The Movie (and TV show) Watching Thread

[Oleg 🇰🇿🤝🇺🇦]

Other than that, I saw 'X' yesterday night. It was a very well-crafted homage to 1970's exploitation slasher and porn films, but kind of not my thing. I've been enjoying this wave of "elevated" artistic horror, but this one was just not all that amusing or entertaining to me. Maybe it's because I'm such a prude at times that the amount of sex and nudity combined with violence just kind of made me feel gross while watching it. But I'm sure that was intentional. It's still a very well-made horror movie in most every facet, I would recommend it to those who like slashers but in spite of its surface-level sheen, it kind of felt too familiar to me. And I guess that was another point, to take tropes and put them in a different context. So it does work, it's just not for me.

And maybe part of that is that I hated seeing what happened to Jenna Ortega in this movie. She is another one of those actresses who seems to have been bred to come across as innocent and cute as possible. But that was probably the point of her being cast in that role as well as an increasing number of horror roles.

I watched X because I was wondering what role Jenna Ortega has here. And I'm disappointed in two things.

Spoiler alert: BEWARE SPOILERS!

Show

Instead of giving this charismatic girl a survivor arc, the director chose a random porn actress who was little different from her deceased colleague.

And secondly, in the potential it could be something philosophically deep, but it turned out to be a banal slasher, where the only unusual concept is that the main villains die of senile weaknesses.

For example, if the old people in the movie were the same young people, but from their future, that is, from our days, when they have grown old. As I got older, I began to understand that the genre of life is body horror, and the movie initially set the direction for this idea.

[Ferguson97]

I recently started watching some older movies.

Rear Window - 8.5/10. Very fun movie. Jimmy Stewart is a national treasure, and Grace Kelly is a delight - beautiful actress. I knew the basic premise of the movie because it's been parodied so many times, but I actually didn't know that the neighbor actually did it, since in most of the parodies it was a misunderstanding. I really liked how Grace Kelly and the nurse went along with Jimmy Stewart and didn't just dismiss him as paranoid. I feel like that's something a modern movie would do, but this brought a really fun dynamic.

12 Angry Men - 10/10. Not sure what can be said about this movie that hasn't already been said. I really think that this is a perfect movie. Flawless performances from everyone. This was a really intriguing premise. Though it's sort of obvious that everyone will eventually be convinced to vote not guilty, I still loved watching the debate happen - I really found myself convinced by each and every argument as it was going on. The characters were all written beautifully, everyone felt like a real person with unique motivations and perspectives. Just an amazing movie.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - 8/10. Another brilliant performance by Jimmy Stewart. This was another fun movie with a cool premise. My only real complaint was that I thought the pacing was a little bit off. I was prepared to give this a 7, until Stewart killed it in the last half-hour with that mind-blowing performance when his character did that filibuster.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

They are bringing back Rock and Monome for Fast XI and 12 obviously, Torterella and his crew dies as well as Cena Fast X is over after the Trilogy just like they are Gonna kill off Thor and replace him with Hercules after Kang

[T'Chenka]

Finally watched Magnolia by Paul Thomas Anderson. Excellent stuff. 9 / 10

[T'Chenka]

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (2023) was excellent. Better than the first one.

8.5 / 10

[Oleg 🇰🇿🤝🇺🇦]

Watched Project Wolf Hunting. A primitive plot, a shabby idea, the illogicality of the actions of the protagonist, but all this is more than compensated by the visuals. I've seen a lot of violence in movies, but even the most anatomical horror is inferior in terms of violence and realism to the scenes in this movie. It is snuff level. Saws, Final Destination, Troma films, Adult Swim cartoons, Peter Jackson horrors, Pink Flamingos, The Green Elephant are just Disney by comparison.

[Benjamin Frank]

Finally watched Magnolia by Paul Thomas Anderson. Excellent stuff. 9 / 10

[President Johnson]

It's from the 2014-2020 period, but we finished Season 2 of How to get away with murder. Viola Davis playing an excellent role as tough criminal lawyer in Philiadelphia and university professor that surrounded a cool team of students to work for her on various cases, including covering up their own crimes. I kind of like all the main characters, though Aja Naomi King is just beyond gorgeous.

[Benjamin Frank]

My father's favorite movie was the 1969 movie mostly financed by the Soviet Union about the failed Zeppelin exploration of the Arctic, The Red Tent and the failed attempts to rescue the survivors. It starred Peter Finch and Sean Connery as Roald Amundsen.

