@jluzania I was shocked at how much I loved Doctor Sleep. Everything I had heard about it was so goofy and the idea of following up The Shining is weird, I hadn't heard many great things about the book. I didn't know it was made by Flanagan the Hill House/Midnight Mass guy and it turns out maybe he's just really good. I'm probably going to check out the Ouija prequel he did sometime soon.
Red Notice - Breezy fun, kind of like an updated 40's-60's madcap heist movie, or a little like one of the few Hope/Crosby road movies I've seen. Also, completely commercial/soulless if you care about such things. Felt like The Rock really strugged with the acting requirements in this.
Happy Death Day - Groundhog day meets black comedy slasher movie as a sorority sister tries to figure out how to prevent her murder before she dies and wakes up again. Some interesting twists on the concept, good soundtrack, and overall a fun watch.
Red Notice - Breezy fun, kind of like an updated 40's-60's madcap heist movie, or a little like one of the few Hope/Crosby road movies I've seen. Also, completely commercial/soulless if you care about such things. Felt like The Rock really strugged with the acting requirements in this.
Red notice felt like the most "on paper" movie I'd ever seen. Like this was a pitch that got everyone hard in a boardroom somewhere and nobody ever bothered to expand on it past what if we got Reynolds, Gadot, and The Rock together to play as hard as possible into their stereotypes and it's a uh, heist or something, who cares.
[...] what if we got Reynolds, Gadot, and The Rock together to play as hard as possible into their stereotypes and it's a uh, heist or something, who cares.
Yep, if that sounds good to you, you'll enjoy the movie.
[...] what if we got Reynolds, Gadot, and The Rock together to play as hard as possible into their stereotypes and it's a uh, heist or something, who cares.
Yep, if that sounds good to you, you'll enjoy the movie.
FWIW I thought it was fine lol, just soulless as hell with a really dumb messy plot but the sheer star power is entertaining enough.
Happy Death Day - Groundhog day meets black comedy slasher movie as a sorority sister tries to figure out how to prevent her murder before she dies and wakes up again. Some interesting twists on the concept, good soundtrack, and overall a fun watch.
i'm a fan of that, and the sequel. his other movie 'Freaky' is fun too. basically the body swapping movie formula meets black comedy slasher movie. his next movie 'We Have a Ghost' sounds pretty funny and not a bad cast.
One of the best movies I've seen all year. I didn't think much of it when I saw the trailer, but absolutely loved it.The cast killed it, and the story is awesome. And dare I say: If Lucille Ball had done an action film, she would be in discussion for Mount Badass.
Don't Look Up - Heavy-handed partisan political comedy about a giant meteor heading toward Earth feels rather stale as it should have come out during the previous administration for...maximum impact.
Nobody Now on HBO Max. Wasn't expecting to enjoy this but I did. Personally I liked it better than the trying-so-hard-to-be-a-video-game John Wick movies. Action was well designed to not be too stylish and also not too sloppy.
I made my wife watch the bus scene from Nobody to explain to her the type of folding knife I have on me when I do my walks in the neighborhood for “just in case.” Anyways now she’s down for watching the whole movie.
Malignant! Looooooool boy I tell ya this movie went a direction we did not see coming and it was hilarious and fun. You kinda have to see this movie just to see this movie. I still chuckle on the inside when I think about it.
Malignant! Looooooool boy I tell ya this movie went a direction we did not see coming and it was hilarious and fun. You kinda have to see this movie just to see this movie. I still chuckle on the inside when I think about it.
My girlfriend and I watched this a few weeks back. I had already watched I, but wanted to see if she was a fan. After wondering where it was going for the first couple of minutes, she just buckled in and enjoyed it. She was a huge fan...what a movie.
The Prestige - I hadn't watched this since around when it came out and I thought I remembered all the surprises but it still got me. Nolan at his best and it has crazy star power.
The Prestige - I hadn't watched this since around when it came out and I thought I remembered all the surprises but it still got me. Nolan at his best and it has crazy star power.
Probably my favorite Nolan movie. It is absolutely gorgeous to watch and doesn't do the annoying exposition thing that has almost become standard in some of Nolan's stuff.
Nobody Now on HBO Max. Wasn't expecting to enjoy this but I did. Personally I liked it better than the trying-so-hard-to-be-a-video-game John Wick movies. Action was well designed to not be too stylish and also not too sloppy.
Black Widow - Pretty fun mid-tier Marvel film. Florence Pugh is a complete delight and I'm glad she's going to be sticking around Marvel for a while. It has the usual ridiculousness of a blockbuster action film (I loved that Nat survives two separate instances of a vehicle being exploded and flipped and the infamous fall actually made me laugh out loud). I very much wish we'd gotten this film around 2017 as it might have made the events of Endgame a bit more meaningful. OTOH, Taskmaster's backstory did make feel a little less conflicted about both her fate and SHIELD's.
