All Things Movie/Documentary Reviews/Recommendations Thread

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Just finished with The Tomorrow War on Amazon. Pretty rough. Chris Pratt is not very good in this.
 



fan of Ray Williams said:
From the little I read about it, wasn't it the director's first time with actors? Thought that he had only done animated films prior to this one. Certainly don't recommend it.
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Prior to this movie, his biggest credits were director of "The Lego Batman Movie" and animation coordinator on "The Lego Movie." He also worked on TV shows like "Robot Chicken."

and, he is supposedly scheduled to direct a "Johnny Quest" movie. If they mess with Race Bannon, I will be p*ssed.
 

Finally saw 'Mulholland Drive' since it was streaming on HBO Max. I get that it is inventive and all. But maybe I missed the point on why it received so much critical acclaim.
 


Watched a surprisingly good movie called Unlocked on Amazon. Noomi Rapace starred in it. Would guess she is best known for Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Also in The Drop and in that Will Smith movie called Bright, which I watched, but didn't realize it was her. She was good in Dead Man Down too. This movie had some star power. Orlando Bloom, Toni Collette, John Malkovich, Michael Douglas.
 
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stocker08 said:
Finally saw 'Mulholland Drive' since it was streaming on HBO Max. I get that it is inventive and all. But maybe I missed the point on why it received so much critical acclaim.
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It's David Lynch. the critics love his movies because - or in spite of the fact that - they don't make any sense. "The Elephant Man" is just about the only Lynch movie that maintains a coherent storyline and doesn't veer off into surreal sub-plots. "Blue Velvet" is also reasonably coherent, but it still had some pretty wacky moments.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
It's David Lynch. the critics love his movies because - or in spite of the fact that - they don't make any sense. "The Elephant Man" is just about the only Lynch movie that maintains a coherent storyline and doesn't veer off into surreal sub-plots. "Blue Velvet" is also reasonably coherent, but it still had some pretty wacky moments.
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His adaptation of 'Dune' makes me sad. I do think that 'Twin Peaks' was great, however.
 




Started watching a documentary on Hulu - "McCartney 3-2-1."

It's a 6-part series with Paul McCartney and producer Rick Rubin. Part of the time they talk about McCartney's life and musical influences, and then they take various Beatles songs and McCartney songs and break them down on the mixing board - showing how the different parts fit together and McCartney goes through some of the musical choices they made and tricks they pulled in the studio.

If you are watching this, I highly recommend that you run the show through a good stereo system. I have my TV hooked up to a surround-sound system for movies, but I can use it for regular TV too, and this just sounded great, especially when they isolate a bass part or a drum part and show how it fit into the mix of the song.

I've watched 4 of the 6 episodes so far. One interesting thing is that McCartney really gives Ringo Starr a lot of credit for his drum parts and what they added to the music.

So, if you have Hulu, and you have any interest in the Beatles, you need to watch this series.
 

Had the opportunity to view a simply fantastic film over the weekend on Cinemax titled "Passion in Prison". Top notch, across the board. Great casting, pretty solid story line, writing, and the inter-personal relationships between the male and female cast members were quite dynamic. The cinematography and lighting and camera angles really enhanced the experience. I actually watched the film a second time with the sound Off to better take in all of the cinematic nuances of the film.

Two thumbs up, without a doubt
 

Ope3 said:
I completed my annual watching of Dazed and Confused last night.

True, Benny should have not reacted as harshly about doling out a beer to Hirschfelder who had just been hazed, though I could understand if he thought it would be "wasted". As a freshman, I could see Hirschfelder, cracking it open take a first swig, gag and chuck it away. Benny was totally justified by ripping O'Bannion for literally wasting one by throwing it on the ground.

Hirschfelder totally deserved a brew though, he had it going on with a girl at the rec center only to be pulled away by buddies who left him out to dry when they encountered the seniors. I would start to hang out with a new crew if I were him.
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Got back recently from 11 days in the Boundary Waters. Dazed and Confused was analyzed in depth daily (gotta talk about something...). One take was that Carl was the most 'real' character out of them all. His rationale was how everyone knew a Carl growing up.
 

Just watched a really fun documentary on Hulu. "Batman and Bill" came out in 2017. It tells the story of Bill Finger, a comic-book writer who was the co-creator of Batman with artist Bob Kane. But, Kane took sole credit for creating Batman. Kane became wealthy and famous as 'the creator of Batman,' while Finger died alone and penniless. (literally had an eviction notice on the door of his apartment the day he died).

Years later, after Finger died, a writer researched and wrote a book about Finger, making the case that he deserved to be credited as the co-creator of Batman. The documentary is based on the book.

It's an interesting story if you're a comic-book fan or into pop culture, but it also works as a detective story as the author tracks down people who knew Bill Finger. There is also a legal angle as Finger's surviving relatives fought to get him officially recognized by DC and Warner Bros.

If you have Hulu, this is well worth watching.
 



Watched Woodstock 99 documentary on HBO Max over the weekend. That looked like a wild time.

Anyone here actually go or know someone who did?

I also watched the new Space Jam. That's all I'll say about that.
 

Nax5 said:
Watched Woodstock 99 documentary on HBO Max over the weekend. That looked like a wild time.

Anyone here actually go or know someone who did?

I also watched the new Space Jam. That's all I'll say about that.
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The Woodstock 99 documentary was good. Lots of people trying to lay blame for the events that occurred. Not sure why. I think it was pretty simple. Tens of thousands of hormonal early 20s people....in shitty conditions....listening to aggressive music all day.