My father was a merchant marine for about 10 years and was interested in explorers.

The film, The Red Tent, is a fascinating meditation on the human need for exploration and for guilt with some beautiful scenes of the Arctic.  Highly recommended.

[Frodo]

Coming to a theater near you starting on July 12.  Book your tickets now while supplies last:

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part One gets a new teaser video

[Mr. Smith]

Ghosts.

A sitcom where a NYC couple move upstate after inheriting a falling-apart mansion.

[Oleg 🇰🇿🤝🇺🇦]

Watched Weekend at Bernie's (1989).

As a child, I only saw the final scene on TV, it shocked me and stuck in my memory so far. It's amazing how the authors were able to present such a dirty and gloomy story as something pleasant, sweet and cheerful, as if it were the I Love Lucy series.

Spoiler alert: Beware spoilers

Show

One rich man was going to kill his employees with impunity and bury their corpses in his country house, but due to a number of circumstances he himself became a corpse and now these employees are carrying his corpse on themselves, almost killing two other people along their way and nearly hit by the killer's bullets. Yeah, let's put some relaxing reggae on top of that.

[Benjamin Frank]

Watched Weekend at Bernie's (1989).

As a child, I only saw the final scene on TV, it shocked me and stuck in my memory so far. It's amazing how the authors were able to present such a dirty and gloomy story as something pleasant, sweet and cheerful, as if it were the I Love Lucy series.

If you're not aware of the concept, Weekend At Bernie's is a high concept film.

A high concept film is a premise-driven film with a unique, compelling, and attention-grabbing hook that sets it apart from similar films.
and
High concept is a type of artistic work that can be easily pitched with a succinctly stated premise. It can be contrasted with low concept, which is more concerned with character development and other subtleties that are not as easily summarized.

Such a film is not meant to be taken seriously or literally but to buy into the absurd premise to see if the makers can sustain the concept from beginning to end. I think Weekend at Bernie's is very funny.

A high concept contrast with Weekend at Bernie's is the T.V show My Mother the Car (just as it sounds, the guy's mother was reinCARnated), which might have worked as a film, but was a dud as a weekly television show.

[Oleg 🇰🇿🤝🇺🇦]

Watched Weekend at Bernie's (1989).

As a child, I only saw the final scene on TV, it shocked me and stuck in my memory so far. It's amazing how the authors were able to present such a dirty and gloomy story as something pleasant, sweet and cheerful, as if it were the I Love Lucy series.

If you're not aware of the concept, Weekend At Bernie's is a high concept film.

A high concept film is a premise-driven film with a unique, compelling, and attention-grabbing hook that sets it apart from similar films.
and
High concept is a type of artistic work that can be easily pitched with a succinctly stated premise. It can be contrasted with low concept, which is more concerned with character development and other subtleties that are not as easily summarized.

Such a film is not meant to be taken seriously or literally but to buy into the absurd premise to see if the makers can sustain the concept from beginning to end. I think Weekend at Bernie's is very funny.

A high concept contrast with Weekend at Bernie's is the T.V show My Mother the Car (just as it sounds, the guy's mother was reinCARnated), which might have worked as a film, but was a dud as a weekly television show.

I understand that I see this story in a completely different way than the filmmakers and tired viewers, because the fantastic element of this story is not fantastic at all in the country in which I live. Murders in vacation homes or, for example, kidnapping into slavery there are commonplace here. Therefore, even as an adult, even twenty years after the shock of a scene I accidentally saw, what stands behind this story in the reality I know, causes a depressing impression.

[Oleg 🇰🇿🤝🇺🇦]

Watched Train to Busan. A very strong emotional drama and a parable about selfishness, although as a zombie film it is a rather ordinary movie.

Perhaps the authors should have taken some more original monsters instead of zombies, because typical zombies are very dissonant with the idea.

[T'Chenka]

Perhaps the authors should have taken some more original monsters instead of zombies, because typical zombies are very dissonant with the idea.

They sell movie tickets though. Capitalism.

[Oleg 🇰🇿🤝🇺🇦]

Perhaps the authors should have taken some more original monsters instead of zombies, because typical zombies are very dissonant with the idea.

They sell movie tickets though. Capitalism.

What do you mean?

I heard how some critics draw politics to this film by the ears, but personally I saw only the opposition of altruism and egoism, and the protagonist's daughter spoke about this directly, so that it became completely clear to everybody.

