Saturday, February 1, 2025

Weekend Open Thread

32 comments:

  1. Movie people, why is Les Miserables (2012) so so...so terrible? My class ended up watching this version with Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Helena Bonham Carter (and more stars but we haven't watched that far into it yet), and I am blown away by how bad the singing is. And the acting. It seems like they are purposely singing off key and the wrong notes. I don't get it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've watched a few video about Cats on Youtube, and Les Mis obviously comes up from time to time. One video mention Anne Hattaway sitting down to sing a big song, which is not a good position to be when you scream something.

      Delete
    2. I'm laughing. That is so true, Kunider. It's really awkward in a lot of little ways like that.

      Delete
  2. The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009): I totally forgot this was directed by Tony Scott, and I love me some TS. From the first few frames and score of the opening credits you know it's him. The original movie is a classic, but this one, while being the same story, is an entirely different tone. If you like this era (era) of Scott movies, you'll love this one. And let's not forget John Travolta hamming it up. Then I watched Unstoppable, because trains and Denzel and Tony.

    Emmanuelle (2024): Last time I watched the original, I was way younger and was not looking for a good story or character development, if you know what I mean, so I can't really compare. This one, I watched for actress Noémie Merlant (Portrait of a Lady on Fire) who's always good in movies and is actually a perfect fit for this part. Naomi Watts has a small role, I was half-hoping for a hot scene between the two, but it didn't happen. Anyway, the movie is actually not too bad, for an e-r-o-t-i-c drama, and everybody seem to understand the assignment.

    Oldboy (2013): It was mentioned last week, so I decided I was due for a rewatch. Sharlto Copley is an odd choice for that role, Thanos is fine, Elizabeth Olsen too. I still like it, they managed to do a different ending that still work and is surprising. It definitely shouldn't exist though. At least it was made by a good filmmaker, Spike Lee, even if he didn't get to release his cut. Here's hoping we get a new release sometime, but I'm not holding my breath.

    Super Mario Bros. (1993): I enjoyed this one way more than the CGI one, it's just not for me. It's way less focused on doing callbacks and cameos. It's full of sci-fi craziness that only happened in the 90s. The funny part is, for a good part of the movie, Mario is wearing a green windbreaker, and Luigi is wearing a red hoodie... they just didn't bother about details like this back then, or didn't care because production was notoriously chaotic. The movie is fun and weird and I always have a good time watching it. Maybe if it was not part of that IP, titled something else, people would've connected more with it. I then ordered the super-cool-mega-overpriced-collector box from Umbrella, because I'm an impulsive idiot. Seriously, Australians make crazy awesome collectors editions.

    Speaking of impulsive idiot, I got Congo 4k and Virtuosity 4k from Vinegar Syndrome. Yes, they're as awesome and overpriced as they sound. It's the same magnetised package as Navy Seals 4k they did a few months ago. Anyway, cool packages, booklets, tons of extras, great looking HDR transfer. They cost a pretty penny, but it's worth every cent.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Another week, another batch! :-D

    STIGMATA (1999, BLU-RAY): Man, for a 2024 home video dual-format release (DVD/BD) this needs a 4K remaster real bad. Picture looks soft and barely HD, which does the late 90's MTV-style music video presentation no favors. I prefer my '99 Gabriel Byrne as the devil ("End of Days") rather than a guilt-ridden Catholic priest out to disprove miracles on behalf of the Vatican, but he and Patricia Arquette (as the Atheist Pittsburgh party gal afflicted with the supernatural phenomenon of Christ's injuries on the cross) have great chemistry. Jonathan Pryce is wasted as a Vatican cardinal out to keep a conspiracy secret, but overall this meant-to-be-taken-seriously religious possession flick is both badly dated and oddly timeless. Worth a rental.

    EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (2022, SHOWTIME): Didn't like this one at all when I saw it theaters the weekend it came out, and on this second viewing I can admire its creativity more clearly while still finding absolutely nobody I can relate to or like. I've always felt that the Best Picture Award for this film was a backhanded way for Hollywood to reward the Russo brothers (producers) for "Avengers: Endgame" without the Academy having to lower themselves to nominating a superhero movie. It gets more creative and emotionally urgent as it goes along (the 'rock' dimension had me rolling!) but that only makes me wish I'd give even the smallest damn about anyone in it (actor or character).

