The Movie Thread

[Shepard Wong]

On 5/10/2020 at 5:07 PM, hputenis said:

Re-watching Sinister on Netflix.  One of my favorite horror movies.  

  Reveal hidden contents

When they show the deaths of all the families, that **** really creeps me out.  When that demon turns his head on the computer screen, I almost wet my pants.  

 

Spoiler

I enjoyed Sinister except that I spent what felt like half the movie wanting to yell at Ethan Hawks character to turn the F'ing lights on.  Dude walks into a dark creepy room to see whats going on and walks right past the light switch over and over.  It was legitimately frustrating.  

 

[Agent23]

Saw a TENENT teaser. My mans out here CATCHING bullets with his gun. 

[DaEagles4Life]

[RPeeteRules]

Purchased Scoob! for the kids to watch.  It was $5 more to own than to rent, which is why we bought it.  Pretty good movie for a kids movie.  A few old Hannah Barbara characters appear in it, which brings a little more fun to it. 

[Mike030270]

^Speaking of John Wick

Apparently the dog scene in the first movie was close to not happening

https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2546795/wow-john-wicks-directors-had-to-fight-for-one-of-the-films-key-moments

It definitely was the right call to keep it

[hputenis]

12 hours ago, Mike030270 said:

^Speaking of John Wick

Apparently the dog scene in the first movie was close to not happening

https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2546795/wow-john-wicks-directors-had-to-fight-for-one-of-the-films-key-moments

It definitely was the right call to keep it

WTF?  The plot doesn't even exist without the dog scene.  

[JBENT87]

On 5/20/2020 at 10:45 AM, mr_hunt said:

finally watched joker...i think i was the last one.  anyway, it was well done, imo. joaquin phoenix is a talented actor & did a very good job.  dc movies are dark as hell...not that this one was a super hero movie...it wasn't.  but dc has a way of taking the fun out of comic book movies. 

 

On 5/20/2020 at 11:37 AM, hputenis said:

I liked this movie more than most.  I would not wanna meet him in person after seeing this movie.  He played that role a little too well.  

Also finally got around to watching this. Absolutely shocked at how much I enjoyed it. Went in expecting a case/character study on a guy who goes insane but has little to nothing to do with Batman/the DC Universe... so throughout, every time a reference was mentioned that we know of

(the Gotham power struggle w the rich v the poor, Arkham Asylum, the introduction of the Waynes, the end of the movie with the murder of the Waynes, the blending of the protesters becoming Jokers followers/cronies,

there was so much in here that was well done in respect to the Batman Universe, and I just for whatever reason wasn't expecting that at all, I suppose due to the reviews along the lines of "if you're expecting a Batman/comic book movie, this isn't that." I felt like this was that almost as much as Batman Begins was. Except instead of Bruce Waynes origin story we instead saw the Jokers'/Arthur Flecks. I really enjoyed it.  

To get to the crux of the film though, I thought it did well on showing people with mental illnesses and how they cope and what they deal with.

We saw where his illness came from (head injuries which were caused by an abusive mothers boyfriend, which then made him suppress the bad memories and lead to his mom continuing to brainwash him of what a happy kid he was, because he actually wasn't. We saw the city/govt fail him with pulling back on his meds. Then the culmination of him murdering his idol on Live TV, cementing his arrival of fully becoming and owning who he is which is the bad guy, a clinically insane murderer. Which is what the Joker is.

Oh, and the iconic dancing steps scene that everyone raved about lived up to the hype as well. Which rarely happens when you hear about things like this before you see the movie

Well done Joaquin Phoenix and Todd Phillips.

[NOTW]

On 5/16/2020 at 6:41 PM, hputenis said:

Re-watching "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."  This movie is absolutely phenomenal.  

I just watched this last night.  I am a big Tarantino fan.  I love all his movies except didn't care for Jackie Brown (I had read the book it was based on that may have been part of it).

Please help me here.  I didn't get Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.  I felt like it couldn't decide what movie it was.  Late 60s Hollywood, the friendship between an actor and his stunt man, an actor realizing his glory days are over and taking new roles as guest stars or villains, a stunt man coping with being behind the scenes..ok that all works well together but I was bored a lot of the time.  And it seemed like he captured the vibe well, he certainly loves the late 60s/early 70s with his soundtracks and pop culture references and now he got to show that time period. 

