# What in the Heck Did I Just Watch or 134 Minutes I'll Never Get Back **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 15, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693 "2020-09-15T13:56:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/1 "2020-09-15T13:56:01Z")
Has anyone else slogged through “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”? I started watching it Sunday and gave up within 5-10 minutes. It was boring - 2 people in a car talking. I decided to give it another shot yesterday. They finally reached their destination and were out of the car, thankfully. Then it took a very strange, weird twist and I was intrigued. I had to see what was going to happen. Then the last 20 minutes or so was really crappy. I looked it up on IMDb where I found that it was based on a book. Sure glad I never tried reading that book. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/2 "2020-09-15T14:04:07Z")
Thanks to Covid and Smoke, I’ve been watching lots of bad, bad movies, and feel the same way. Watched something called ‘Locke’. It was a guy driving from somewhere to London, talking on the car phone the whole way. Better than it sounds, but still not very good. Last night watched ‘21 Bridges’. Oh My God. A hot mess from start to finish. Don’t even wanna waste your time telling you about it. Avoid like The Clap. ---
**Author:** ![Rob54](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rob54/32/4665_2.png) [@Rob54](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rob54)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/3 "2020-09-15T14:39:06Z")
I lost my time watching The Lighthouse. a dark, expressive horror, in which nothing happens on the one hand, and on the other, the situation is tense to the limit. on the island, where the only living creatures are loud gulls, two caretakers come to work at the lighthouse the old one dumps all the hard work on the young one, chases him, insults, and does not let him near the lighthouse itself. I do not understand how this film could be liked, I sat and wanted to swipe Instagram all the time ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/4 "2020-09-15T15:03:29Z")
I have never been into westerns, they had their heyday before my time. But movies like Django Unchained and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs piqued my interest a bit. I tried watching The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, Clint Eastwood is a legend right? First there was a scene where a bunch of people who aren’t Eastwood look like they’re going to have a showdown, a lot of distant glares and slowly walking towards each other. Then instead of a showdown they rob a place. Ok. Then there is a scene at a house in the desert, a grizzled old guy who isn’t Eastwood and a woman and a child live there, presumably his wife and child. A dapper looking gunslinger who isn’t Eastwood comes to the door menacingly, and he and the old guy wind up not fighting but sitting down at a table and eating and staring at each other for like 10 minutes. Ok not really but it felt like it. And they loved doing that close-up on pained faces like the original Star Trek. I noped out at that point, I’ve got better things to do. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/5 "2020-09-15T15:11:28Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > Has anyone else slogged through “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”? I’m thinking of watching it. > [@Rob54](#): > > I lost my time watching The Lighthouse. I really enjoyed that movie. I did just fast forward my way through an idiotic time travel movie called “Safety Not Guaranteed”. Some of the acting wasn’t bad but the story was shite. Then tried to watch “GoodTime”, and just couldn’t make it through the first half. Again, good acting let down by a shite story. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/6 "2020-09-15T15:32:34Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I tried watching The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, Westerns are of my time, and I don’t think much of that film. Or any spaghetti westerns. But don’t throw the baby out with the bath. Try Josie Wales, or Pale Rider, or Unforgiven, for the Eastwood fix. Or Hang 'em high. Or Paint Your Wagon 🙂 …(Spoiler: no wagons are painted) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/7 "2020-09-15T15:47:51Z")
Not a single one of you spelled ‘Ad Astra’ correctly! ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/8 "2020-09-15T15:49:20Z")
[me being a broken record]I’m just going to jump in with my standard gripe about people not liking some movie - Many (not all) movies are really meant to be seen in a theater on a big screen. The visual composition, the movement, the sound, it’s all designed for that experience. The psychological impact of being in a darkened room with an image occupying your complete visual plane and full sound creates an immersive experience that can not be completely replicated watching at home. Watching at home is an entirely different experience for a multitude of reasons. Yes, yes, nowadays first run films are being released on streaming services instead of in theaters. I know that, and mores the pity. And I acknowledge that your opinions are valid, it’s OK to not like something! But I just want to drop the idea into your heads that maybe you would have liked it more if you saw it in a theater.[/me being a broken record] ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/9 "2020-09-15T15:55:19Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Not a single one of you spelled ‘Ad Astra’ correctly! I saw that in the theater and aside from the very out of place moon chase I really enjoyed it. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/10 "2020-09-15T16:06:36Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Or Paint Your Wagon “Why aren’t they killing each other?” “Gonna use oil-based paint, 'cause the wood is pine.” ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/11 "2020-09-15T16:26:19Z")
