Watch Watched Watching: Danny Ocean's Star Wars with Groundhog Zombies and Aliens at the Edge of 28 Days later than Tomorrow

[Zorral]

1 hour ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

Watched made in 2011 (100th anniversary) 1911 a Chinese movie about the ending of the Qing Dynasty and over 1000 yrs of Chinese monarchy.

It's a sweeping epic with an enormous cast includes Jackie Chan and Joan Chen and many more.

Short synopsis-

1911 chronicles the political careers of China's first president Sun Yat Sen (Winston Chao) and military commander Huang Xing (Chan) as parallel trajectories that embody the two-pronged offensives of the revolution.Oct 3, 2011

 

o, I want to see that!

[DireWolfSpirit]

11 hours ago, Zorral said:

o, I want to see that!

Here's another, this chronicles the cultural revolution. Stars Gong Li who is amazing in this, as always. This is a gem, in English it's known as To Live.

 

[dbunting]

Watched The Hitmans Wifes Bodyguard, this weekend, good cast. And yes it's as much of a dumb shoot em up action comedy popcorn movie as it sounds like. It was mildly entertaining but strangely for a 90 min movie it felt long... Probably could have cut 10 min of motherf%cking and been a better movie, but not much better.

Also watched Infinite on Paramount+   Mark Walberg action movie based around being reincarnated forever and remembering your past lives. Premise seems pretty interesting but it never seems to gain traction. 

[Zorral]

2 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

Here's another, this chronicles the cultural revolution. Stars Gong Li who is amazing in this, as always. This is a gem, in English it's known as To Live.

 

Thanks -- 1911 is up on Amazon, which I'd put on my list, and then forgotten about.  Lots going on these days outside the home confines, which is also a huge departure from the watching schedule.  I. Am. Not. Complaining. About That!  Whew!

[Ran]

Rick and Morty returns. Fun episode with some fun gags,

Spoiler

particularly Morty accidentally creating a civilization obsessed with destroying him and the running bit about Beth and Jerry being "sex-positive". Mr. Nimbus as a pansexual Namor was kind of a hoot as well.

This was definitely a slighter episode, and felt like it was deliberately avoiding too much in the way of "canon" -- with an explicit reference from Rick underscoring that -- but a solid way to return.

[Veltigar]

I read a retrospective to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Rocketeer. I realized that if I ever wanted to get it off my watch list, it would be good to do it now or otherwise it would be never. It was a nice movie. Clearly aimed at children but still enjoyable as an adult. Between this and The Mummy the nineties really did have some fun Indiana Jones type movies. Strange it didn't really start a franchise.

[WarGalley]

5 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

I read a retrospective to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Rocketeer. I realized that if I ever wanted to get it off my watch list, it would be good to do it now or otherwise it would be never. It was a nice movie. Clearly aimed at children but still enjoyable as an adult. Between this and The Mummy the nineties really did have some fun Indiana Jones type movies. Strange it didn't really start a franchise.

I feel like The Phantom with Billy Zane is a natural follow-up. I cannot recall if it was actually any good though.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

3 hours ago, Veltigar said:

I read a retrospective to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Rocketeer. I realized that if I ever wanted to get it off my watch list, it would be good to do it now or otherwise it would be never. It was a nice movie. Clearly aimed at children but still enjoyable as an adult. Between this and The Mummy the nineties really did have some fun Indiana Jones type movies. Strange it didn't really start a franchise.

'Came out the same year as Terminator 2 and City Slickers. Also Nevermind and The Black Album. Good times.

Coincidentally, Joe Johnson was a director on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. He also directed Hidalgo, which I thought was pretty good, and the first Captain America Movie, which was definitely one of the better Marvel phase 1 films.

I saw The Rocketeer in the theater back in the day and liked it a lot.  They're punching Nazis for crying out loud. And have you seen what Jennifer Connelly looked like in that movie? Try to blame me.

I think bad word of mouth killed that movie. Maybe it just came out a few years too late. The critical consensus has shifted a little in recent years but I remember it being very negative at the time. I never understood that. 