Then...oh let's add in the stunt man happens to run into the Manson family and stop the murders of his neighbors.  And hey let's add in Bruce Lee because why not.  He didn't delve into the Manson stuff that much.  There was no character development for Sharon Tate despite it seeming like casting Margot Robbie was a big deal.  I was waiting for Cliff to go back to the ranch afterward and take everyone out so there wasn't closure on the Manson story.  I don't know, maybe I missed something.

So in short, most of it felt a lot like "That Thing You Do" except showing the journey of the actor and stunt man in an older decade and getting the vibe and details right...then they cram in at the end a "Deathproof" type violent ending.  

So what did you love about it that made it phenomenal?

[hputenis]

1 hour ago, NOTW said:

I just watched this last night.  I am a big Tarantino fan.  I love all his movies except didn't care for Jackie Brown (I had read the book it was based on that may have been part of it).

Please help me here.  I didn't get Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.  I felt like it couldn't decide what movie it was.  Late 60s Hollywood, the friendship between an actor and his stunt man, an actor realizing his glory days are over and taking new roles as guest stars or villains, a stunt man coping with being behind the scenes..ok that all works well together but I was bored a lot of the time.  And it seemed like he captured the vibe well, he certainly loves the late 60s/early 70s with his soundtracks and pop culture references and now he got to show that time period. 

Then...oh let's add in the stunt man happens to run into the Manson family and stop the murders of his neighbors.  And hey let's add in Bruce Lee because why not.  He didn't delve into the Manson stuff that much.  There was no character development for Sharon Tate despite it seeming like casting Margot Robbie was a big deal.  I was waiting for Cliff to go back to the ranch afterward and take everyone out so there wasn't closure on the Manson story.  I don't know, maybe I missed something.

So in short, most of it felt a lot like "That Thing You Do" except showing the journey of the actor and stunt man in an older decade and getting the vibe and details right...then they cram in at the end a "Deathproof" type violent ending.  

So what did you love about it that made it phenomenal?

I totally understand this take after watching it all the way through again.  I think you make really fair points, and I actually agree with you on most of them.  

The first thing I should emphasize is that it's hard for me to NOT like a movie.  I know this is a flaw, but I think the only movie I've ever physically hated and walked out on was the Mummy with Tom Cruise (holy sheet that movie SUCKED). 

Secondly, I think if you approach this movie needing to really "get" something out of the plot, you might end up disappointed.  It was such a loose plot....almost like they were making it up as they go.  The first time I watched it, I was getting pretty impatient when I was about 1 hour in.  Then that Manson ranch scene hooked me right back in.  That whole scene creeped me out and made me laugh at the same time.  I do wish they focused on that a little bit more.  

Other things I liked/loved about this movie:

-The acting was unbelievable.  Brad Pitt just keeps getting better in every role he plays.  Leo was fantastic too, but Pitt stole the show in my opinion.  The scene with Leo on set all the way through the hostage scene with the little girl was some of the best acting I've ever seen in my life.  I appreciated that part just because of the acting, whereas I don't really know if that scene even mattered towards the overall plot of the movie (unless that gave him confidence to continue his career in Italy).  

-Quentin Tarantino sets a scene better than anyone.  It felt like I was in late 1960's Hollywood the entire time.  Even the way he set up the Manson ranch since Brad Pitt used to shoot movies on that site.  

-I personally love the way Tarantino sets up villains in his alternate reality endings.  He makes the bad guys all look like little bishes, which is how I like to envision them in real life.  Hitler in Inglorious **** and now the Manson cult here.  I'm not sure if Tarantino had some kind of beef with Bruce Lee, but he made him look like a little bish too 😂

I could keep going, but I'm not sure if you wanna read all this  😂 

[NOTW]

11 minutes ago, hputenis said:

I totally understand this take after watching it all the way through again.  I think you make really fair points, and I actually agree with you on most of them.  

The first thing I should emphasize is that it's hard for me to NOT like a movie.  I know this is a flaw, but I think the only movie I've ever physically hated and walked out on was the Mummy with Tom Cruise (holy sheet that movie SUCKED). 

Secondly, I think if you approach this movie needing to really "get" something out of the plot, you might end up disappointed.  It was such a loose plot....almost like they were making it up as they go.  The first time I watched it, I was getting pretty impatient when I was about 1 hour in.  Then that Manson ranch scene hooked me right back in.  That whole scene creeped me out and made me laugh at the same time.  I do wish they focused on that a little bit more.  

