Movies You’ve Only Just Watched

Off-Topic
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Avatar: The Way of Water

It’s 2:30 AM right now, so I’m a bit tired, but:

  • CGI is near flawless, or at least good enough that it didn’t once pull me out of the experience. Every shot looks great. Water sequences are fantastic.
  • Multiple story threads come together well towards the end.
  • Action is good.
  • Movie is too long by about 30 minutes.
  • Jim Cameron’s 14 year old mind still colors dialog. Didn’t really expect (or want) to hear N’avi call eachother “bro” or “cuz”. I realize you could make the case that it’s due to Jake Sully’s influence, but all the same it felt distracting to me.

I liked it. It was an enjoyable watch. If you liked the first movie you’ll like this I think.

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Completely agree! Watching some of the things that are pointed out in the end, especially some that were kind of weird the first time (I noted some of Bron’s peculiar word usage from the very beginning but made little of it, for example), made the movie seem to flow better and elevated it a little for me.

That’s almost the point of him but he is VERY topical though.

IMAGINE getting to blow up the onion! :star_struck:

Avatar has a story? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

…

I’ll step out here though; I’ve already said my piece on this burgeoning franchise and I’m most assuredly NOT in the

camp. :man_shrugging:

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Watched Pig, staring Nicholas Cage. It’s both what I expected and not at all what I expected. It’s John Wick without classic John Wick. I enjoyed it and it was a treat to see Cage back in topform.

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Watched Glass Onion. My oh my it’s a great, fun movie.
There’s some parts in the second act where they do a lot of different flashbacks and even flashbacks-within-flashbacks, which got a bit tiresome for me, I feel like maybe some of it could have been revealed later, but it was overall a super twisty mystery with a very fun cast of characters.

The fact that it’s also a (psychopathic) takedown of the eccentric billionaire-type, and oooh this could not have come at a better time for that, was very funny for me.

Rian Johnson has a great style and cuts up scenes in just the right way to lie a little by omission, but ends up tying up a lot of loose ends by the end.
I’ve got to rewatch Knives Out again because I don’t remember too much from that film.

Daniel Craig’s whole schtick as this humble southern detective is great, can’t get enough of it. Also according to my sister Benoit might actually be gay? He might actually be married to Hugh Grant in this film? I can see it, we didn’t really get proof if Phillip was his assistant or not.

Setting the movie during Covid lockdown was a bit strange to me, especially since they just hand-wave it later with a magic covid cure gun before they get to the island. I didn’t need justifying as to why these actors can be walking around close together with no PPE

Really solid movie, hope the third one turns out good as well.

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The Family Man - Season 1 and 2

Not a movie but a web series on Amazon Prime.
Completed Season 2 last night, Imdb rating is 8.7, waiting for next season.
If you are into below genere, you may give it a try -

Genre is Espionage, Spy, Action, Thriller, Black Comedy, Suspense, politically sensitive contents, bad language etc etc

It is about an undercover spy who works in stopping terror attack and is a middle class guy with a family of two kids. He struggles to keep a balance with his family and job. His job is not recognized as he is an undercover agent who stops many terror attack saving innocent lives.

There are many undercover spy who sacrifices their life without getting recognized in all countries - Intelligence is more powerful than guns.

The lead actor is Manoj Vajpayee is a legendary actor (Gangs of Wasseypur) and the supporting cast does good jobs especially his partner JK and the antagonist.

Season 1:

Season 2:

Season 3: filming as on now.

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i really enjoyed glass onion too! a lot of fun.

your sister is spot on. phillip is his husband, according to craig and johnson.

i don’t think it’s just a justification. it’s an indicator of miles’ character, especially on rewatches. it may be entirely useless.

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I didn’t even think of that! It does make sense though; after all, he is “an idiot”.

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We finally watched Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

It was really great! I liked how this movie involved a lot more diplomatic discussions between important characters, and a lot of very quiet scenes involving just talking. Made the times when action sprung up even more exciting.