    HARD TRUTHS (2025, THEATER): There will come a time when Mike Leigh stops making movies about the misery of working-class Britons, and that'll be a sad day for cinema. Essentially a clinical look at the life of a family being torn apart by its matriarch (Marianna Jean-Baptiste) wallowing in a lifetime of self-scorn and depression, this is scarier than most horror movies by how accurately it depicts impotence of loved ones at trying to help someone they love but that they also cannot stand to be around. "Secrets & Lies" remains Leigh's magnum opus, but "Hard Truths" feels like a spiritual sequel to that '96 work minus any sense of humor or even glimmer of hope. A minor masterpiece.

    INHERITANCE ('25, THEATER): Writer/director Neil Burger ("The Upside," "The Illusionist") takes advantage of the tax breaks offered to film in South Korea, India and Saudi Arabia by stitching together both a spy thriller and an estranged father/daughter reconciliation drama. I'm a sucker for flicks where crowds of civilians stare at actors/camera crews as they film in crowded streets, and "Inheritance" is full of these scenes. Phoebe Dynevor ("Bridgerton") has to be quick on her feet when her dad (Rhys Ifans) leaves her stranded with a hot potato coveted by kidnappers and many a government agency. There's a chase sequence shot on GoPro-like cameras through New Delhi streets that's excellent, but ultimately it's just a relationship drama coated with the thinnest of "Mission: Impossible" coats of rudimentary spy thriller paint. Hard to believe Miramax produced this. :-(

    LOVE ME ('25, THEATER): Co-directors/writers Sam and Andrew Zuchero wear their hearts on their sleeves as they concoct a breathtakingly convoluted romantic narrative justifying a sentient buoy (Kristen Stewart) and satellite (Steven Yeun) falling in love through the billions of years of what remains of planet Earth after humans wipe themselves off in 2027 (yikes! :'( ). Mixing CG, stop-motion and practical effects, the first half of the movie feels like an odd mix of "WALL-E" and "The Wild Robot" broad strokes. It's not until the inanimate objects reach the sentient forms of Stewart and Yeun as physical beings that the movie becomes more poignant and accessible, though it loses the creative spark/nuttiness of its first half. If you appreciate creativity you should reward "Love Me" with a viewing... when it reaches streaming, eventually.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I also wasn't a fan of EEAAO the first time i saw it. Second time played better, but i still have issues with it. I mostly care for Ke Huy Quan.

      Delete
  4. I just rewatched Once Upon a Time in Hollywood last night, the second time since seeing it twice in theaters (I can't believe it came out back in 2019) and I'm quite certain it's my favorite Tarantino movie and I think Rick Dalton might be my all time favorite Tarantino character. Am I crazy in thinking this?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you're crazy then let's get nuts together, Batman! 😉😁 Rick Dalton for President '69! 🤩🤪

      Delete
    2. ha! you arent. Honestly i think its the most "tarantino" of his movies and frankly im very very certain that he was SO happy with it that he's gotten very cold feet for his 10th flick. i believe thats why he cancelled The Movie Critic. i think hes worried that he cant top it. (all that being said, for me it ranks lower in his portfolio, i do love it but its pretty linear and straight forward. i gravitate to Kill Bill, Pulp and Dogs as my top 3).

      Delete
    3. PS: JM...i adore that Batman quote. Might be one of my fav moments from all of comic book cinema!

      Delete
  5. Sup everybody! Cheers!

    Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (digital purchase)

    hrmm....ok...first up, this is a VERY different movie than the first. So ill start with whats different (also whats missing and frankly whats not great): Big Nick is far more watered down..he is not as skeevy and gritty...oh sure they have him smoke alot but hes a very PG13 version of himself, No Merrimen, more on this later but its big, much less action, far less interesting b characters. As for the movie itself? I liked it but didnt love it. Its actually very well shot and very well made. However it takes its time, maybe to a fault, in laying out the big heist. I do love how it begins as it brings b level characters from the first movie to set things off but after that....well...its got a handful of new characters that are not flushed out and boring and forgettable. There is some great stuff between Nick and Donnie but the movie lingers too long. The final heist is fine but maybe not enough. Nor is the final (and pretty much only) action scene. I would have loved it more if it was a smidge less serious and had like 2 or 3 more action scenes. Still, im stoked for pt3, so theres that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i forgot to follow up on my Merrimen comment. Recently revisiting part one, i think Merrimen is my favorite character. He's amazing. Calm, collected, planning, and just cool. An INCREDIBLE ying to nicks skeevy yang. With him out of the picture theres a palpable sense of loss and missingness in part 2.

