Getting desperate for thread titles, in my 8th straight year of tracking every movie I watch. Still, I really like that these threads exist, even if they're barely seen by anyone.
1. Logan Lucky - Great! An interesting spin on the comedy/heist genre, with likeable characters and really good humor. I really liked how all the details of the heist were carefully thought out and shown. There were a couple details which didn't fully make sense, but that doesn't matter much.
This is it - A Gendo 2023 movie watching thread
Re: This is it - A Gendo 2023 movie watching thread
Logan Lucky is probably the last Soderbergh I liked. I think its the first time Craig really tried that Southern accent too that he's really put to use in Knives Out and Glass Onion.
"[Cinema] is a labyrinth with a treacherous resemblance to reality." - Andrew Sarris
Re: This is it - A Gendo 2023 movie watching thread
I haven't seen any Soderbergh he made after Logan Lucky. I haven't seen much in general; I vaguely remember Traffic being good and Solaris being bad. And I had a lot to say about Side Effects when I saw that a couple years ago.
2. The Northman - Robert Eggers is a pretty amazing filmmaker, that much is clear. I didn't care all that much for the characters or the story... but the visuals were simply stunning. The action scenes consisted of great long-takes, and the backgrounds and scenery were all absolutely beautiful. The music was excellent, and really helped draw you into the world. What prevented me from completely loving it as a whole really was just the characters and story. Amleth isn't a character I wanted to root for, though I certainly wasn't rooting against him either. Nicole Kidman was fantastic, but didn't have enough screen time.
2. The Northman - Robert Eggers is a pretty amazing filmmaker, that much is clear. I didn't care all that much for the characters or the story... but the visuals were simply stunning. The action scenes consisted of great long-takes, and the backgrounds and scenery were all absolutely beautiful. The music was excellent, and really helped draw you into the world. What prevented me from completely loving it as a whole really was just the characters and story. Amleth isn't a character I wanted to root for, though I certainly wasn't rooting against him either. Nicole Kidman was fantastic, but didn't have enough screen time.
Re: This is it - A Gendo 2023 movie watching thread
3. Circle (2015) - Not "The Circle". I watched this a week ago and am finally writing about it. Someone here recommended this I'm pretty sure. Anyway, it's pretty good. At the very least it gets extra points for being unique, and it has some really interesting visuals and such. The story itself is good, though I felt like at least at the beginning, the characters were all way too unrealistic in their behaviors. I'm not sure if it was the acting or the dialogue, but no one felt like they were actually reacting to what it would be like to suddenly find yourself in such a situation. Cube did much better at that. They just adapted way too quickly to what was happening and jumped right into playing "the game".
And then once people started really making their cases, a lot of the characters showed themselves to be silly caricatures of types of people... the cop was racist, the minister was giving clichéd platitudes, the black guy was playing the race card... just some really low-effort character development. But later when they started to break into factions, I started to enjoy it more. By the end, it was just like watching a fun game of Werewolf, and actually had some good suspense about who was going to come out on top.
I read Raxi's comments about the pro-life thing... not sure I agree. I mean, yes the movie states that the pregnant woman's baby counted as a participant in the game, and thus counts as a person, in the eyes of the random unseen aliens. But the guy wasn't the villain because he wasn't willing to defend the rights of the unborn... he was a villain because he manipulated the game perfectly to his advantage even at the cost of murdering a child and a pregnant woman, and movie watching audiences, like half the characters playing the game, felt that pregnant women and children should be given more sympathy/priority to survive. So the fact that the fetus counted didn't come across to me as the filmmakers really trying to make a conservative or pro-life statement. The question of pro-life vs pro-choice is a question of what rights our society should give to which people when those rights are in conflict. The aliens didn't care about such things. It was simply "hey, there's still more than 1 lifeform in this room, therefore the game isn't over yet". It was just a silly little twist, not some political statement. I think it's giving the filmmakers too much credit there.
4. John Wick - Not bad. Some entertaining stuff, and generally really well-shot action scenes. Not a lot of depth to it, but still fun.
R1. A Quiet Place - I like how much this movie leans into the "being quiet" thing. It does a lot with very little spoken dialogue. The world building is great; really giving you a sense of what it is to live in those circumstances. Not really scary, but has a fair bit of good suspense.
