Last Movie You Watched

[Christo]

[Todd]

For the first time since before the pandemic, I made it a point to watch a movie on opening night.  Of course, You People is on Netflix, so that was easy enough.  Kenya Barris, who produced the TV shows Black-ish and #blackAF, sticks to similar themes here, where Jonah Hill's character falls in love with and gets engaged to Eddie Murphy's character's daughter.  The draw was to see the great Mr Murphy do full-on comedy again, and though restrained, some of his bits are top notch.  Jonah Hill does good work, never more than when he is responding to the inappropriate words and actions of his parents.  And those parents are David Duchovny and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.  Indeed, while the younger cast is good, it's the old hands that bring the biggest chuckles.  Hell, even Richard Benjamin gets a laugh.  The scenes with Murphy and Louis-Dreyfus are the best, and they are equally matched.  The family dinner scene, where the parents argue about which was worse, slavery or the Holocaust, is gold.  It's a by-the-numbers movie, but the best stuff makes it worth watching.

[Karl Henning]

A friend lent me Elf, which somehow I hadn't seen.

[SonicMan46]

Left the post below from yesterday regarding the current 'Best Movie' Oscar nominations (in bold the ones I've now seen).

Last night, watched Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis -  I really enjoyed Top Gun - good story, excellent specials (although an impossible mission -  ), and Cruise still in form although looking older (as he should in the film) - own the original and liked this one more - did a rental but could watch again - outstanding showing on Rotten Tomatoes (96% Critics; 99% Audience) - P.S. wife wasn't interested so listened on headphones and heard an exciting 'surround sound' experience - highly recommended for fans of the first movie!

Elvis - told from Colonel Parker's dying remembrances, so a twist on the story and an excellent performance by Austin Butler; good to very good reception (77% Rotten Tomatoes; 7.2, IMDB; and 'thumbs up' by recently deceased daughter, Lisa Marie) - more HERE - wife (not an Elvis fan at all) lost interest half way through and we turned the movie off - sorry, BUT if a fan, then likely a recommended watch.  Dave

Oscar Nominations for Best Film - any interest? ....  10 films listed (Source) along w/ their producers.....

The ones watched so far are The Banshees... (turned off); The Fabelmans (last night on Apple TV - enjoyed but not up to 'Best Movie' standards); All Quiet Western Front (also enjoyed - but the Ayres 1930 film still a favorite); and Tár (Cate Blanchett as a female conductor - we got bored and turned off - others in the forum may like?)..............

Top Gun: Maverick - Tom Cruise, Jerry Bruckheimer, Christopher McQuarrie, ...
Women Talking - Frances McDormand, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner
Everything Everywhere All at Once* - Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Jonathan Wang
The Banshees of Inisherin - Martin McDonagh, Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin
Triangle of Sadness - Erik Hemmendorff, Philippe Bober
The Fabelmans - Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner, Kristie Macosko Krieger
All Quiet on the Western Front - Malte Grunert
Avatar: The Way of Water - James Cameron, Jon Landau
Elvis - Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, ...
Tár - Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan, Scott Lambert

[ritter]

A gem from 1950's Italian cinema...



Mario Monicelli's I soliti ignoti ("Big Deal on Madonna Street" or "Persons Unknown"), from 1958, is a choral comedy with many distinguished actors (Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroiani, Claudia Cardinale, Totó) about a group of forlorn inhabitants of Rome who plan an overambitious and ill-fated robbery. It mixes the funny with the sentimental and the absurd. Great fun!

[SimonNZ]

On tv last night:



Seen this a couple of times before, but its lots of fun so got hooked again.

[George]

On tv last night:



Seen this a couple of times before, but its lots of fun so got hooked again.

I must see that again!

[Madiel]

I have come to the conclusion that awarding art is pointless. What is the point of awarding something that is very subjective? My favourite movies include big Oscar winners and movies that didn't get a single Oscar nomination. Most movies that have won many Oscars don't interest me at all or have been mediocre movies for me. I have my taste and it dictates what movies I like the best. Oscar winners are chosen by people with vastly different taste from my taste. I stopped caring about Oscars in the 90's. For me it only matters what I think about a movie myself.

Stop awarding things! It doesn't make sense! Instead give people chance to find their OWN favourites and admit any movie has value to people who enjoy them. I am sick and tired of the need to divide everything into winners and losers.

The only Oscars that make any sense are those in technical categories like special effects/sound/etc. Those things are somewhat objective, but what is the point awarding best special effects? Didn't everyone see with their own eyes Jurassic Park had the best effects in 1993?

