All Things Movie/Documentary Reviews/Recommendations Thread

Donate To GopherHole
You gotta have some huge balls to release a cynical film like "Don't Look Up" right before Christmas. But Netflix did it.

A satirical mirror image of our world. Where politics, news, and social media have no subtlety, no nuance. A little too depressing for my tastes. But it has a huge cast with fantastic performances.

And although it was written before Covid, the anti-science elements are quite apt.
 

I finally got around to watching the documentary about the college admission scandal that took place a few years ago. The wife had watched it several months ago, thought I better catch up.

It's fairly interesting and fairly well done but at the end of the day, all I could think of was this was sure made out to be a lot bigger deal than it should have been? When this went down, my recollection was that it was a pretty damn large scandal, people going to jail, et al. But at the end of the day, a few dozen rich kids got into big-name schools that probably shouldn't have. I kept waiting for something more major to come out of it and nothing.

People today put way too much emphasis put into WHERE you go to school when, in all reality, it might help you get your foot in the door at that FIRST job. After that, it's up to you. Essentially, it came off as some major anti-rich folks or rich-hating kind of hatchet job.

They got one thing right towards the end; if anything this highlighted yet another big FAIL by today's higher educational system. Shame on those school/universities for allowing this to take place. And in the end, the schools faced no backlash at all for the most part. Hard to imagine how this doesn't qualify for some type of "lack of institutional control"
 

Nax5 said:
You gotta have some huge balls to release a cynical film like "Don't Look Up" right before Christmas. But Netflix did it.

A satirical mirror image of our world. Where politics, news, and social media have no subtlety, no nuance. A little too depressing for my tastes. But it has a huge cast with fantastic performances.

And although it was written before Covid, the anti-science elements are quite apt.
Click to expand...
I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it. I knew how it would end though because
Leo always dies!
I also couldn’t help but notice the parallels to climate change. I assume that’s what they were going for. Even if a comet is objectively more of an urgent crisis.

Wife and I watched Nick Cage’s new movie PIG yesterday. One of his better movies.
 

mnsportsgeek said:
I also couldn’t help but notice the parallels to climate change. I assume that’s what they were going for.
Click to expand...
Yep. That was definitely the theme I got. But it ended up doing double duty as an analogy to a pandemic as well haha.
 

No idea if the Kurt Warner biopic (American Underdog) is any good, but casting Zachary Levi is amazing. Looks like a true doppelganger.
 


Heard rave reviews about the All Madden piece that was released on Christmas Day. Various podcasts I have caught over the last week or two had several people who contributed. I recorded it but haven't watched it.
 

Ope3 said:
No idea if the Kurt Warner biopic (American Underdog) is any good, but casting Zachary Levi is amazing. Looks like a true doppelganger.
Click to expand...

Apparently from a review I read, this is being marketed at the Christian movie audience. the main focus of the movie, according to the review, is on "faith and family," and the sports side is almost secondary.

Not saying that makes it a bad movie, but it sounds like it is not your standard sports biopic.
 

I saw Licorice Pizza today, new Paul Thomas Anderson film, really good. The leads Alana Haim & Cooper Hoffman give fantastic performances even though it is both of their debuts.

I felt like I had seen the Hoffman kid in something else, but midway through I picked up on the PTA connection. He's Philip Seymour Hoffman's son, I'm guessing not much younger than the old man was in Boogie Nights.

For the life of me, can't figure out the title. There's no "licorice". There's no "pizza". Reading online explanations doesn't really clear it up for me, but, oh well.
 

We’re finally getting around to watching 9/11: One Day in America. Just one episode in, so many emotions.
 



Was looking for something to watch on Netflix. Spotted Silverado, which I probably last watched around the time it came out, 1985
Serious star power
Kevin Kline
Scott Glenn
Kevin Costner
Danny Glover
John Cleese
Rosanna Arquette
Brian Dennehy
Linda Hunt
Jeff Goldblum

edit: it was bad
 
Last edited:

I flipped past a show called Barney Miller on me tv- it was trash. They never left the office area.
 


I highly recommend Nightmare Alley, and if all possible to see it in a theater. It's modern film noir at it's best.

Cate Blanchett, femme fatale. Wow.
 




finally got around to watching "The Eternals" now that is is available on Disney+.

After seeing it, I understand why it received mixed reviews.

I understand the source material, and even I had to pay attention to figure out what was going on. So, if you're not familiar with the comics, I can see where people didn't understand it.

my bottom line - they tried to do too much. you can credit them with being ambitious, and trying to do something more than just another "watch superheroes fight" movie.

it was a 2-1/2 hour movie-- IMHO, they should have either made two movies or done a 6-hour series on TV. Just tried to cram too much information, cover too many plot lines and follow too many characters in that amount of time.

again, it's not terrible. there are some nice scenes and character moments, but the filmmakers tried to bite off more than they could chew.
 

Ope3 said:
I saw Licorice Pizza today, new Paul Thomas Anderson film, really good. The leads Alana Haim & Cooper Hoffman give fantastic performances even though it is both of their debuts.

I felt like I had seen the Hoffman kid in something else, but midway through I picked up on the PTA connection. He's Philip Seymour Hoffman's son, I'm guessing not much younger than the old man was in Boogie Nights.

