Hmmm… Lots to like about this (great cast, engaging dialogue, a dying artform in the ‘Whodunnit’ film) and yet I came away underwhelmed, mostly due to the ending which I and my viewing companions found came a little out of nowhere. By that, I don’t mean it was illogical, more that there weren’t really the standard clues sprinkled throughout other red herrings that you’d want to receive (even if only picked up on in retrospect). We really had no clue once the solution was revealed that that was what it was going to be. Maybe we’re just slow! I don’t feel overly inclined to rewatch to see what we may have missed, which says it all really. Worth watching but no more than that.
No idea, but they do watch mostly action/horror type films along with dramas like “Yellowstone” so this may not be their taste. But I enjoyed it anyway.
Yeah, Stainless Steel Rat needs a new family.
Farkham Hall
Absolutely not recommended.
One of the worst films of the year. An unfunny comedy. Almost zero laughs at all and honestly a huge misfire by everyone. This is a movie that tries to be a bit like Naked Gun…but nearly all the gags miss and miss terribly.
Boring. Unfunny. Thumbs down, way down.
I like Jimmy Carr, who wrote this. Let’s just pretend this didn’t happen and get back to his hosting panel shows and telling mildly amusing jokes.
Finally got to see this, but only about the first half – will watch the rest tonight. As I mentioned, as a fan of PG Wodehouse writings and series like You Rang, M’Lord? (not to mention The Windsors!) I’m a fan of parodies of English aristocracy.
I have to agree that a lot of the humour (so far, at least) is fairly mild, although there are a few laugh-out-loud moments. But the settings are certainly impressive – it’s done on the same grandiose scale as Downton Abbey. The residence is absolutely palatial. By contrast, You Rang, M’Lord? presents an aristocratic family living on a much more modest scale, with only a few servants.
I sort of watched Dead Poets Society (1989). It was actually a reaction video on YouTube, so it wasn’t the whole movie - just selected clips - but I think you get enough to move the story along and keep up. I wasn’t completely unfamiliar with the film, so through context clues, the aforementioned clips and the reactors’ analysis I’m pretty sure I’ve got the big picture. I’d like to watch it proper but it’s not streaming on anything I subscribe to at the moment. Anyway …
… I don’t get it. Maybe I am missing a big piece of the picture but as far as I can tell these kids are being threatened with expulsion for socializing in a cave. Why would anyone care? Why is that such a bugaboo? Yeah, yeah, tradition, honor, duty, all that shit, but really? You boys have been cultivating friendships while studying classic literature … in a cave … so you have to go. Is it the cave? I don’t get it.
As for the kid who offs himself, I knew it was coming - that much was pre-spoilered for me - but I just didn’t buy Kurtwood Smith’s father character. Way too over the top.
I will try to watch it proper as soon as I can, but I can’t promise I’ll get it then either.