Of the list of best movie nominees I am VERY interested of The Fabelmans because I am a Spielberg fan and I expect to enjoy the movie a lot (premier in Finland Feb. 17).  I have heard tons of praise for Everything Everywhere All at Once. I may check it out at some point. The other movies on the list do not interest me. I am interested of Insidious 5 that comes out in the summer, a movie that could never get Oscar nominations, but something I enjoy a liot.

I wouldn't object  The Fabelmans winning the Oscar, but I think  Everything Everywhere All at Once will win. It is clearly the "chosen one" this time around.

How do you propose people find their own favourites?

Because how do people find out about films and choose to watch them? If you prevent human beings telling you which films they think are good, you're just going to leave it to algorithms.

Either that or alphabetic listings and every damn film is going to have a title starting with aardvark.

I'll be seeing Banshees of Inisherin tomorrow. Why? Well in large part because other people keep communicating positive information about it. Including nominating it for awards. How dare they.

People often cite the fact that art is subjective, but then make the error of thinking this means the probability of different people liking or disliking the same art is completely random.

[71 dB]

How do you propose people find their own favourites?

I don't think I have found any of my favourites by looking how many Oscars they won. I have found my favourites in various ways such as just watching TV and realizing I like what I see. The more movies I see, the more I learn about my own taste and I can better "predict" if I would like a movie or not. I recognise "patterns": Directors, actors, genres, time period, countries of origin etc. I don't think how you do it, but this is how I do it.

Because how do people find out about films and choose to watch them? If you prevent human beings telling you which films they think are good, you're just going to leave it to algorithms.

People telling other people what they think about a movie is completely ok. What I am against are these "institutions" telling us the word of God what is good or bad as nearly objective truth.

Leave it to algorithms? What algorithms?

Either that or alphabetic listings and every damn film is going to have a title starting with aardvark.

I don't use listings, but whatever.

I'll be seeing Banshees of Inisherin tomorrow. Why? Well in large part because other people keep communicating positive information about it. Including nominating it for awards. How dare they.

As I said, normal people talking about movies is totally ok. Even "nominations" are somewhat ok. They are like saying "this is good". Oscars and other prizes are what I am against. Year after year one movie sweeps the "important" Oscars and becomes "superior" to all other movies. Oscars would make more sense if movies typically won say 3 Oscars at most (this movie had best music, but that movie had best directing and this third one had best actor in leading part, but the fourh movie had best supporting actress...)

That said, hope you enjoy the movie tomorrow. 

People often cite the fact that art is subjective, but then make the error of thinking this means the probability of different people liking or disliking the same art is completely random.

People's taste overlap more or less. If I like things ABCD in movies and you like CDEF, we both will probably like movies with CD, but we probably disagree about movies having EF or AB etc.

[SonicMan46]

Randolph Scott & Budd Boetticher Westerns - any fans? 

Randolph Scott's (1898-1987) acting career spanned 1928 to 1962 appearing in over 100 films, 60 or so being westerns (Source) - from 1956 to 1960, he teamed up w/ the director, Budd Boetticher to make 7 westerns (listed below - link provides brief descriptions); often considered low-budget B oaters, the ones I've seen are short w/ beautiful scenery and great acting by the co-stars.

Last night, I watched Seven Men From Now (more HERE) - was a DVD-R > HD Amazon purchase - Gail Russell beautiful as ever (despite her alcoholism) and Lee Marvin stealing every scene - really enjoyed - now, I've probably seen only half of this collaboration, so may buy another if in HD.  Of course, the other great actor-director western pairings are Wayne-Ford and Stewart-Mann (own MANY of these films), so the Scott-Boetticher productions may be a notch lower but still fun watches.  Dave

ADDENDUM: Another DVD-R > HD streamer, The Tall T - pic added below; Richard Boone excellent (pre-Half Gun Will Travel)

Seven Men from Now (1956)
The Tall T (1957)
Decision at Sundown (1957)
Buchanan Rides Alone (1958)
Ride Lonesome (1959)
Westbound (1959)
Comanche Station (1960) (Source)

   

[Madiel]

As flagged previously, I went and saw The Banshees of Inisherin today.

Gorgeously shot and very well acted. But so very bleak. I had expected the balance of blackness and comedy to be a bit more even than it was. There were definitely some jokes in there (and some very funny ones at that), but one of the film's themes is depression/despair, and there was plenty of that to go around.

[pjme]

As flagged previously, I went and saw The Banshees of Inisherin today.

