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The Last Movie(s) You Watched... (quick one or two sentence reviews)

Moe_Syzlak

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^I think you're right in that some people's issues with him outside the movie might've had them set to find fault with his performance disproportionately. Regarding comparing him to the other actors...I mean, Lin-Manuel Miranda was complete crap compared to about 6-8 other people in the Hamilton cast, sorry. But he didn't get the level of hate I've heard for Egort in this. I feel like the democratization of the internet has led to a culture of expectation, where everyone goes online to complain about the bad instead of dwelling on the good. It shouldn't be relative like that. Everyone in the cast is good. Several people are amazing. That one isn't amazing is no cause for complaint. People need to just chill and count their blessings.
I mean I agree with this, but you can still enjoy something while acknowledging areas where it could’ve been better. While being negative is an Internet pandemic, criticism can be valid and also subjective without having to incur a rash of defensiveness from those that disagree. That is also an Internet pandemic. As to why Elgort may have faced more criticism than Miranda? The aforementioned offscreen issues and more forgiveness for the creator in Miranda’s case would be my guess. I stand by my opinion that, while Elgort was fine, I think another actor would’ve been better (and that has nothing to do with offscreen issues). Either an actor with more magnetism in the lead role or one that was on par with the rest of the casts’ musical ability. It didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the movie, but it is a way I think it could’ve been better. And hopefully that is taken in the spirit intended: without any negativity.
 

TM2YC

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I loved the new West Side Story (more than the original) but it suffered from a similar problem with the Les Mis movie (to a lesser degree) in that you're casting dramatic actors, right alongside Broadway pros. Elgort did a fine job but he was surrounded by people who do musicals for a living and that showed up his relative amateurism. Ariana DeBose and Mike Faist were on another level. Not Elgort's fault, probably more Spielberg's for letting his main star get out shined.
 

mnkykungfu

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^To be succinct: less great doesn't equal bad. I have no problem with people bashing elements of a film that are bad. Bashing an element simply because it's a 7/10 instead of a 10/10 seems ungrateful and too-hard-to-please.

Moving on...
Lone Survivor (2013)
Possibly the perfect movie for Memorial Day, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it otherwise. It's one of these blatant military propaganda movies for the USA for about 3/4 of its runtime, pushing how badass these hardened SEAL operatives are to make it out of this crapstorm in Afghanistan. There's a nice look at the other side of that in the end, but the title of the film kind of kills any suspense it might have, and it turns out the whole story is disputed anyway.

Dog Soldiers (2002)
I thought this might be some wild fun and was excited that it got a "4K" restoration. However, I'm a bit confused that this film is apparently wildly popular in the UK but seems to never really satisfyingly pay off its "werewolves vs soldiers" concept. I don't want to slam it too much since it was clearly made on the cheap and has a lot of people I enjoyed watching work, but the tone mismanagement just really didn't grab me.
 

DigModiFicaTion

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The Marksman (2021)
This felt kind of like a Les Miserables meets Man on Fire, but without the emotional wait of either. The connection begins to grow between the two main characters, but ultimately this feels like the story and characters around them were simply filler for the background. 5/10
 

DigModiFicaTion

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Well, we ended up watching Encanto two more times today. This clip is one of the most powerful productions I've ever scene. Spoiler alert if you haven't seen it already, but if you have, it's worth watching again.
 

Jrzag42

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Watched The Pink Panther Strikes Again earlier. Loved it, great fun. These movies are just so endearing.
 

mnkykungfu

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The Tender Bar (2021)
A great little film that I think a lot of people slept on, maybe because they take Ben Affleck for granted. He acts as a father figure in this retro piece about growing up with a POS dad and looking for love (and self) in all the wrong places. Daniel Ranieri is a young actor to watch, for sure.

Pixar's "Popcorn" (2021)
A series of shorts that are more like tech demos to train up the younger Pixar staff, though the two family-centered ones featuring The Incredibles are a cut above the others. I don't know if these and The Tender Bar work better for Mother's Day, but both are good for a family watch on this upcoming Father's Day.
 

addiesin

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The French Dispatch (I loved it)

This film took me on a journey, one which I did not fully, holistically understand until the final shot of the final scene, at which point I produced tears at the beauty of the central message. This is an ode to the spectrum of processes artists and storytellers go through to produce their work and the beauty and harmony of seeing it all realized, in any form it takes, often collaboratively.
 

