Watch, Watched, Watching: Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion

[Gaston de Foix]

1 hour ago, dbunting said:

I watched Midnight Sun this weekend, Netflix movie. I can't say it was a bad movie but it was just kind of blah, for me anyway.

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I think there supposed to be a shocker moment when they reveal that the girl is a figment of his imagination, but I felt it as soon as they introduced her. Now, I didn't expect the woman on the ship to be his daughter but really that wasn't a big deal to me.

I loved the visuals of the movie but found myself bored at times and looking stuff up on my phone.

Spoiler

We were bothered by the fact the daughter, partner and unborn child were in no way enough to re-populate the human race, as well as the two surviving crewmembers heading to their obvious deaths.  Maybe it was supposed to be a meditation on survival not being the most important thing in life  - I don't know.   But the sense of frustration and powerlessness was cloying.  

 

[Kalbear]

Saw Soul. Beautiful, cool soundtrack by Reznor and Ross, incredible looking in 4k, and kind of pissed me off. Team Terry forever.

[williamjm]

I watched 1917 which I thought was very good. The "single shot" style Mendes used did a great job of building up the tension and keeping it throughout the film. It did also look stunning as well, particularly during the journey through the French town. I do regret a bit that I didn't go to see it when it was out at the cinema, it was immersive enough at home but probably ideal for the big screen.

[Spockydog]

Watched the first episode of The Stand. 

Given all the bad reviews, I wasn't expecting much, but I thought it was really good. The kid playing Harold is doing amazing work.

Looking forward to the rest of this. 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

Just finished the final season of The Deuce on HBO. Great performances. Thought provoking. Bittersweet ending. Some of the material dealing with sex workers may have crossed the line into being gratuitous, but overall I think it was handled well. David Simon is a master at juggling multiple interweaving storylines. He's also able to treat subjects with the complexity they deserve. A great companion piece to The Wire.

I'm watching season 3 and thinking, "They must have every surviving K-car in existence on this show." I didn't think there were that many left. Then I saw the same black Dodge Omni in multiple scenes.... I loved that there was an episode with a reference to The Good The Bad And The Ugly -and- the death of Socrates. 

The production values couldn't have been higher.

[TheLastWolf]

3 hours ago, williamjm said:

I watched 1917 which I thought was very good. The "single shot" style Mendes used did a great job of building up the tension and keeping it throughout the film. It did also look stunning as well, particularly during the journey through the French town. I do regret a bit that I didn't go to see it when it was out at the cinema, it was immersive enough at home but probably ideal for the big screen.

Roger Deakins is the best cinematographer ever. E. V. E. R. Period 

[ljkeane]

I watched Allied and basically the entire film didn't make sense.

Spoiler

It's not an exhaustive list but here are some of the things that struck me as unrealistic:

Why exactly was Brad Pitt sent to assassinate a German diplomat in French Morocco in the first place? What would be the point?

Everyone keeps talking about the Blitz going on. The Blitz ended in May 1941. The film is set in 1942/43.

There's no way anyone was giving birth in the street in 1943 with bombs dropping around them. I mean, come on.

Why do the Germans have one of their agents impersonating a dead French Resistance fighter? It seems fairly unlikely to work and even if it does what's the plan to get anything useful out of it?

Why does British intelligence want Brad Pitt to execute his wife? It seems a bit unnecessary. Just arrest her and get her to identify who she's working with and then start sending false information. 

 

[Heartofice]

Last Christmas with Emilia Clarke has to be most pleasant surprise from a movie I’ve had in a very long time.

Having agreed to watch it to placate the other half, I grumpily hit play. My expectations of Clarke are rock bottom having been irritated by almost every performance of hers I’ve seen, all grinning or awkward posturing.

But she’s brilliant in this. Honestly. Genuinely good. 
 

