I Just Watched... (Movies/TV/DVD)

[Big Papa Paegan]

Child's Play (2019) woud have been insanely better if it was its own movie (use the bear design from the third act) and not try to just re-do a cult classic that's still churning out entries.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Netflix Original Feel the Beat! starring Sofia Carson.



I'm a complete sucker for misfit group of underdog kids/teens gets coached/taught up to compete in the big event genre.

Centers around April (Sofia Carson), a woman who moved to New York to be a Broadway Star (notably sending a break-up text to her BF back home). She auditions for a role but becomes a viral sensation after she accidentally lets go of the arm of high prestiged Ruth Zimmer sending her off the stage. Now out of prospects career wise and facing eviction from her apartment she ends up back home at her super small town.

Local dance class choreographer welcomes her in to 'teach' her students for a day then April ends up becoming the full time teacher, they move up in a competition thanks to a DQ, and quickly make their way all the way to the top of the Nationals dance competition complete in front of a top tier Broadway producer. The students cover a wide variety of ages (from an under 6 category to 10-13? category) and the movie itself covers all the basic beats of such a movie: Teacher is too harsh/learns to soften up a little, Students all suck but progress and end up good, the best dancer was the little sister of the love interest teacher is rekindling relationship with, etc.

Supposedly it was filmed around 42 or 45 days and it shows as several plot threads just get straight up dropped throughout the movie. It's all passable stuff and a decent time-waster as background or rainy day where you don't have to pay much attention. Some of the choreography is decent and the shot of the girls all coming down the escalator is memorable.

5.5/10

 

[Youth N Asia]

The wife and I are 5 episodes into the latest season of the Netflix Sabrina series. And it’s really filling that Buffy The Vampire Slayer void better than anything else I’ve seen since.

 

[Fall of Epic]

My Spy was perfect for what it was. Not much different from Kindergarten Cop, The Pacifier, The Game Plan and the like but Batista's comedic timing came off way better than usual in this one and this is easily the funniest thing Kristen Schaal has been in.

 

[treble]

Strangers on a Train: For some reason, I always assumed this whole movie took place on a train, but nope. Thought Robert Walker was really good in this, looked him up to see what else he did, and realized he died a few months after this movie came out. The climactic carousel scene is still pretty intense to watch and its still kind of timely since the cops indiscriminately fire into a crowd of people and kill an innocent man.

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956): I really enjoyed the Royal Albert Hall sequence and was pleasantly surprised that Doris Day is pretty much on even footing with Jimmy Stewart the whole movie. The whole taxidermy thing feels like a clumsy attempt to get some light comedy in the movie, I think they could have just got a few more jokes out of Doris Day's friends waiting in the hotel, instead.

 

[Baby Shoes]

My Spy was perfect for what it was. Not much different from Kindergarten Cop, The Pacifier, The Game Plan and the like but Batista's comedic timing came off way better than usual in this one and this is easily the funniest thing Kristen Schaal has been in.

I enjoyed this one more than I expected too. I think some of the reviews with the mixed identity made sense where it is a little more aimed for families but a little bit more violent than you’d want for little kids and the use of uncensored Cardi B songs probably isn’t ideal for younger crowds.

I watched the three major new releases across larger streaming platforms from last Friday - My Spy, Scoob and Eurovision - and this was probably my favorite of the three.

 

[Gary]

My Spy was perfect for what it was. Not much different from Kindergarten Cop, The Pacifier, The Game Plan and the like but Batista's comedic timing came off way better than usual in this one and this is easily the funniest thing Kristen Schaal has been in.

Uh, "Flight of the Conchords"?

 

[Fall of Epic]

I enjoyed this one more than I expected too. I think some of the reviews with the mixed identity made sense where it is a little more aimed for families but a little bit more violent than you’d want for little kids and the use of uncensored Cardi B songs probably isn’t ideal for younger crowds.

I watched the three major new releases across larger streaming platforms from last Friday - My Spy, Scoob and Eurovision - and this was probably my favorite of the three.

I actually didn't like Eurovision at all. I watched the first hour and it wasn't doing it for me. I think I may finally have just had enough of Will Farrell. I did like how they highlighted Iceland but that's about it.

People tend to forget that Kindergarten Cop is super dark at points too. The whole opening scene with the crack den shootout and the big action scene at the end. Both feel totally out of place with the rest of the film.

Uh, "Flight of the Conchords"?

I stand by my statement.

 

[Baby Shoes]

Eurovision was my least favorite. I went in with zero expectations and often wondered who Rachel McAdams made angry in Hollywood. But people like me continuing to watch keep it going.