Hero - I'm brushing up on some Tony Leung recommendations before I get to Shang-Chi. This film is gorgeous and not at all what I expected. To compare it to a famous film from their next door neighbor, it very much gave me Rashomon vibes with its unreliable narrator storyline. And though my history with martial arts films is admittedly limited, the Jet Li vs. Donnie Yen fight is incredible, making both artists looks like they're almost moving in fast forward. I loved it.
Hero - I'm brushing up on some Tony Leung recommendations before I get to Shang-Chi. [...] And though my history with martial arts films is admittedly limited, the Jet Li vs. Donnie Yen fight is incredible, making both artists looks like they're almost moving in fast forward. I loved it.
Hero - I'm brushing up on some Tony Leung recommendations before I get to Shang-Chi. [...] And though my history with martial arts films is admittedly limited, the Jet Li vs. Donnie Yen fight is incredible, making both artists looks like they're almost moving in fast forward. I loved it.
In the Mood for Love - I'm not sure I've ever wanted two characters to have an affair more than the two leads in this film. Yowza. Also, a nice look at 60s Hong Kong that I've never personally encountered up until now.
In the Mood for Love - I'm not sure I've ever wanted two characters to have an affair more than the two leads in this film. Yowza. Also, a nice look at 60s Hong Kong that I've never personally encountered up until now.
Check out the deleted scenes/making of; the movie started off very different in tone. Days of Being Wild also has a good period look but the bulk of the movie is people being mean to each other, one of my least favorite “genres” so only a partial recommendation. 2046 has some period scenes; I warmed to the film on my second watch.
In the Mood for Love - I'm not sure I've ever wanted two characters to have an affair more than the two leads in this film. Yowza. Also, a nice look at 60s Hong Kong that I've never personally encountered up until now.
Check out the deleted scenes/making of; the movie started off very different in tone. Days of Being Wild also has a good period look but the bulk of the movie is people being mean to each other, one of my least favorite “genres” so only a partial recommendation. 2046 has some period scenes; I warmed to the film on my second watch.
No special features that I can find on HBO Max, unfortunately.
But I did watch 2046, which I'm not exactly sure why it's called a "loose" sequel to In the Mood for Love, because it very much is the continuing "adventures" of Chow. Even his bald editor makes a return, which delighted me to no end. While not at the level of its predecessor's all-time classic status, it's still a moving examination of heartbreak and the struggle to move on, even if what you really miss is an idealized memory. I've certainly enjoyed these Kar-Wai Wong/Tony Leung collaborations enough that I'll probably try to find Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, and The Grandmaster at some point.
^ Chungking Express is why the West knows about WKW, imo. It's certainly his most accessible film and arguably his best overall. He later tried to recapture the magic of it in Fallen Angels and only partially succeeded. Ashes of Time [Redux] is also worth watching. I personally don't care for Happy Together and Blueberry Nights, YMMV.
Looking back over this thread, I wanted to mention the period film Bugis Street, a tender-ish coming of age story of a young woman in a very disreputable part of Singapore. Lead actress steals the show. Good introduction to Yonfan, the director.
Hard Boiled - My journey through a handful of Tony Leung's greatest hits has come to an end (for now) with this John Woo classic. And quite the action classic it is! Right around the big warehouse set piece, I was reminded of that famous "Dead dove, don not eat" scene from Arrested Development. Of course this is the guy who would go on to direct Broken Arrow and Face/Off later in the decade. This movie is insane and ridiculous and wonderful and spectacular and hilarious and, at times, kind of awful. For a movie that debuted in 1992, the 80s DNA is very much alive, a reminder that distinction between decades can be arbitrary and usually takes several years for them to differentiate themselves.
But, man, this movie's action. Whatever you may think of prime John Woo, the man did not do half measures. It's nice to see some of the elements I'd already seen later movies adopt. The sideways jump with guns akimbo that Woo would have Nicholas Cage do a few years later in Face/Off and to which Hot Fuzz would later pay homage. The somersault (that this movie does at least twice!) Samuel L. Jackson's character would reference in the otherwise forgettable S.W.A.T. remake. The oner that probably influenced sequences like True Detective's famous long take scene among others. I'd imagine there are academic papers written on the subject. At the end of the day, quite a ride.
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FWIW I thought it was fine lol, just soulless as hell with a really dumb messy plot but the sheer star power is entertaining enough.
Malignant! Looooooool boy I tell ya this movie went a direction we did not see coming and it was hilarious and fun. You kinda have to see this movie just to see this movie. I still chuckle on the inside when I think about it.
I suspected that might be the case. I wonder if they did use it there.