For the life of me, can't figure out the title. There's no "licorice". There's no "pizza". Reading online explanations doesn't really clear it up for me, but, oh well.
Click to expand...
Licorice Pizza is a now defunct Southern California record store from the 70-s and 80's. Cheers.
 

GO4INLALALAND said:
Licorice Pizza is a now defunct Southern California record store from the 70-s and 80's. Cheers.
Click to expand...
That makes the title even more confounding.

It's not about the record store chain or music at all, nor are any scenes at the record bin. I will say though, the soundtrack to the movie is pretty cool, in line with Paul Thomas Anderson flicks.
 

I realize my tastes are a little 'different' compared to the rest of the board.

Having said that, now that I'm retired I have time to indulge some of my whims.

so, I have found several YouTube sites that have old movie serials.

Just finished watching the "Captain America" serial from 1944. Republic Pictures - one of the big producers of movie serials - bought the rights to the comic book and proceeded to change almost everything about the character. in the Serial, Captain American is secretly District Attorney Grant Gardner, who is fighting a mysterious crime boss called "The Scarab."

It's pretty typical for a serial of that era. every chapter has at least one or two fight scenes. that is part of why I watch them - for the stunt work.

I have several serials on DVD, including all 3 of the original "Flash Gordon" serials from the 30's, and
"The Adventures of Captain Marvel," which is considered to be one of the better serials of its era.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I realize my tastes are a little 'different' compared to the rest of the board.

Having said that, now that I'm retired I have time to indulge some of my whims.

so, I have found several YouTube sites that have old movie serials.

Just finished watching the "Captain America" serial from 1944. Republic Pictures - one of the big producers of movie serials - bought the rights to the comic book and proceeded to change almost everything about the character. in the Serial, Captain American is secretly District Attorney Grant Gardner, who is fighting a mysterious crime boss called "The Scarab."

It's pretty typical for a serial of that era. every chapter has at least one or two fight scenes. that is part of why I watch them - for the stunt work.

I have several serials on DVD, including all 3 of the original "Flash Gordon" serials from the 30's, and
"The Adventures of Captain Marvel," which is considered to be one of the better serials of its era.
Click to expand...

Nonsense.

Now if you happen to be looking for something a little more exciting....may I recommend powerpoint presentations?



Please know that I'm just playing around.
 

finally saw the new version of "Dune."

mixed feelings. it looks good and is generally well-acted, but like a lot of Villeneuve's films, it just seems a little distant, for lack of a better word. you're watching the movie, but not really engrossed in the movie the way some movies draw you in. (had the same reaction to "Blade Runner 2049")

As someone who has read the novel, this version takes some liberties with the source material. he makes some character changes and, in general, left out some of the political and religious aspects of the novel. It also is a little light on explaining some things - leaves it up to the viewer to figure out. that's fine if you've read the book, but if you haven't, I can see how the movie could be confusing.

of course, this movie covers the first half - really the first 1/3 of the book. so it will be interesting to see what he does when they make Part 2.
 


Just finished the four part doc series on Showtime UFO with JJ Abrams as Ex Producer.

I came away as believing much more in them then before watching and the doc provides a balanced view. it is also obvious that our government knows more about it/them than they’ll ever openly admit and has funded research into the subject for years.

if you’re a fan of the genre or curious I give it - 👽👽👍👍
 
Last edited:


Ope3 said:
That makes the title even more confounding.

It's not about the record store chain or music at all, nor are any scenes at the record bin. I will say though, the soundtrack to the movie is pretty cool, in line with Paul Thomas Anderson flicks.
Click to expand...

It's also a slang term for vinyl records.

Anderson said:

"After months of thinking about it, Paul decided “that these two words shoved together reminded me the most of my childhood.”
 

Iceland12 said:
It's also a slang term for vinyl records.

Anderson said:

"After months of thinking about it, Paul decided “that these two words shoved together reminded me the most of my childhood.”
Click to expand...
I've heard that one too, but the film isn't autobiographical. No matter, it does sound cool and I hope it gets nominated for the Oscars.

Speaking of, these would be the top 3 movies I have seen and hope get Best Picture nominations in order of preference.

1. Belfast
2. Licorice Pizza
3. Nightmare Alley
 

Not a recommendation...But I've been watching some black and white movies before bed as they tend to put me to sleep haha...

Finished Ed Wood's "The Violent Years" from 1956.

This entire movie was really just a set up for a sermon at the end about a desperate return to godliness. Little did they know, in just 15 years, you'd regularly be able to see unmarried couples banging on screen. And ironically, Ed Wood would direct a few himself.
 

House of Gucci. Non buono.
 

West Side Story, I liked it well enough, though not really sure it needed a remake. One thing I can say for sure, Rachel Zegler is gonna be a big star.

Also saw Parallel Mothers starring Penelope Cruz, not knowing really anything about the movie. Having seen her in a few other Pedro Almodovar movies, felt it was worth a shot. Loved it. Just beautifully filmed and acted with an interesting dual plot.

It is tough to read subtitles while enjoying a nice bucket of popcorn, but I can multitask.
 

I'm just starting Home Team on Netflix.

I'm a big Adam Sandler fan, so not sure what to think about this yet. From first impression, I really don't want to see them make Sean Payton a loveable family man. Because he's still a walking butthole.
 


You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom