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

[Hawk 34]

It’s one of those movies you forget you watched and turn it on again and it takes about ten minutes before you realized you already saw this and then you keep watching cuz it hits that trash sweet spot.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Amazon Prime is doing the same stupid thing with the Expanse S5 that they did with the Boys S2, and that's release an episode a week. At least they dropped the first three episodes right away, I guess. It's a pretty lousy model when half the country is still under quarantine, but whatever, I guess?

Things are already more interesting than S4 but still build off of what happened in S4, right down to attitude changes between Naomi and Holden. The backstory of Amos is explored perfectly and with plenty of restraint shown on a key element of it...

Spoiler

His step-father says something along the lines of "your mom told me how your life was as a kid, how the Johns lost interest in you at a certain age and you needed to sell to get by." Totally explains why he was quick to shoot when it came time to save the children in S2, and why he took more pleasure than usual in beating the corporate security officer that willingly killed settler kids in S4.

Biggest tease has been Alex and Bobbie pairing up in some sort of buddy cop storyline, biggest emotional moment has to go to Drummer's acceptance of Ashford'a fate at the end of S4. Chrisjen, like with each previous season, seems a bit annoying with her arc to start, and it's a testament to Shohreh Aghdashloo's presence that her scenes are still worth watching despite being primarily political thriller talk.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Letters to Satan Clause Just dumb, entertaining, fluffy fun. Roughly mixed a not as good Happy Death Day with a Lifetime Christmas Movie complete with a "romantic happy ending" too. The creature costume was surprisingly detailed/effective for this type of a movie although the constant 'laugh' was a bit too much after a while. It's clear the main character was influenced by Tree from HDD but it worked and had just enough story and decent kills to not meander too much.

6/10

 

[muzzington]

Amazon Prime is doing the same stupid thing with the Expanse S5 that they did with the Boys S2, and that's release an episode a week. At least they dropped the first three episodes right away, I guess. It's a pretty lousy model when half the country is still under quarantine, but whatever, I guess?

Things are already more interesting than S4 but still build off of what happened in S4, right down to attitude changes between Naomi and Holden. The backstory of Amos is explored perfectly and with plenty of restraint shown on a key element of it...

Spoiler

His step-father says something along the lines of "your mom told me how your life was as a kid, how the Johns lost interest in you at a certain age and you needed to sell to get by." Totally explains why he was quick to shoot when it came time to save the children in S2, and why he took more pleasure than usual in beating the corporate security officer that willingly killed settler kids in S4.

Biggest tease has been Alex and Bobbie pairing up in some sort of buddy cop storyline, biggest emotional moment has to go to Drummer's acceptance of Ashford'a fate at the end of S4. Chrisjen, like with each previous season, seems a bit annoying with her arc to start, and it's a testament to Shohreh Aghdashloo's presence that her scenes are still worth watching despite being primarily political thriller talk.

I've just started season 2, such a good show.

I'm glad Shohreh Aghdashloo is in that role.

 

[Gary]

"Conquest" is Lucio Fulci doing an entry in the Sword and Sorcery trend of the 80s. Whether or not it's actually "good" is beyond the point. What matters is that it may be the weirdest thing Fulci ever made (that's saying something), and it has

• Spoiler

  a magic bow that shoots laser arrows
  [*]a topless female villain who wears nothing but a g-string and a golden mask and also likes to writhe around with a snake
  [*]Dolphins saving a man from drowning (somebody saw "The Beastmaster")
  [*]Some nasty gore and even a moment with zombies in a swamp because it's still a Lucio Fulci movie
  [*]A really gauzy look that has loads of fog and what seems like cheesecloth or vaseline covering the camera lense
  [*]Evil werewolf henchmen and other weird creatures
  [*]Snorting black powdered drugs through a bamboo straw
  [*]Claudio Simonetti (from Goblin) doing a score that's heavily influenced by Giorgio Moroder and Tangerine Dream
  [*]Something that could charitably called a "plot" but feels more like a fever dream fueled by "Conan the Barbarian", Quest for Fire" and a binge of LSD, cocaine and peyote. Seriously, it makes no sense and that's part of why I enjoy it

