2024 MOVIES DISCUSSION THREAD

[Andrew POE!]

Just now, odessasteps said:

When I read that last night, I thought it said Apu (as Sanjit Ray) not Ape. 

I sorta wished I watched that instead.

[Andrew POE!]

Movies today...

Uncut Gems (Netflix, leaving on Wednesday)

Spoiler

Incredible, nerve-wracking movie. I felt more PTSD in this than I did in Whiplash. The soundtrack is on another level (if there's ever a Blade Runner 3, make the guy who did the soundtrack for this do the soundtrack for that). Movie never wears out its welcome and it never gets uninteresting.

Adam Sandler has always been a great actor. He just made bad choices for movies.

Also, didn't technically Kevin Garnett gamble on his own game? He gives the money to Howard (Sandler) who turns around and bets it all on the game.

I wonder what the aftermath would have been though - Julia gets back, see the jewelry store robbed, Howard & Arno dead, but has over $1 million in cash.

St. Vincent (Hulu, leaving next week)

Spoiler

Relatively safe comedy/drama although certain elements introduced have little bearing upon the conclusion (Terrence Howard's role as a loan shark for example). Bill Murray and Naomi Watts played convincing parts (especially Murray's speaking patterns after a stroke and Naomi Watts' Russian accent). Melissa McCarthy was tolerable (most people aren't a fan of hers at all).

Humane (saw at the theaters)

Spoiler

Interesting premise for the first 30 minutes of the movie then turned into sub-sub-Syfy channel acting and writing. I can't completely blame the director Caitlin Cronenberg (some of the scenes near the start did show some interesting ideas with the movers leading into meeting Peter Gallagher's character). She'll need another movie done before I can conclude that she's awful.

I wonder if the movie would have done better in 28 Days Later or The Purge type of worldbuilding instead of what I saw with the characters comically attempting murder on each other and Jay Baruchel showing hilarious facial expressions.

Some Kind of Heaven (Hulu, leaving next week)

Spoiler

Well shot documentary about The Villages in Florida. Some of the compositions reminded me of Wes Anderson in some ways. I somewhat wished it showed 'the other side' of the Villages - namely the people who work at restaurants/bars/etc. for the mostly rich elderly.

 

Edited May 7 by Andrew POE!

[driver]

22 hours ago, zendragon said:

better or worse than Rob Zombie's Munsters (which I found to be silly fun)

Way better. I found Munsters to be very pretty not really good. It was too over the top. Unfrosted is over the top as well, but it hits differently.

[odessasteps]

I completely forgot about wanting to see the Munsters movie. 

[odessasteps]

As discussed here recently, a matter of life and death is on TCM tonight, after north by northwest.

[Andrew POE!]

Movies today...

Shit Year (Mubi, leaving next week)

Spoiler

The movie appears disconnected at first, but there is a story behind it once it gets going. Ellen Barkin is simply arresting to watch despite the strangeness going on around her.

There were some scenes that had me busting out laughing - Ellen Barkin being chased by people in green outfits carrying sparklers for example.

Pavilion (Mubi, leaving next week)

Spoiler

Movie is exactly what it’s like for teenagers without many interests and it’s summertime. I don’t recall specific scenes but the whole vibe of the movie is disconnection. The main character is shuffled between parents (likely due to divorce). Movie was a bit dull at times.

Pit Stop (Hulu, leaving next week)

Spoiler

Gabe (Bill Heck) is essentially Joel Miller from The Last of Us but gay.

Movie's pacing was just right and never felt boring. Although it was a bit "deus ex machina" how Ernesto (Marcus DeAnda) met. Ernesto was a bit of a jerk towards his previous boyfriend though (movie never addresses that when Ernesto and Gabe meet).

This is the second movie I've seen today about living in small town/rural cities in the middle of nowhere.

Dramarama (Hulu, leaving next week)

Spoiler

Nearly perfect distillation of the early '90s. It's like all the nerdy/geeky kids from John Hughes movies were all best friends and hung out with each other.

Movie was never boring, pacing was great, characters seem relatable yet dramatic, and having grown up in the '90s, I knew sheltered boys/girls like the ones in this movie.

Airport scene had me close to crying.

Tarot (saw at the theaters)
 

Spoiler

A lot better than I expected. Harriet Slater (Haley) was a lot better as a lead than I thought and had some great character moments in the movie. Some points were actually scary. The only drawback a bit is the movie was a bit on the short side, but was serviceable.