Other things I liked/loved about this movie:

-The acting was unbelievable.  Brad Pitt just keeps getting better in every role he plays.  Leo was fantastic too, but Pitt stole the show in my opinion.  The scene with Leo on set all the way through the hostage scene with the little girl was some of the best acting I've ever seen in my life.  I appreciated that part just because of the acting, whereas I don't really know if that scene even mattered towards the overall plot of the movie (unless that gave him confidence to continue his career in Italy).  

-Quentin Tarantino sets a scene better than anyone.  It felt like I was in late 1960's Hollywood the entire time.  Even the way he set up the Manson ranch since Brad Pitt used to shoot movies on that site.  

-I personally love the way Tarantino sets up villains in his alternate reality endings.  He makes the bad guys all look like little bishes, which is how I like to envision them in real life.  Hitler in Inglorious **** and now the Manson cult here.  I'm not sure if Tarantino had some kind of beef with Bruce Lee, but he made him look like a little bish too 😂

I could keep going, but I'm not sure if you wanna read all this  😂 

Feel free to keep going!  

I did acknowledge the acting and you're right about setting the stage, it did feel like that era (although I was born in 77).  I used to live in SoCal as well so it felt familiar in some ways. 

There's a tension he crafts where scenes will go a looooong time that are seemingly about nothing but they are this distraction/buildup to something big or epic.  Example Deathproof is a very slow burn at first.  Going into this I knew from the trailers and hearing about it that it had to do with the Manson family so I kept waiting...and waiting...and waiting for it to have something to do with them.  I agree on the scene when he goes to the ranch, there's suspense about what could happen and what he'll find in that house.  Then after the end, he doesn't even have another scene with the girl he picked up in the car to even have closure with her.  I agree on making the attackers like little bishes.  I guess after Inglorious and Django which dealt with their subject matters the entire time, I expected more revenge fantasy on the Mansons.  Also it's quite a notch down from Hitler and slavery to this.  But still it was tacked on and felt like 2 different movies.

It was clear they wanted him to defeat Bruce Lee to show he's a bad arse.  But I would have believed that as a stunt man facing these scrawny hippy kids without that.  

I think it should have been more like Pulp Fiction if he wanted to try and weave separate stories together.  For example develop some of the other characters more.  I don't know.  It had all the signature Tarantino stuff and looked good, had some good sequences.  But I don't have any desire to sit through it again.  I've been going back through his movies and recently watched Django and still really enjoy it.  This one isn't bad per se and I can see people enjoying it just didn't do it for me and again I love most of his movies.  No big deal just wanted to hear aspects that you really liked.  Sometimes that helps me appreciate a movie more and see it differently.

[jrsu37]

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was, IMO, boring AF, but the last 30ish min were fun as hell.

[JBENT87]

On 6/2/2020 at 2:12 PM, NOTW said:

I just watched this last night.  I am a big Tarantino fan.  I love all his movies except didn't care for Jackie Brown (I had read the book it was based on that may have been part of it).

Please help me here.  I didn't get Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.  I felt like it couldn't decide what movie it was.  Late 60s Hollywood, the friendship between an actor and his stunt man, an actor realizing his glory days are over and taking new roles as guest stars or villains, a stunt man coping with being behind the scenes..ok that all works well together but I was bored a lot of the time.  And it seemed like he captured the vibe well, he certainly loves the late 60s/early 70s with his soundtracks and pop culture references and now he got to show that time period. 

Then...oh let's add in the stunt man happens to run into the Manson family and stop the murders of his neighbors.  And hey let's add in Bruce Lee because why not.  He didn't delve into the Manson stuff that much.  There was no character development for Sharon Tate despite it seeming like casting Margot Robbie was a big deal.  I was waiting for Cliff to go back to the ranch afterward and take everyone out so there wasn't closure on the Manson story.  I don't know, maybe I missed something.

So in short, most of it felt a lot like "That Thing You Do" except showing the journey of the actor and stunt man in an older decade and getting the vibe and details right...then they cram in at the end a "Deathproof" type violent ending.  

So what did you love about it that made it phenomenal?