The movie was a great movie about a burgeoning alliance/war over mutual invaders, and also a collection of moments of grief for the entire cast and the audience themselves.
I think they balanced the two very well in this film.

Riri Williams’ inclusion was nice, didn’t appear for too much but she had a nice introduction I’m interested to see more of in her series next year.

The little twist in the last third of the film
when Shuri becomes the next Black Panther was very interesting. N’Jadaka (Michael B Jordan) comes back for a scene to impart some wisdom on vengeance that Shuri harbours. That was a neat twist on her character, one that I never expected she’d take.
I gotta say, I don’t really like her suit design though. It looks a bit too busy with many fragmented lines and the amount of reflected gold…

Her Black Panther theme song is epic though! Love the main riff of it.
https://youtu.be/vWeq2Mv-Zds

Also I nearly had one of the worst movie experiences of my life, but thankfully they left after a bit.
After the sad, quiet prologue happened, a baby in the front row started crying. And it only got louder from there. Through the entire ship invasion sequence to yhe scene past that, there was a crying baby.
The people who brought the baby left, but came back after a few minutes to the further-front-row. But the baby still cried after that so they fully left.
Man, I’m sorry but that was quite annoying. Hope they can get their money back and pay for a babysitter next time :smile:

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What puzzles me is why the hell didn’t “whoever had the bright idea to bring a baby with them” leave?

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They did! (I should probably specify that “the people there” were the people who brought the baby. I’ll edit that) But took them I’d say 15 or 20 mins into the film… :grimacing:

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Aaah, ok. I misunderstood. I thought it was the people around them who started leaving :sweat_smile: (hence my confusion - like, why would you?)

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Matilda: The Musical on netflix is something you need to watch as soon as possible!

It’s an amazing adaptation of the stage musical, that faithfully recreates iconic musical numbers, uses a MASSIVE ensemble cast and MAGNIFICENT choreography to make a seriously impressive cinematic musical experience

Alisha Weir is an adorable, perfect casting for Matilda, as she stands up for those around her, and tells passionate stories of excitement and heartbreak.
Emma Thompson is unrecognizable as Headmistress Trunchbull, an over-bearing, evil, evil, cruel, ugly woman who rules the miserable school Matilda is put in. She also has a fantastic musical number in the second half. She slays it.
And Lashana Lynch is Miss Honey, the extremely nice, caring teacher of Matilda and the other children, who has a great emotional scene later on.

This is such a well-made production. The music is fantastic as it is on-stage (Tim Minchin creates a wordy, rhyming, hurricane of words that fits perfectly with this story about the love of learning and books. Its super clever.) And the choreography of the children… whoa!!! There’s a massive, almost Marvel-CGI-Production-Size cast of children (and adults in the opening number) performing impressive feats of parkour, dance, and synchronicity in the many musical numbers. There’s a lot that can happen on-screen and it’s super cool.

The story itself – while exaggeratedly silly with how cruel it can get – gets a real edge of ‘realism’ when presented in this cinematic style. Matilda’s upbringing is probbaly as bad if not worse than Harry Potter’s! This movie, her parents’ and Trunchbull’s cruelty towards her and other children, was honestly shocking. Made my parents cry twice in this film.

Anyway, this is an amazing, very accessible version of the stage musical you can watch right now, about the power of standing up for yourself, of knowledge, and justice, and I HIGHLY RECCOMEND IT.
I love this musical and this film version from Sony/Netflix is everything I wanted from it and more. My jaw has dropped, again.

(School Song (the Alphabet Rhyme) is the best, coolest use of british lyrics, ever, IMO.)

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The action-comedy film Bullet Train. Something a lot of people here might be interested in, given that it features assassins, a lot of them, stuck on a train together and inadvertently clashing over various overlapping jobs.

It was a really fun film, with lots of style (smash-cuts, silly flashbacks, character title cards), great music, funny performances and character dynamics, and awesome action! The ending went on a bit too long IMO but the whole movie was enjoyable from start to finish.