 

[RumHam]

1 hour ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Captain America Movie, which was definitely one of the better Marvel phase 1 films.

I'd argue it's one of the better marvel films period. It was surprisingly good at the time. "Captain America" was a joke before that movie. It's not exactly deep stuff but all the actors sell it. Especially Tucci and Evans. 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

2 hours ago, RumHam said:

I'd argue it's one of the better marvel films period. It was surprisingly good at the time. "Captain America" was a joke before that movie. It's not exactly deep stuff but all the actors sell it. Especially Tucci and Evans. 

I went in with fairly modest expectations and it exceeded them. It definitely scores higher on a "re-watchability" scale than most of the other MCU films.

[Fury Resurrected]

I can’t believe there’s not really any talking about Sweet Tooth. I loved the comics and while the show is super different, I enjoyed it a lot. They lightened the tone quite a bit and added a lot to the story. No surprise there, since it’s not a very long run story. The additions were all good and fleshed a lot of things out. It also gave you some more positive characters in it since in the comics pretty much all the leftover humans are awful. If you feel especially traumatized by Covid, you might want to wait, but it is a much nicer spin on an apocalypse. For the main character this isn’t the end of the world, but his first discovery of it, and you get to experience that more through his perspective.

on Nobody- I saw one of you really hated it and I think you’re expecting too much. It’s like when people complain Godzilla movies don’t have enough human storyline. That’s not what the movie is for. Nobody is great if you wanna see Bob Odenkirk do stuff or if you’d enjoy seeing Bob Odenkirk, Christopher Lloyd, and the RZA in a gunfight against bad guys that was sparked by a kitty cat bracelet. It’s a goofing off movie. Think of Odenkirk as a little bit of a Bruce Campbell type (though nobody has the combination of cheeseball and magnificently handsome that Bruce in his prime has or even that he still has) and if that sounds fun for you, you’ll like it.

[Heartofice]

Agree about Sweet Tooth, no mention of it, but  i thought it was a very well made show. Loved the performances all round, some fantastic actors involved including some of my absolute favourites in Will Forte and Adeel Aktar. It has high production values, a dystopian plot that seems to mirror us right now, and it’s actually very affecting. I welled up a few times. 
 

Sure it’s sappy, in Peter Jackson King Kong sappy kind of way, but I’m a sucka for that kind of thing. The kid who plays Sweet Tooth pulled off that innocent naivety without being annoying. 
 

Another show I’m enjoying is Black Summer. Feel it’s a zombie show they really flew under the radar with its first season. It deals with what living in a zombie apocalypse is like in a way that really makes Walking Dead look pedestrian ( not hard). First episode of season two was different. It seems brave enough to tell a story in a different way, and allow scenes to just go on and on. Might not be for everyone but I have such a dislike for all things Walkikg Dead related these days that I’m happy to jump onto team Black Summer 

[Veltigar]

Since I'm on a roll with films that are at least thirty years, I decided to take Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure out for a spin. Never seen it before and I think it's high time for me to close that gap in my pop cultural awareness. Having seen it, I get why it has cult appeal. This movie shouldn't work, but somehow it does and it baffles me. Amazing eighties artifact.

9 hours ago, WarGalley said:

I feel like The Phantom with Billy Zane is a natural follow-up. I cannot recall if it was actually any good though.

Hmmm, Billy Zane is an actor I usually don't enjoy though. Does The Phantom inspire a similar cult following?

5 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

'Came out the same year as Terminator 2 and City Slickers. Also Nevermind and The Black Album. Good times.

Coincidentally, Joe Johnson was a director on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. He also directed Hidalgo, which I thought was pretty good, and the first Captain America Movie, which was definitely one of the better Marvel phase 1 films.

I saw The Rocketeer in the theater back in the day and liked it a lot.  They're punching Nazis for crying out loud. And have you seen what Jennifer Connelly looked like in that movie? Try to blame me.