[Oleg 🇰🇿🤝🇺🇦]

I can put it this way: Weekend at Bernie's portrays the ugly beautifully, just like Bosch or Giger (but in the caramel style of eighties melodrama), and I appreciate that in art. I like this movie. At the same time, the reality that could be behind this is indeed ugly, monstrous.

[RFK Jr.’s Brain Worm]

I finally saw Baby Driver last night. It’s been on my watchlist for years. I thought it lost steam about 2/3 through. Solid concept though, just a bit lost in the execution at the end. It definitely earned the sound award nominations though.

Spoiler alert: Beware spoilers

Show

Probably about when Bats shot up all of the arms dealers. I’m fine with things going south on the final job, but it was just a bit too off imo. Buddy just wouldn’t die. I also figured there would be more of a car chase than there was. The *ending* ending was kind of weird too. I’d choose to believe that Debora waited the five or so years that I’m guessing Baby ended up serving.

Edit, while I’m sharing…
I also watched a pair of HBO miniseries over the last couple weeks. Chernobyl and White House Plumbers.

Chernobyl was very good. I had no idea of the scale of the “liquidation” efforts shown in episode 4. Not knowing that much about the investigation/management,

Spoiler alert: Beware spoilers

Show

I was glad that Boris Shcherbina turned out to be a decent guy for a high up Soviet bureaucrat. Also hadn’t actually known the full issue with the plant (the graphite tipped control rods). Knew that Dyatlov was a bad boss though.

White House Plumbers was funny in a straight-man sort of way. It wasn’t quite Veep levels of humor and absurdity, but I thought it was still funny. In WHP, you’re very much laughing at the characters and their bumbling ineptitude for most of it. The last episode is a bit odd though, I’d probably rate it the lowest of the 5 episodes.

[T'Chenka]

To the post above:
Yes, Chernobyl is absolutely great.

Watched some Ghibli stuff, trying to complete the Miyazaki filmography


Porco Rosso (1992) - 7.5 (almost 7.0) / 10

This is a really solid film, with some nice animation. I think all the ingredients were here for a great film, but instead, it's just "really good". I didn't think the plot should have been as low-key as it ended up being. Overall though there's a lot to like here.


Howl's Moving Castle (2004) - 7.0 / 10

This is unfortunately a huge disaster of a film. It's clear to see that this film has sky high potential, and could have been basically a masterpiece or close to a masterpiece. Despite the potential, they decide to write a confusing story with lots of things left open-ended that shouldn't be, and the script falls apart into "WTF" territory in the third act. If they had just taken the time to re-write this script a few times, this could have been a top 3 Ghibli film IMO.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

To the post above:
Yes, Chernobyl is absolutely great.

Watched some Ghibli stuff, trying to complete the Miyazaki filmography


Porco Rosso (1992) - 7.5 (almost 7.0) / 10

This is a really solid film, with some nice animation. I think all the ingredients were here for a great film, but instead, it's just "really good". I didn't think the plot should have been as low-key as it ended up being. Overall though there's a lot to like here.


Howl's Moving Castle (2004) - 7.0 / 10

This is unfortunately a huge disaster of a film. It's clear to see that this film has sky high potential, and could have been basically a masterpiece or close to a masterpiece. Despite the potential, they decide to write a confusing story with lots of things left open-ended that shouldn't be, and the script falls apart into "WTF" territory in the third act. If they had just taken the time to re-write this script a few times, this could have been a top 3 Ghibli film IMO.

It's a bit ironic that an almost 7/10 is considered a really solid/good film and that something 7/10 is considered a huge disaster of a film. So either your ratings or your descriptions are off.

[T'Chenka]

To the post above:
Yes, Chernobyl is absolutely great.

Watched some Ghibli stuff, trying to complete the Miyazaki filmography


Porco Rosso (1992) - 7.5 (almost 7.0) / 10

This is a really solid film, with some nice animation. I think all the ingredients were here for a great film, but instead, it's just "really good". I didn't think the plot should have been as low-key as it ended up being. Overall though there's a lot to like here.


Howl's Moving Castle (2004) - 7.0 / 10

This is unfortunately a huge disaster of a film. It's clear to see that this film has sky high potential, and could have been basically a masterpiece or close to a masterpiece. Despite the potential, they decide to write a confusing story with lots of things left open-ended that shouldn't be, and the script falls apart into "WTF" territory in the third act. If they had just taken the time to re-write this script a few times, this could have been a top 3 Ghibli film IMO.