I had seen some of the real Eurovision on TV when I went to Europe so I was inclined to watch anyway. I think people watching this is truly dependent on if they can sit through a present day Will Ferrell movie. He hasn’t had a good movie since Step Brothers and as much as I enjoy that, it isn’t really an objectively good movie, it’s more a series of really funny one-liners.

 

[Fall of Epic]

I enjoyed The Other Guys but yeah, point is it's been a good decade since he had anything must-see.

 

[Gary]

I will never cease to be entertained by Dolph Lundgren destroying a casino with machine gun fire in "The Punisher". The movie itself is a good example of a "dumb but fun" movie, but nothing else in it lives up to that.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Guns Akimbo (2020) starring Daniel Radcliffe, Samara Weaving, and Ned Dennehy
Very quick & dirty synopsis: Radcliffe plays Miles, a character who is a peruser of Skizm (a social media-esque reality show where two people try to kill each other) and soon finds himself an unwilling participant forced to face off against Nix, played by Samara Weaving, and save his ex-girlfriend played by Natasha Bordizzo from Riktor (Ned Dennehy).

Very paper thin plot and characters, really. This is basically all about the visuals not too unlike stuff like Turbo Kid or Hardcore Henry but not as good overall. It's entertaining with Radcliffe and Weaving's acting really propelling this above a 4/10 level as this is style all the way over substance. Dehenny was a weak link for me and wasn't quite entertaining enough to pull off the over the top written character he was trying to be.

This is something @Laz would probably enjoy quite a bit. The expressions and acting of Radcliffe and Weaving nudge this up just enough to a 6/10 for me.

 

[Brocklock]

Eurovision was my least favorite. I went in with zero expectations and often wondered who Rachel McAdams made angry in Hollywood. But people like me continuing to watch keep it going.

I had seen some of the real Eurovision on TV when I went to Europe so I was inclined to watch anyway. I think people watching this is truly dependent on if they can sit through a present day Will Ferrell movie. He hasn’t had a good movie since Step Brothers and as much as I enjoy that, it isn’t really an objectively good movie, it’s more a series of really funny one-liners.

I watched that because I thought Rachel McAdams was amazing in a goofy comedic role in Game Night and I wanted to see what she could do with this. She was good, so was Dan Stevens, and I think Ferrell was actually not that bad in it as he was much toned down. It's just uh the writers forgot they were supposed to write jokes and the jokes that were written were very unfunny. I started losing interest in the songs pretty quickly and the 126 minute runtime was excruciating. I ended up shutting it off with 49 minutes remaining after it started getting really repetitive and I decided I didn't care if the characters got together or won Eurovision.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

I fucking loved it, @HarleyQuinn . It feels like Hobo With a Shotgun but aimed at the shyte 00s action fare that we all wish didn't happen. It says something about Samara Weaving that this is probably her weakest role yet and she still manages to be the best part of the movie.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Also, if you haven't seen Onward (2019) yet, I highly recommend it. Better than the Pixar sequels that have been disappointing lately, but not touching the God-tier stuff like The Incredibles or Finding Nemo.

 

[Baby Shoes]

Also, if you haven't seen Onward (2019) yet, I highly recommend it. Better than the Pixar sequels that have been disappointing lately, but not touching the God-tier stuff like The Incredibles or Finding Nemo.

I actually had gone to see it when it opened right before the theatres shut down and I enjoyed it but as you say there, it didn’t resonate with that special touch either. But still better than a lot of the other stuff out there.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

I actually had gone to see it when it opened right before the theatres shut down and I enjoyed it but as you say there, it didn’t resonate with that special touch either. But still better than a lot of the other stuff out there.

It resonated with my girlfriend and I, but stuff about [PLOT ELEMENT] usually hits both of us pretty hard. Especially now that we have a kid.

 

[909]

i just started season 5 of X-Files and uh....maybe if the first two episodes require so much narrating, making those episodes is a bad idea. Same deal as the other season premiere where the Native American guy and Mulder narrated nearly an entire episode.

No spoilers please

 

[Master Thrasher]

I watched Independence Day a few weeks ago and President Whitmore is one of worst fictional presidents ever.

The spaceships start positioning over LA, NY, DC, and other cities. To his credit, he tells people not to panic and evacuate if they want to. The National Guard should have been evacuating the cities. His wife is in LA doing interviews and doesn't want to leave. First of all, all your interviews are going to be about what's going on in space and you don't know a damn thing about it. I think the Secret Service would persuade her to leave.