Some of the actors (Harriet Slater, Jacob Batalon) could actually work if there is another Scream sequel.

 

[odessasteps]

 

[Tabe]

On 5/6/2024 at 7:19 PM, Andrew POE! said:

Movies today...

Uncut Gems (Netflix, leaving on Wednesday)

  Hide contents

Incredible, nerve-wracking movie. I felt more PTSD in this than I did in Whiplash. The soundtrack is on another level (if there's ever a Blade Runner 3, make the guy who did the soundtrack for this do the soundtrack for that). Movie never wears out its welcome and it never gets uninteresting.

Adam Sandler has always been a great actor. He just made bad choices for movies.

Also, didn't technically Kevin Garnett gamble on his own game? He gives the money to Howard (Sandler) who turns around and bets it all on the game.

I wonder what the aftermath would have been though - Julia gets back, see the jewelry store robbed, Howard & Arno dead, but has over $1 million in cash.

St. Vincent (Hulu, leaving next week)

  Hide contents

Relatively safe comedy/drama although certain elements introduced have little bearing upon the conclusion (Terrence Howard's role as a loan shark for example). Bill Murray and Naomi Watts played convincing parts (especially Murray's speaking patterns after a stroke and Naomi Watts' Russian accent). Melissa McCarthy was tolerable (most people aren't a fan of hers at all).

Humane (saw at the theaters)

  Reveal hidden contents

Interesting premise for the first 30 minutes of the movie then turned into sub-sub-Syfy channel acting and writing. I can't completely blame the director Caitlin Cronenberg (some of the scenes near the start did show some interesting ideas with the movers leading into meeting Peter Gallagher's character). She'll need another movie done before I can conclude that she's awful.

I wonder if the movie would have done better in 28 Days Later or The Purge type of worldbuilding instead of what I saw with the characters comically attempting murder on each other and Jay Baruchel showing hilarious facial expressions.

Some Kind of Heaven (Hulu, leaving next week)

  Reveal hidden contents

Well shot documentary about The Villages in Florida. Some of the compositions reminded me of Wes Anderson in some ways. I somewhat wished it showed 'the other side' of the Villages - namely the people who work at restaurants/bars/etc. for the mostly rich elderly.

St. Vincent is really good. Understated but good. And Melissa Mccarthy is really good. 

[Andrew POE!]

Movies today....not as many as usual. Had a lot going on at work.

Showgirls (Criterion Channel, leaving at the end of the month)

Spoiler

Movie isn't as bad as people (mainly prudes) say it is. Yes, there is a lot of overacting going on (Gina Gershon and Elizabeth Berkeley stand up please). But the story covers the same ground as Black Swan. In fact, I wonder if Darren Aronofsky (or the writer for Black Swan at least) watched Showgirls and thought "yeah, I'll use some ideas from this, no one will notice."

It's not a perfect film because the last 20 minutes seem to resolve everything too fast and leaves it open for a sequel. I halfway expected Nomi (Berkeley) to get arrested for her past or for murdering Andrew Carver in his suite.

But still, as a movie, it works and there isn't a bad scene (although you have to get past the cheesy acting and gratuitous nudity everywhere).

The Amazing Spider-Man (oh boy)

Spoiler

Theater I was in had a broken AC and claimed they were turning it on but they hadn't. I ended up leaving and finishing the movie on Netflix.

It's easy to see why Emma Stone is one of the best actresses this generation; she captures the awkwardness of a teenager really well.

I liked how the movie started out as more of a Jurassic Park / The Fly scientific movie (although it was pseudo-science). The movie is more of a character drama than a pure superhero movie.

Sally Fields is just great as Aunt May (albeit a bit younger than Tobey McGuire Spider-Man's Aunt May).

 

[Andrew POE!]

Movies today....

Black Mass (Max, leaving next week)

Spoiler

I'm a sucker for Martin Scorsese style crime dramas. Goodfellas is one of my favorite movies. But I would say that Black Mass isn't a classic like Goodfellas is. Like American Hustle, it's a 'cover version' of Goodfellas. It's different enough to not be a straight up copy cat with how it does it's shots and how the shots are framed.

Johnny Depp is just incredible in this. Joel Edgerton does a pretty good DeNiro impression with his character.

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (Hulu, leaving next week)

Spoiler

Funny satire of celebrity culture presented as a Christopher Guest-like mockumentary. Andy Sanberg (Connor) is annoying to watch, but that's the point.