5. A Quiet Place Part II - Unfortunately it seems to have given up on trying to lean heavily into the whole quiet thing... characters talk out loud way more than they do in the first one. It like making a no-talking movie was too much effort, so they found lame excuses for characters to be able to safely talk. And then there's all sorts of noises made beyond talking, with no aliens immediately attacking as a consequence. I did still mostly enjoy it though. Cillian Murphy is always great, and this was a different sort of role for him.
6. John Wick: Chapter 2 - Not as good as the first... I didn't like that the action wasn't driven by personal reasons here. It was just business. That being said, the action itself was pretty great. The opening scene with him getting his car back was especially awesome. And I did enjoy learning more about the underworld that they belong to; it's a really fun concept.
And then once people started really making their cases, a lot of the characters showed themselves to be silly caricatures of types of people... the cop was racist, the minister was giving clichéd platitudes, the black guy was playing the race card... just some really low-effort character development. But later when they started to break into factions, I started to enjoy it more. By the end, it was just like watching a fun game of Werewolf, and actually had some good suspense about who was going to come out on top.
I read Raxi's comments about the pro-life thing... not sure I agree. I mean, yes the movie states that the pregnant woman's baby counted as a participant in the game, and thus counts as a person, in the eyes of the random unseen aliens. But the guy wasn't the villain because he wasn't willing to defend the rights of the unborn... he was a villain because he manipulated the game perfectly to his advantage even at the cost of murdering a child and a pregnant woman, and movie watching audiences, like half the characters playing the game, felt that pregnant women and children should be given more sympathy/priority to survive. So the fact that the fetus counted didn't come across to me as the filmmakers really trying to make a conservative or pro-life statement. The question of pro-life vs pro-choice is a question of what rights our society should give to which people when those rights are in conflict. The aliens didn't care about such things. It was simply "hey, there's still more than 1 lifeform in this room, therefore the game isn't over yet". It was just a silly little twist, not some political statement. I think it's giving the filmmakers too much credit there.
4. John Wick - Not bad. Some entertaining stuff, and generally really well-shot action scenes. Not a lot of depth to it, but still fun.
R1. A Quiet Place - I like how much this movie leans into the "being quiet" thing. It does a lot with very little spoken dialogue. The world building is great; really giving you a sense of what it is to live in those circumstances. Not really scary, but has a fair bit of good suspense.
5. A Quiet Place Part II - Unfortunately it seems to have given up on trying to lean heavily into the whole quiet thing... characters talk out loud way more than they do in the first one. It like making a no-talking movie was too much effort, so they found lame excuses for characters to be able to safely talk. And then there's all sorts of noises made beyond talking, with no aliens immediately attacking as a consequence. I did still mostly enjoy it though. Cillian Murphy is always great, and this was a different sort of role for him.
6. John Wick: Chapter 2 - Not as good as the first... I didn't like that the action wasn't driven by personal reasons here. It was just business. That being said, the action itself was pretty great. The opening scene with him getting his car back was especially awesome. And I did enjoy learning more about the underworld that they belong to; it's a really fun concept.
Re: This is it - A Gendo 2023 movie watching thread
7. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) - Yeah I added the year because the title already has a dash in it and it looked weird. This was the best of the 3! The most in-depth story, with loads and loads of world-building. It had a handful of hilarious lines, and overall took itself less seriously than the others. And, as expected, the action was just so much fun and well-done.
Re: This is it - A Gendo 2023 movie watching thread
R2. Speed - Definitely holds up as great example of fun 90s action. A fairly unique premise, a great villain, and some intense but over-the-top ridiculous action.
8. Speed 2: Cruise Control - I knew this would be terrible, and yeah it was just what I expected. Shame that Willem Dafoe's villain couldn't save it. It was on the verge of being so bad it's fun, but not quite. I did really enjoy that they brought back the Jaguar Owner from the first film, though. That was a delightful surprise.
9. Everything Everywhere All at Once - It lived up to the hype! So glad to see Daniels getting more recognition after how much I loved Swiss Army Man. This movie basically told the same core story, but was different in every way. Also, it had some major Evangelion vibes to it. Certain scenes felt like they could have been alternate takes of End of Evangelion! A quick Google search tells me that I'm not at all alone in thinking this either. I was expecting a fun kung-fu movie about the multiverse; had no idea it was going to be so deep in its themes and story. Pretty much every aspect of the film worked perfectly.