So yeah, it's unlike any other fantasy movie, and I love it (I can't believe I used to hate this piece of batshit lunacy)

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

...WATCHING IT

 

[Gary]

...WATCHING IT

Let me know if/when you've seen it, as I believe it's on Prime and/or Tubi. I think the dude who directed "Mandy" has said this (and "Sword and the Sorcerer") where an influence on that movie. Oh, and I can't believe I forgot to mention

Spoiler

the god of vengeance whose other form is an adorable Samoyed. Just the fact that the producers and Fulci saw such a dog and though "yeah, that should totally be the image of evil"

 

[Youth N Asia]

Only two episodes in, but really liking Wayne on Amazon prime. Lots of fun, some solid laughs for me.

 

[RedJed]

I spent a bit of time in Iowa and Wisconsin to check out some more films in theaters. Fortunately, they re-open on Monday here in Minnesota so I will be venturing out again.

Monster Hunter: The latest film from the Paul WS Anderson/Milla Jovavich duo felt exactly like it was. A Resident Evil like vibe mixed with Godzilla like monsters. No shock since TOHO helped produce and distribute this. For what its worth, this was a narrative clusterfuck of a mess, but the meat and potatoes of this delivered in the wonky action category. All WS staples were in this, some for the best and some for the worst. I'd say it's worth a look if you have some time to kill in a theater nearby you. One of those films that would play better in a theater versus home.

Fatale: Great noir-murder mystery stuff from this one, stars Michael Ealy and Hillary Swank in a really well acted performance as a cop gone bad. I believe this gets released on demand tomorrow, and I'd suggest checking it out if you are a fan of those genres.

The Dissident: This is another one that is about to be released on demand, and I would strongly give this a look, as its the most comprehensive doc piece on the killing of the US/Saudi journalist in Turkey, Jamal Khashoggi. This needs mainstream attention in 2021, and I wouldn't even be shocked if this documentary gets the ball rolling again on the UN and U.S. level on dealing with the Saudi government post-Trump. This was deeper, dangerous, and more generally twisted and fucked up than any media led on to. Lots of parallels to the Russia underground government of sorts in that S.A. utlized fake news and troll farms to manipulate and gaslight the public against the truth that Jamal was trying to expose. That's just one eye opening fact of this piece. Please see this asap.

 

[Gert]

I'm doing a LOST re-watch because I am listening to the Down the Hatch podcast. I really forgot how great Season 1 was. It's also interesting in general the things you pick up on a second or more viewing and how some scenes are great with the power of hindsight (although I'm sure some of the things were retconned as they went along).

 

[Youth N Asia]

I'm doing a LOST re-watch because I am listening to the Down the Hatch podcast. I really forgot how great Season 1 was. It's also interesting in general the things you pick up on a second or more viewing and how some scenes are great with the power of hindsight (although I'm sure some of the things were retconned as they went along).

My only complaint about the first couple seasons of Lost was that the flashbacks went on way too long. The early ones weren’t always the most interesting.

 

[Gert]

I think that is a fair criticism. I think they also were so well received early on (doing flashbacks) that I think they felt they need to do so many ones for some of the main 14 cast.

 

[RedJed]

Checked out part three of the Skyline trilogy, Skylines, well......for once a threequel didn't totally shit the bed and become the worst of the bunch.

Now was Skylines (or Skylin3s as they promoted it as) the best of the bunch? Not really (I liked the second film the most), however, there was some not so serious tones of this one that I enjoyed. The filmmakers (mostly the same that started this set of films) had more of a self-awareness in this third film, almost riffing the previous two films a bit and tipping their hand that this story is ridiculous in the first place, so just go with the ride kinda thing.

Was the story fully arced and concluded? Not fully, so this series isn't apparently over, as there was some strong teases in the end of revisiting a character from the Beyond Skyline film (the Frank Grillo character), so we will see if this keeps on continuing.

Ultimately, I think this is one of those triologies that I actually liked the sequels more than the original film. That's a rarity you don't see often.

 

[RedJed]

Have been hitting the ground running.....to the fuckin theaters! Minnesota re-opened last week.