It's a bit ironic that an almost 7/10 is considered a really solid/good film and that something 7/10 is considered a huge disaster of a film. So either your ratings or your descriptions are off.

Let me be more specific:

7.5 = really good
7.0 = quite good / really good

Howl's Moving Castle - for me - is a film that very clearly SHOULD be an 8.5 or 9.0 film, but the script makes the film so much weaker that I lowered it all the way down to 7.0. "Huge disaster" was hyperbolic, but what I meant was that the script has VERY notable flaws (IMO) that make the film VERY CLEARLY worse than it should have been based on all other factors outside of the script.

So yeah, Howl should have been "amazing" but it's only "quite good". That's a huge drop.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

To the post above:
Yes, Chernobyl is absolutely great.

Watched some Ghibli stuff, trying to complete the Miyazaki filmography


Porco Rosso (1992) - 7.5 (almost 7.0) / 10

This is a really solid film, with some nice animation. I think all the ingredients were here for a great film, but instead, it's just "really good". I didn't think the plot should have been as low-key as it ended up being. Overall though there's a lot to like here.


Howl's Moving Castle (2004) - 7.0 / 10

This is unfortunately a huge disaster of a film. It's clear to see that this film has sky high potential, and could have been basically a masterpiece or close to a masterpiece. Despite the potential, they decide to write a confusing story with lots of things left open-ended that shouldn't be, and the script falls apart into "WTF" territory in the third act. If they had just taken the time to re-write this script a few times, this could have been a top 3 Ghibli film IMO.

It's a bit ironic that an almost 7/10 is considered a really solid/good film and that something 7/10 is considered a huge disaster of a film. So either your ratings or your descriptions are off.

Let me be more specific:

7.5 = really good
7.0 = quite good / really good

Howl's Moving Castle - for me - is a film that very clearly SHOULD be an 8.5 or 9.0 film, but the script makes the film so much weaker that I lowered it all the way down to 7.0. "Huge disaster" was hyperbolic, but what I meant was that the script has VERY notable flaws (IMO) that make the film VERY CLEARLY worse than it should have been based on all other factors outside of the script.

So yeah, Howl should have been "amazing" but it's only "quite good". That's a huge drop.

Ok, i still wouldn't use "huge disaster" because that seems indeed hyperbolic or doesn't fit really well. It's better to write like "misses the full potential of what it could've been" and falls short of being a great or masterpiece of film.

[Oleg 🇰🇿🤝🇺🇦]

Howl's Moving Castle (2004) - 7.0 / 10

This is unfortunately a huge disaster of a film. It's clear to see that this film has sky high potential, and could have been basically a masterpiece or close to a masterpiece. Despite the potential, they decide to write a confusing story with lots of things left open-ended that shouldn't be, and the script falls apart into "WTF" territory in the third act. If they had just taken the time to re-write this script a few times, this could have been a top 3 Ghibli film IMO.

This description is very accurate for Your Name, which I watched last year. A grandiose visual with amazing details, and a completely non-working plot. I cannot say the same about Howl's Moving Castle, I definitely rate this animated film much higher than Porco Rosso. Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away are, in my opinion, the best works of Studio Ghibli, although I like almost all of their works in one way or another.

By the way, I have add that we are entering a frightening era when neural networks can devalue the visual part of animated films.

[Lumine]

My father's favorite movie was the 1969 movie mostly financed by the Soviet Union about the failed Zeppelin exploration of the Arctic, The Red Tent and the failed attempts to rescue the survivors. It starred Peter Finch and Sean Connery as Roald Amundsen.

My father was a merchant marine for about 10 years and was interested in explorers.

The film, The Red Tent, is a fascinating meditation on the human need for exploration and for guilt with some beautiful scenes of the Arctic.  Highly recommended.

Just saw it today - had to go with the Russian version since it was longer, missed Connery's trademark accent - and I was very pleasantly surprised. Thank you for the recommendation!

Truly stunning film, particularly on how it frames the whole scenario and how it handles Amundsen and - more importantly - Nobile. I was aware of the Italia disaster and expected sort of a linear portrayal, so the film's structure caught me off guard. It also has surprising emotional depth to it.

Would really like to see more films about the race to the North and the South Pole (a subject which I've found fascinating for a while), because there's so many amazing stories left to see. Also saw Scott of the Antarctic (1948) recently, also very engaging. Will try to give another attempt to Flight of the Eagle (1982), though I confess I couldn't get through the first half last time.