I listened to a couple podcasts about this after I finished it (weird, but fun new routine I found myself falling into, to sorta stay with the movie after its over and see what I missed based on other peoples reviews) and I came to grips with it being better than I gave it credit for, after hearing on some of the things that went over my head. Some of those, which arent fact but how others perceived them:

Brad Pitts character probably did kill his wife, and he is an unreliable narrator in recalling his memories, including the one with Bruce Lee. The Bruce Lee memory portrays the woman in the scene (wife of the casting director guy(?) as a B, bc Brad Pitt can't stand women/didn't have relationships with them as evidenced by killing his wife, only female he encounters in his daily life is his dog (a literal B, couple other things I can't recall... It also makes Bruce Lee a caraciture of himself with the ridiculous cartoonish way of speaking, bc Brad Pitts character was racist. Brad Pitt represented the old Hollywood - racist, sexist and it was being faded out and evolving into something new - which Leo was trying to do in evolving with it and adapting before being left behind.

While Margot Robbie wasn't featured a whole lot her role was that of the new Hollywood but also the beginning of an acting career. The movie was showing her beginning (paying to get into her own movies, full of life, vs. Leo and his being typecast-ed and coming to an end (conversation w Al Pacino). I believe whatever I listened to said that while Bruce Lee is working with Sharon Tate in her training scenes he's more professional and a lot more down to earth vs the Brad Pitt scene, also showing that Brad Pitts encounters weren't reliable/realty.  

There were definitely some other interesting talking points I came across but just can't recall them right now. But it made me appreciate the movie a little more than I did initially. 

[The_Omega]

Ad Astra - It’s on HBO, so I finally got around to watching it. Bradley Pitts is occasionally an adequate actor. This wasn’t one of those occasions. He was terrible, and his character was a self-absorbed a-hole. Some of that may have been the direction, though, because nobody else was any good either. They had nothing to work with. Except for the absent father/son relationship, and the sons eventual growth, there was zero character development. The pacing was fairly slow, too, and the eventual reunion with his father was surprisingly anti-climactic. All of that said, I think that I wound up really liking this movie. I thought that the scene at Neptune was mesmerizing. Just the idea of being that far away from earth was terrifying, and I thought that they portrayed that really well when he watched his little capsule float away.  And seeing the bright light of our tiny sun was awesome.

[jrsu37]

13 hours ago, The_Omega said:

Ad Astra - It’s on HBO, so I finally got around to watching it. Bradley Pitts is occasionally an adequate actor. This wasn’t one of those occasions. He was terrible, and his character was a self-absorbed a-hole. Some of that may have been the direction, though, because nobody else was any good either. They had nothing to work with. Except for the absent father/son relationship, and the sons eventual growth, there was zero character development. The pacing was fairly slow, too, and the eventual reunion with his father was surprisingly anti-climactic. All of that said, I think that I wound up really liking this movie. I thought that the scene at Neptune was mesmerizing. Just the idea of being that far away from earth was terrifying, and I thought that they portrayed that really well when he watched his little capsule float away.  And seeing the bright light of our tiny sun was awesome.

Yeah it was mostly eye candy, but no substance. Visually it's quite satisfying, but man what a disappointment to me.

[dawkins4prez]

The Hunt is pretty funny.  Worth a watch, especially in the current climate.

[Shepard Wong]

I watched The Vast of Night on Prime Video and really enjoyed it.  It plays like a long form Twilight Zone episode about a 1950's DJ and a switch board operator investigating a radio frequency they stumble on.  

It seems low budget but well made.  It's mostly character driven with likable characters and well written dialogue.    It's worth a watch.

[JBENT87]

On 6/3/2020 at 5:04 PM, JBENT87 said:

I listened to a couple podcasts about this after I finished it (weird, but fun new routine I found myself falling into, to sorta stay with the movie after its over and see what I missed based on other peoples reviews) and I came to grips with it being better than I gave it credit for, after hearing on some of the things that went over my head. Some of those, which arent fact but how others perceived them:

Brad Pitts character probably did kill his wife, and he is an unreliable narrator in recalling his memories, including the one with Bruce Lee. The Bruce Lee memory portrays the woman in the scene (wife of the casting director guy(?) as a B, bc Brad Pitt can't stand women/didn't have relationships with them as evidenced by killing his wife, only female he encounters in his daily life is his dog (a literal B, couple other things I can't recall... It also makes Bruce Lee a caraciture of himself with the ridiculous cartoonish way of speaking, bc Brad Pitts character was racist. Brad Pitt represented the old Hollywood - racist, sexist and it was being faded out and evolving into something new - which Leo was trying to do in evolving with it and adapting before being left behind.