I don't think anyone was necessarily blame worthy. Hell....who's fault is it that a bunch of people were hospitalized because it was way too hot? Who's fault was the sexual abuse other than the shit head individuals engaging it? Certainly wasn't Fred Durst's fault.
 

stocker08 said:
The Woodstock 99 documentary was good. Lots of people trying to lay blame for the events that occurred. Not sure why. I think it was pretty simple. Tens of thousands of hormonal early 20s people....in shitty conditions....listening to aggressive music all day.

I don't think anyone was necessarily blame worthy. Hell....who's fault is it that a bunch of people were hospitalized because it was way too hot? Who's fault was the sexual abuse other than the shit head individuals engaging it? Certainly wasn't Fred Durst's fault.
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Right. I definitely don't blame the music or the artists. I figure by the end of 72 hours of blistering heat and wading through pis, shit, and trash, some assholes are ready to go off.

With 500k people, I do wonder how many actually enjoyed themselves. John Scher revealed himself as a shitheel when he started blaming women. But I do wonder if he's right about the majority of people having a good time.
 

Nax5 said:
Right. I definitely don't blame the music or the artists. I figure by the end of 72 hours of blistering heat and wading through pis, shit, and trash, some assholes are ready to go off.

With 500k people, I do wonder how many actually enjoyed themselves. John Scher revealed himself as a shitheel when he started blaming women. But I do wonder if he's right about the majority of people having a good time.
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I bet plenty of people had a great time. Moreso the people that came prepared. But there was so much craziness that there was no reason to report on that. The place was huge. I have no doubt that there were campsite areas further out from the main stages that had none of these problems. A lot of the mayhem seemed to be much closer to the event stages.
 

I saw Roadrunner the new documentary on Anthony Bourdain. I thought it was quite fascinating to watch, even though I never really watched his cooking/travel shows and as they say at the beginning we know it's not going to end well.
 

Ope3 said:
I saw Roadrunner the new documentary on Anthony Bourdain. I thought it was quite fascinating to watch, even though I never really watched his cooking/travel shows and as they say at the beginning we know it's not going to end well.
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Went to it last week. I was a huge fan of the show and his writing. Super sad.
 


I saw the new Matt Damon movie Stillwater last night. A lot to like about it but ultimately have to say thumb down. The plot goes too much off the rails in the final 3rd of the movie.

His character's name is Bill Baker, but no connection to the former Gopher blue liner and member of the Miracle on Ice squad.
 

Val on Prime is worth a watch, if you are one of the following IMO -

Val Kilmer fan
80s movies buff (he was in many good ones)
like learning more about the Entertainment Industry
Seeing a man bear his true self

He bought a camcorder when they first came out in the 80s and recorded auditions, movie sets (the good & bad ones), his family = so basically all his life.

He comes across as likeable and a non-douche.
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
Val on Prime is worth a watch, if you are one of the following IMO -

Val Kilmer fan
80s movies buff (he was in many good ones)
like learning more about the Entertainment Industry
Seeing a man bear his true self

He bought a camcorder when they first came out in the 80s and recorded auditions, movie sets (the good & bad ones), his family = so basically all his life.

He comes across as likeable and a non-douche.
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Macgruber. Dieter Van Cunth. What a brilliant and underappreciated movie.
 



Gopher_In_NYC said:
Val on Prime is worth a watch, if you are one of the following IMO -

Val Kilmer fan
80s movies buff (he was in many good ones)
like learning more about the Entertainment Industry
Seeing a man bear his true self

He bought a camcorder when they first came out in the 80s and recorded auditions, movie sets (the good & bad ones), his family = so basically all his life.

He comes across as likeable and a non-douche.
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He must not take himself too seriously. His guest star turn on the Rickey Gervais comedy Life's Too Short, where he plays a version of Val Kilmer was brilliant, and quite unflattering.
 

Ope3 said:
He must not take himself too seriously. His guest star turn on the Rickey Gervais comedy Life's Too Short, where he plays a version of Val Kilmer was brilliant, and quite unflattering.
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He describes himself as a guy with leading man looks who is just a clown on the inside.
 

On Val Kilmer - "Real Genius" was - I think - an underrated college comedy. Plot involves a bunch of science students working on a government project. Val Kilmer plays the goofball who would rather throw a wild party instead of studying......
 

Headed out on date night with the Mrs. tonight and went to "Free Guy". Big Ryan Reynolds fan, but wasn't too sure about the previews and what the storyline was/would be going in but if the butter is right on the popcorn, I can sit through anything.

I'm almost surprised to say, it was one helluva movie. I loved it, beginning to end, it was a great flick. Not entirely Reynolds one-liners for laughs like it could have been, it was solid all the way around.

I'm here to give it two enthusiastic thumbs up. Give a look, and get your ass back in the theater if you haven't done so in a long time
 

Ope3 said:
He must not take himself too seriously. His guest star turn on the Rickey Gervais comedy Life's Too Short, where he plays a version of Val Kilmer was brilliant, and quite unflattering.
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Might well be true now but there was a long stretch when he was known as a guy who was waaay too serious about himself. I supposed he grew up and maybe even his health issues have leant some perspective.

Also, I can still endlessly quote Top Secret. Same for the guys I grew up playing basketball with.
 

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