Draven

I've been on a real "people talking" movie kick this week. Watched The Big Short for the millionth time - that is one of my favorite "put it on in the background" movies and I usually get sucked in to paying attention. Decided to rewatch Spotlight last night - that one is a real kick-in-the-teeth right before bed but goddamn is it a good movie.

Geofferson

Same here (didn't care for it)

OldBoy

28 Days Later…
28 Weeks Later…
Two drastically different movies. Both very affecting.

JeffTheAlpaca

I wish I was more patient but since I am a huge Phoenix fan I could not wait any longer.

I wonder if that 4 hr cut will ever come out or put on the backburner since the movie was not a hit.

DWilson

Code 8 Netflix
Robbie Amell. Directed by Jeff Chan. 2019
A desperate young man possessing special powers clashes with a militarized police force after committing a petty crime.

I've had this on my Netflix list since 2019, I guess. Since they just dropped a sequel, I thought it was time to give the original a look.

And I my instincts were correct. While its competently made, it just didn't engage me at all. I took the sequel off my list while I was at it.

TheMovieman

Naked Killer (1992) — As an erotic thriller this was pretty tame but did have some interesting elements to the point this is one that could get the remake treatment. The early parts were rather dull but did pick up somewhat later and did have a decent ending, albeit convoluted and convenient. **¾/***** (DVD)

DWilson

The Blackcoat's Daughter Max
Kiernan Shipka, Emma Roberts. Directed by Osgood Perkins. 2015
Two girls must battle a mysterious evil force when they get left behind at their boarding school over winter break.

A few weeks back I saw the trailer for the film "Longlegs", and it looks likely a genuinely effed-up movie, -in a good way. It's directed by Osgood Perkins (son of the late actor Anthony Perkins), and I thought I'd give one of his earlier films a look.

Osgood Perkins can direct an atmospheric movie, and he's aces at constructing scenes of atmosphere and dread. "The Blackcoat's Daughter" is stuffed with them. Perhaps over-stuffed. There's scene after scene of people reacting to something mysterious that has happened that they're not sharing with the audience, or reacting to something off-camera that you're not shown, and scenes are deliberately held so long that they try your patience. And it's oh, so quiet and hushed, every performance is intentionally opaque. It's sort of refreshing when veteran character actor James Remar shows up forty minutes in and he speaks and acts like a normal person. But, of course, in this movie that's a red flag in a sea of red flags.

Honestly, "The Blackcoat's Daughter" is so slow and quiet about getting down to business (whatever that business happens to be) that I found myself contemplating my remote as much as the plot of the film. Maybe if I had watched the end of the film first, -which I would never do, by the way, -I would have been more into it, because it's a really bloody, complex finale. I don't know that it makes any real sense, -a lot of it didn't add up for me, -but the destination is certainly more provocative than the trip getting there.

JeffTheAlpaca

MGM +

1990 or back when Spader still had hair

"Los Angeles marketing analyst Michael Boll (James Spader) struggles with insecurity despite his successes -- until he meets a mysterious man, Alex (Rob Lowe), who promises to help him gain confidence. However, Alex's guidance becomes toxic when he introduces Michael to sex, drugs and crime. When Michael's life begins collapsing, he comes to realize that his mentor is a sociopath."

I know I saw this before but forgot most of it

DWilson

The Last of the Finest Amazon Prime
Brian Dennehy. Directed by John MacKenzie. 1990
An elite group of vice cops are fired from the L.A.P.D. for being over-zealous in their war against drugs. It is immediately apparent that some of their superiors are involved in the drug ring. The banned cops band together to fight the drug ring undercover.

A fairly routine Cop Thriller elevated by a sterling cast of familiar faces of the period, including Brian Dennehy, Joe Pantoliano, Bill Paxton, Jeff Fahey, and Henry Darrow. Films like this are comfort food for me, but I was left a little underwhelmed.

kahuna

K-Movie - The Moon (2023)

kahuna

Napoleon (2023) - Apple TV+

DWilson

X-Men Disney+ 4K
Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman. Directed by Bryan Singer. 2000
In a world where mutants (evolved super-powered humans) exist and are discriminated against, two groups form for an inevitable clash: the supremacist Brotherhood, and the pacifist X-Men.

"X-Men" had been available for a while in an up-rezzed "cropped" version via Starz and Amazon Prime and I kept my distance. Disney+ recently listed the 4K HDR version in its proper aspect ratio, so I thought I'd re-visit.

