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

TM2YC

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Moe_Syzlak said:
Two Popes.

Full disclosure: I‘m in Rome. I was in the Sistine Chapel today. I was in Piazza San Pietro today. I will see Pope Francis give his Christmas address there day after tomorrow. My father is very Catholic. And ... I’m an atheist.

I loved this movie. Such great work from both Hopkins and Pryce. A movie that could make me feel sympathetic towards Benedict is pretty incredible. I highly recommend this movie. It takes one of the most monumental moments and shifts in the history of modern religion and makes it a personal character study.

As a side note, the ages of young actor Bergoglio and Pryce’s Bergoglio are separated by a mere 14 years, with a younger actor playing the role up to age 48. It worked so much better for me than the digital de-aging did in The Irishman.

Yeah I loved it too...

The Two Popes (2019)
My family was pretty strongly Irish-Catholic on my mother's side (not anymore) so I was on familiar ground with this Netflix film, even if I think organised religion is nonsense. It's mostly two incredible old actors Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins, playing the current and former Popes hanging out and discussing ethics and Catholic doctrine. The debate is serious and engrossing but there is plenty of warm humour as well. There is much more focus on Pryce's Pope Francis and it flashes back to his actions as a younger man during a coup in Argentina (surely Pryce will be a Best Actor contender).


I really liked when Pope Benedict confesses his favourite TV show is a cheesy looking Austrian cop-dog show called 'Kommissar Rex', so I Google it and found out it's real :D (the dog high-five at 0.30 is a hoot):

 

Moe_Syzlak

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@"TM2YC" I’m glad you liked it too. It’s definitely going to end up in my top five of the year. Here’s my family today seeing one of the two popes.

8391-FA0-A-557-F-4683-8-ADC-5-C2-D3-C16-AB48.jpg


Buon Natale!
 

DigModiFicaTion

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Watched a few movies during the past couple of weeks.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018)
A weird outing that mashes up equal parts Alice in Wonderland and Narnia all sprinkled with Tchaikovsky's exquisite music. I'll admit it took me 3 days of not really watching it while I did other things to get through this movie. Unfortunately it follows the same plot that most every movie uses now so there are no surprises, or maybe I just watch too many movies? Anyway, Morgan Freeman gives a great line at the end to give it some semblance of worth. This movie probably shouldn't have been made as it wasn't needed nor did it add anything to the story other than excessive cgi bloat. And those closing credits....ugh. Tchaikovsky's score couldn't even stop me from hitting the eject button fast enough...3/10.

Home Alone (1990)
One of my favorite holiday movies. Sure, we all love the humor in this one and Macaulay Culkin's portrayal of Kevin, but there are some really good messages in it as well about overcoming fear and forgiveness. My favorite scenes surround Roberts Blossom's character Marley and how Kevin's perception of him changes. His talk with Marley during the choir scene is one of the cinematic masterpieces for me. The character development, the way it's shot, the message and understanding, and the music. John Williams' Home Alone score is a must at Christmas time. He captures the magic of Christmas in every note. Anyway, I could go on, but it's after 9 o'clock so I need to make sure the house is safe :) 8/10

Home Alone 2 (1992)
Not quite as good as the first, but it's still a great movie. The scenes with Marv and Harry are way too over the top, but again there is some heart in this one to go along with the humor. A great companion film to the first. 7.5/10

Aquaman (2018)
I got bored and fell asleep. Too bright. Too Straightforward and the de-aging CGI just looks bad. If it wasn't for Jason Momoa, I'm not sure this one would have worked. It's basically GI:Joe in the disguise of Aquaman. 5.5/10

Ender's Game (2013)
Revisiting some Asa Butterfield films and finally bought a copy of this movie. It's a shame that this didn't turn into a series. I assume it was due to the public push back after Orson Scott Card made some personal statements. It's sad that we have 7(?) Saw films that glorify horrific torture (I'm guessing on that one), but we can't have a story that is about the ethics of using children to fight wars and the cost of genocide on those who unknowingly are used. Anyway, I thought it was a good teen movie with some decent acting. I'd rather watch it than Hunger Games anyday. 7.5/10

How to Steal a Million (1965)
If you haven't seen it, go watch it. The chemistry between Hepburn and O'Toole is fantastic and the movie is just goofy Charade-esque fun. Just a great movie. 9/10

Isle of Dogs (2018)
A quarky, gritty outing that always feels one step beyond my ability to understand what and why things are happening on screen. The presentation is fantastic and totally immerses you into the world Wes Anderson creates. If you like Fantastic Mr. Fox you'll like this one. 7.5/10