It’s really fun to see how the movie unfolds and how each character eventually overlaps with another’s plans, and you find out why and how they all connect in a puzzle.
The characters are also a very fun part, being eccentric and unique in their own ways.

  • There’s the main guy ‘Ladybug’ who wants to turn over a pacifist leaf, much to the chagrin of his handler
  • There’s ‘Tangerine’ and ‘Lemon’, two “twins” who often bicker, one being negative, and one being positive - thanks to Thomas the tank engine… yes really
  • There’s also Yuichi (The Father) intent on seeking revenge against someone who harmed his son.
  • And a young woman called ‘The Prince’, but don’t be fooled by her looks. She’s very deadly.

There’s plenty more, but their surprises are fun to see unfold. One of them is especially devious, getting away with so much, but thankfully experience true karma by the end.

It’s also a very bloody affair, with many deaths. Some quick, some much later, but it’s a stacked cast and they’re all pretty good.
Highly reccomend. Fast-paced too. They pack a lot into two hours, and it’s great!

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They had an Indiana Jones marathon on television this weekend and I just want to single out one of them. The Temple of Doom is like a car crash or train wreck or dumpster fire or any other thing you WANT to look away from but just kind of can’t; just about everything about it is absolutely awful. Before anyone asks about the rest of the marathon, I didn’t want to mention Raiders or Crusade because I’ve seen them far more recently and more often and they are both far superior films (and I’m not sure Crystal Skull was played). TL;DR I’m reminded of the review that keeps me from seeking out Temple: “It’s the least entertaining and certainly the most racist in the series”.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Anyway, I also wanted to talk about a good movie, as a bit of a palette cleanser; I invite you to experience my review of The Menu. A Chef invites a small group to his remote island restaurant for a grand dinner experience but things don’t go to plan. And that WAS an experience. Relatively simple story with exquisite execution and wonderful performances. Chef and Margot were relatable (if take to the extreme, especially his burnout), I love how petty he was for choosing some of his victims and remain convinced that he would have killed Tyler’s girlfriend simply because she lowered herself by putting up with his douchbaggery (but she wised up and dumped him) and the relationship those two characters formed over the course of the film (more on that later). I enjoyed how tense the atmosphere was and how cultish chef’s restaurant was; I kind of want another film exploring how that transpired but that would probably ruin the mystique of this one so I’ll take it just the way it is.

Back to Chef and Margot, I just really enjoy how her presence throws that little wrench into his grand scheme and how that forces him to confront her (and himself, in a way) on the fly before the night is out and dinner is done. I especially liked how it all paid off with her offering him one last moment of joy and self fulfillment and him letting her go because she didn’t wrong him. And, I guess to sort of answer my question from earlier, the cult aspect comes back where the other diners accept and even welcome their deaths and praise Chef at the very end (man, I really want to know how he does that shit!). Anyhoo, fantastic little standalone feature, apologies for all the top secret government redaction (it IS still a very recent movie) and I’ll leave everyone with this:

If I had two three nickels for every movie I’ve seen in the last six months that ended with self-immolation and/or a fancy building on a private island exploding, I’d have two three nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice thrice. (Smile and Glass Onion, again (sorry again) redacted for recency)

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I like Temple of Doom, it’s a fun movie. Crusade is my favorite tho.

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It’s fun enough in its way but its so clearly inferior to the rest of the original trilogy in nearly every way it makes it all seem worse when watched back-to-back-to-back.

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I think Raiders is the weakest, but that’s probably because I’ve seen it so many times before. IJ Trilogy is just like the original Star Wars Trilogy the films go from very good original to the amazing sequel to the perfect Conclusion…and than they fuck it all up with terrible movies nobody asked for :joy:

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you chose… wisely

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I have same issues with several games also that I still wouldn’t call bad :grin:

Dunno, I watched ToD for the first time when I was ~8 and it was captivating and it’s still a fun time even nowadays even though it’s inferior to Raiders and Crusade :slight_smile:

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i will forever stand behind the club obi-wan opening. beautiful bit of cinema; one of my favourite opening scenes in a big ol’ blockbuster.

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