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

[Gary]

Ambulance: This was a typical Michael Bay schizophrenic-type of film, big elaborate car stunts and crashes, wild camera shakiness throughout, and more than you can handle of over the top hard to believe spots, but I do have to say I did enjoy this way more than I probably ever imagined I would. Certainly was a bit longer than it should have been, but it did go fast probably since the pace of this film was in hyper-drive throughout. Hardly anything made sense, but in this aspect it wasn't the worst thing in the world that it was. Total turn your brain off and jump into this zany-ass ride type thing. Bay was really having fun with this one more than usual too, even razzing and referencing some of his other work in the dialogue, there was characters talking about scenes in The Rock as an example.

It's probably the most enjoyable film he's made since "Pain and Gain" or "Bad Boys II" in that the humor is somehow less obnoxious for the most part, and the characters are actually not awful. It's not great, but I liked it a lot more than I thought it would.

 

[RedJed]

Everything Everywhere All At Once: This was quite the experience. This felt like a heart-felt deep drama mixed into a sci-fi multiverse almost Marvel and Hong Kong genre films-inspired in a way. The mish-mosh of all of those themes really made this a spectacle of a film that maybe was a bit hard to follow at times because of so many universes/storylines meshing together, but it wasn't too overwhelming on that end. There is alot of deep points being made it all of this chaos of themes, but it takes awhile to get there, lots of a-ha moments in the second half on what is going on and how it all connects. Quite honestly, a tremendously written film. Might be one of the best films of the year so far, really one of the most unique films I've seen in years for sure. Performances were great, including a really off the wall run of characters from Jamie Lee Curtis. Michele Yeoh hit a home run in this and I hope she gets some awards consideration next year.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

I saw Everything Everywhere All At Once last night for discount Tuesdays. Probably best movie going experience since the pandemic. So much damn fun. It's too bad it's released in a dead time of year far away from the Oscars cause I definitely think it deserves some consideration. If not for the film itself then at least, Best Director and some acting awards (Michelle Yeoh was great but Ke Huy Quan was also awesome as well. And I didn't even realize he was the grown up Short Round until after the movie!).

And yeah, Jamie Lee Curtis was totally unrecognizable. It wasn't even until like 5-10 minutes were left in the movie when I was like "Hey. Isn't Jamie Lee Curtis in this? It seems too late to introduce a major character..." Maybe this movie deserves a Best Makeup nod as well. It gets kind of lost in JLC's persona as a scream queen legend but this was a reminder that she's damn near equally as great at comedy.

 

[RedJed]

Apparently EEAAO is being released in IMAX format this weekend, so I may head there for a second round of this fantastic film!

 

[RedJed]

So finished up the second half of the final season of Ozark.....wow, that ending though! That caught me off guard, but it was a fitting ending to the whole theme of this series, really. I won't get into details due to spoiling anything for those that haven't seen it, but I thought the second half of this final season was not nearly as strong as the first half....still had its' moments and the last episode had some tremendous tension within it, but overall.....I don't know, fell kinda flat but that ending hit hard.

 

[RedJed]

Father Stu: Kind of a polarizing film. The true story being told (but felt embellished tremendously) was heart-felt to a degree. I thought it showcased an imperfect guy pretty well in trying to find faith and grace in a hellacious health situation and with a previous bad perspective and attitude towards life in general, but that part also felt rushed as it gets in the third act, whereas the lead-up to that was a bit too drawn out to my liking, and the story kinda was all over the place early until it settled into a better place later on. One of Wahlberg's more complex roles to date, and he did ok with it. Nothing groundbreaking but maybe worth a look if you have a family member or friend who is struggling and needs some inspiration (or yourself).