While Margot Robbie wasn't featured a whole lot her role was that of the new Hollywood but also the beginning of an acting career. The movie was showing her beginning (paying to get into her own movies, full of life, vs. Leo and his being typecast-ed and coming to an end (conversation w Al Pacino). I believe whatever I listened to said that while Bruce Lee is working with Sharon Tate in her training scenes he's more professional and a lot more down to earth vs the Brad Pitt scene, also showing that Brad Pitts encounters weren't reliable/realty.  

There were definitely some other interesting talking points I came across but just can't recall them right now. But it made me appreciate the movie a little more than I did initially. 

"Piecing it Together" btw was the name of the pod I listened to which pitted one guy who hated this against another one who loved it. Felt bad that I couldn't give more specific info to what I remembered, so went back and dug this up. Definitely a good listen if you left this movie unfulfilled but still curious about the hype some associate with it. 

[jrsu37]

The King of Staten Island...I did NOT expect to like that move, but it was great. As someone that's never really felt comfortable, or safe, in their own head, who's father also died, I identified with a lot of the stuff he was going through, and some of the self destructive actions those feelings can lead to.

The movie was funny, relatable, touching at times, sad here and there...What a pleasant surprise. I really didn't want to like it, but ended up loving it. 

[JBENT87]

18 hours ago, jrsu37 said:

The King of Staten Island...I did NOT expect to like that move, but it was great. As someone that's never really felt comfortable, or safe, in their own head, who's father also died, I identified with a lot of the stuff he was going through, and some of the self destructive actions those feelings can lead to.

The movie was funny, relatable, touching at times, sad here and there...What a pleasant surprise. I really didn't want to like it, but ended up loving it. 

wow, yeah I did not expect to come across a review like this. Considering it was made 4-5 years ago, I just figured it was a piece of trash that ultimately got released due to quarantine. Good to know. 

[homerpat]

On 6/13/2020 at 3:02 PM, dawkins4prez said:

The Hunt is pretty funny.  Worth a watch, especially in the current climate.

Agreed, I enjoyed it. Definitely leaves you with questions at the end, but the pacing and story were pretty tight all things considered. I would recommend as a great rental as well

 

and as to the discussion about Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I agree that most of the first half was a BJ to old school Hollywood and drug, but if you look at it more on a focus of the characters as opposed to the plot, it was better than i initially thought on the first watch. And the last 20-30 minutes are amazing, but that doesn’t forgive the pacing of the first few hours. 

[hputenis]

On 6/13/2020 at 3:02 PM, dawkins4prez said:

The Hunt is pretty funny.  Worth a watch, especially in the current climate.

I definitely liked the movie, because I love a plot line that involves hunting humans, but I thought they could have done much better.  The main character chick was hot, but she might been the worst actress I've ever witnessed.  I had no idea what she was attempting to be in that movie.  

[The_Omega]

Ford vs Ferrari - I loved it. A bit schmaltzy at times, like their ridiculous fight, but the driving scenes, especially Le Mans, were awesome. I didn’t even know that James Mangold had directed until the opening credits. He’s consistently one of the better directors working today.

[Mike030270]

The Gentlemen

I forgot I downloaded it and decided to watch it finally. Had no idea what it was about

Colin Farrell was hilarious in it

[Bwestbrook36]

17 hours ago, hputenis said:

I definitely liked the movie, because I love a plot line that involves hunting humans, but I thought they could have done much better.  The main character chick was hot, but she might been the worst actress I've ever witnessed.  I had no idea what she was attempting to be in that movie.  

Yeah her acting was strange but, I felt like that was the point? She was just an awkward unsuspecting trained assassin? Not sure. I liked the movie though and was surprised

[hputenis]

1 hour ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

Yeah her acting was strange but, I felt like that was the point? She was just an awkward unsuspecting trained assassin? Not sure. I liked the movie though and was surprised

Spoiler

When she gave that stupid monologue/speech about the tortoise and the rabbit, I wanted to lock her in the trunk and throw away the key.  

I was kind of thinking the same thing, but I guess I don't understand why.  The only violent/horror movies I want comedy in are either directed by Tarantino or star Bruce Campbell.  Despite all that and my spoiler, it was still a fun movie.