Men In Black International (2019)
Not as good as MIB or MIIIB, but definitely not the terrible movie that reviews made it out to be. Hemsworth's character is a bit too dopey for my taste and Thompson's character is a little too confident, but they definitely brought some of the chemistry from Thor: Ragnarok over to this film. Again, it's the same old presentation, but it does it decently. There's a bit of an eye roll forced plot point later in the movie that is broadcast from the first scenes, but other than that, this is the third best MIB film for me. 6.5/10

After watching this movie and rewatching some of Captain Marvel I had the thought, "What if shield from Captain Marvel are really just the Men in Black?"
image-330-740x415.jpg
 

TM2YC

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The Dead Zone (1983)
Christopher Walken plays a man who wakes from a 5-year coma with psychic powers, the rest of the cast is of equal quality, including Martin Sheen and Tom Skerritt. It's one of the better Stephen king adaptations but the full potential of the concept was missed, deciding whether to kill a future Hitler is a far less interesting question if he's already a monster. For once David Cronenberg holds back on his twisted horror predilections but no matter how many American flags and anthems we hear there is no disguising he has shot it in Canada again.

 

DigModiFicaTion

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Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
Another Wes Anderson outing. A hilarious take on the abnormality that is youth. Cracked out and charming. Fantastic acting and presentation. A few scenes that I didn't care for, but all in all this was a masterpiece of a film. 9/10
 

addiesin

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DigModiFicaTion said:
Home Alone (1990)
One of my favorite holiday movies. Sure, we all love the humor in this one and Macaulay Culkin's portrayal of Kevin, but there are some really good messages in it as well about overcoming fear and forgiveness. My favorite scenes surround Roberts Blossom's character Marley and how Kevin's perception of him changes. His talk with Marley during the choir scene is one of the cinematic masterpieces for me. The character development, the way it's shot, the message and understanding, and the music. John Williams' Home Alone score is a must at Christmas time. He captures the magic of Christmas in every note. Anyway, I could go on, but it's after 9 o'clock so I need to make sure the house is safe :) 8/10

Netflix has a docu-series called The Movies That Made Us with a really informative episode on the making of Home Alone. Also the Ghostbusters episode was entertaining.
 

mnkykungfu

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DigModiFicaTion said:
Watched a few movies during the past couple of weeks.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018)

Home Alone (1990)

Home Alone 2 (1992)

Aquaman (2018)

Ender's Game (2013)

Pretty much agree with everything you said about these!  Nutcracker was initially directed by Lasse Halstrom, whom I know is very respected but whose movies have never resonated with me.  However, it seems massive reshoots were done by Joe Johnston, who did post-production on the film and the final product seems much more like his other work.  And yet it's such a weird mish-mash that doesn't really seem as good as what either of the directors have produced before.  But when I was watching it, there was something hypnotizing... I might have to give it a 2nd chance.

Ender's Game was so unfairly maligned.  It really is a great movie.  Not perfect, but for the story it's trying to tell: nearly so.  Such a shame that we won't get a continuation.  Could've been a late-career Star Wars successor for Ford.
 
TM2YC said:
The Dead Zone (1983)

Love The Dead Zone!  Such an underappreciated gem!
 
addiesin said:
Netflix has a docu-series called The Movies That Made Us with a really informative episode on the making of Home Alone. Also the Ghostbusters episode was entertaining.

This has been in my queue and I've been wondering if it was really worthwhile.  Thanks for the recommendation!
 

addiesin

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mnkykungfu said:
This has been in my queue and I've been wondering if it was really worthwhile.  Thanks for the recommendation!

If it helps you pull the trigger, there are only four episodes and they aren't very long, less than an hour each. The other movies featured are Die Hard and Dirty Dancing, haven't watched those episodes yet.
 

TM2YC

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A couple of Netflix history dramas about British medieval Kings, Henry V of England (Reign: 1413 - 1422) and Robert I of Scotland (1306 - 1329):

The King (2019)
An odd concept, filming an Orson Welles style condensed version of Shakespeare's Henry IV/V plays but without using his words. Netflix’s film is one of the more visually impressive renderings of the story but I did miss the poetry. However it would make an ideal primer for anybody who hasn't seen the plays yet, or is struggling to digest the Bard's verse. Keeping Joel Edgerton’s (who also co-writes) Falstaff alive to fight in the battle of Agincourt was the only major departure (which is cheekily acknowledged in the dialogue). Timothee Chalamet is a believable young medieval King, which is good because we're soon going to see him play "King" of Arrakis.


Outlaw King (2018)
This Robert the Bruce biopic takes off more or less where 'Braveheart' ended, so you could do a double bill, although this pretty serious historical drama would be a bit jarring after Mel Gibson's fanciful effort (it shares some of the same cast by the way). To the ear of this English Northerner, I thought American Chris Pine did a good job with his accent and plays RtB with real authority and gravity. The rule which states that "Every film with Florence Pugh starring in it shall be good" still holds true.