Memory: Almost wanted to throw this into the bad movies thread, as this was pretty messy all around. The inclusion of characters who were kinda not made clear what their role was in this were excessive and whew, an awfully hard to follow story at times too. Neeson needs to call it a day bigtime on this typecast character he plays....this time it was as a hitman with a moral compass who goes off the rails when he's paid to do a hit on a child. He looked weathered and was most of the time phoning things in here. At the same time, there is a shoehorned story about him experiencing dementia during all this mess, making it even more confusing (and probably intentional due to the dementia storyline). The irony here is Guy Pierce is in this, and he was the dude who probably did the best with a film based on memory issues (Memento). Monica Bellucci had one terrible performance here in a subtly antagonist role. There was a scene in question that had me laughing out loud, Neeson trying to terribly act through the cliche hero gets shot and tries to take the bullet out, etc. Has to be seen to be believed how terrible it was executed. This entire film felt like it was one take scenes from start to finish.

 

[Gary]

Two I've recently watched

Extreme Prejudice-Really enjoyable Walter Hill movie with plenty of fun tough guy dialogue. Also a strong reminder that Hollywood used to pack movies with character actors (this one has Michael Ironside, Powers Boothe and Clancy Brown among others)

Wild Things-I haven't seen this one in ages. Anyways, I forgot that Bill Murray is in it, and I've always enjoyed that it's clearly aware of how ludicrous it is, but never winks at the audience. Also may be the peak of Denise Richards' hotness.

 

[Youth N Asia]

Watched the first six episode of Our Flag Means Death. It’s kinda like What We Do in the Shadows, if it were on a pirate ship, and shitty. Wild swing, and a miss for me. Only made it this far because I’m pretty tv poor right now. Not a lot I want to see.

Also 5 episodes into Louie CK’s Horace, and Pete. It’s almost alright. Some good performances (Wright, and Buscemi especially), but some bad performances as well. Just getting comics who can’t really act to play parts doesn’t work well in my opinion. It’s also one of the most pretentious shows I’ve seen in some time.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Chip n' Dale is fucking hilarious. That is all.

 

[Youth N Asia]

The Many Saints of Newark. By no means a bad movie, but felt totally unnecessary. Some decent casting for the younger Sopranos characters, but I’ve already forgotten most of what happened in the movie. While not his final performance, this will likely be the last thing I see Ray Liotta in for newer work. While I know some of the storyline was reverse engineered to go along with the series; I did like

Spoiler

Junior being the one to have Dickie killed all because he laughed at him after he fell. Laughing at people who’ve fallen is all over the series.

Top Gun: Maverick. Goddamn, this was just a good time at the movies. Not a real fan of the original, but this one did it for me. The flying looked great. I didn’t feel the 2:12 runtime at all. It’s weird thinking that Cruz might one day take on the grandfatherly rolls that Hanks is doing now, because I just can’t see him as anything but a superstar.

 

[alkeiper]

Chip n' Dale is fucking hilarious. That is all.

I enjoyed it. But to be honest I would struggle to find its appeal to a child.

 

[Youth N Asia]

The Night House. Streaming on HBOMAX.

Solid movie. I think the ending doesn’t quite live up to the build to it. Maybe I jus wanted more explanation. Had some good tense moments. I’m usually good at seeing a jump scare coming, but they got me with one.

 

[OldSchoolWrestling]

I watched a recent episode of Mayans MC and some actor named Phil Brooks was the guest star.

 

[tekcop]

Everything Everywhere All At Once is a 10/10 movie.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Concrete Cowboy (2020) starts off like it's going to be an incredible and heart wrenching coming-of-age tale, where Cole (Caleb McLaughlin, Lucas on Stranger Things) is sent by his mother from Detroit to live with his estranged father, Harp (Idris Elba), in North Philly. Harp works at the Fletcher Street stable with other members of his dilapidated neighborhood, caring for their horses and trying to keep the stable open. Cole runs into his childhood friend Smush (Jharrel Jerome, When They See Us), who used to work at the stable but now runs drugs for a local dealer, and...