Night Shift (Mubi, leaving next week)

Spoiler

Cinematography is great throughout the movie and makes it better than it should be. The problem is the police characters in the movie have souls that are dogshit and every single fucking thing about them is ugly. There's no nuance, nothing learned for any of the characters. You have sympathy for Tohirov (Payman Maadi) despite not being 100% convinced he's innocent (the movie doesn't establish anything for you to believe otherwise).

Thankfully, this wasn't set in America because Erik (Gregory Gadebois) would have shot and killed Tohirov not even five minutes into the car ride.

Two Gates of Sleep (Mubi, leaving next week)

Spoiler

Two Gates of Boredom is more like it. Director attempts to make a Terrence Malick movie minus any visual poetry or symbolism and has Temu version of Aaron Paul who skipped weight training and sampled too much of the product if you know what I mean attempt to lug a dead body in a casket to the point of throwing up while seemingly killing his brother, who is also a Temu version of Aaron Paul. I couldn't tell if the mom was blind or dumb. She whispers while walking around because it's not a Terrence Malick movie if you don't whisper in a voiceover, you know.

They attempt to watch TV and get one channel instead of stealing cable like other people would do (they probably lost their remaining brain cells to do that).

Some shots are beautiful but cinematography really shouldn't carry a film.

Not sure how this got invited to Cannes. Maybe the director bought someone important lunch for a week. It won at CPH PIX so the director must have bought a bunch of people lunch for a week.

 

[Curt McGirt]

I'm a soft touch for movies like that too, good or not (I'm looking at you Kill the Irishman) and Black Mass is a favorite. Truth is it's a horror movie! And not just a slasher movie, either, because Depp is basically playing Count Dracula. I mean, down to the way he looks, it's spot on. And Edgerton is a perfect Renfield. Don't you get the feeling Depp is gonna sink his teeth into the wife's neck in that one scene? 

[Andrew POE!]

1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said:

I'm a soft touch for movies like that too, good or not (I'm looking at you Kill the Irishman) and Black Mass is a favorite. Truth is it's a horror movie! And not just a slasher movie, either, because Depp is basically playing Count Dracula. I mean, down to the way he looks, it's spot on. And Edgerton is a perfect Renfield. Don't you get the feeling Depp is gonna sink his teeth into the wife's neck in that one scene? 

I thought either that or he was going to snap her neck right then and there.

I still think Edgerton was trying to act like a young DeNiro. Before Martin Scorsese gets too old or finally does his last movie, he needs to get Edgerton, Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, Joe Pesci, Marsia Tomei, Jennifer Lawrence, Leonard DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro to do one last gangster movie (maybe about the origins of the Italian mob). I would be there day 1.

[Curt McGirt]

If he hadn't decided to take I Heard You Paint Houses as gospel and made The Irishman he could have done something based off of Russell Bufalino's life in full. I recently read The Life We Chose by his protege Billy D'Elia, which was written in response to Brandt's book and Scorcese's movie, and that would have been wildly better. Bufalino was the real "boss of bosses" behind the scenes who knew literally everyone in the US Cosa Nostra, it seems, and that would make the greatest story of all. 

[Technico Support]

15 hours ago, Andrew POE! said:

Movies today....

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Funny satire of celebrity culture presented as a Christopher Guest-like mockumentary. Andy Sanberg (Connor) is annoying to watch, but that's the point.

Night Shift (Mubi, leaving next week)

  Reveal hidden contents

Cinematography is great throughout the movie and makes it better than it should be. The problem is the police characters in the movie have souls that are dogshit and every single fucking thing about them is ugly. There's no nuance, nothing learned for any of the characters. You have sympathy for Tohirov (Payman Maadi) despite not being 100% convinced he's innocent (the movie doesn't establish anything for you to believe otherwise).

Thankfully, this wasn't set in America because Erik (Gregory Gadebois) would have shot and killed Tohirov not even five minutes into the car ride.

 

I expanded this spoiler thinking it was the Keaton/Winkler 1982 comedy that I haven't seen 40 years.

[Andrew POE!]

1 hour ago, Technico Support said:

I expanded this spoiler thinking it was the Keaton/Winkler 1982 comedy that I haven't seen 40 years.

Well, if I can find that on streaming or somewhere, I'll watch that too.

[driver]

I took a date to see Showgirls in the theater on a second or third date. She couldn't have given two shits about it but I thought it was the worst thing ever.

[Curt McGirt]

That reminds me of taking a date to see The Holy Mountain. Any other totally weird or bad choices y'all have taken dates to?