News of the World: It's a shame this got released in such a tumultuous time for theaters, as this was a great film that deserves more looks. It had a nice balance of western flair and flash mixed with a surprisingly strong level of action sequences. The themes explored in the film also resonated with current day stuff subtly....the hollowness of white privilege and power in the 1800s, reeking of racism and bigotry. Hanks did a tremendous job with what I think is his first western/action film, director Paul Greengrass handled this transition well into this genre, and the little girl really carried the heavy weight of this film's major sequences. I'd say it's worth the $20 to watch it at home if you arent able to do the theaters yet (or dont want to).

Promising Young Woman: This was pretty wild, lots of layers to this one. I think Mulligan probably deserves an Oscar for the deep levels of performance bravado she got into with all of this. The film degenerated into a very dark third act that took some turns I sure didn't expect, but played into a bigger narrative of a woman scorned, torn, and with severe issues from past traumas mixed with resentment and the desire to get some sort of comeuppance against the alpha male society that shunned and downplayed those past traumas. Pretty fucking intense stuff here at times, and then mix it with a more of a (very) dark comedy overview and it worked out to come together pretty well. But the ending lacked a bit of a punch on some levels.

The Marksmen: Kinda generic and certainly formulaic, but passable for a decent cliche story that is ok but ultimately passable. The story could have been more heartfelt and coherant, but is what it is. Neeson did ok, as did the child actor as his sidekick, but when you find yourself having more compassion for a dog than the humans in the film, well.....

Flinch: This came out in very limited release, I hadn't even seen any trailer prior, blind viewing. It had tropes of films like Drive in some ways as a template somewhat, the soundtrack was very synth-based and wonderful cinematography moments, but the performances didn't really do much for me and the story had many moments of being too over the top to even fathom. General plot is that a hitman/mob "fixer" ends up falling in love with a person that was caught in the middle of one of his hits. Weird events ensue leading to a less than realistic twist after twist at the end. If you are into films that are far from cliche, but not tremendously endearing from a performance level, this would be your bag.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Land of the Lost (2009) starring Will Ferrell, Danny McBride, and Anna Friel. It was fine for what it was as a remake. I wasn't super invested in the old TV show so I don't know what was changed/altered but it stuck to mostly the basics although there was a lot of stuff that seemed left unexplained or thinly glossed over. Ferrell is doing his schtick, McBride's basically just being himself, and Anna seemed torn in what kind of movie she was supposed to be in and not really committing well to serious or comedy. The Chaka character, played by Jorma Taccone, annoyed me greatly throughout the movie though. I think the concept could work as a movie but not with this cast and the script has to be a lot tighter to really pull it off IMO. 5/10

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Virtuosity (1995) starring Denzel Washington & Russell Crowe. Directed by Brett Leonard.

Very similar movie in style to stuff that was big at the time like The Lawnmower Man and Demolition Man complete with very mid-90s era CGI and reliant on the ex-cop turned killer gets pardoned (Parker aka Denzel) because only he can chase down the evil serial killer who escaped his virtual world (Sid aka Crowe). Nothing new and a movie very much 'in-style' especially of that time period. The script is bad and the film gets overly complex in trying to "create" this world to showcase/explain the Sci-Fi aspect. It also heavily relies on exposition to define the "danger" of Sid's character and explain Parker's background. To its credit, the script does try to show off Sid's crazy + murderous mentality but it feels like a lot of upping the body count rather than making the deaths mean anything and "writing crazy" rather than... being criminally psychotic.

Crowe's having a solid time as he seems to realize what movie he's in and you get the bonus of seeing Russell Crowe's ass. He's almost playing a darker version of Bud White from L.A. Confidential which would come out in 1997. Denzel seems to kind of be going through the motions and would pull off a better performance in Fallen just three years later that's worth checking out instead unless you want to see Crowe vs. Denzel in a cat & mouse mid 90's movie.