I think bad word of mouth killed that movie. Maybe it just came out a few years too late. The critical consensus has shifted a little in recent years but I remember it being very negative at the time. I never understood that. 

 

This was the retrospective I read about it:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jun/21/the-rocketeer-joe-johnston-billy-campbell-jennifer-connelly 

The essay speculates that its failure had to do with the lack of recognizable actors in it:

Quote

It’s clear now that an enthusiastic audience existed for this peculiar twist on superhero mythos, but the multiplex was already becoming an inhospitable place for movies without big stars or recognizable IP, even with the Disney machine behind them. 

Funny that you say that Joe Johnston directed Hidalgo and Young Indiana Jones. The directing flair reminded me of something, but I couldn't quite get it. Not a big MCU head so it couldn't be First Avenger, but I watched a ton of Young Indiana back in the day and Hidalgo was one of the films that was just on a loop here. 

Funny you mention Jennifer Connoly in that film. She was indeed stunning in the film, but her transformation over the years has always baffled me. No idea how old she's in the film, but if you compare her look there with requiem or Blood Diamond she almost looks like a completely different person. Her face looks narrower for some reason? I'm curious whether it's a combination of weight loss and aging or something else

27 minutes ago, Fury Resurrected said:

on Nobody- I saw one of you really hated it and I think you’re expecting too much. It’s like when people complain Godzilla movies don’t have enough human storyline. That’s not what the movie is for. Nobody is great if you wanna see Bob Odenkirk do stuff or if you’d enjoy seeing Bob Odenkirk, Christopher Lloyd, and the RZA in a gunfight against bad guys that was sparked by a kitty cat bracelet. It’s a goofing off movie. Think of Odenkirk as a little bit of a Bruce Campbell type (though nobody has the combination of cheeseball and magnificently handsome that Bruce in his prime has or even that he still has) and if that sounds fun for you, you’ll like it.

I really disliked it even though I went in with exceedingly low expectations. It's completely uninspired which makes it mostly fail as a parody. By this point in the franchise, John Wick itself is more of a parody of the original John Wick than this film. 

The only moment that for me was really on the level I was expecting

Spoiler

was indeed the discovery of the kitty kat bracelet. 

 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

10 hours ago, Veltigar said:

Hmmm, Billy Zane is an actor I usually don't enjoy though. Does The Phantom inspire a similar cult following?

No.

10 hours ago, Veltigar said:

This was the retrospective I read about it:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jun/21/the-rocketeer-joe-johnston-billy-campbell-jennifer-connelly 

The essay speculates that its failure had to do with the lack of recognizable actors in it:

Another thing (maybe the primary thing) is that it just got swamped. In the weeks preceding its release, City Slickers, Naked Gun 2.5, and Robin Hood Prince of Thieves open. In the weeks after it was Terminator 2, Point Break, and Bill & Ted: Bogus Journey. And yeah, those films all had recognizable stars in them. Keannu had a good summer that year.

I was thinking the same thing about Connelly. It's like all that baby fat in her cheeks just melted off in about 6 months. Actually, the gap between Requiem and Blood Diamond was 6 years.

 

Edit: I read the Guardian article after posting this and they came to similar conclusions regarding crowding out.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

I put on Fatherhood last night, expecting to fall asleep ten minutes into the movie, but it was actually pretty good. I like Kevin Hart even though I don't like many of the films he's in and don't think he's much of an actor, but he showed a decent amount of range in this film and didn't rely too much on his usual schtick. The story was pretty realistic, the film was well paced and surprising the child actor in the film, Melody Hurd was very good. Overall it was a nice little film to watch around Father's Day.

[Cas Stark]

This article makes me want to watch The Mandalorian, which I have so far steered clear of due to a belief that Star Wars fans would try to like anything.

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/07/gross-altman-star-wars-mandalorian/619016/

[Corvinus85]

2 hours ago, Cas Stark said:

This article makes me want to watch The Mandalorian, which I have so far steered clear of due to a belief that Star Wars fans would try to like anything.

