Shirkers - In 1992, teenager Sandi Tan shot Singapore’s first indie road movie with her enigmatic American mentor Georges – who then vanished with all the footage. Twenty years later, the 16mm film is recovered, sending Tan, now a novelist in Los Angeles, on a personal odyssey in search of Georges’ vanishing footprints.
Shirkers is a very compelling documentary. It gives you a bit a Singapore's history and industrial growth. Sandi Tan and her friends were a group of teenagers bucking against the system and conservative Singaporean society through art and film. While not being what the original Shirkers film was supposed to be, the documentary about making the film and the circumstances surrounding its disappearance make for a fascinating documentary.
Lovecraft - check Nicolas Cage - check beautiful shots with Mandy-esque psychedelic tri-color... CHECK
Just a big crazy carnival ride. And kinda gross- lol. Why does Lovecraft always have to get kinda gross haha.
I have that on 4K that I keep meaning to get around to. I am glad it is getting good buzz. Especially since the director is doing two more follow-up Lovecraft movies.
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington - Naive and idealistic Jefferson Smith, leader of the Boy Rangers, is appointed to the United States Senate by the puppet governor of his state. He soon discovers, upon going to Washington, many shortcomings of the political process as his earnest goal of a national boys’ camp leads to a conflict with the state political boss.
This is such a wonderful classic Hollywood movie starring Jimmy Stewart and directed by Frank Capra. It's the movie that made Stewart a star. The movie was premiered in D.C. for congress and several senators walked out and public decried the movie for making the senate look corrupt. It's good to have a little brightness in the current political environment.
Ghosts of Sugar Land - This documentary short (21min) explores a group of friends in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land and their one friend who converted to Islam and eventually left the country and joined ISIS.
The documentary is pretty good. The friends give a good description of how they grew up and convinced "Mark" to convert and his personal journey to extremism.
If you offered me one million pounds to tell you the plot of this instalment, I wouldn't be able to do it. I'm not the most versed or experienced when it comes to comic book/superhero stuff, but boy this felt completely impenetrable. All the stuff with Charles in Cerebro with the little girl and the bad guy's weird son etc. etc., I was 100% lost and didn't care enough to do the hard work. There is absolutely no joy in this movie, it feels like its 5 hours long. I'm a completionist so I'm going to keep going with these, but I'm starting to think that X-Men just isn't my cup of tea.
If you offered me one million pounds to tell you the plot of this instalment, I wouldn't be able to do it. I'm not the most versed or experienced when it comes to comic book/superhero stuff, but boy this felt completely impenetrable. All the stuff with Charles in Cerebro with the little girl and the bad guy's weird son etc. etc., I was 100% lost and didn't care enough to do the hard work. There is absolutely no joy in this movie, it feels like its 5 hours long. I'm a completionist so I'm going to keep going with these, but I'm starting to think that X-Men just isn't my cup of tea.
I'm kind of feeling sorry for you. If you didn't enjoy X2 I can't imagine the torture the next one is going to be. It was torture for me and I loved the first 2.
Unicorn Store - Weirdly one of Brie Larson's best performances. I usually find her to be wooden in her acting but was really loose, fun and emotionally on point in the nice little movie.Brie Larson also directed this movie which includes Samuel L. Jackson, Bradley Whitford and Joan Cusack.
Synopsis - A woman named Kit moves back to her parent’s house, where she receives a mysterious invitation that would fulfill her childhood dreams.
Film Twitter won’t shut up about it so I gave it a whirl and enjoyed the hell out of it. Gerard Butler’s maniacally wired performance was hilarious throughout. The key to a good heist movie is to have an interesting and nuanced plan, and this movie definitely has one. Supposed to take place in LA but never really looks like it because it’s filmed here in Atlanta.
Cracked Up: The Darrell Hammond Story - If you're looking for a best of SNL doc, this isn't it. You do get a little of Hammonds time on SNL and there are some great insights from Lorne Michaels. However, this documentary is about trauma, childhood trauma. It's about the kind of trauma that breaks your brain and spills over the rest of your life.