The writing was good, not at all what I thought it was. I expected some saccharine cheese fest, but it was only partly that. Clarke’s character is very well done, a total wreck of a human, but in a believable way, not in a Hollywood ‘Cameron Dias but drinks a bit’ kind of way. Clarke really pulled off that defensive, slightly damaged sarcasm and mixed with heart warming likability.

Emma Thompson was her usual brilliance too.

Really really surprising movie. All the marketing made me want to vomit, and it’s much better than that.

[DaveSumm]

2 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

My expectations of Clarke are rock bottom having been irritated by almost every performance of hers I’ve seen, all grinning or awkward posturing.

I think she can be good in roles like this (though I haven’t seen this film), she just had a very weird start to her career as Dany and Sarah Connor, neither of which she was suited for. 

[Heartofice]

7 minutes ago, DaveSumm said:

I think she can be good in roles like this (though I haven’t seen this film), she just had a very weird start to her career as Dany and Sarah Connor, neither of which she was suited for. 

It’s really only now I can kind of see the sort of roles she should be in. She’s been horribly miscast almost her entire career it seems. Being Dany in GoT has meant that she could be expected to be some action figure when that’s not her at all, she’s also not well suited to being the bubbly likeable character I’ve seen her in other stuff ( even if I guess that might be closer to her real life personality). She was very natural in this role , helped by the script I guess.

[Cas Stark]

1 hour ago, Heartofice said:

Last Christmas with Emilia Clarke has to be most pleasant surprise from a movie I’ve had in a very long time.

Having agreed to watch it to placate the other half, I grumpily hit play. My expectations of Clarke are rock bottom having been irritated by almost every performance of hers I’ve seen, all grinning or awkward posturing.

But she’s brilliant in this. Honestly. Genuinely good. 
 

The writing was good, not at all what I thought it was. I expected some saccharine cheese fest, but it was only partly that. Clarke’s character is very well done, a total wreck of a human, but in a believable way, not in a Hollywood ‘Cameron Dias but drinks a bit’ kind of way. Clarke really pulled off that defensive, slightly damaged sarcasm and mixed with heart warming likability.

Emma Thompson was her usual brilliance too.

Really really surprising movie. All the marketing made me want to vomit, and it’s much better than that.

Really?  The movie got terrible reviews and from what I have read it sounds pretty terrible in a Hallmark tear jerky kind of way.  

I do agree that she has been miscast in almost everything she does, she seems to me well suited to rom/com.

[SpaceChampion]

Watched Destroyer, starring Nicole Kidman.  An amazing performance, but the movie overall I'm not sure works.  Tatiana Maslany has a brief character bit in it, which why I sought it out, but Kidman so dominates she makes Maslany and everyone else fade into the background.  Sebastian Stan isn't given that much to do.

Spoiler

It's sort of structured like a mystery, but isn't.  The mystery is Kidman's character herself really.

The pacing is really slow and ominous.  A couple of high adrenaline scenes breaks that up.  I'm trying to decide if I recommend it.  It's disturbing in its way.

Perhaps the thing that ultimately makes it worthwhile is

Spoiler

it's overturns the vengeance movie trope of this revenge climax being in any way satisfying.  It's simply a murder.

 

[Heartofice]

8 hours ago, Cas Stark said:

Really?  The movie got terrible reviews and from what I have read it sounds pretty terrible in a Hallmark tear jerky kind of way.  

I do agree that she has been miscast in almost everything she does, she seems to me well suited to rom/com.

Yeah that was exactly my opinion going in, it looked like the worst kind of cheesy drek. 
 

Having said that, I do remember it being on a ‘best movies of the year’ list and thinking there must have been a mistake. 
 

I mostly appreciated the fact that the main character was clearly flawed, in a realistic way. I saw a lot of people i knew in her portrayal and there was very little schmaltz involved until the end 

[Cas Stark]

Bridgerton:  I like it, don't love it, it isn't in me to really love something with so many anachronisms, but I did really like for the most part the AU idea of grounding the diversity/black aristocrats within the story.  And for those of you wishing for a Black James Bond, the lead here is your man, very, very handsome, British, and seems a decent actor as well.  Did I mention very, very handsome?  I did,  okay then.  

