Name & Rate the Movies/TV You've Watched.

[TheDude391]

Was so busy last month, I barely watched anything.

 

Movies:

• Air - 7/10 Dad Core to the extreme
• Bound - 9/10 I'm a big Wachowski fan, but I'd love to see them return to small scale drama again.
• The Big Gundown - 9/10 One of Lee Van Cleef's best westerns.
• The Killers (1964) - 7/10 Worth it to see Ronald Reagan punched out by John Cassavettes and get shot by Lee Marvin.
• Dragons Forever - 10/10 A new fav Jackie Chan film up there with Police Story and Drunken Master II. Part martial arts Three Stooges, part action movie, part legal thriller, part screwball romantic comedy.

 

TV:

• Star Trek: Picard Season 3 - 9/10 (10/10 in my heart) Season 1 was terrible, Season 2 made the first look like a masterpiece in comparison. And then somehow they nailed the final season! Jettisoning off (and retconning) most of the dumb stuff from the first two seasons and bringing back the TNG crew to give them the proper send off they never got. Fan service heavy? Sure but it was well done and came from a place of sincere love for Trek. Best Star Trek in decades, moved me to tears on many occasions. 

 

[lorddemaxus]

Watched Jerry Maguire for the 5th time and this has become pretty much my favorite romance movie ever at this point. And Tom Cruise's performance maybe my favorite performance ever??? Cruise plays himself more than any actor in any film ever. It feels like he is literally expressing every single one of his irl manic ticks in this. Just such an insane, strange performance in an equally strange but wonderful film.

 

Also, Kaminski without Spielberg is still GOD mode. Just noticed this wonderful shot this time round.

Edited May 3, 2023 by lorddemaxus

[Webslinger]

I've been working through the portion of Buster Keaton's filmography being covered on the Blank Check podcast. 10 movies in, and it's been a pretty fun ride even if I have absolutely no clue how to objectively analyze them beyond "Stunt very funny!" and "Holy shit, how did this man not die, like, fourteen times over making these things?" The General, Sherlock Jr. (which actually feels like it has a ton to say about the nature of movies and how we see ourselves through them), and Steamboat Bill Jr. are the big highlights for me so far. Even the least of the films in this roundup - College, which has some decidedly yikes-y elements to it - still has plenty of gags that left me smiling.

 

Also, I was laid up with covid this week, so in addition to a few Keaton joints, I also rewatched Top Gun: Maverick, The Matrix Reloaded, Spider-Man 2, Tenet, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, American Graffiti, Finding Nemo, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Edited June 4, 2023 by Webslinger

[FilmFincher]

Have been busy so haven’t shared what I’ve been watching in a while but wanted to give a shout out to some absolute bangers.

 

Across the Spider-Verse - A fantastic reminder of just how inventive and creative IP storytelling can be.

 

After Yang - I expected this to be colder and more idiosyncratic, what I got was a tender film about loss and love that had me on the verge of tears for the entire second half. 

 

Paths of Glory - I’m about to hit the Kubrick series on Blank Check so squeezing in the ones I haven’t seen. This was one of the best war films I’ve seen. While Kirk Douglas does command the screen it was the supporting cast of soldiers that I found truly magnetic.

 

How to Blow Up a Pipeline - A taut thriller that’s basically a heist film. Shot in a quick and dirty style on 16MM. Definitely used the score from Tenet as temp music but it absolutely rips. Lean and mean.

 

The Insider - This is Mann, Pacino and Crowe firing on all cylinders. It’s the perfect in-between of the traditionally cinematic Mann and the feverish handheld energy of his later work. 

 

Hero - Simultaneously beautiful, epic and intimate. Jaw dropping cinematography and inspired use of colour. It’s a film continues to unravel new depths at every turn. Plus the action is top notch.

 

Station Eleven - This is my favourite TV show in years. A real successor to the work that was done on LOST and The Leftovers. The structure of the story and the way it was told was just delightful and endlessly clever but what really excels is the human core at the centre of it. It’s a show about flawed people longing for and being afraid of connection with each other. I also didn’t think I could be more in love with Mackenzie Davis but turns out I was wrong. I felt every range of emotion that could possible be felt watching this and it’s an experience that will stay with me. 

Edited June 4, 2023 by FilmFincher

[TMP]

11 minutes ago, FilmFincher said:

Station Eleven - This is my favourite TV show in years. A real successor to the work that was done on LOST and The Leftovers. The structure of the story and the way it was told was just delightful and endlessly clever but what really excels is the human core at the centre of it. It’s a show about flawed people longing for and being afraid of connection with each other. I also didn’t think I could be more in love with Mackenzie Davis but turns out I was wrong. I felt every range of emotion that could possible be felt watching this and it’s an experience that will stay with me. 

Incredible show, wish it got more recognition 

[Joel M]

Last two months for me. 

 

Magic Mike's Last Dance: Not one of the people that deify XXL, but this was very dissapointing. With respects to Soderberg building this around a theatre performance was just a flop idea.

65: It's paper thin but also kinda good and tense. Driver is very charismatic in it.

Super Mario Bros: It was fine. Pretty colors, little else.

Catherine called Birdy: Whimsy period piece, very watchable and good performances all around.

White Noise: Baumbach very hit and miss with me but this one I liked. Pretty strange and memorable.

Shazam 2: Slept halfway through not gonna lie. But it's probably still better than Black Adam.

Dungeons & Dragons: Fun movie, I think it's a tiny bit over-praised just like Game Night, but it's good and ocassionally very funny. The Netflix guy kinda stole the show.

Peter Pan & Wendy: Another hit or miss director for me, and sadly this was just boring and added nothing.