The documentary made me think about my own childhood and myself as a parent. Not because I've experienced this kind of thing or have or would ever cause this kind of pain to my own kids but to evaluate how my own kids will look back on their childhoods.
I recommend checking out this movie even though it does have some deficiencies that tend to come with the subject being so closely involved.
American Animals - Lexington, Kentucky, 2004. Four young men attempt to execute one of the most audacious art heists in the history of the United States.
This is a very good film with 4 young up and coming actors and Ann Dowd to anchor the cast. The movie intermixes interviews with the real robbers to add more authenticity to the story. If you enjoy a good heist film, true crime or just some young guys craving adventure, check it out.
HBO Now
This was a sleeper hit. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Really solid movie with an interesting style. I would love to see a "making of" documentary focused mostly on the interviews and what went in to pulling that together.
Filmworker - This is a true testament to dedication and devotion to a demanding genius. The documentary is about Leon Vitali, a young promising actor. At the top of his career, Leon gives up acting to become Stanley Kubrick's right-hand man because he loves and admires his work so much. The story that follows is almost unbelievable. The breadth of tasks and skills Leon must learn and the abuse he endures at the expense of his own life is incredible.
Film Twitter won’t shut up about it so I gave it a whirl and enjoyed the hell out of it. Gerard Butler’s maniacally wired performance was hilarious throughout. The key to a good heist movie is to have an interesting and nuanced plan, and this movie definitely has one. Supposed to take place in LA but never really looks like it because it’s filmed here in Atlanta.
Agree with everything you said. I also want to note that Pablo Schreiber made an excellent foil to Butler’s character. Schreiber’s character looked every bit of 6’5” throughout the entire film. The dick-measuring contest between their two characters was so fun to watch. I also think O’Shea Jackson is underrated as an actor. I like everything I’ve seen from him.
Film Twitter won’t shut up about it so I gave it a whirl and enjoyed the hell out of it. Gerard Butler’s maniacally wired performance was hilarious throughout. The key to a good heist movie is to have an interesting and nuanced plan, and this movie definitely has one. Supposed to take place in LA but never really looks like it because it’s filmed here in Atlanta.
Agree with everything you said. I also want to note that Pablo Schreiber made an excellent foil to Butler’s character. Schreiber’s character looked every bit of 6’5” throughout the entire film. The dick-measuring contest between their two characters was so fun to watch. I also think O’Shea Jackson is underrated as an actor. I like everything I’ve seen from him.
O’Shea was the low key MVP of a movie that was so heavily focused on the beefcake rivalry between the two main leads.
He’s so fucking good and I can’t wait to see his career moving forward.
Film Twitter won’t shut up about it so I gave it a whirl and enjoyed the hell out of it. Gerard Butler’s maniacally wired performance was hilarious throughout. The key to a good heist movie is to have an interesting and nuanced plan, and this movie definitely has one. Supposed to take place in LA but never really looks like it because it’s filmed here in Atlanta.
Agree with everything you said. I also want to note that Pablo Schreiber made an excellent foil to Butler’s character. Schreiber’s character looked every bit of 6’5” throughout the entire film. The dick-measuring contest between their two characters was so fun to watch. I also think O’Shea Jackson is underrated as an actor. I like everything I’ve seen from him.
O’Shea was the low key MVP of a movie that was so heavily focused on the beefcake rivalry between the two main leads.
He’s so fucking good and I can’t wait to see his career moving forward.
Fail Safe (1964) Because of a technical defect an American bomber team mistakenly orders the destruction of Moscow. The President of the United States has but little time to prevent an atomic catastrophe from occurring.
This movie is 112 minutes of nerves and tension. Maybe it has a greater effect on me because I grew up during the cold war but I felt it. Henry Fonda delivers a wonderful performance as the President of the United States put in an almost impossible situation of convincing the Soviets that this is mistake and trying to prevent nuclear holocaust. It's sweaty, close-up and people barking orders all around.