[AverageGuy]

On 12/25/2020 at 9:38 PM, RumHam said:

Watched about half the new Wonder Woman on HBO go before the quality turned to crap and then it finally crashed. Everything else on HBOgo works but I guess too many people are watching Wonder Woman. Really silly movie so far. 

 

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I don't understand why Pascal's character wishes to become the thing that grants wishes. 

 

Spoiler

It was OK I guess. I don't get why superhero sequels constantly try to stick multiple villains into the movie, though. 

 

[HexMachina]

On 12/28/2020 at 3:17 PM, kairparavel said:

We finally got around to watching Fargo a week or so ago. Finished the first season Boxing Day. Was really well done and BBT was superb as was Martin Freeman. Started season 2 last night and am pleased to see Jean Smart in the cast. So far the story isn't quite as compelling but we're only two episodes in.

Season one was so good, season two i thought was fine but didn’t interest me nearly as much although i think a lot of people preferred it. Never finished season 3. The first season was perfect for me though, excellent performances and just the right blend of dark humour throughout.

 

I’ve finally started The Boys on Amazon. This show is wild and certainly lives up to all of the glowing reviews so far. I’m only up to episode 6 so far but loving it

[Heartofice]

Agree that Season 1 of Fargo is almost perfect, I love everything about it. Season 2 is a bit of a harder watch and takes a while to warm up, but in some ways it’s cleverer and more interesting story. 
 

Season 3 is mostly forgettable.

 

Anyway, I watched Soul, and honestly I don’t think we deserve such wonderful animation. When I look at stuff like Minions and the plethora of other made for kids entertainment, you forget that they could actually make smart, touching and ultimately thought provoking movies that might have mass appeal.

But Soul and also Inside Out for one, seem to makes movies that kids might like whilst also examining the biggest questions life throws at us. Whether it’s about what life’s purpose is, or how our minds work, they break it down in a way that everyone can enjoy.

Its staggering it got made really. I’m very grateful 
 

Plus it’s incredibly gorgeous looking, well everything about it is wonderful.

[TheLastWolf]

Watched the Oscar hatrick of Emmanuel Lubeski binging. 

Gravity from Alfonso Cuaron 

Birdman from Alejandro González Innaritu

The Revenant from same 

Absolutely fantastic cinematography 

If only the third had been for Guillermo Del Toro, the Three Amigos would have used the same maestro 

[Cas Stark]

A weird grouping:

A Ghost Story.  It was okay, the first hour was soooooo slow, I kind of lost my taste for super pretentious movies sometime in my 30s, but the last hour was more interesting than the first, so on balance, okay, C+.

Scarface rewatch. Trash DePalma, but enjoyable trash, and crazy 80s.

Midnight Sky.  Meh.  I wish Clooney would get over this idea of downplaying his natural charisma in these ponderous films. 

[Annara Snow]

On 12/30/2020 at 6:28 AM, SpaceChampion said:

Watched Destroyer, starring Nicole Kidman.  An amazing performance, but the movie overall I'm not sure works.  Tatiana Maslany has a brief character bit in it, which why I sought it out, but Kidman so dominates she makes Maslany and everyone else fade into the background.  Sebastian Stan isn't given that much to do.

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It's sort of structured like a mystery, but isn't.  The mystery is Kidman's character herself really.

The pacing is really slow and ominous.  A couple of high adrenaline scenes breaks that up.  I'm trying to decide if I recommend it.  It's disturbing in its way.

Perhaps the thing that ultimately makes it worthwhile is

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it's overturns the vengeance movie trope of this revenge climax being in any way satisfying.  It's simply a murder.

 

I saw that movie a couple of years ago and those were my exact thoughts.