In DC, the President wants to stay in order to calm the nation. The people don't care as they're stuck on the 405 and Secret Service should have been telling him to leave. Jeff Goldblum shows up and says this is bad. And finally the President is like we need to leave because the cable guy told us to. No one at NASA had this info.

The First Lady is missing and the President doesn't send anyone to find her. Luckily Will Smith's wife does.

Later on, he decides to nuke Houston because of the spaceship and it fails. For the last act of the movie, he does this great speech, which is surprising since he doesn't have a speechwriter with him and then he gets in a fighter jet. No one tries to stop him.

 

[909]

After the events of the X-Files movie, Scully remaining a skeptic is super frustrating. Holy shit how could anyone write this.

 

[Gary]

Made my first venture in a while into a movie theater to watch "Scream". So much has been said about it, so I'm just gonna point out that Matthew Lillard gives one of the all time over acting performances in this. Also, Jingus hated this movie, which is just another reason you don't wanna be like Jingus.

 

[Brocklock]

After the events of the X-Files movie, Scully remaining a skeptic is super frustrating. Holy shit how could anyone write this.

Yeah that's one of the main reasons I stopped watching in Season 6. Having Scully remain a skeptic for so long got pretty absurd.

Also, yeah I absolutely love Matthew Lillard in Scream and that's like the perfect level of overacting for me. Jamie Kennedy on the other hand I find grating and creepy even in the first Scream and just obnoxious and almost a stalker in the sequel. I think Scream is a horror classic though and it remains a blast to watch.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Just watched Stonehearst Asylum from 2014 starring Ben Kingsley, Kate Beckinsale, Jim Sturgess, and David Thewlis.

Very entertaining movie based off the Edgar Allan Poe story, largely carried by the acting as expected. If you liked Shutter Island and the atmosphere of stuff like Sleepy Hollow then you'll enjoy this movie. Rough plot is that Sturgess plays a Doctor from Oxford whom arrives at Stonehearst Asylum, meeting the head in charge (Ben Kingsley) and soon finds more than meets the eye about the goings on at Stonehearst.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Paycheck (2003) starring Ben Affleck, Uma Thurman, Aaron Eckhart, Michael C. Hall, amongst others. Very solid cast.

It was directed by John Woo and it felt it. The action/chase scenes were serviceable but for a Science Fiction movie based off a Philip K. Dick short story, it really suffered in that aspect. Very tame set designs that tried to 'feel' Sci-Fi but the world itself was just so basic and didn't feel very futuristic at all. The movie felt like a poor man's take on the far, far superior Minority Report released just the year before. Overly long movie and disappointing too since the acting was fine but Woo just was not a good fit for the story.

5/10 for the acting and action stuff but there's better PKD adaptations worth your time.

 

[Gary]

"Bad Taste" is as disgusting and fun as I remember. I mean sure, the acting is terrible, but it's a first time effort from Peter Jackson (who gets tons of mileage out of a microscopic budget), and there's rarely a moment where something disgusting/hilarious isn't happening. The bit with the sheep gets me every time, as does Jackson's Derrick character.

 

[SFH]

"ThanksKilling" (2008) had been sitting in my digital queue for a long time, just never got around to it. Former coworker had suggested it and the only other film she recommended to me was a dud. I'm trying to do 1 horror per day and write a few brief sentences on my facebook about them.

Even by indy standards it was horrible.

My tirade

Spoiler

October 2020 horror binge movie #7: "ThanksKilling" (2008). Capitalizing on one of the few holidays not known for a related horror movie, this indy movie is total garbage created to appeal to people that enjoy garbage entertainment. In a comparison of quality, "The Jerry Springer Show" is "Breaking Bad." The dialogue is as forced as a constipated bowel movement in Antarctica.
This movie looked to be written by an 8 year old on a week long bender of cocaine and Hi-C Ecto Coolers. The filming quality looked like someone found a mid 80s JVC at Goodwill. The one liners sounded like something Dennis Miller would come up with on the worst day of his life.
The fact that this movie exists proves that there must be a Hell, but after watching this filth, Hell is probably an upgrade. Do not watch, however, if your worst enemy happens to ask you for movie recommendations, be the better person and don't recommend this.
On a positive note: The credits were full of thanks toward various contributors, and good on the film makers for having a circle that helped out on their project. Film making is hard work for everyone, especially when you have to do your own stunts and can't afford a studio soundtrack. While this film in a vacuum is garbage, I hope it at least taught them the ins and outs of filmmaking for future (and hopefully better) projects.