To Icarus’s point above, I will concede… ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/12 "2020-09-15T16:41:59Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > To Icarus’s point above, I will concede… I will give a qualified polite disagreement. While a visual movie like say 2001 does benefit from the big screen and shared experience, I consider the story to be the primary part of a film. And a good story can be told anywhere. You can perform Hamlet at the Globe Theater or the rec deck of the Starship Enterprise, watch it on the big screen, or on a smart phone, and it’s still enjoyable. If “two people in a car talking” requires the big screen to be enjoyable, maybe it’s just not that good of a film. No one is demanding the IMAX edition of My Dinner With Andre. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/13 "2020-09-15T17:01:21Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I will give a qualified polite disagreement. > > While a visual movie like say 2001 does benefit from the big screen and shared experience, I consider the story to be the primary part of a film. And a good story can be told anywhere. You can perform Hamlet at the Globe Theater or the rec deck of the Starship Enterprise, watch it on the big screen, or on a smart phone, and it’s still enjoyable. > > If “two people in a car talking” requires the big screen to be enjoyable, maybe it’s just not that good of a film. No one is demanding the IMAX edition of My Dinner With Andre. Respectfully, you are uninformed. The choice of shots (close up, two-shot, distance, etc.) composition, editing, all serve to elicit some emotional/intellectual response. This response is heightened when the visual input is dominating your field of view in a theater, different from viewing at home. So, big screens aren’t just meant for spaceship shoot-em-ups. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/14 "2020-09-15T17:01:21Z")
**The Lobster** Single people are transported to a hotel in the middle of nowhere and will be turned into an animal of their choice if they do not find a partner in a month. Apparently a commentary on relationships in the modern world or something, but…huh? **High Life** Just before a virus wipes out most of mankind the government gathers street urchins and criminals together on small space ships to send them to local black holes to test whether they can derive limitless energy from gravitation. It’s just…what? And that is not ever the stranger WTF moments and plot holes. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/15 "2020-09-15T17:06:07Z")
> [@Rob54](#): > > I lost my time watching The Lighthouse. > a dark, expressive horror, in which nothing happens on the one hand, and on the other, the situation is tense to the limit. > on the island, where the only living creatures are loud gulls, two caretakers come to work at the lighthouse > the old one dumps all the hard work on the young one, chases him, insults, and does not let him near the lighthouse itself. > I do not understand how this film could be liked, I sat and wanted to swipe Instagram all the time I liked it. But I get why many won’t. I think viewing **Eraserhead** and knowing something about the genre helps a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Marine\_One](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marine_one/32/3461_2.png) [@Marine\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marine_One)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/16 "2020-09-15T17:06:48Z")
**Movie 43 - (2013)** It’s has different segments about … oh, what difference does it make. It has: 15 directors It has: Hugh Jackman, Emma Stone, Kate Winslet, Richard Gere, about 20 more stars. Or really career stupid stars. It’s about something with different “funny” episodes linked by a “plot”. Just read any review. It tries **WAY** too hard to be funny and sinks fast and often. No, I didn’t watch all of it. Sample reviews: “An execrable waste cooked up by a hell’s kitchen of directors and writers. It’s death-of-laughter by committee.” “Being punched in the face was easier that watching this movie.” “Don’t see this movie. Don’t rent this movie. Don’t even read this review.” This isn’t even worthy of “Mystery Science Theater 3000”. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/17 "2020-09-15T17:34:46Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > > [@control-z](#): > > > > I tried watching The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, > > Westerns are of my time, and I don’t think much of that film. Or any spaghetti westerns. > > But don’t throw the baby out with the bath. Try Josie Wales, or Pale Rider, or Unforgiven, for the Eastwood fix. Or Hang 'em high. Or Paint Your Wagon 🙂 …(Spoiler: no wagons are painted) Allow me to jump in here. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly is a bit slower paced than some other Eastwood westerns. I’d lump Once Upon a Time in the West together with it. It’s not that they’re BAD (I like them), but they move slower, particularly compared to some of today’s movies. Pale Rider and Unforgiven lean that way as well, though not quite to the degree as the first two do. The Outlaw Josie Wales is 2:15, but has a lot going on - plot and character-wise. Great movie. Probably my favorite of the older Eastwood westerns. A Fistful of Dollars is a western remake of Yojimbo, a well-respected Kurosawa movie. I liked it, with all the gunplay and double-crossing. I’m fond of the Costner-Duvall picture Open Range, though it is on the slower side. It does have a satisfyingly action-packed conclusion, though. Costner & Duvall are great in this. Before someone gives up on westerns completely, they MUST see Silverado. It’s packed with 80’s stars and has some satisfying action along with some nice cinematography. One of my favorite Brian Dennehy roles. If the other movies are too long or slow-paced, try this one. Finally, I’ll throw in the 2010 Coen Bros remake of True Grit with Jeff Bridges & Matt Damon. Great acting, and the movie’s different enough from the John Wayne version that I don’t feel like I’m watching the same movie twice. ---
**Author:** ![jonesj2205](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jonesj2205](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonesj2205)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/18 "2020-09-15T17:38:00Z")
That’s your spoiler alert for Paint Your Wagon? Nothing about singing? Or Eastwood singing? Or Lee Marvin singing? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/19 "2020-09-15T18:02:56Z")
I wouldn’t want to scare anyone off… ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2020, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693/20 "2020-09-15T18:09:07Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > Finally, I’ll throw in the 2010 Coen Bros remake of True Grit with Jeff Bridges & Matt Damon. Great acting, and the movie’s different enough from the John Wayne version that I don’t feel like I’m watching the same movie twice. Thanks for the recommendations. I did actually see and enjoy that one. That was another one of my inspirations to try watching vintage westerns. Also I will watch about anything by the Coens. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-the-heck-did-i-just-watch-or-134-minutes-ill-never-get-back/920693.md?page=2)