All Things Movie/Documentary Reviews/Recommendations Thread

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short ornery norwegian said:
made me stop and think - the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs were dropped 78 years ago. (the doc also has some footage of people who survived the bombs showing their injuries - ghastly stuff.)
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My Uncle was in the Navy on the ship the USS Wichita. They sailed to Nagasaki to retrieve some of the POWS that were held there by the Japanese. Unlike other relatives who were in the Army, he often talked about his time in the war.

Though it wasn't until 50+ years after the war that he talked about what he saw and smelled when they sailed up to get those survivors. He never let on before but you could tell how haunted he was by the experience. How could you not have been.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
watched a 2-hour documentary on Robert Oppenheimer Sunday night on MSNBC. it was obviously tied in to the new movie that's coming out - Christopher Nolan was one of the 'talking heads' giving commentary. looks like the doc was produced by NBC/Universal.

but, the commercial tie-in aside, it was a very interesting look at Oppenheimer's life and career, warts and all, including his personal life. learned a lot of things I didn't know about Oppenheimer's alleged ties to the Communist Party. (brother was a member, and a former girlfriend was a member - which led to Oppenheimer having his security clearance revoked in the 50's during the Red Scare.)

there was quite a bit of archival footage of Oppenheimer being interviewed later in his life.

made me stop and think - the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs were dropped 78 years ago. (the doc also has some footage of people who survived the bombs showing their injuries - ghastly stuff.)
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I'm really looking forward to checking out Oppenheimer next weekend. I think Nolan is fantastic, and it's an interesting story, at least from what I know about it. I remember seeing the Interstellar trailers and was SUPER pumped to see it. And it was good, but not great. I hope I don't have a repeat experience with this one. Maybe, for me, his trailers are better than the actual movies? :) I hope not, really hoping Oppenheimer is 10 of 10. I guess I'll find out in the next week or two.
 

Completely out of left field...

Ended up stumbling on a Netflix comedian last night, Tom Segura: Sledgehammer.

I had never heard of this guy, ever, and I don't usually watch comedians much but the wife stumbled on this killing some time. Holy shit, this was one of the funniest comedians I've seen in a long time. He gets a little nasty, but I thought it was fantastic.

I would highly, highly recommend.
 


Indiana Jones 5, I thought was all right. I was entertained though perhaps could have been trimmed a bit. Hits the right notes, feels nostalgic and Ford is solid.

Mission Impossible 7 (Part 1) even though it was 10 minutes longer than Indy, never dragged though. I really liked it. One nitpick is they overdo the fake faces gambit. Once per movie should be the limit.
 


TRF Guy said:
Older movie that didn’t get much attention when it was released. Bone Tomahawk is a very underrated movie in my book. Starts out a bit slow but then it kicks in. There was one scene where I literally had to look away it was that gruesome

www.imdb.com

Bone Tomahawk (2015) ⭐ 7.1 | Drama, Horror, Western

2h 12m | Not Rated
www.imdb.com www.imdb.com
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Great movie. It's been a few years but I think I know the scene you're referring to...Will really make you cross your legs.
 

Nax5 said:
Great movie. It's been a few years but I think I know the scene you're referring to...Will really make you cross your legs.
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Something about spreading a guys legs open while they hold him upside down
 

TRF Guy said:
Older movie that didn’t get much attention when it was released. Bone Tomahawk is a very underrated movie in my book. Starts out a bit slow but then it kicks in. There was one scene where I literally had to look away it was that gruesome

www.imdb.com

Bone Tomahawk (2015) ⭐ 7.1 | Drama, Horror, Western

2h 12m | Not Rated
www.imdb.com www.imdb.com
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Very disturbing at several parts.

Anywho.....'Shaun White: The Last Ride'.....a four part documentary on MAX is really good. Shaun White is a super interesting and likable character. His story is compelling and the way this is shot and put together is outstanding. Plus, they have a lot of good footage from when he was younger. If you like sports documentaries....this is definitely one to watch.
 
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I saw Oppenheimer yesterday on a monster screen, and it was quite fabulous. It's up there in terms of quality and epic in stature as The Right Stuff, which I have proclaimed my favorite movie of all time.

Everything about it is top notch...story, acting, set, costume, makeup etc.

Often Nolan time jumps (Inception & Tenet) leave me so utterly confused I check out. This one, as with Dunkirk, they are amazingly effective. Maybe it has to do with portraying a story based on actual events.

It's amazing the A-list actors that were part of the project with some having very little screen time. They include 2 Best Actor Award winners including one that played a major political figure, playing another.

I highly recommend seeing it on an IMAX or 70mm screen.

Normally I don't give a rip about box office success, but I hope it signals to big studios that this type of film is worth the investment, like Gandhi, Lawrence of Arabia or A Passage to India.
 



My wife was watching a documentary on Netflix and I ended up watching most of it with her. It’s called Victim/Suspect. It was about young women who have reported sexual assault and ended up being convicted for lying about it. Overall it was ok but the one part that stood out to me was how investigators are allowed to lie to potential victims. They have doubts about the story she’s telling so they lie about evidence they have while questioning her.

It’s appalling, honestly. I think there’s situations where that strategy is appropriate like in a murder where there’s no disputing someone was killed.

In a sexual assault situation though, you have someone that possibly went through a traumatic situation. If the investigator says they have video or other evidence that she’s lying, then it’s not uncommon for her to question herself even when telling the truth.

Apparently this ruse tactic can even be used on kids. The tactic should have limitations.
 