Jrzag42

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Hm. Just watched Revenge of the Pink Panther, it was a tremendous step down from the previous movie. For some reason they decided to make Clouseau terribly racist, which l don't recall ever being the case in the previous movies. Like, l always saw Cato as just another eccentric charactes, who just happens to be Asian, and l don't recall Clouseau ever treating him differently because of that. Meanwhile here he's constantly insalting him, "you yellow swine" "his fiendish yellow brain" etc, not to mention Cato is also given more screentime than usual and its spent treating him as more clumsy and dumb than Clouseau. And then theres the Hong Kong disguise...
Maybe Cato was always a problematic character, or always treated poorly, and l just never realized it, but regardless it's right at the forefront here.

I was amazed when Strikes Again featured gay jokes, a gay club, and a character in drag all without being offensive. Then you have the next movie in which another subject that could easily be handled poorly is... Handled poorly.

But even without any of that, Revenge also just generally has less funny jokes, and a lazy plot. Why are they so quick to hire Dreyfus back after he became a Bond villain in the last one? Also didn't he die at the end, or do l remember wrong? That's not even the lazy writing that l meant, it was just a separate thought, but it's totally an example of that too.

Also, l was reading that apparently there was a rejected 3 hour cut of Strikes Again, and l'd totally kill for that. Some of it made it into Trail, and l wonder if anyone has looked into editing it back in.
 

lossy

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Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

It was great! Maybe a bit too sentimental towards the end, but this is one of those feel good movies people will want to revisit.

Dr Strange In The Multiverse of Madness (2022)

I hated this. I've hated almost every Marvel movie since, whatever phase we're in started. They all feel lazy and it didn't have enough of that Raimi vibe that I was looking for.
 

Jrzag42

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I watched Trail of the Pink Panther earlier. This was the movie l was the most curious to watch when l first started looking into the series, movies made up of deleted scenes is fascinating phenomena for me.
Now that l've actually watched it, l'm left with a weird feeling. The back half of the film has the foundations for a sweet tribute to Sellers, a clipshow where the people in Clouseau's life recount memories of him. However the clips used go on too long and aren't the best clips. Too much time is spent working in stuff to setup the next movie that was being shot at the same time, and it loses focus.
The first half is controversial in that Clouseau is featured via repurposed deleted scenes from previous movies, when apparently Sellers had explicitly stated that he didn't want previously deleted footage to be retooled in any context. So in the movie honoring the late actor, they disrespect his wishes. I don't like that (neither did his family, lawsuits occurred). But even igoring that, the deleted footage is chosen so lazily, making no effort to hide the fact. One of the first scenes is him purchasing a disguise, which is clearly his disguise from a few movies prior. Another scene is literally a slightly extended scene from a previous movie. Both of the afforementioned scenes serve no purpose here and it's baffling that they made it in. This movie feels like a lazy distasteful cashgrab with the occasional sentimental moment. I could easily see this edited down to a 20-40 minute, more respectful tribute.
Still better than Revenge of the Pink Panther.
 

mnkykungfu

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Star Wars: Visions (2021)
A series of shorts you can watch as an anthology film; like most Japanese anthology anime, it's mostly a training ground for younger, less-established talent who haven't done a big feature. The shorts are full of swipes that borrow the imagery of Star Wars but miss any of the meaning or depth, making stories that are almost wholly indistinguishable from other trope-filled anime. The Ninth Jedi is pretty solid, though.

Lego Deadpool (2019)
A guy remade Deadpool, entirely in legos. It is exactly as good and bad as that sounds. (Viewing link in description.)
 

Darth Kermit

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I just rewatched Hard Boiled for the third time (in preparation to play it’s videogame sequel Stranglehold). It’s hard to sum up this film with words. Likely impossible. I can only say the action is the best gunplay ever filmed. The sparks, explosions, and bloodspurts all perfectly add to the chaos of it all. And seeing the actual actors faces in so much of the actual danger is a big factor in why it all works I think more than almost any other film. The face is the most emotive part of our bodies, and seeing the actual characters in shots where glass is shattered, shots are fired, and cars (and everything else) are blown up connects us so much more than just seeing the back of some stuntman (respect to every stuntman or stuntwoman though, they are so badass). Two of my favorite shots in all of cinema is the main character running away from explosions right behind him. Chow Yun-Fat in this one during the almost hour long hospital standoff and Jackie Chan in the finale to Police Story 2. Another aspect that really stood out to me this time was the character of Mad Dog. I love his looks and his morality so much. The dynamics of all the characters in this are so good. And after this watch, I think this might just be my favorite film of all time. I’ll hold off on saying for sure until after I rewatch Lord of the Rings though. But this is certainly the greatest action film to ever be made, and nothing will ever top it in my opinion.
 

TM2YC

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seeing the actual actors faces in so much of the actual danger is a big factor in why it all works

If you liked that, you should see the bit when Chow tries (and fails) to stay in character when he's far too close, to a far too big explosion in 'A Better Tomorrow'. It was so good they left it in the movie:

ZcrZVv3.gif


Or at the end of 'Wild Search' where it's Chow himself being set on fire at the end. I don't think there was a Cantonese word for "health and safety" in those days :LOL: .

Sylvester McCoy (aka Radagast) managed to stay in character when this explosion went off too early in Doctor Who (filmed the same year as 'Wild Search':

cool.gif
 

Darth Kermit

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If you liked that, you should see the bit when Chow tries (and fails) to stay in character when he's far too close, to a far too big explosion in 'A Better Tomorrow'. It was so good they left it in the movie:

ZcrZVv3.gif


Or at the end of 'Wild Search' where it's Chow himself being set on fire at the end. I don't think there was a Cantonese word for "health and safety" in those days :LOL: .

Sylvester McCoy (aka Radagast) managed to stay in character when this explosion went off too early in Doctor Who (filmed the same year as 'Wild Search':

cool.gif
Yes I love Wild Search and A Better Tomorrow series! John Woo is in my top 5 directors, right up there with Ringo Lam, Akira Kurosawa, Sergio Leone, and Hayao Miyazaki.
 

WyndorfDave

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A little Scandinavian gem, released last year. Its a bit of a slow burn, but mate, it is spectacular!
There is a scene that is difficult to view, due to a character abusing an animal. The scene is quite brief, but it is to serve the story.
Don't let that make you shy away from giving it a watch.
 
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mnkykungfu

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^At first I thought that was a remake of The Innocents (1961), then it looked like Il Orfanato, then The Omen?? Crazy.

I just rewatched Hard Boiled for the third time (in preparation to play it’s videogame sequel Stranglehold).
...that...is...bizarre. I don't think a 2008 PS3 game comes up much these days but I was literally playing it this afternoon! (Unfortunately, it doesn't hold up that well for me and the game's story is almost a parody of Woo/Fat films, but maybe you'll like it more than me).

Two to watch on Father's Day!
Dad (1989)
A fantastic cast is the reason to dig up this very tender, earnest look at aging parents. Jack Lemmon gives a stunning performance as a 78-year old who needs care from his son but it leads to him dealing with his stale marriage.

The Beatles: Get Back (2022)

I was not a huge Beatles fan and so wrote down my observations in real time as I watched each part of this epic doc. I didn't find it boring or bloated at all, and don't think you need to be a superfan to watch, just someone with a bit of patience for docs.

Part I- my main takeaway was that the original director was an obsequious twat who pushed false narratives about why the band broke up.
Part II- main takeaway was that The Beatles weren't always on fire. Sometimes they really struggled and couldn't get the songs to come together. Heh.
Part III- main takeaway was that the rooftop performance was not spontaneous or rebellious very much really, and the real highlight was just in seeing these guys interact with each other as brothers who grew up (and grew out) together.
 

Racerx1969

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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) First, OMG, wife and I actually get to go to the theater to watch a movie! But...it's actually almost sold out so first row? Great. At least they were fancy recliners so it worked. Now the movie. It was ok to good. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't great. There's definitely assumption you've followed the various franchises including on streaming. If you have you'll get the motivations of some main characters, if not then I think it will take a bit to puzzle together the why.
 

Moe_Syzlak

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Hustle. Adam Sandler’ ode to basketball is okay. It’s very predictable, following the sports movie clichés almost note for note. A few small story tweaks could’ve given the whole thing a bit more emotional weight. If you like basketball and/or Sandler, you’ll enjoy it well enough if expectations are low.
 
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