Last Movie You Watched

[Todd]

Anyone But You.  Tried watching this recent rom com with the swimwear ready duo of Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell.  Made it through about thirty minutes.  The jokes all fall flat.  During a funny/disastrous dinner at a posh wedding destination, someone cracks wise about how as a younger girl she confused Coachella and Cinderella, and off the movie went.  I get it, I get it, I'm old and out of touch with kids today, etc, but that's just shoddy writing.  My wife liked it rather less than I did. 

[Todd]

After trying to watch the seriously unfunny steaming pile that is Anyone But You, I saw that Hulu had You Don't Mess with the Zohan.  It's one of Sandler's best, so it got the nod, and it more than made up for the more recent rom com disaster.  The sight gags in the movie are absolutely fantastic - I'd forgotten some, including the gif contained herein - while the humor ranges between the childish, the stupid, the crass, the vulgar, and the offensively stereotypical.  So, it's prime Sandler.  Who knows, given some of the themes of the movie, maybe it can help end the current slaughter in Gaza.

[Cato]

After trying to watch the seriously unfunny steaming pile that is Anyone But You, I saw that Hulu had You Don't Mess with the Zohan.  It's one of Sandler's best, so it got the nod, and it more than made up for the more recent rom com disaster.  The sight gags in the movie are absolutely fantastic - I'd forgotten some, including the gif contained herein - while the humor ranges between the childish, the stupid, the crass, the vulgar, and the offensively stereotypical.  So, it's prime Sandler.  Who knows, given some of the themes of the movie, maybe it can help end the current slaughter in Gaza.

Adam Sandler is right up there with Pauly Shore and Rob Schneider!   


Okay, so he is probably a little bit better than those two!   


Recently, we revisited The Terminal, which has some fun moments, contrived to be sure, but...okay!


Watch Indian actor Kumar Pallana steal the movie every time he appears, which was not often enough!

 

[SonicMan46]

Sideways (2004) - as an enophile (or oenophile for our Brits - ) since my mid-20s, Sideways is another favorite for us to watch together - in addition, Susan and I spent 4-5 days in the Santa Barbara area and visited some of the areas/towns shown in the film and made numerous trips to wineries in the various regions.  Summary below & its 20th anniversary!      Dave

Sideways is a 2004 American comedy-drama road film directed by Alexander Payne and written by Jim Taylor and Payne. A film adaptation of Rex Pickett's 2004 novel of the same name, Sideways follows two men in their forties, Miles Raymond (Paul Giamatti), a depressed teacher and unsuccessful writer, and Jack Cole (Thomas Haden Church), a past-his-prime actor, who take a week-long road trip to Santa Barbara County wine country to celebrate Jack's upcoming wedding. Sandra Oh and Virginia Madsen also star as women they encounter during their trip. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2004, and was released in the United States on October 22, 2004. Sideways received widespread acclaim from critics and is regarded as one of the greatest films of the 2000s. At the 77th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Haden Church), Best Supporting Actress (Madsen), and Best Adapted Screenplay, the last of which it won. (Source)

 

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Sideways (2004) - as an enophile (or oenophile for our Brits - ) since my mid-20s, Sideways is another favorite for us to watch together - in addition, Susan and I spent 4-5 days in the Santa Barbara area and visited some of the areas/towns shown in the film and made numerous trips to wineries in the various regions.  Summary below & its 20th anniversary!      Dave

 

I quite enjoyed that movie.

PD

[Karl Henning]

Vertigo, because a fellow composer on the Left Coast has been luxuriating in the score. I remembered really enjoying it when I first saw it. That was long enough ago that I'd forgotten how very ravishing it is. And Gavin Elster may be the cruelest bastard of any Hitchcock villain.

[SonicMan46]

Sleepy Hollow (1999) - short synopsis and cast below - Burton's made 19 films over about 40 years and believe that I've seen them all - but how are the pictures ranked (of course depends on the website) - below just one rating of the top 10 - 'Sleepy Hollow' No. 8, not bad - love Depp in this role; and Walken as the 'headless horseman' looks great; own just 4 of Burton's films (* below).  Dave

Sleepy Hollow is a 1999 gothic supernatural horror film directed by Tim Burton. It is a film adaptation loosely based on Washington Irving's 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", and stars Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci, with Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, Casper Van Dien, Christopher Lee and Jeffrey Jones in supporting roles. The plot follows police constable Ichabod Crane (Depp) sent from New York City to investigate a series of murders in the village of Sleepy Hollow by a mysterious Headless Horseman. (Source)

Top 10 Burton Films HERE
10. Mars Attacks! (1996)
9. Big Fish (2003)
8. Sleepy Hollow (1999)
7. Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
6. Batman Returns (1992)
5. Batman (1989)
4. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
3. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
2. Ed Wood (1994)
1. Beetlejuice (1988)
  * own ones in italics plus Corpse Bride

 

[Karl Henning]

below just one rating of the top 10 - 'Sleepy Hollow' No. 8, not bad - love Depp in this role; and Walken as the 'headless horseman' looks great; own just 4 of Burton's films (* below).  Dave

Back when Sleepy Hollow came out, I was prejudiced against it when I learnt (in the buzz over the flick) how cavalierly the Irving short story (itself basically a folk tale) was treated. When I finally got around to seeing it, I felt it was indeed one of Burton's best, notwithstanding how lousy a reflection upon the source material. I'm overall not a "superfan" of Burton, finding him mixed overall. I want to apply Billy Wilder's axiom, "You're as good as the best thing you've done," but he's such an "in your face" brand. I'm really surprised that Nightmare Before Christmas is absent from that Top Ten list (It has arguably become a classic.)