Gorgeously shot and very well acted. But so very bleak. I had expected the balance of blackness and comedy to be a bit more even than it was. There were definitely some jokes in there (and some very funny ones at that), but one of the film's themes is depression/despair, and there was plenty of that to go around.

Saw it yesterday aswel. Indeed, a beautifully shot & acted film. Cruel, funny, and a bleak picture of Ireland anno 1923. The loneliness (despair?) of living on a small island that drives people crazy....
I was vaguely reminded of "Le otto montagne", which I saw recently - another story of male friendship going awry.

More on the subtle soundtrack:https://variety.com/2022/artisans/awards/banshees-inisherin-carter-burwell-cinderella-martin-mcdonagh-1235419850/

And I couldn't help thinking of this...

[Madiel]

The soundtrack was certainly interesting, Brahms Lieder and all.

[Papy Oli]

Saw the new "Knives Out" mystery in theaters on the big screen, before it moves to Netflix. It certainly was a nice big screen experience because of the lavish setting in a Greek luxury resort. Lots of beautiful landscapes and beautiful people.

Very entertaining movie, too. Benoit Blanc, our Foghorn-Leghorn-sounding detective hero, is summoned to a murder mystery dinner party vacation being thrown by Edward Norton, who straightforwardly portrays Elon Musk (thankfully without trying the accent). There's a lot of satiric bite here, as Musk's buddies/the suspects are a men's rights YouTuber (Dave Bautista), a bought-and-paid-for lefty politician (Kathryn Hahn), a washed-up model who keeps blurting racist things and getting canceled (Kate Moss), and a scientist yes-man at Tesla who keeps approving unsafe products to save his job (Leslie Odom Jr.).

Too much satire, not enough mystery? You could say that, especially since Musk's basic character/behavior end up providing a clue. But whatever. Don't carp. It's a load of fun watching all these actors ham it up and revel in their goofy characters. Baustista in particular is a total joy, wandering around with a loaded gun on or in his underpants. Plus you get Janelle Monae as the real company founder who got Winklevoss'd out without a penny, but who has returned with a secret. And Daniel Craig is having the time of his life as Blanc. He looks old here, but in a sweet, almost grandfatherly way. No wonder he was ready to give up Bond.

I don't think I should spoil the many cameos, which are great fun (and vehicles for jokes, not just stunt casting), but it is a particular pleasure to watch Kate Moss puzzle over a J.S. Bach tune, only for Yo-Yo Ma himself to show up and provide expert advice.

Longer than the first Knives Out, and maybe less satisfying as a mystery, but more fun as a goofy popcorn movie spectacle. The time flew. It's almost worth watching for the costumes alone. Netflix also spent probably 10% of the budget on forgeries of classic paintings (early on Blanc mentions a Matisse in the bathroom, and in good time, we get to see it).

My one complaint is that there are too many musical cues, so many that they sometimes rear-end each other like bumper cars.

Watched this one on the weekend. Absolutely bonkers movie but god that was entertaining and still gripping while completely different to the first instalment. Brian described it to a T above. Janelle Monae is brilliant in her role.

(Brian, it's Kate Hudson, not Kate Moss    ) 

[George]

Enjoyed this last night. Jonah Hill and Julia Louis were great. Eddie was good too, though I felt he was a bit too restrained. I guess that's what the character called for.

[Karl Henning]

I spent this movie trying to think of who Pierce Brosnan reminded me of. I think it was Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights.

Tangentially, a phrase I just heard in a podcast: Like watching Boogie Nights with your mom.

[DavidW]

The Triangle of Sadness for me.  I think out of the four recent critiques of the wealthy (The Menu, The White Lotus, and Glass Onion are the other three) this one does the best job of critiquing the corrupting nature of wealth and power while the other three setup morons and villains to sidestep the question.

[VonStupp]

Tangentially, a phrase I just heard in a podcast: Like watching Boogie Nights with your mom.

Ha!

[SimonNZ]

Two nights ago: Michael Hoffman's all-star cast Dream

Last time I tried to watch this I got 20 minutes in before snowballing annoyances made me stop. This time I made it to 40. I dont think that counts as an improvement. What a hot mess.



Last night: Adrian Nobel's Dream, based on his RSC production.

I unexpectedly enjoyed this so much I may watch it again tonight. I don't disagree with the few things some critics have quibbled with, most commonly the framing device with the boy "dreamer", but they ultimately didn't diminish my overall admiration.

[aligreto]

Balle Perdue 1 & 2