 

[SFH]

October 2020 horror binge movie #8: "Pumpkinhead" (1988).

Spoiler

Lance Henriksen stars in this tale of supernatural revenge. Written and directed by Stan Winston (Terminator, Predator, Alien, Edward Scissorhands, Jurassic Park 1-3) this lower budget movie never comes off as cheap.

Winston is definitely best suited on the make up and special effects part of film making, however his foray into directing with this film was good enough.

The saying goes, "when you set out on a journey of revenge, dig two graves" but with "Pumpkinhead" you're going to need a lot more than two. The monster's design was fantastic, though Winston's style was very evident. Had I not known beforehand who directed it, one look at the creature would give it away. That said, he made this film without the backing of Cameron or Spielberg and good for him. For mid-late 80s horror, this movie doesn't fall into a trap of being too stereotypical. In fact, the story is bold enough to go into a victim territory that seldom happens in horror, but I don't want to spoil it, but it's the plot point that spurs the story.

There are pacing issues in the middle part of the film, possibly due to editing, but it doesn't ruin the narrative as a whole, just has some awkward spots. The viewer should be able to recover and still enjoy the film.

Henriksen delivers a wonderful performance as he evolves through the film, and without going too deep into it, the character has more depth than a lot of leads in horror.

"Pumpkinhead" is scary and has gore but never goes into gratuitous or unnecessary. It's a giant supernatural beast mauling humans, there's going to be blood and guts, and the film delivers.

My biggest complaint would be the audio mix left a lot of dialogue unheard, subtitles are needed in a lot of scenes. So this film is best viewed with modern conveniences via streaming or DVD.

The film has a satisfying ending and tied a bow on the story. I have learned that there are sequels that I may need to examine, though I don't know how much more of this story needs to be told, but when you're talking about 80s horror properties, "enough" doesn't exist.

I know a few horror friends that will be dismayed to learn this was my first time viewing the film, but I'd definitely watch it again.

 

[RedJed]

Save Yourselves: Saw this in a theater on Friday (I went on a haul this weekend, six theater trips), had some cute quirky humor and the two main roles had great chemistry, and while the story didn't fully engage me, I found that this film had a ton of heart and interesting themes in terms of relationships that hit home to me. On the flip, there was a very strange ending attached to this, but the whole sum of the parts of the film itself delivered enough to be ok with a dull ending. It was more about how you get there that meant more. On a side note, this is apparently already on DVD as well as VOD.

The Nest: Jude Law did a great job at this very taut and deep family intense drama, bordering on what felt like a suspense/horror in a sense a few times during the film. It's more or less a profile piece on the fractures of family dynamics and how things unravel when certain situations arise that shift those dynamics of a family. This is worth going out of your way if you can find it playing near you.

On The Rocks: Just saw this yesterday, really entertaining Sofia Copolla pic with Rashida Jones and Bill Murray as a daughter/father dynamic. Murray is pretty much playing, as usual, himself in a sense here, but does great in his role. Jones did tremendous in the role of an insecure wife who thinks her husband (Marlon Wayans in the most serious role he's easily ever had) is cheating on her. Murray helps her figure out what's going on in only the way he could do so. Really fun and heartfelt flick, I enjoyed it alot. It is released VOD in a few weeks, really highest suggestions on this (as well as The Nest)

 

[RedJed]

Kajillionaire: This was certainly unorthodox, unusual, and wacky in scope, however it was heartfelt and deep in the themes presented. Provided a balanced mix of comedic tones as well as more dramatic ones. I could see some folks really not feeling it and maybe not understanding the whole point the writer/director was trying to state here, though, as it was far from a direct in your face type of style. Wonderful performances across the board from Evan Rachel Wood, Gina Rodriquez, Debra Winger, and Richard Jenkins. Certainly not everyone's bag of tea, but I thought it was fantastic.

 

[Valeyard]

The House That Jack Built:

Pretentious, misogynistic, racist, and I feel foul after watching it. That doesn't happen much. Kids get killed and worse, there's animal cruelty, and it's Lars Von Trier. At one point, during a long (long) slideshow of paintings and stock footage, it gets presented that artists make art so they don't act on their real feelings, followed by a fucked up montage of Von Trier's other movies. Matt Dillon was very good. The last half hour would be hilarious in any other movie for how pretentious it gets. I knew what I was getting myself into with Von Trier, sure, but it never ceases to amaze me how evil he can get.

Edit: he uses Bowie in the most fucked up manner, again. Also this isn't a really a spoiler (but kind of is) the ending credit music is literally "Hit The Road Jack."