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/07/gross-altman-star-wars-mandalorian/619016/

Star Wars fans want to watch Star Wars, but they have no hesitancy in criticizing the shit out of anything they find sub-par. If anything, The Mandalorian not only is good Star Wars, it's pretty accessible to casual viewers, despite being filled with callbacks and little nuggets only diehard fans would know.

[briantw]

2 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

Star Wars fans want to watch Star Wars, but they have no hesitancy in criticizing the shit out of anything they find sub-par. If anything, The Mandalorian not only is good Star Wars, it's pretty accessible to casual viewers, despite being filled with callbacks and little nuggets only diehard fans would know.

I love The Mandalorian. 

The prequel trilogy, the sequel trilogy, and the Han Solo movie are hot fucking garbage.

[Veltigar]

Just watched The Lobster for the first time. I wish I had gotten to it sooner, because I rather enjoyed it. The first half in particular is amazingly good, although the film's second half is definitely too long for what is featured in it. Not quite as big a discrepancy as between the two parts of Full Metal Jacket, but it's still noticeable unfortunately.

I'd say that The Favourite is overall a better film, but that first half of The Lobster is so far the best I have seen of this director. While I despised his first film, I do find myself admiring  Yorgos Lanthimos' other work. Like Windign Refn or Wes Anderson he has a very distinctive style and you can just tell when you are looking at a film he made, which is quite cool in this age of mass-produced superhero crap. 

Anyways, great dystopian concept. Wonderful cinematography and all the actors in the first part are brilliant. Not as enamored with some of the later additions, but they were stuck with a crummier part of the story so I won't blame them. One last thing I'd like to praise is just how hilarious the film was. There were some lines in there that were so sharp I think I cut myself.

My two favorites:

Spoiler

1. If you encounter any problems, any tensions, any arguing, that you cannot resolve yourselves, you will be assigned children. That usually helps, a lot.
2.  We dance alone. That's why we only play electronic music.

 

 

13 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

No.

Another thing (maybe the primary thing) is that it just got swamped. In the weeks preceding its release, City Slickers, Naked Gun 2.5, and Robin Hood Prince of Thieves open. In the weeks after it was Terminator 2, Point Break, and Bill & Ted: Bogus Journey. And yeah, those films all had recognizable stars in them. Keannu had a good summer that year.

Edit: I read the Guardian article after posting this and they came to similar conclusions regarding crowding out.

Ah, that makes sense

13 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

I was thinking the same thing about Connelly. It's like all that baby fat in her cheeks just melted off in about 6 months. Actually, the gap between Requiem and Blood Diamond was 6 years.

Damn, I thought Blood Diamond and Requiem were closer together in age. Time does funny things in your head. Glad I'm not the only one who sees the difference with Connely's appearance.

4 hours ago, Cas Stark said:

This article makes me want to watch The Mandalorian, which I have so far steered clear of due to a belief that Star Wars fans would try to like anything.

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/07/gross-altman-star-wars-mandalorian/619016/

It's okay, which is high praise for a Star Wars property nowadays. The technology behind it is the most interesting about it and occasionally they have a good guest star, but overall it's like a less fun version of Firefly. I happen to like Firefly a lot, so I can stomach Mando's adventures but it's overall quite safe though.

Still, better to play it safe and not end up giving us another sequel trilogy.

7 minutes ago, briantw said:

I love The Mandalorian. 

The prequel trilogy, the sequel trilogy, and the Han Solo movie are hot fucking garbage.

Hmmm, I think Solo gets unfairly maligned a lot. It's a terribly unnecessary film, about on par with a live-action Disney remake, but if you are able to ignore that it's a competently made film which you can't really say about the prequels or the sequels.

It's just unfortunate that they had to make a SW film. If they had struck out all the forced references to Han Solo it could have been a perfectly alright throwaway sci-fi romp.

[Heartofice]

Lobster’s first half is wonderful, I happily forgive it’s sloppy boring second half just because of how much I enjoyed that first hour. 
 

I do love the pacing of dialogue in his movies.