5/10

 

[RedJed]

American Skin: It will be interesting to see if this film gets any looks on a mainstream level, as this film certainly played to the police brutality/injustice system of the last few years to a tee, even though it actually was filmed and originally released in 2019. Given the events of last year particularly, this film resonates in a completely different way than it would even in 2019. The themes projected here were strong, alot of notable takes on systemic racism and police policies, and in it's core, the ideas meant to be projected were well conceived. It was just the execution of this film that I couldn't fully connect with. It was done found footage style, which was certainly a unique take, but could have been done much better as there was tons of issues with that aspect. I think if a different filmmaker would have assisted with the execution of that concept it would have helped. Performances were decent including the writer/director also in the lead (Nate Parker) but I think he overextended himself overall given the final output. While I applaud the story told and how important and relevant it is right now, this could have been done so much better and probably with more running time as this barely clocked at 90 minutes. The complex story felt rushed from the get-go and easily could have handled another half hour. I'd say check this out, but prepare to be dissapointed by the quick paced narrative.

No Man's Land: Recent IFC release, mostly western feel, with Frank Grillo in a side role as a rancher near the Mexican border, dealing with crossers into his land. A situation occurs involving one of his sons killing an immigrant child, leading to him going on the run in Mexico, trying to avoid the capture from a Texas ranger played by George Lopez of all people. I liked the themes in this one, heavy on empathy and forgiveness, as well as coming full circle to self-realization of ones own biases and fears against others from another country. The lead actor (Jake Allin) also co-wrote the film, many family members produced it, and I believe his brother directed this one. While there was a few dull moments in this one, I thought it came across as a worthy film to check out in these times of cultural division.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Deep In the Valley: 2/10. Awful. Written & Directed by Christian Forte. This came out in 2009 but was clearly one of those modern-day "sex comedies" trying to follow up on stuff like American Pie, Dude, Where's My Car? or Tomcats in the very early 2000s while being a spoof on the porn genre. Chris Pratt and Brendan Hines play two friends who get a porn booth delivered to Pratt's home where they get transported directly into a porn film and have to find their way out (with Hines' character falling in love with a porn character inevitably breaking up with his shrew girlfriend back in the real world, etc.)

Chris Pratt is trying to do his best Ashton Kutcher. Hines is the straight man foil. Scott Caan is playing Danny from Hawaii 5-0 except in a porn world. Christopher McDonald is actually fun & being Christopher McDonald as a Ron Jeremy-esque porn legend but he is way too underutilized. Denise Richards is basically a cameo role.

The directing was okay, very typical of a Hollywood-ized "softcore porn" movie but the writing was just bad. It tried to call upon typical porn elements but the movie wasn't smart enough to really play around with any of them and didn't really try. For a softcore porn spoof type film, it was incredibly tame and I watched the 'Unrated' version. The American Pie franchise had more balls than this movie.

I was hoping this would be kind of a mindless, dumb comedy version of Boogie Nights but done in 2009. It wasn't even truly raunchy considering what it was and it definitely wasn't funny. Very disappointing as a fan of Chris Pratt and what could've been done with the concept.

 

[RedJed]

Half Brothers: Another one of these films released during covid that perhaps may not have seen much of a light of day on a national wide theatrical/VOD release if it wasn't for the pandemic. The star power just wasn't here at all, but the performances were alright. Much like American Skin though, I thought this film's pace was off to the races and could have handled a bit more context and time with the themes projected. But it ended up being a kind of funny, yet heartfelt little flick. Nothing to go out of your way to see, but it showcased the idea of cultural (and brotherly) tolerance quite well.

 

[Brocklock]

Virtuosity (1995) starring Denzel Washington & Russell Crowe. Directed by Brett Leonard.

Very similar movie in style to stuff that was big at the time like The Lawnmower Man and Demolition Man complete with very mid-90s era CGI and reliant on the ex-cop turned killer gets pardoned (Parker aka Denzel) because only he can chase down the evil serial killer who escaped his virtual world (Sid aka Crowe). Nothing new and a movie very much 'in-style' especially of that time period. The script is bad and the film gets overly complex in trying to "create" this world to showcase/explain the Sci-Fi aspect. It also heavily relies on exposition to define the "danger" of Sid's character and explain Parker's background. To its credit, the script does try to show off Sid's crazy + murderous mentality but it feels like a lot of upping the body count rather than making the deaths mean anything and "writing crazy" rather than... being criminally psychotic.