[Andrew POE!]

19 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

That reminds me of taking a date to see The Holy Mountain. Any other totally weird or bad choices y'all have taken dates to?

I haven't gone on many dates (last time I took a girl on a date for a movie, we saw Skyfall), but I would think Trash Humpers or Tideland would be a weird/bad choice.

[Andrew POE!]

27 minutes ago, driver said:

I took a date to see Showgirls in the theater on a second or third date. She couldn't have given two shits about it but I thought it was the worst thing ever.

The fact that I liked Showgirls makes me wonder if I have problems.

[Zimbra]

22 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

That reminds me of taking a date to see The Holy Mountain. Any other totally weird or bad choices y'all have taken dates to?

I was 3rd wheel on a date with a couple to see Happiness and boy howdy she did not enjoy that at all.

And it wasn't really a weird choice but taking my girlfriend to see Message in a Bottle prevented me from losing my virginity in high school.

[Technico Support]

2 hours ago, Andrew POE! said:

Well, if I can find that on streaming or somewhere, I'll watch that too.

I’d tell you it was good but I don’t trust 10 year old me’s taste.

Thinking more about it, that’s up there with The Thing and various horror films on the “why the fuck was I allowed to see that shit?” list that I, now a father of a 9 year old, think about sometimes.

[J.H.]

Man... do not make m3 retell the story of my Dad taking my Mom to see The Birds on their 2nd date and then trying to walk through Central Park afterwards

James

Edited May 11 by J.H.

[odessasteps]

I went on a date in college to see Fantasia and didn't know the bases had stopped running, so we had like an hour walk home where I got the cold shoulder. 

There was the time my GF insisted on coming with me to a screening of The Wild Bunch for film class. But that was on her as I tried to talk her out of it. 

[Andrew POE!]

Movies today...

Supernova (2020) (Hulu, leaving next week)

Spoiler

Movie is a bit slow but never uninteresting due to Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci's performances. Tucci played having early onset of dementia as someone who knows it's coming, but continuing to live his life on his terms.

Beautiful shots of the English countryside throughout the movie - it made me want to fly out there and see the scenery for myself.

The one minus I can give for this movie is the story is a bit too simple.

East Bay (saw at the theater)

Spoiler

Just finished this and it strangely is being shown in 2024 on a random weekend. Best way to describe it is an Asian Woody Allen movie with Richard Linklater/Steven Soderbergh film style. The characters in the movie are a tad dry and there’s a dry sardonic wit throughout the movie.

I will say that the characters got on my nerves a little. I’m amazed that it showed up at AMC as a micro budget film next to big budget Hollywood films. One guy at the showing I went to got up halfway through the movie and walked out.

 

[Tabe]

On 5/8/2024 at 8:32 PM, Andrew POE! said:

Movies today....not as many as usual. Had a lot going on at work.

Showgirls (Criterion Channel, leaving at the end of the month)

  Reveal hidden contents

Movie isn't as bad as people (mainly prudes) say it is. Yes, there is a lot of overacting going on (Gina Gershon and Elizabeth Berkeley stand up please). But the story covers the same ground as Black Swan. In fact, I wonder if Darren Aronofsky (or the writer for Black Swan at least) watched Showgirls and thought "yeah, I'll use some ideas from this, no one will notice."

It's not a perfect film because the last 20 minutes seem to resolve everything too fast and leaves it open for a sequel. I halfway expected Nomi (Berkeley) to get arrested for her past or for murdering Andrew Carver in his suite.

But still, as a movie, it works and there isn't a bad scene (although you have to get past the cheesy acting and gratuitous nudity everywhere).

The Amazing Spider-Man (oh boy)

  Reveal hidden contents

Theater I was in had a broken AC and claimed they were turning it on but they hadn't. I ended up leaving and finishing the movie on Netflix.

It's easy to see why Emma Stone is one of the best actresses this generation; she captures the awkwardness of a teenager really well.

I liked how the movie started out as more of a Jurassic Park / The Fly scientific movie (although it was pseudo-science). The movie is more of a character drama than a pure superhero movie.

Sally Fields is just great as Aunt May (albeit a bit younger than Tobey McGuire Spider-Man's Aunt May).

 

The documentary on Showgirls is very good.   It goes way too far into the "no, really, this is actually an art piece and good movie" but it's still good.  It DOES do a good job of pointing out some of the depth to the movie that is easily lost amongst all the nudity.