Jump to content

Watch, Watched, Watching: Strange Times


Ramsay B.

Recommended Posts

37 minutes ago, Ramsay B. said:

I attempted to watch Bad Boys For Life out of sheer boredom the other day. I got like halfway through before tapping out. What a dumb and unentertaining movie.

Last movie I saw in theaters (and I think the only movie I've seen in theaters in 2020). Was hoping for corny, dumb fun like the first 2 movies but instead got this hot mess. Knew what the possibilities were going in though.

Love Munich

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, WarGalley said:

Last movie I saw in theaters (and I think the only movie I've seen in theaters in 2020). Was hoping for corny, dumb fun like the first 2 movies but instead got this hot mess. Knew what the possibilities were going in though.

 

50 minutes ago, Ramsay B. said:

I attempted to watch Bad Boys For Life out of sheer boredom the other day. I got like halfway through before tapping out. What a dumb and unentertaining movie.

My wife put this on for us a few weeks ago.  I hated it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Has Will Smith done anything good since The Pursuit of Happiness? Without looking it feels like a long dry spell. 

I did look. The answer is no. I guess Hancock and I am Legend weren’t awful, maybe even maligned, but it’s been a real downward trajectory ever since.

Have to wonder if there is a reason for that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

I did look. The answer is no. I guess Hancock and I am Legend weren’t awful, maybe even maligned, but it’s been a real downward trajectory ever since.

Have to wonder if there is a reason for that.

I'd say both of those films were enjoyable one time watches. Strange thing is his older stuff tends to hold up alright and he's got some monster hits. 

If I had to look for a reason it would be because he has limited range, but then you look at a few of his earlier entries and you see an immense talent that could do so much. Idk? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I'd say both of those films were enjoyable one time watches. Strange thing is his older stuff tends to hold up alright and he's got some monster hits. 

If I had to look for a reason it would be because he has limited range, but then you look at a few of his earlier entries and you see an immense talent that could do so much. Idk? 

He is definitely talented when he wants to be. His biggest hits like Men in Black used his talent perfectly. 
 

I always got the sense there was stuff going on in his personal life that messed up his head, that or he just got too full of himself. There was a period where he was pitching himself as some sort of guru, giving life lessons. But his family life looks like a mess.

Maybe started to believe his own hype or couldn’t get in with the right Scientologists who run the industry!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder if he changed agents or representation some time in the last 10 years, and so perhaps the people advising him on which properties to choose have changed.  There was Concussion, which although he was good in it, the movie itself was a snooze, and I liked Suicide Squad, but I realize no one else did.  Much like Tom Cruise, he's good in appropriate roles, and his charisma still comes through even in bad films. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Recently started a rewatch of Avatar, the Last Airbender and it's amazing to see how good this show is.
Finally got around to watching the Handmaid's Tale. I loved the first season, but the beginning of the second one seemed -to me- to destroy the characterization of June and played for cheap shock value, not sure if I'll keep watching.
Started Mrs America. Wow, great show! I was always fascinated by Phyllis Schlafly and Cate Blanchett is absolutely fantastic in that role.
Also, finally finished Breaking Bad (yes, it took me years), ironically, after having recently watched all seasons of Better Call Saul. Both are great shows but man, can they be slow... The older I get and the harder it is for me to slog through this type of "atmospheric" show, despite the fact that they are objectively awesome.
Oh, and almost forgot I kinda watched Hunters, though I dunno if that counts since I accidentally started with the last episode and thus spoiled myself the whole show... Didn't seem great to me though, but of course I can hardly give a truly informed opinion about it.