I remember seeing this in the theater with some of my fellow Comics-collecting friends and we were so impressed to see a film that adapted Comics text seriously (or as seriously as it should be), and we talked for a good hour about the film, and what it got right, and the easter eggs therein. It would be topped by the sequel, but it remains a terrific film. Good presentation, overall, though the darkness of a couple of the night scenes is a little too enhanced, as Disney is wont to do.

JeffTheAlpaca

Starz

"Blogger Franklin Fausti thwarts an attack against Anton Burrell, a visionary tech guru he has been given a chance to interview. He finds a ring that Burrell dropped and discovers that it gives its wearer the ability to travel 57 seconds into the past."

It was cheesy and Freeman must have done it for the paycheck only but not bad for a Tues night

JeffTheAlpaca

Showtime

I wanted to love it but for a few scenes it was just ok

For all the work he did while sick he deserved to sleep for a month

JeffTheAlpaca

Hulu

Maybe the ending was not satisfying but overall I liked the tone and the characters

kahuna

Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) - Apple TV+

DWilson

Our Idiot Brother Max
Paul Rudd. Directed by Jesse Peretz. 2011
Ned lived a happy life growing organic vegetables on a farm, but an unadvised incident with marijuana at a farmer's market lands him in jail. When he gets out of jail, he is off to live with his sisters. While Ned is still happy, his sisters are much less so after his honest, but unworldly manner contributes to revelations which manage to expose infidelity in one marriage, dishonesty in one budding relationship and morally unpleasant behavior in one domestic partnership.

A light, fairly inconsequential Comedy with a stacked cast for this kind of thing. It's basically a sit-com set-up, -Rudd's the goofy brother who, like "Urkel", always means well, but manages to screw up every opportunity thrown at him and annoys everyone who tries to help him. Of course, the family hugs it out at the end, and it all works out for the best. I will say it left me with a smile by the final credits, but I can't really say it was worth the trip.

DWilson

Poor Things Hulu on Disney+ 4K
Emma Stone. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. 2023
The incredible tale about the fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter.

Yorgos Lanthimos is a director who, - like David Lynch, -seems to get a lot of amusement out of provoking and challenging his audience. "Poor Things" is something of an endurance test, by choice. It's a visually dazzling Fantasy with scenes in both black-and-white and over-saturated color, shot with a variety of unusual lens, and set in all kinds of imaginative CGI-enhanced landscapes. The performances are uniformly good. Willem Dafoe is a standout working in marvelous facial prosthetic, and Emma Stone commits to her role, body and soul.

However, at a certain point "Poor Things" just becomes one long parade of eccentricities; and I do mean long, at two hours and twenty minutes. The characters and their actions are mostly repulsive. The sheer amount of graphic nudity and explicit sex at times feels exploitive. I did stay with it to the end, but it's really for small segment of the "Art House" crowd, and, funny enough, that's usually me.

gerrythedon

MAX

JANK

The Hunting Party (1971 film)

DWilson

Dream Scenario Lionsgate Blu-Ray
Nicolas Cage. Directed by Kristoffer Borgli. 2023
A schlubby professor who never made it becomes an overnight celebrity after appearing in the dreams of every person on Earth.

I didn't know until the end credits that Director Ari Aster ("Hereditary", "Midsommar") was a producer on the film, but it makes sense, since I was reminded of his most recent film "Beau is Afraid" throughout "Dream Scenario". It's another study of a sad, anxious middle-aged man whose mediocre life is falling apart and he feels helpless to do anything to stop it. It's a terrific idea and a clever, clever film, but although it is billed as a Comedy, I found watching it a sad, melancholic experience. Perhaps it hits a little too close to home. I wonder if Aster and Borgli are dealing with Father-Figures they resent or the men they fear they will become.

gerrythedon

Watched it today. My friend had mentioned it being on Hulu, before I read your post yesterday night. Decided too after I read your post, didn't know (anything) about it.

JeffTheAlpaca

Starz

Kind of overrated where everybody in the movie is a douchebag and the super fast Mach speed Sorkin dialogue gets on your nerves

DWilson

Migration Universal Blu-Ray
Voices of Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks. Directed by Benjamin Renner. 2023
A family of ducks try to convince their overprotective father to go on the vacation of a lifetime.

Terrific animation and just entertaining enough not to bore Parents sitting with their children. It's pretty much a gag machine that lacks the depth of most Pixar films, but it also lacks The Message, which is sort of refreshing. Sure, Dad's a well-meaning blow-hard and Mom's the real brains of the outfit, but that's been the way of Sitcoms since I was a boy.

JeffTheAlpaca

HBO Max

It was good for the first 30 minutes but then it was just meh

I would not buy it on Blu-ray or do multiple viewings