Crowe's having a solid time as he seems to realize what movie he's in and you get the bonus of seeing Russell Crowe's ass. He's almost playing a darker version of Bud White from L.A. Confidential which would come out in 1997. Denzel seems to kind of be going through the motions and would pull off a better performance in Fallen just three years later that's worth checking out instead unless you want to see Crowe vs. Denzel in a cat & mouse mid 90's movie.

5/10

I remember kind of loving this movie as a kid and it's not good, but I'm a sucker for all those cheesy 90's cyber thrillers like Hackers, Brainscan, Lawnmower Man, Hideaway, and Johnny Mnemonic. Russell Crowe was so much fun in this though. The movie Unhinged that came out last year was entertaining to me because Crowe went back into that goofy scenery chewing mode that he hasn't done much of since this movie. It is probably the least engaged I've ever seen Denzel in a movie, but tbf he probably saw the wig and some of the outfits he was wearing during the movie and gave the movie the performance he thought it deserved.

 

[Fall of Epic]

I just watched the Little Things on HBO MAX. Why does Rami Malek talk like he's always out of breath or about to have an asthma attack? Other than that, it was ok. Denzel was Denzel and Jared Leto was decent enough.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Tremors: Shrieker Island (2020)
Exactly what a dumb 10th? installment Tremors movie should be. Group of rich bad guys genetically mutate Graboids to hunt them, the "good guy" research nature group end up requesting Burt Gummer's help to kill the Graboids & Shriekers. The good guys butt heads with the head rich bad guy who set up the hunt. Very simple plot, simple characterization. Didn't need a deep backstory or a long romantic subplot, just have people getting killed and blowing shit up and that's what you get. Some directorial influence from JP & The Lost World thrown in too. 5.5/10

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

I believe it's the 7th or 8th installment, and yes, it's exactly what it should have been.

 

[RedJed]

I just watched the Little Things on HBO MAX. Why does Rami Malek talk like he's always out of breath or about to have an asthma attack? Other than that, it was ok. Denzel was Denzel and Jared Leto was decent enough.

I went to this at the theater on Friday and I don't know if it was the comfortable heated fully reclining chair or what, but the pace of this film kind of got me awfully underwhelmed and lethargic/tired. The story had a weird disconnective flow to it that I really didn't care for. Ridiculous levels of ambiguity in this film as well. Had a hard time keeping awake through what felt like a story really not going anywhere. The third act, to me, was incredibly disappointing.

This is one of those films that may fare better after a second viewing to look back at the hints of who did what, but quite frankly I don't know if I'd like to bother watching this bloated up run-time of a film again. I think it clocked at 2 hours and 10 minutes and the pace was turtle slow at times.

 

[Brocklock]

I was surprised it was getting some buzz tbh. Denzel is Denzel and almost always good even in bad movies, but he's played this type of part a 1000 times. The story seems very familiar from the trailers I watched. Jared Leto usually is a red flag for a quality movie. Rami Malek seems really miscast as he's much better at playing damaged or unhinged characters and probably would've been great in the Leto part. And lastly, John Lee Hancock just doesn't make films that interest me. He's made a few decent ones, but a lot of his films are so bland, forgettable, and milquetoast. It's just hard to get excited about a movie featuring Jared Leto and directed by the guy that made The Blind Side.

 

[The Amazing Rando]

Last night I watched In & Of Itself on Hulu and fucking Christ on a bike...

I don't care if I can figure out how some of the bits are done, including the finale. Nope. Don't care even a little. But the section about an hour in with the letters...I never want to know how it works. It hit me so hard I almost couldn't sleep.

There's some buzz about this online and a lot of it is "don't read/watch/know anything about it before seeing it trust meeeeee" and so I went into it thinking it was just a theatre performance by a magician and I knew it was directed by Frank Oz. My wife kinda checked out during the first piece of the act, and I would say getting past that bit is the roughest, mainly because watching magic makes you have expectations and I didn't like what my brain was telling me to expect during that part. Luckily it does not go that direction.