Also, one of my guilty pleasures is trying to find a good "teenage" show with supernatural elements, perhaps because I'm somewhat nostalgic of falsely light-hearted shows like Buffy. Anyway, watched the first season of Motherland... And though the pitch was decent, the teenage elements (romance/sex) were far too heavy compared to the rest, and the plot twists so predictable that they aren't even worthy of the name. Bad. Sad. Would definitely not recommend.
OTOH, was pleasantly surprised by Warrior Nun. At first it seemed to have the same awful defects as Motherland, but in a twist worthy of Shyamalan it subverted the tropes of the teenage genre in several ways and moved to a decently executed initiation story instead. The finale was a bit disappointing though (I dislike cliffhangers). The faith-based elements (and the war between Church and scientist(s)) were a bit annoying at first but as the season moved on, the manga-like elements dominated to such a point that by the time you reach the last episodes it feels that this fictional "Church" has little in common with the Catholic Church we know, and is closer to a potpourri of all Western religions, while "science" is closer to science-fiction in that world (in which all European countries somehow blend into a single cultural ensemble). And of course, there is one decent plot twist in there. Alba Batista adds a fun Ellen Page-vibe to the whole thing, and her duo with Toya "Shotgun mary" Turner is hilarious. So... Not bad. I could be tempted to try a second season if one ever comes out.

Really wondering what I'll try next... I'm thinking of starting Killing Eve, but that's because of @Zorral's comments on it. There's lots of Black Mirror episodes that I haven't watched, and in the same vein I've heard good things about Upload. Also curious about Space Force and Messiah. There's also Chernobyl that I've yet to watch, but that one seems a bit too serious for my current mood, so I might just end up watching the last season of Supernatural instead ^^.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:

 and I liked Suicide Squad, but I realize no one else did. 

I didn't think it was too bad 90% of the way through, but that CGI ending was among the worst things I've ever seen in film history.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I didn't think it was too bad 90% of the way through, but that CGI ending was among the worst things I've ever seen in film history.

It’s maybe one of the worst movies I’ve seen in a very long time. The first half an hour is jaw droppingly incompetent. I heard it was re edited by the company who made the trailers and you can tell. I’d be more interested in seeing the original version  of this than any Snyder cut of anything 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Munich is probably my favorite Spielberg flick.  I can't find it, but I love when the dude says to Bana (paraphrasing):  "That's it!  There's not a medal or anything!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

I didn't think it was too bad 90% of the way through, but that CGI ending was among the worst things I've ever seen in film history.

The CGI was terrible, absolutely.  Most of the story was deeply stupid. I'm not a huge fan of superhero movies to begin with, and I saw it after the horrible reviews so my expectations could not have been lower, yet I was highly entertained by Will Smith and Margot Robbie, if only for the fact they show clearly the difference in wattage between 'actor' and 'movie star'. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:

The CGI was terrible, absolutely.  Most of the story was deeply stupid. I'm not a huge fan of superhero movies to begin with, and I saw it after the horrible reviews so my expectations could not have been lower, yet I was highly entertained by Will Smith and Margot Robbie, if only for the fact they show clearly the difference in wattage between 'actor' and 'movie star'. 

I think both benefited from past popularity than anything they did in the film. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, DMC said:

Munich is probably my favorite Spielberg flick. 

Yeah same.

 

Watched the first episode of the Last Dance last night on Netflix. Interesting. I'm generally not terribly into sports documentaries (or documentaries in general) but I stuck all the way through it. Looking forward to episode 2. I was a little surprised that Isaiah Thomas was one of the ones interviewed. Wondered if at the beginning of filming, they pitched the interview as being part of something else other than a focus on Jordan. That was probably the only standout from the first episode. Would have liked to have seen more footage of the other players and their roles in the second 3-peat too (particularly Pippen who has carried the wingman legacy unbelievably well).

I was also very unfamiliar with the behind the scenes politics at the time. I wonder if they waited until Krause died before painting him as the big villain. I can't believe someone would deny Jackson a contract renewal after a 2nd 3-peat. Makes you wonder if there was something the organization could have done to make Jordan return after 98.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watched Motherless Brooklyn. It was decent. Bit too long, and I’m sure some will find it boring, but I like noir so it mostly worked for me. I remember listening to Ed Norton on a podcast talk about some of the true historical stuff they touched on like the bridge heights to keep out busses and whatnot...pretty crazy. I thought this was his directorial debut but apparently he directed some rom-com like 20 years ago. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, briantw said:

Succession is wildly entertaining.  Connor's eulogy in season two is one of the funniest scenes in any show I have ever watched, drama or comedy. 

There's another scene at some point in season two where Greg and Tom talk about a last minute slogan change that is also up there. I love that show. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...