Nobody: I thought it would be a lot more action packed for some reason but it's still great fun. Give more badass roles to Bob Odenkirk.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3: Very very good, cements GOTG as it's own thing and it's a great farewell for Gunn and the entire cast. Vol.2 still the best though.

Renfield: Pretty terrible and it's a shame because Hoult and Cage playing these roles in a comedy should be fun. But this is more like an action comedy like Deadpool or Kingsman, and it's pretty dire as a result.

Evil Dead Rise: Enjoyed it, not exactly riveted by the story and characters but a lot of the set pieces are great and so gruesome.

Missing: I'm very pro this desktop sub-genre and this is another fine addition to it. I think it's better than Searching.

AIR: Definately return to form for Affleck. Great pace, great cast, the movie breezes by but at the same time it's a little empty. Isn't it cool they made that thing and they made money? And that's about it. He can do better than this.

The Little Mermaid: It has most of the problems of the other remakes but it's not total garbage like TLK and BATB. Sadly not as fun as Aladdin. At least Halle is a magnetic presence and the animals don't look as nightmarish as the early stills suggested.

How to Blow up a Pipeline: Surpassed all my expectations. It built like a heist film and caries out the tension all the way through in remarkable fashion. It also has enough time for all the characters and while a bit didactic, doesn't go at all into both sides bullshit rhetoric.

Across the spider-verse: Pretty much a miracle that this is almost as good as the first. I'm just pumped after watching it both for what I saw and for whatever comes next.

 

Last 2 movies my favorite of the year so far, quite easily. 

 

TV was just Succession once a week and nothing else. Gonna miss it hard.

Edited June 4, 2023 by Joel M

[TheDude391]

4 hours ago, Webslinger said:

I've been working through the portion of Buster Keaton's filmography being covered on the Blank Check podcast. 10 movies in, and it's been a pretty fun ride even if I have absolutely no clue how to objectively analyze them beyond "Stunt very funny!" and "Holy shit, how did this man not die, like, fourteen times over making these things?" The General, Sherlock Jr. (which actually feels like it has a ton to say about the nature of movies and how we see ourselves through them), and Steamboat Bill Jr. are the big highlights for me so far. Even the least of the films in this roundup - College, which has some decidedly yikes-y elements to it - still has plenty of gags that left me smiling.

 

Also, I was laid up with covid this week, so in addition to a few Keaton joints, I also rewatched Top Gun: Maverick, The Matrix Reloaded, Spider-Man 2, Tenet, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, American Graffiti, Finding Nemo, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Hell yeah! I'm doing Buster as well for BC Pod, I'm up to Seven Chances (that and Sherlock Jr my fav) but I've been watching a ton of the shorts as well. Which I may like more than most of the features? Packs in all the gags in 20-25 mins with no filler.

[CoolioD1]

Some recent movies I've watched since april

 

Air - Didn't care. Lame. Ending post scripts all "and this rich guy was made richer by this smart business decision" ok so what you want a standing ovation? fuck offfff

Dungeons and Dragons 2023 - Enjoyed this ok. wasn't actually invested in the plot but good gags and actors for sure.

Mario - Only watched this I guess because it's such a huge thing. Nothing for me here.

Beau is Afraid - Very funny. Was surprised by how actually funny it is and not funny in that arthouse way where people will insist that like, Tar is hilarious. Kinda lost me at a certain point then won me back then lost me again.

How to Blow up a Pipeline - Great. Very tense

Suzume - Loved this. Hit the mark that Your Name and Weathering with You both missed for me. Much better tonal balance.

Ant Man 3 - boring. Michael douglas' character fully flanderized all he does is talk about how much he wants to fuck ants in this one.

Special Delivery - Korean car chase movie with Park So Dam. Generic in a lot of ways but actually does some cool stuff with the car chases that I've not seen before. Also they've got a black actor playing an indian character in this.... Different world over there.

Evil Dead Rise - Meh. Felt like all the gnarliest bits were in the trailer. The actress playing the deadite mum was great though.

Guardians 3 - My least favourite of the trilogy but still good. just felt too busy at the end.

Fast x - more fun than 7/8/9 to me. momoa oscar

Across the Spider-verse - Pretty good. Obviously what they do with the animation is incredible but for me it didn't hit anywhere close to the way the first one did. Could be that the novelty's gone but idk i rewatched the first going into this and it still plays. felt like this was spinning its wheels at times.

Edited June 5, 2023 by CoolioD1

[MOVIEGUY]

Beef is great, last two episodes are spectacular. Very impressed. Watched the first two episodes of I Think You Should Leave last night and was laughing my ass off, the Fred Armisen sketch nearly had me in tears. Other than that all I've watched in the past month is Adventure Time. The new Zelda game has been taking up all my time.

[Webslinger]

I finally made it back to the movies after the double whammy of covid and peak busy season at work passed - hadn't seen anything theatrically since Sisu around mid-May.

 

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse fully ruled. I actually loved it even more than the first one. It's an absolutely exhilarating film with some of the most creative and gorgeous animation in any animated film in recent memory. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing it again.

 

I also caught up with the live action remake of The Little Mermaid. I was surprised by how much I liked it. It doesn't really have a solid creative reason to exist and doesn't solve the pacing problems that have plagued most of the Disney live action remakes (I really think 90% of the bloat in those things is the fact that so many things that move fluidly in animation take significantly longer to execute in live action/CGI animation intended to resemble live action), but it does a solid job of recapturing much of what worked about the animated original, and Halle Bailey's performance as Ariel is a winner.

 

In the TV realm, I've also been keeping up with the new season of Clone High. It's pretty damn funny, and I actually gasped (then laughed) when the show took advantage of its new place on HBO Max and dropped its first f-bomb. Between this and the huge success of Across the Spider-Verse, Lord and Miller are crushing it right now.