Also, tons of wild celeb cameos thanks to it being filmed in front of an audience in New York City. VERY VERY recognizable faces pop up throughout the crowd and especially during the end bit.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

The Devil's Own (1997) starring Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, and Treat Williams
Was in that time period where 'IRA' themed movies were on the rise in Hollywood. Pitt plays an Irish man who escapes to the USA to buy weapons from Treat Williams to bring back to Ireland. He's housed with an NYC Chief (Harrison Ford) who soon finds out that Pitt isn't who he said he was and Ford has to take Pitt down before he brings the weapons back.

Disappointing is probably the best way to describe it. It's all fine but some stuff is glossed over related to Pitt/Treat and their relationship concerning the weapons deal going on so it gets a little confusing towards the end. The good guy harboring a 'bad guy' without knowing it is a classic subplot and it's done okay... for as long as the film is, I feel like that aspect of the movie wasn't done strong enough to make the ending as emotional as it could've been. If you've seen the plotline enough times you already know what's coming by the end.

Ford, Pitt, and Treat are solid as they usually are. They don't stand out but they don't put in a bad performance either. I feel like the script let them down more than vice versa.

I preferred movies like Blown Away (1994) instead, which had a fun Jeff Bridges performance and Tommy Lee Jones made a great foil to him.

 

[RedJed]

Nomadland: This has got to get best picture award of the year in many awards ceremonies later this year, in fact I can't really feel there has been anything that's stood out this strong in 2021 for sure, as well as 2020 since covid hit. The themes in this aren't meant to connect necessarily, but wow do they ever resonate in this pandemic era we are all living. That's why I feel this likely will take alot of wins come Oscar/GG etc season. Francis McDormand absolutely hit a home run in her performance as well as a traveling and struggling wanderer of sorts, reeling from literally losing everything during the recession of the late 2000's, from her family to her home to even the township she lived in. What follows is a tremendous character piece on what happens to someone when that hard trauma from serious life shifts occur. This is the stuff that connects to me to the last ten months we all have lived in. With all the death surrounding us, and deep losses in one way, shape, or form....holy fuck did this one hit home. The way the on the road life was showcased had so many interesting layers to it as well. Seriously check this one out, it was a gem of an emotional ride rooted deep in heartfelt/heartbreaking moments and beautiful cinematography.

 

[BruiserBrody]

I watched Marley and Me for the 1st time tonight. I am normally an absolute sucker for dog movies but Marley was just a total pain in the ass at all times and I didn't feel any redemptive side to him.
I didn't find the film too be overly comedic and it definitely had some high drama moments. Was Wilson and Aniston's star power enough to draw the 250 million dollar box office?

I'll stick to My Dog Skip or A Dog's Purpose in the future.

I think the Art of Racing in the Rain out ranks this too, but that was heavy on the schmaltz.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

I went to this at the theater on Friday and I don't know if it was the comfortable heated fully reclining chair or what, but the pace of this film kind of got me awfully underwhelmed and lethargic/tired. The story had a weird disconnective flow to it that I really didn't care for. Ridiculous levels of ambiguity in this film as well. Had a hard time keeping awake through what felt like a story really not going anywhere. The third act, to me, was incredibly disappointing.

This is one of those films that may fare better after a second viewing to look back at the hints of who did what, but quite frankly I don't know if I'd like to bother watching this bloated up run-time of a film again. I think it clocked at 2 hours and 10 minutes and the pace was turtle slow at times.

The director just... sucks and doesn't make interesting movies (as somebody who was not a fan of The Blind Side either). I absolutely hated the ambiguity of the 3rd act and the way it all was pretty telegraphed as to what was gonna happen. If you have a

Spoiler

serial killer movie and try to make it ambiguous who the killer is/don't give a killer... you've just ruined the entire point of the movie's plot. Cop(s) pursue Killer, Cops catch Killer. It's movie writing 101. It'd be like Se7en ending with the end scene but Doe never voluntarily gave himself up, there was no box/sin, and Pitt just kills him because he suspected Doe did the murders... just, no.

I liked Leto in this but I tend to be a fan of his more often than not compared to some it seems. Malik and Denzel were fine but both weren't directed to do more than just do what they do acting-wise. Leto, at least, seemed to be relishing his character & role and playing around with it a bit.

4/10 just because the 3 main actors are solid but throw this movie in the trash.