8. Speed 2: Cruise Control - I knew this would be terrible, and yeah it was just what I expected. Shame that Willem Dafoe's villain couldn't save it. It was on the verge of being so bad it's fun, but not quite. I did really enjoy that they brought back the Jaguar Owner from the first film, though. That was a delightful surprise.
9. Everything Everywhere All at Once - It lived up to the hype! So glad to see Daniels getting more recognition after how much I loved Swiss Army Man. This movie basically told the same core story, but was different in every way. Also, it had some major Evangelion vibes to it. Certain scenes felt like they could have been alternate takes of End of Evangelion! A quick Google search tells me that I'm not at all alone in thinking this either. I was expecting a fun kung-fu movie about the multiverse; had no idea it was going to be so deep in its themes and story. Pretty much every aspect of the film worked perfectly.
Re: This is it - A Gendo 2023 movie watching thread
10. About Time - Excellent! A really heartwarming story, with some great performances. The music was particularly great; both the theme music and the various songs used. Despite being a movie featuring time travel, everything felt so genuine and realistic. I hate when romantic comedies have plots or scenarios that just center around some really contrived thing that would never happen in real life because people don't act the way they act in the movie. But there was none of that here; the people felt real.
Re: This is it - A Gendo 2023 movie watching thread
Quite late on my writeups here; these weren't all that recent:
11. The Harvey Girls - Good music and excellent set design and costuming. I could just sit and watch Ray Bolger dancing forever; I have no idea how he does it. Young Angela Lansbury always looks weird to me; only because I'm so used to seeing her old.
12. The Black Phone - There's a lot going on here. It gave me major Stephen King vibes, and then I found out that the book was written by Stephen King's son. Between the kidnapping, the psychic girl, and the ghosts of previous kidnapping victims, it almost felt like 3 separate stories happening together. It wasn't all that scary; barely qualifies as horror. But it was interesting, and overall mostly good. I probably wouldn't have even bothered seeing it if not for Ethan Hawke. Sadly he doesn't get all that much screen time.
13. Midway (2019) - I only saw this out of a morbid curiosity of how someone like Roland Emmerich would do a serious war movie. I generally like Emmerich, even the ones that other people don't like. But as expected, a serious war movie just isn't for him. It's not that it was bad; it just was lacking in anything great. The visuals and action were fine, but there was no meaningful character development for anyone; all the characters were just forgettable. Some of the war strategy going on was interesting, but there was no heart or anything to get emotional about.
11. The Harvey Girls - Good music and excellent set design and costuming. I could just sit and watch Ray Bolger dancing forever; I have no idea how he does it. Young Angela Lansbury always looks weird to me; only because I'm so used to seeing her old.
12. The Black Phone - There's a lot going on here. It gave me major Stephen King vibes, and then I found out that the book was written by Stephen King's son. Between the kidnapping, the psychic girl, and the ghosts of previous kidnapping victims, it almost felt like 3 separate stories happening together. It wasn't all that scary; barely qualifies as horror. But it was interesting, and overall mostly good. I probably wouldn't have even bothered seeing it if not for Ethan Hawke. Sadly he doesn't get all that much screen time.
13. Midway (2019) - I only saw this out of a morbid curiosity of how someone like Roland Emmerich would do a serious war movie. I generally like Emmerich, even the ones that other people don't like. But as expected, a serious war movie just isn't for him. It's not that it was bad; it just was lacking in anything great. The visuals and action were fine, but there was no meaningful character development for anyone; all the characters were just forgettable. Some of the war strategy going on was interesting, but there was no heart or anything to get emotional about.
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Lord_Lyndon
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Re: This is it - A Gendo 2023 movie watching thread
Sorry I'm late with my response, Gendo.
I haven't seen Speed films in more that 15 years. I don't remember much except that the first one was really good.
I also saw all three John Wick films that came out so far. I had quite the opposite reaction to you. The second one was by far my favourite, and it is one of my favourite action films of all time. The first and the third were okay I guess.
I haven't seen Speed films in more that 15 years. I don't remember much except that the first one was really good.
I also saw all three John Wick films that came out so far. I had quite the opposite reaction to you. The second one was by far my favourite, and it is one of my favourite action films of all time. The first and the third were okay I guess.
Re: This is it - A Gendo 2023 movie watching thread
Although the action in John Wick 2 was excellent, I think my biggest problem with it was just the main plot; the action wasn't driven by anything personal, he was just doing his job.