The movie garnered great reviews but tanked at the box office because it came out right after the successful Dr. Strangelove. I guess people had a little WWIII fatigue. Highly recommend.
Don't get this confused with the 2000 TV movie remake starring George Clooney and Noah Wylie.
Remember (2015) With the aid of a fellow Auschwitz survivor and a hand-written letter, an elderly man with dementia goes in search of the person responsible for the death of his family.
Ok, this is a bit of a tricky one to review. The movie's plot is very engaging and Christopher Plummer's performance is terrific. However, this A24 release obviously didn't have the budget it needed. The cinematography, static camera work and really cheap score make what could have been and outstanding film look and feel like a TV movie.
If you watch it, and I think you'll enjoy it, you'll get a few really tense scenes featuring Dean Norris.
The Little Hours - Garfagnana, Italy, 1347. The handsome servant Masseto, fleeing from his vindictive master, takes shelter in a nunnery where three young nuns, Sister Alessandra, Sister Ginevra and Sister Fernanda, try unsuccessfully to find out what their purpose in life is, a conundrum that each of them faces in different ways…
Director Jeff Baene has honed his skill of taking large casts of very funny people and making them not funny at all. It takes a special person to make a movie with John C. Reilly, Aubrey Plaza, Allison Brie, Nick Offerman, Molly Shannon, Kete Micucci and Fred Armisan this bland.
From IMDb: "The journey of Midlands teenager Johanna Morrigan, who reinvents herself as Dolly Wilde: fast-talking, lady sex-adventurer, moves to London, and gets a job as music critic in the hope of saving her poverty stricken family in Wolverhampton. Based on Caitlin Moran’s bestselling semi-autobiographical novel." I wanted so much to love this, but there was something about it that just didn't work for me. I'll go to war for Beanie Feldstein, but oh my goodness, her Wolverhampton accent is one of the worst American to English attempts I've experienced in a long time. I literally had to pause the movie after 20 minutes and make a cup of tea to fortify myself for the rest. The film has a great overall message and is clearly made for the young adult market with all the coming of age tropes you can think of. I usually have a soft spot for this kind of stuff and although it is funny at times, there is just something that holds it back. It's quite clumsy overall.
Spaceship Earth (2020) - In 1991 a group of countercultural visionaries built an enormous replica of earth’s ecosystem called Biosphere 2. When eight “biospherians” lived sealed inside, they faced ecological calamities and cult accusations. Their epic adventure is a cautionary tale but also a testament to the power of small groups reimagining the world.
This is a new documentary from Hulu. It's probably twenty minutes too long and doesn't focus on the parts you most want to know about but It's generally well done. They have some interesting footage and I think the thing that hooks a lot of people is how cult-y the founders are. What do you expect from a bunch of people that met in San Francisco in the late 60's early 70's? My attention kind of ebbed and flowed throughout the two hours. It's probably best for background watching.
Primal Fear - An arrogant, high-powered attorney takes on the case of a poor altar boy found running away from the scene of the grisly murder of the bishop who has taken him in. The case gets a lot more complex when the accused reveals that there may or may not have been a third person in the room. The intensity builds when a surprise twist alters everyone’s perception of the crime.
This was one of the bigish movies from the 90's I hadn't seen. I actually found it way more compelling than I thought it I would considering the movie is 24 years old and I already knew the plot twists. You can clearly see why this debut performance by Edward Norton catapulted him to the top of everyone's young actor list. Laura Linney and Frances McDormand are great as always.
Primal Fear - An arrogant, high-powered attorney takes on the case of a poor altar boy found running away from the scene of the grisly murder of the bishop who has taken him in. The case gets a lot more complex when the accused reveals that there may or may not have been a third person in the room. The intensity builds when a surprise twist alters everyone’s perception of the crime.