      Delete
    2. I think the divorced cop that Nick befriends at Pantera's HQ is meant to be a Merrimen replacement. He has few scenes/on-camera moments, though, so that local cop doesn't even register as a sidekick/lackey of Nick's. 🙄🤨

      Delete
  6. Big Ass Spider (2013)

    Im blessed with a son who is not only amazing but also embracing horror at an early age. Also loves spiders. Sooooo we watch every cheezball spider horror flick. welp im happy and surprised to say that we had a blast with this. It is way more cheezy comedy than horror. CGI spiders. But its made with a real appreciation of schlock and if you can connect with the comedy, its a hoot!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Two other recent watches for the Spider Horror Genre (hrmm...junesploitation day entry, maybe?): Sting and Itsy Bitsy....both revolve around big but not huge spiders. A fair amount of jump scares and decent filmmaking. Neither is great nor terrible. Fine watches for fans of the genre.

      Delete
    2. I just crushed 2 daddy-long-legs in my bathroom and in the laundry room (Somehow made me feel like watching Arachnophobia and Eight-Legged Freaks). And now you. Wtf is going on?

      Delete
  7. ALIEN: RESURRECTION (1997)
    Of all the films in this franchise, this one is the most... French.

    EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (2022)
    Who wants a bagel?

    SHOCK TREATMENT (1981)
    Young male intern, tall and handsome. Legs like mine are really... made for dancin'!!!

    STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE (1979)
    A little frustrating how the story is more intellectual and not very character-based. The character arcs are there, but you have to work to find it. On the other hand, the visuals (from Dykstra, Trumbull, and Syd Mead!) remain terrific.

    BATMAN (1989)
    Because sometimes, you just gotta Batman.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ST:TMP, did you watch the new director's edition? The VFX are way better looking and they changed some things here and there that make the movie a little better (i've always been a fan of the movie

      Delete
    2. It was the director's cut, but I'm told there aren't that many differences, other than the jazzed-up effect shots.

      Delete
    3. The movie is essentially the same, if you didn't like it before, that version wouldn't change your mind, but i think the changes made it better.

      Delete
  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anybody watched Ladies and Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music? It's awesome, tons of stuff I need to look up. They don't show them all, but they show a lot of stuff.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OOOOOOOOOOOOO totally off my radar. thanks for the click to pick!!!!!!!

      Delete
  10. THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT (1974, dir. Michael Cimino) – Part modern-day western and part heist film, the cast becomes more important than the rambling script. Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges play the title characters, outlaws using cars instead of horses to carry out their criminal activities in the western United States. They are being pursued by George Kennedy and Geoffrey Lewis, and the big objective is to rob a bank. Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is very 1970s and very much a guy film. The machismo is very thick.

    CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (1980, dir. Lucio Fulci) – Amazingly, this was shown on an Internet movie program (Creature Features) uncut. Previous viewings had left me disappointed, and I cannot say the issues that bothered me before are not still there. Aspects like Mary dying and coming back to life aggravate me. I guess it is a matter of embracing the illogicalness of the film. It played better this, particularly with the otherworldly atmosphere. As for my surprise of this appearing on a Saturday night horror film program, I sometimes fail to recognize how long ago the Italian horror films were made.

    TOMBOY (1985, dir. Herb Freed) on Prime – A woman mechanic with a love of cars and competition becomes romantically involved with her favorite racing driver. When her driving abilities are called into question by him, she cannot resist the challenge to a race between them. That race, though, is undoubtedly the weakest part of the film. Full of montages, random dance sequences, a cheesy pop-rock soundtrack, mid-1980s fashion, and lots of driving, Tomboy is an entertaining blast of ‘80s vibes. I can imagine this filling the HBO airwaves back in the day.

    ReplyDelete
  11. RIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS (2001)
    Wow this movie is old. That makes sense. It makes sense that I didn't love or relate to it when it came out and I was a teenager, but now I do. I just watched it and I looooove this movie. I love everything about it. I don't even know where to start. I find the whole "life is just chaos and responsibility and you can't blame anyone" message empowering.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some movies are hard to relate to when one is young. It is life experience that provides the connection.

      Delete
  12. Den of Thieves: Pantera has no Pantera songs, and i think that's a missed opportunity. Cool movie though.

    ReplyDelete