R3. Machete - Still a whole lot of fun. There's so much going on in this film, and it all just worked together wonderfully. The supporting cast is all fun to watch, with a particularly entertaining, although little-seen, De Niro. I also love the concept that this is a spin-off of a kid's movie. I mean why shouldn't a single shared universe contain content for audiences of all ages?
R3. Machete - Still a whole lot of fun. There's so much going on in this film, and it all just worked together wonderfully. The supporting cast is all fun to watch, with a particularly entertaining, although little-seen, De Niro. I also love the concept that this is a spin-off of a kid's movie. I mean why shouldn't a single shared universe contain content for audiences of all ages?
Re: This is it - A Gendo 2023 movie watching thread
14. Machete Kills - Ugh, I can't believe how far it fell from the first one. I don't know exactly what Rodriguez was thinking; all he had to do was more of what made the first one so good. Instead it just felt like a half-assed parody of itself. I'm not opposed to the concept of things getting bigger and sillier, but there's such a thing as too far. Sure the first one had it's goofiness, but it also had a real story underneath it all. This just didn't feel like it cared enough to try and make a good film.
Re: This is it - A Gendo 2023 movie watching thread
15. Dixiana - Some good music, some funny routines, and some uncomfortable 1930's racism. About what I expected. Nothing too memorable, but not bad.
16. Stripes - Very stereotypical 80s comedy. Bill Murray is great like always, and it has a lot of great cast members in addition to him. The movie got better as it went on; by the end I was really enjoying it.
16. Stripes - Very stereotypical 80s comedy. Bill Murray is great like always, and it has a lot of great cast members in addition to him. The movie got better as it went on; by the end I was really enjoying it.
Re: This is it - A Gendo 2023 movie watching thread
17. Dressed to Kill - My favorite Rathbone Sherlock Holmes film so far. An interesting mystery that felt more like a classic detective story. It did sort of feel like in the end Holmes just made a random lucky guess and happened to be right. But still overall entertaining.
18. Eloise at the Plaza - I didn't know anything about the Eloise books or character before this. It's not bad, for a made-for-tv children's film. The main character isn't all that good, as far as 6-year-olds in kids movies go. But it has enough entertaining hijinx, and some actual good plot.
18. Eloise at the Plaza - I didn't know anything about the Eloise books or character before this. It's not bad, for a made-for-tv children's film. The main character isn't all that good, as far as 6-year-olds in kids movies go. But it has enough entertaining hijinx, and some actual good plot.
Re: This is it - A Gendo 2023 movie watching thread
19. Millions - The last unseen Danny Boyle movie in my collection. Not quite sure how to feel about this one. There's a lot of neat visuals; and the "Boyle style" is really dialed up here. But it's weird to see him doing what's basically a children's fairy tale. It starts of super light and whimsical, although gets bizarrely dark in the second half. It also had fantastic music.
Re: This is it - A Gendo 2023 movie watching thread
I didn't think Danny Boyle completists existed tbh. I mean I don't hate the guy or anything but I've never known anyone to care about watching his stuff as much as you.
"[Cinema] is a labyrinth with a treacherous resemblance to reality." - Andrew Sarris
Re: This is it - A Gendo 2023 movie watching thread
I'm not; he has done lots of movies I don't own. This was just the last one I owned but hadn't seen yet. I've mentioned before I have a very love/hate thing going on with his films. Yesterday is the only one that I think was truly great.
Re: This is it - A Gendo 2023 movie watching thread
Man March has not been good for movie watching. So far behind.
20. Glorifying the American Girl (1929) - The film itself wasn't all that interesting, but I did learn some neat Hollywood history stuff from watching it, about the Ziegfeld Follies and "pre-code" Hollywood. The version I have is unfortunately the edited version that does in fact meet the Hays Code.
20. Glorifying the American Girl (1929) - The film itself wasn't all that interesting, but I did learn some neat Hollywood history stuff from watching it, about the Ziegfeld Follies and "pre-code" Hollywood. The version I have is unfortunately the edited version that does in fact meet the Hays Code.
Re: This is it - A Gendo 2023 movie watching thread
21. Stage Door Canteen (1943) - As I've said before, Ray Bolger makes everything great. He wasn't in it very much, though. But had a lot of good musical numbers, and something of a story to tie them together. Also learned some interesting history about the real-life Stage Door Canteen and the American Theatre Wing.