This was one of the bigish movies from the 90's I hadn't seen. I actually found it way more compelling than I thought it I would considering the movie is 24 years old and I already knew the plot twists. You can clearly see why this debut performance by Edward Norton catapulted him to the top of everyone's young actor list. Laura Linney and Frances McDormand are great as always.
Starz
That is an amazing movie and as you said clearly pushed Edward Norton into the spotlight. I watched it for the 1st time not knowing the big twist at the end and it was definitely a jaw dropping experience.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) After seven months have passed without a culprit in her daughter’s murder case, Mildred Hayes makes a bold move, painting three signs leading into her town with a controversial message directed at Bill Willoughby, the town’s revered chief of police. When his second-in-command Officer Jason Dixon, an immature mother’s boy with a penchant for violence, gets involved, the battle between Mildred and Ebbing’s law enforcement is only exacerbated.
Man this entire cast showed up throwing 100. Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell going head to head to head makes the entire movie work. People seem to either love or hate this movie. For the life of me, I don't know why anyone would have an issue with this movie. The cast is great. The plot is solid. The soundtrack is spot-on. Highly recommend.
MacKenna's Gold (1969) The gangster Colorado kidnaps Marshal McKenna. He believes that McKenna has seen a map which leads to a rich vein of gold in the mountains and forces him to show him the way. But they’re not the only ones who’re after the gold; soon they meet a group of “honorable” citizens and the cavalry crosses their way too – and that is even before they enter Indian territory.
This movie toggles from being a confusing mess to pretty good. What starts out as a pretty standard western ends up being an Indiana Jones type adventure. The cast is full of legendary actors doing their best with a script that's trying to be everything to everyone. Extra points for the Oscar nominated Quincy Jones score that John Williams seems to have borrowed from for parts of the Star Wars score. George Lucas worked on this film as a graduate student at USC and says it influenced parts of Star Wars. I wonder if he didn't reference the score when talking to John Williams.
Comments
Starz
Lovecraft - check
Nicolas Cage - check
beautiful shots with Mandy-esque psychedelic tri-color... CHECK
Just a big crazy carnival ride. And kinda gross- lol. Why does Lovecraft always have to get kinda gross haha.
Shirkers is a very compelling documentary. It gives you a bit a Singapore's history and industrial growth. Sandi Tan and her friends were a group of teenagers bucking against the system and conservative Singaporean society through art and film. While not being what the original Shirkers film was supposed to be, the documentary about making the film and the circumstances surrounding its disappearance make for a fascinating documentary.
Netflix
This is such a wonderful classic Hollywood movie starring Jimmy Stewart and directed by Frank Capra. It's the movie that made Stewart a star. The movie was premiered in D.C. for congress and several senators walked out and public decried the movie for making the senate look corrupt. It's good to have a little brightness in the current political environment.
Criterion Channel
The documentary is pretty good. The friends give a good description of how they grew up and convinced "Mark" to convert and his personal journey to extremism.
Netflix
If you offered me one million pounds to tell you the plot of this instalment, I wouldn't be able to do it. I'm not the most versed or experienced when it comes to comic book/superhero stuff, but boy this felt completely impenetrable. All the stuff with Charles in Cerebro with the little girl and the bad guy's weird son etc. etc., I was 100% lost and didn't care enough to do the hard work.
There is absolutely no joy in this movie, it feels like its 5 hours long.
I'm a completionist so I'm going to keep going with these, but I'm starting to think that X-Men just isn't my cup of tea.
Synopsis - A woman named Kit moves back to her parent’s house, where she receives a mysterious invitation that would fulfill her childhood dreams.
Netflix
Film Twitter won’t shut up about it so I gave it a whirl and enjoyed the hell out of it. Gerard Butler’s maniacally wired performance was hilarious throughout. The key to a good heist movie is to have an interesting and nuanced plan, and this movie definitely has one. Supposed to take place in LA but never really looks like it because it’s filmed here in Atlanta.