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Frink said:
RIP to French Connection and The Exorcist director William Friedkin. They're stone classics in entirely different genres.
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among his other films, one I really liked was "To Live and Die in L.A." Future CSI star William Petersen plays a Secret Service agent trying to catch a counterfeiter played by a young Willem Dafoe. features a wild car-chase scene with cars going the wrong way on the LA freeway.

and then, for a complete change-of-pace, he directed "Blue Chips" - the college basketball movie with Nick Nolte playing a college coach who resorts to illegal recruiting to land top prospects - including one played by Shaq.

of course, there was also "Cruising," the gay leather serial killer movie with Al Pacino that was extremely controversial.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
among his other films, one I really liked was "To Live and Die in L.A." Future CSI star William Petersen plays a Secret Service agent trying to catch a counterfeiter played by a young Willem Dafoe. features a wild car-chase scene with cars going the wrong way on the LA freeway.

and then, for a complete change-of-pace, he directed "Blue Chips" - the college basketball movie with Nick Nolte playing a college coach who resorts to illegal recruiting to land top prospects - including one played by Shaq.

of course, there was also "Cruising," the gay leather serial killer movie with Al Pacino that was extremely controversial.
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I saw To Live and Die in LA when it came out but honestly don't remember anything other than the fact that Wang Chung did the theme song. I've seen it listed as a great modern noir movie so I'll have to revisit.

And I had no idea he did Blue Chips. Thanks for the reminder on Cruising. Been thinking about doing a double feature with that and Dog Day Afernoon for an gritty Al Pacino fest.
 
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Frink said:
I saw To Live and Die in LA when it came out but honestly don't remember anything other than the fact that Wang Chung did the theme song. I've seen it listed as a great modern war movie so I'll have to revisit.
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That's funny, when SoN posted about it, it was also the one and only thing I could recall about the film...Wang Chung, even though I also saw it in a theater.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
among his other films, one I really liked was "To Live and Die in L.A." Future CSI star William Petersen plays a Secret Service agent trying to catch a counterfeiter played by a young Willem Dafoe. features a wild car-chase scene with cars going the wrong way on the LA freeway.

and then, for a complete change-of-pace, he directed "Blue Chips" - the college basketball movie with Nick Nolte playing a college coach who resorts to illegal recruiting to land top prospects - including one played by Shaq.

of course, there was also "Cruising," the gay leather serial killer movie with Al Pacino that was extremely controversial.
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Good article about To Live and Die in L.A. One of my favorites too.

www.vanityfair.com

The Film That Returned William Friedkin to Critical Acclaim

On the occasion of the director’s death, we take a look back at one of his most important works, the 1985 film ‘To Live and Die in LA.’ In this darkly seductive portrait of Los Angeles in the 1980s, it is impossible to distinguish the lines that divide right and wrong.
www.vanityfair.com www.vanityfair.com
 

Check out Alaska (Alaskan?) Nets on Amazon Prime if you have a chance. It follows the entire season of a high school basketball team from a small town in Alaska. Many of the resident's there are in the fishing industry. Some of the residents get in to diving as it's more lucrative than working on one of the boats but it is also very dangerous meaning a lot of these families have dealt with grief of family members who died young. The coach is a guy hoping to lead the team to it's first state title since 1984 in a town where the expectation is to win (think like Nebraska football?).
 

Painkiller with Matthew Broderick about the Purdue Pharma situation is both good and really maddening.
 




I've been bopping around on You Tube looking for things to watch. (the joys of retirement)

If you're a movie fan and have some time to kill, I came across a 6-hour documentary that was originally done for Turner Classic Movies. "TCM - Moguls and Movie Stars." a fairly comprehensive history of the American movie industry focused on the moguls who built and ran the major studios.

well done and (I thought) informative. learned some things I didn't know.
 

'BS High' on HBOMax is something else. Story of the fake high school football team, Bishop Sycamore, and their sociopath "head coach", Roy Johnson. It was wild even before they got to the geese story.
 





Trylon rules.

I watched Drop Dead Gorgeous for the first time since like middle school. Any good Minnesotan should see that one. Honestly ahead of its time in 1999. Pure black comedy that perfectly teases and parodies every small Midwestern town.
 

Perhaps this was already mentioned several pages back, but my wife and I just watched Promising Young Woman (2020) on Netflix and whew, was that a powerful film--wildly entertaining yet unsettling with a piercing moral message and a powerhouse lead performance by Carey Mulligan. I said to my wife a couple times during our watching that when our boys are ready to head out of the house, I'm sitting them down to watch this movie as a cautionary tale. I see it won the Best Original Screenplay for 2021 and it's well deserved.
 


coolhandgopher said:
Perhaps this was already mentioned several pages back, but my wife and I just watched Promising Young Woman (2020) on Netflix and whew, was that a powerful film--wildly entertaining yet unsettling with a piercing moral message and a powerhouse lead performance by Carey Mulligan. I said to my wife a couple times during our watching that when our boys are ready to head out of the house, I'm sitting them down to watch this movie as a cautionary tale. I see it won the Best Original Screenplay for 2021 and it's well deserved.
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That movie was disturbing, honestly. No doubt, a great performance by Mulligan but a damn disturbing movie.

Just out of pure chance, I randomly ended up watching the Netflix special last night on Kai, the hatchet-wielding hithchiker guy. I don't remember hearing anything about this when it happened. Not a horrible documentary, I left thinking the California journalist closest to him for the most part got buffaloed by Kai.
 

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