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Back when Sleepy Hollow came out, I was prejudiced against it when I learnt (in the buzz over the flick) how cavalierly the Irving short story (itself basically a folk tale) was treated. When I finally got around to seeing it, I felt it was indeed one of Burton's best, notwithstanding how lousy a reflection upon the source material. I'm overall not a "superfan" of Burton, finding him mixed overall. I want to apply Billy Wilder's axiom, "You're as good as the best thing you've done," but he's such an "in your face" brand. I'm really surprised that Nightmare Before Christmas is absent from that Top Ten list (It has arguably become a classic.)

Interesting to read the list.  There are some films listed there that I hadn't realized that he had done.  And like you, I'm quite surprised that Nightmare wasn't on there; the clever and unusual story, the singing, and the animation...well, I would have thought that that one would be on there.  Corpse Bride is another one too.

PD

[DavidW]

I'm really surprised that Nightmare Before Christmas is absent from that Top Ten list (It has arguably become a classic.)

I'm not surprised.  Digital Trends is one of those trash websites that generates endless mind-numbing content for the sake of click throughs and ad revenue.  If the entire writing staff was replaced by AI overnight, nobody would notice.

Time has proven that Nightmare Before Christmas is his top movie.  I have so many neighbors that decorate their houses following that movie.  It has became immersed in pop culture far more than anything else Tim Burton has done including Beetlejuice (my personal favorite).

[Karl Henning]

Interesting to read the list.  There are some films listed there that I hadn't realized that he had done.  And like you, I'm quite surprised that Nightmare wasn't on there; the clever and unusual story, the singing, and the animation...well, I would have thought that that one would be on there.  Corpse Bride is another one too.

PD

Yes, I like Corpse Bride, as well.

[Karl Henning]

I'm not surprised.  Digital Trends is one of those trash websites that generates endless mind-numbing content for the sake of click throughs and ad revenue.  If the entire writing staff was replaced by AI overnight, nobody would notice.

Time has proven that Nightmare Before Christmas is his top movie.  I have so many neighbors that decorate their houses following that movie.  It has became immersed in pop culture far more than anything else Tim Burton has done including Beetlejuice (my personal favorite).

I really enjoyed Beetlejuice the first time I saw it, but then cable TV carpet-bombed us with it. Someday I'll watch it again and hopefully find it fresh, but today is not that day.

[DavidW]

I just watched Furiosa.  It was good but nothing compared to Fury Road. 



I'll probably rewatch my favs Road Warrior and Fury Road soon.

Despite having really high ratings from both critics and the audience nobody saw this movie... or any movie this weekend.  It was a very sad weekend for cinemas.  I've read that Furiosa had the worst opening weekend for a sequel since Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom.  That goes along with my experience.  It was a Saturday matinee and almost no one was in the theater. 

So it goes.

[Karl Henning]

I'm not surprised.  Digital Trends is one of those trash websites that generates endless mind-numbing content for the sake of click throughs and ad revenue.  If the entire writing staff was replaced by AI overnight, nobody would notice.

So, perhaps it has, indeed.

[DavidW]

I really enjoyed Beetlejuice the first time I saw it, but then cable TV carpet-bombed us with it. Someday I'll watch it again and hopefully find it fresh, but today is not that day.

The sequel is coming, you can just jump on that.

[Karl Henning]

I've read that Furiosa had the worst opening weekend for a sequel since Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom.

I've become so reconciled to Temple of Doom (and the opening Busby Berkeley hommage is one of Spielberg's high points) I am apt to forget how it underperformed compared to Raiders. Yes, even though I remember shaking my head a little on my way out of the cinema.

[Karl Henning]

The sequel is coming, you can just jump on that.

I'm already unsure how I feel about a sequel. But yes, perhaps I should clean the slate for it.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I've become so reconciled to Temple of Doom (and the opening Busby Berkeley hommage is one of Spielberg's high points) I am apt to forget how it underperformed compared to Raiders. Yes, even though I remember shaking my head a little on my way out of the cinema.

I disliked Temple of Doom.  It's been years since I've watched it.  What I remember about it...things like a woman being concerned about having broken a nail.  Honestly, I just didn't think that K.C.'s character was written as strongly as the original movie was.

PD

[Todd]

It was a very sad weekend for cinemas.

Blame Disney.  Literally.  Ever since it undertook to become the behemoth of the industry when it bought Marvel in 2009 - then Lucasfilm, then Fox - the entire industry has become ever more risk averse and it has begun to resemble a dominant firm industry described in industrial org textbooks.  Furiosa is what, the fifth movie in the Mad Max "universe"?  While Covid obviously did a number on movie attendance, the decline in quality and constant rehashing of the same material over and over and over again is not drawing audiences.  I mean, in addition to the Mad Max "franchise", the recent Planet of the Apes franchise film (!?!) pretty much flopped, the recent Ghostbusters franchise film (?!?) flopped, The Fall Guy (you know, the 80s TV show rehash) flopped, the Mean Girls remake flopped, the Marvel/Spiderman universe Madame Web flopped, and there are others I forgot.

But wait, there's more.  The rest of this year will see the latest movies from the following franchises: Alien, XXX, Bad Boys (wtf?), Lord of the Rings, Transformers, the Lion King, and no doubt some others. Most movies most years suck, I know that, but things have changed in that previously reliable IP is being recycled to death.  Back in the 80s, there was not a fifth sequel to Casablanca, or Singing in the Rain, or other hits of thirty to forty years before.  (OK, Father of the Bride was resurrected in the 90s.) Why pay good dough to see the same crap when one can stream it in three weeks?

[Karl Henning]

Honestly, I just didn't think that K.C.'s character was written as strongly as the original movie was.

No argument. Where Marion was a partner, Willie is a mere comic encumbrance. Temple of Doom is easily the weakest in the franchise. I still enjoy the claustrophobic roller-coaster set piece, among other things.