The documentary made me think about my own childhood and myself as a parent. Not because I've experienced this kind of thing or have or would ever cause this kind of pain to my own kids but to evaluate how my own kids will look back on their childhoods.
I recommend checking out this movie even though it does have some deficiencies that tend to come with the subject being so closely involved.
Netflix
This is a must in the canon of any Kubrick-head.
Netflix
This movie is 112 minutes of nerves and tension. Maybe it has a greater effect on me because I grew up during the cold war but I felt it. Henry Fonda delivers a wonderful performance as the President of the United States put in an almost impossible situation of convincing the Soviets that this is mistake and trying to prevent nuclear holocaust. It's sweaty, close-up and people barking orders all around.
The movie garnered great reviews but tanked at the box office because it came out right after the successful Dr. Strangelove. I guess people had a little WWIII fatigue. Highly recommend.
Don't get this confused with the 2000 TV movie remake starring George Clooney and Noah Wylie.
Criterion Channel
Ok, this is a bit of a tricky one to review. The movie's plot is very engaging and Christopher Plummer's performance is terrific. However, this A24 release obviously didn't have the budget it needed. The cinematography, static camera work and really cheap score make what could have been and outstanding film look and feel like a TV movie.
If you watch it, and I think you'll enjoy it, you'll get a few really tense scenes featuring Dean Norris.
Netflix
Director Jeff Baene has honed his skill of taking large casts of very funny people and making them not funny at all. It takes a special person to make a movie with John C. Reilly, Aubrey Plaza, Allison Brie, Nick Offerman, Molly Shannon, Kete Micucci and Fred Armisan this bland.
Netflix
From IMDb: "The journey of Midlands teenager Johanna Morrigan, who reinvents herself as Dolly Wilde: fast-talking, lady sex-adventurer, moves to London, and gets a job as music critic in the hope of saving her poverty stricken family in Wolverhampton. Based on Caitlin Moran’s bestselling semi-autobiographical novel."
I wanted so much to love this, but there was something about it that just didn't work for me. I'll go to war for Beanie Feldstein, but oh my goodness, her Wolverhampton accent is one of the worst American to English attempts I've experienced in a long time. I literally had to pause the movie after 20 minutes and make a cup of tea to fortify myself for the rest.
The film has a great overall message and is clearly made for the young adult market with all the coming of age tropes you can think of. I usually have a soft spot for this kind of stuff and although it is funny at times, there is just something that holds it back. It's quite clumsy overall.
This is a new documentary from Hulu. It's probably twenty minutes too long and doesn't focus on the parts you most want to know about but It's generally well done. They have some interesting footage and I think the thing that hooks a lot of people is how cult-y the founders are. What do you expect from a bunch of people that met in San Francisco in the late 60's early 70's? My attention kind of ebbed and flowed throughout the two hours. It's probably best for background watching.
Hulu
This was one of the bigish movies from the 90's I hadn't seen. I actually found it way more compelling than I thought it I would considering the movie is 24 years old and I already knew the plot twists. You can clearly see why this debut performance by Edward Norton catapulted him to the top of everyone's young actor list. Laura Linney and Frances McDormand are great as always.
Starz
Man this entire cast showed up throwing 100. Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell going head to head to head makes the entire movie work. People seem to either love or hate this movie. For the life of me, I don't know why anyone would have an issue with this movie. The cast is great. The plot is solid. The soundtrack is spot-on. Highly recommend.
Hulu (FXM)
This movie toggles from being a confusing mess to pretty good. What starts out as a pretty standard western ends up being an Indiana Jones type adventure. The cast is full of legendary actors doing their best with a script that's trying to be everything to everyone. Extra points for the Oscar nominated Quincy Jones score that John Williams seems to have borrowed from for parts of the Star Wars score. George Lucas worked on this film as a graduate student at USC and says it influenced parts of Star Wars. I wonder if he didn't reference the score when talking to John Williams.
Criterion Channel