Thor: Love and Thunder
I thought I was going to feel bad seeing this movie, like I’d been conned. It actually was a lot better than I expected. Even good in parts. The most disappointing thing about it was realizing that it could have been great if it hadn’t been made under the influence of Disney. Seriously, do you want a movie about a man who is out to kill all the gods because they exist but are selfish and indifferent to the suffering of even their most devout followers, or do you want to show kids on screen playing Thor while pitching a new Disney theme park idea (New Asgard).
Not that you can’t do both, because you did, just that the “kids movie” really crashes with the whole “cancer” and “god doesn’t give a shit about you, so go ahead and kill him” vibe.
I wonder how much of the exposition dumping (the voice-over narration, the play scenes) were because they were targeting an audience (ten year olds) too young to have seen the earlier films?
Prey
Yeah, so this is the best Predator movie except the original. There are only two to see, original and this one. It kind of shows how with just a simple concept, you really can make a good movie and a decent sequel. I have no idea why it is so hard to make Predator sequels. This is how it should be.
Too bad it’s only on Hulu.
A Call to Spy. Really good, I wish it had been longer to fill up some questions, but overall, good. If you read and enjoyed The Alice Network, you will like this.
Never mind.
Yeah, this was a beautiful movie and should have been in theaters.
Is it possible that the success of Prey might lead to a theatrical release? I’d love to watch it in a theater.
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. A 1950s London cleaning lady decides to go to Paris and order a Dior dress.
Okay. First off. It is a total fantasy movie. Just … don’t … think… too … much … about … it. Mrs. Harris makes the typical manic pixie dream girl look like a total piker while being significantly older.
Still mainly interesting to watch. Good cast. It even has a lesser role for Jason Isaacs. (Somebody get him off that awful Good Sam and bring back Case Histories!) The stories of the other characters make it a lot more interesting.
Give it 3.5 “Temptations”
I watched the original Predator last night, as an appetizer before watching Prey. It was about what I remembered (neither better nor worse), but enjoyable enough. I don’t think I knew who Stan Winston was when I originally saw it, so it was cool to see his name pop up in the VX credits.
I also watched the first half hour or so of Predator 2, and it was so awful I turned it off.
Uncharted on Netflix. Mark Wahlberg, Tom Holland. Also Antonio Banderas, who must have been relieved to exit this turkey. Stoopid plot, and snappy dialog that just fell flat. As in every single fucking time. Paul Rudd, these guys ain’t.
Bridge of Spies Tom Hanks stars and its directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg.
Came out in 2015. It’s not a typical Tom Hanks thriller. It’s based on the true story of attorney James Donovan who defends Russian spy Rudolf Abel. Abel is convicted and Donovan comes under intense public anger for representing him.
U2 pilot Gary Powers is shot down & captured. Donovan is asked to unofficially negotiate a prisoner swap for Abel…
It gets very complicated when Donovan is asked to also include a Graduate student in the trade. Frederic Pryor had been arrested in East Germny 6 months earlier.
Donovan has to negotiate with East Germany for Pryor and the Soviets for Powers. Meanwhile the State Dept doesn’t care about Pryor.
Fascinating story and Donovan shows incredible resolve. He doesn’t have any official status. The state dept would deny knowing him if the deal goes bad. It’s all true.
Pryor comes home, gets married and had a long career as a professor. He just died a couple years after the movie release. (Wikipedia).
Hanks gives a superb performance as Donovan. I highly recommend this movie.
The movie is now extremely relevant because similar negotiations are being made for Brittney Griner. There’s other American prisoners in Russia that could be a part of the deal.
Sundance channel also ran The Pelican Brief with Julia Roberts.
It’s much better known than Hank’s movie. I had never seen either movie.
Julia Roberts delivers a great performance as a Law Student that discovers the motives for the assassination of 2 Supreme Court Justices.
The entire cast is excellent.
A great must see thriller.
I did have to laugh at the Judge killed in a porno theater. A very obvious swipe at Clarence Thomas. Wish they had cast a black actor, but that could have gotten them sued.
The assassination may have seemed far fetched in 1993. Not anymore. The entire Supreme Court are currently at risk.
The Invisible Man (2020).
I went in to it with low expectations. Thought it would be a stupid fantasy/sci-fi film with poor CGI. I’m pleased to say I was wrong. It was a good film, with a clever story.
I greatly, greatly enjoyed that film, but it made me so tense that I don’t want to rewatch it, even though I know the entire plot. 
It was fun, though I don’t have a lot of lasting memories of it. I do remember that as the pandemic began, it was one of the earliest theatrical movies to quickly come to streaming.
My 3rd movie Today, The Fugitive with Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. I finally got around to watching it tonight on Sundance channel.
It reminds me of The Coyote and Roadrunner.
No matter how hard Tommy Lee pursues, Ford scampers away. Beep, Beep 
It is a good movie. Best scene is when Kimble has to take a trauma patient to x-ray. He just couldn’t ignore the kid’s misdiagnosis. It speaks so strongly to the basic integrity of the character.
Kimble’s investigation of the one-armed man and the medical conspiracy is very riveting.
Great movie.
Btw, Sundance channel has become one of my favorites. They offer a very good selection of movies.
I second that, great movie.
Just to mention a number of horror websites listed it as their best horror of 2020 (jokes about covid aside).