...the movie just sorta follows a lot of paint by numbers stuff. The big saving graces come from the performances of the three leads, proving that McLaughlin is wasted in Stranger Things (as he holds his own opposite Elba on a regular basis), and that the Fletcher Street stables were real. This was based on a novel, Ghetto Cowboy, talking about the inner city horse riders of North Philly, but the movie drops its most compelling story (Cole torn between the stable and Smush) without much care before ending on a bit of a downer note, and it feels like all was wasted.

6.5/10, entirely for the performances.

 

[SFH]

I just watched the new Beavis and Butthead film on Paramount.

If you enjoyed the schtick in the 1990s its the same thing but new jokes with a few borrowed jokes from other mediums. I think it was better than Do America but I do have criticism that it looked TOO high def. There were points where I was hurting from laughing, wheezing even.

But make no mistake, this is still low brow garbage humor and I was watching it from the perspective of the 14 year old with my departed best friend (who was affectionately called Beavis by his brother and his brother's friends). If you did not enjoy this property when it was current, you're not going to enjoy it now. A lot of the enjoyment is seeped in the nostalgia of being a teenage boy and it being okay to turn everything into a double entendre. Things you can't do as an adult, and if you would, you'd catch justifiable legal hell.

So if you have the capability of just shutting your brain off for 80 minutes, have some fun.

 

[Brooklyn Zoo]

“The Bear” is so good. So much heart and so much stress. You can binge it one day.

 

[strummer]

Fell way into the YouTube rabbit hole over the weekend and man do I miss Siskel and Ebert.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Apropos of nothing, I use my Roku TV to watch YouTube and Hulu (for AEW Dark and The Orville, respectively). I've been paying for Hulu for over two years, without ever using it, or even logging in, until The Orville came back, so Hulu didn't really have any data to plug into their algorithm, I don't think. And well, it's interesting to me to see the contrast in the ads: most especially, living in Clayton County, GA, as I do, it's funny how all of the political ads on Hulu, where they don't know anything about me, are pro-Walker/Kemp, and all the ads on YouTube are pro-Warnock/Abrams. Makes me wonder what Hulu thinks I stand for?

 

[RedJed]

I just watched the new Beavis and Butthead film on Paramount.

If you enjoyed the schtick in the 1990s its the same thing but new jokes with a few borrowed jokes from other mediums. I think it was better than Do America but I do have criticism that it looked TOO high def. There were points where I was hurting from laughing, wheezing even.

But make no mistake, this is still low brow garbage humor and I was watching it from the perspective of the 14 year old with my departed best friend (who was affectionately called Beavis by his brother and his brother's friends). If you did not enjoy this property when it was current, you're not going to enjoy it now. A lot of the enjoyment is seeped in the nostalgia of being a teenage boy and it being okay to turn everything into a double entendre. Things you can't do as an adult, and if you would, you'd catch justifiable legal hell.

So if you have the capability of just shutting your brain off for 80 minutes, have some fun.

I'm with you on this. I think it delivered better than Do America (P-Plus has both on there) and my only qualm with it is that maybe they could have brought back some returning characters from the series more, but otherwise a fuckin wonky ass easy watch for sure.

 

[Youth N Asia]

Candyman 2021 - wanted to like this a lot more. Some good scares, good enough cast. Something just seemed to be missing for me. Not much to say really. I don’t have mega love for the original. For Tony Todd of course, but I think it drags a bit.

Warrior 2011 - first rewatch since seeing it a decade ago. Holds up real well. Bryan Callen remains the worst part of the movie. Hardy, Edgerton, and Nolte all crush it. Kurt Angle as the Fedor clone is kinda cool. Ending got me emotional, wasn’t sure if that was going to be the case. But here I am.

 

[Fall of Epic]

Yeah the ending to Warrior is a tearjerker since I have a similar relationship with my own brother.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

FBoy Island season 2 just dropped the first 3 episodes. I love this show so much despite the premise sounding insanely stupid. It manages to totally subvert all the conventions of reality tv and actually be a lot of fun.

 

[muzzington]

Every episode (I think) of Mr Bean is on YouTube. I loved it as a kid and still do but with a little more appreciation of how timeless it is.