 

DigModiFicaTion

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The Hunger Games (2012)
I've never cared for the premise or presentation of this story, but I picked them up for $1 a piece so I thought I'd give them another shot. My first time watching these was rough. The child violence and general disregard for life is a bit much for me. The camera work is really bad in this film. The shake cam is just out of control and the budget may have caused a very tight and cramp viewing angle. This time around I tried to view the story through the emotion of Katnis. While this approach improved my experience with the film, it still didn't make the experience any better.  6/10

Catching Fire (2013)
I'm not a fan of Jennifer Lawrence, but her raw and authentic performance in this movie won me over. The direction and acting really stepped it up in this one. The tension is palpable and frequently I had to remember to breathe. I also feel like I finally began to appreciate the issues this story is analyzing in societies. Jena Malone & Sam Claflin's portrayals of Johanna & Finnick were the highlights for me in this movie and really brought a powerful dynamic of love, pain and loss. I also appreciated a greater focus on the strategy rather than the brutality of the Hunger Games. This one introduced ideas without making you feel led by the hand. I actually cared about every main character in this one. 8/10

The Mocking Jay pt 1 (2014)
This one kind of felt like a back step. The story drags on and the oddity of the propaganda just makes me feel like this is all a sick joke. Not a fan of Julianne Moore or Philip Seymour Hoffman. Speaking of, how and why is Plutarch suddenly a good guy? I can't remember them talking about this, and if he was a mole in the Capitol he's a pretty tainted person, but that seems to be the main idea of this story. War taints the soul and steals our lives. The hospital scene had emotional power in it and her first speech was done well. The rest of the presentation felt a little forced though and felt like I was watching someone acting and trying to get me to believe plot points or character motivations (Gale & Katnis) rather than being a character and letting me interpret what is naturally occurring. It played out like one of the propaganda shorts. 6/10

The Mocking Jay pt 2 (2015)
Bleak, dark, disturbing. The push towards the Capitol and the pods/traps bring a new level of darkness to this story. The ultimate outcome of their assault also feels pointless and is only saved by Peeta's speech about death. This story is emotionally taxing and the ending just feels a bit off. A gritty and intense ending to a world that I hope we choose never to become. 7/10

The movie still didn't address how and why Plutarch, a game maker, was given so much power in the rebellion.
 

mnkykungfu

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DigModiFicaTion said:
The Hunger Games (2012)

Have you ever watched the original?  

Battle Royale and the troubled Battle Royale II have the same premise, several of the same characters, and even some of the same scenes and dialogue, despite author Suzanne Collins claiming she'd never heard of the series.  (Note that her previous series, "The Underland Chronicles" has been widely compared to Alice in Wonderland, as well.)

If you have trouble watching violence against teens, BR pulls no punches, so it's a tough watch.  But it goes for the throat in terms of tackling the strong feelings teens have in the peer groups, and the pressures society puts on them.  It doesn't dial anything down for a YA audience or to get a bigger group of people in theaters, it just tells the story of that world full tilt.  I'd highly recommend the first one especially.
 

DigModiFicaTion

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The Mummy: Curse of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
Tired, unintelligent and boring. Not sure if it's the bad cgi, tired premise, poor (even for mummy movie standards), or all of this combined that creates a terrible ending to a decent monster adventure trilogy. 5/10
 

DigModiFicaTion

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Clicked on the link and the pictures dissuaded me from continuing. Thy synopsis doesn't really sound like the Hunger Games either. Again, I'm not really a fan of the Hunger Games.
 

Moe_Syzlak

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Ad Astra. Really liked it though not without its flaws. The overarching theme of connecting with people rather than trying to connect with aliens would have been more impactful if we would’ve seen some actual relationships between Pitt and Jones or Pitt and Tyler.
 

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The Report (2019)
Adam Driver plays an analyst researching the Bush/CIA torture program in this Amazon Prime movie. As he becomes increasingly obsessed with uncovering the truth, the politicians become increasingly keen on not hearing it. The story is engrossing but the limited sets look very cheap (especially congress) and I didn't like the cinematography either.

 

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Jojo Rabbit is one of the best films I ever saw and you should see it too. I have spoken.
 

Moe_Syzlak

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Zamros said:
Jojo Rabbit is one of the best films I ever saw and you should see it too. I have spoken.

I’m looking forward to it, but it’s been slow to be released here in Germany for some reason.
 

DigModiFicaTion

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Jurassic Park (1993)
All these years later it's still better looking than most of the recent cgi. While it doesn't have some of the texture detail of newer cgi, it's used in more realistic ways so it's easier to take in. Admittedly not my kind of movie, but the merger of cgi and practical effects is fantastic and pioneered what we see today. The cast isn't my favorite either. In fact I don't like any of the actors or their acting performances. Well I suppose I liked Wayne Knight's performance, though it was basically Newman from Seinfeld. Still, this one is a classic. 6.5/10
 
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