 

[RedJed]

Where the Crawdads Sing: Went in kinda blind on this one, the gf was interested in it (I think she read the book) and other than an extended period of time in the middle of this film that it felt bordering on a lifetime movie with all of the romantic hub-bub, this was a very well put together film with an impressive and meaningful third act for sure. I would have loved more of the mystery element pushed harder, as I felt this could have been more of a who done it kinda thing where you could have had red herrings like crazy involving the murder (or was it?). Well worth seeing, especially as a date night kinda flick.

 

[Ripper]

I had never watched a single episode of Breaking Bad. Just....missed the whole thing.

So now I will binge(as much as a dude with 2 kids and old man bed time) can binge the show.

I am up to season 2 episode one now.

Observations:

1:Hank is the first racist asshole cop that I find endearing. There is something about how Dean Norris is playing a caring asshole that works.

2: The pacing can be a bit...ugh sometimes. I understand why and overall it helps the product but sometimes...

3: I don't think it's possible to be more annoying then Raymond Cruz playing Tuco. Dear God it's horrible. If he sticks around too long I might have to abandon the show for a bit to cleanse.

4: Walter's kid is an annoying little shit. His wife feels like she is going to be annoying in that "Rita" from Dexter kind of way. Her character is being 100% reasonable but it's kinda annoying to see her get in the way of good old meth cookin'.

5: Walter is kinda a idiot and weird. Like he IMMEDIATELY went to "I need money...well...meth it is." Then he was given a chance to stop cooking meth on a silver platter and he just...doesn't take the money from his old friend. It's weird for him to be so smart but so smug to think that this won't make it back to his family and put them in harms way.

On to season 2.

 

[909]

The first season is like a time capsule in that it’s good but the show gets so much better that in the grand scheme of things it’s easy to forget about. Any questions you may have about why someone would do something will be answered too.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Yeah, first few seasons are get but there's no indication that you're watching one of the GOAT dramatic TV series (which to me knocks it down to Tier 2 of GOAT dramas). Last two seasons are up there for GOAT seasons though for sure.

 

[Ripper]

Just finished season 2 and I am so happy I somehow managed to not know much of anything about this show.

Coming in I thought it was a show about some dude that starts selling drugs to help his family when he gets terminal cancer.

Now I see it's really about how a selfish, controlling asshole who was already mad about his place in life rose to power.

Everything about him from the very start had been about his ability to control and manipulate everyone around him. Even things as little as the notes he leaves on the failing papers...literally everything is about control. He felt like he didn't have control in the beginning and finding out he was going to die pushed him over the edge to try and control everything.

Notes:

1: I totally see thr Krysten Ritter appeal now. She was always a enigma to me looks wise because I could see how she is cute...but...nah...I see it now.

2: I don't know if it's long term story telling or just dropping storylines but things like Marie's shoplifting and Hanks on again, off again PTSD are jarring. And some things like Tucos uncle kinda disappeared and it doesn't feel like that should have happened so easily. Perhaps it all comes together later.

3: Skylar is clearly going to sleep with her boss and everything and her being annoyed with Walts actions are completely justified but she is still annoying.

 

[Gary]

Two I recently watched

Devil in a Blue Dress-Not surprising if you see my sig pic and avatar. I've seen this one before, but if I still updated the "Gary recommends movies" thread, this would easily be in it. Getting to watch Denzel and Cheadle drop pulpy noir dialogue with ease in itself is a great selling point, as is the atmosphere and use of old school blues and jazz music. The kind of movie that breathes cool

The Seventh Curse-Stuff like this is why I'm happy to have an all region player. It's essentially an exploitation spin on stuff like the "Indiana Jones" films, but it's from Hong Kong. That means there are plenty of fight scenes, gore and creatures-you haven't really lived until you've seen a Xenomorph imitation in a Kung Fu battle. Also, it's from the director of "The Story of Ricky", and if you've seen that, then I don't need to say any more. Hell, I could have just said just that and it'd be a recommendation.