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

[HarleyQuinn]

Under Paris 4/10 - Not a good shark movie. Bad CGI sharks throughout, very "cliche" right down to the big cultural event + Mayoral character who has to keep it open/running in the face of literal deaths plural, etc. It had some good shots but felt very... artistically French in a cinematic way as well which didn't vibe with the fact its a killer shark movie.

Hit Man 6/10 - A lot more entertaining. Glen Powell does have a bit of a young Tom Cruise leading man aura to him so I can see why studios are trying to push him hard right now. I liked the plot overall although I did feel it got away from it too much for the romance between "Ron" and Madison which overtook the entire movie for a good chunk (too much IMO). The exploration of the transition of this character into a fake Hit Man role felt like it could've been played with a lot more and on deeper levels than it was. Felt unrealized/underwritten almost.

 

[Brocklock]

I felt the same way about Hit Man. Powell was great, but the story felt too thin for the nearly two hour runtime. Romance did drag at times. I'm seeing people online really loving it, and some saying it's one of Linklater's best which is kind of nuts. I'd put this as his crowd pleaser along with School of Rock, but nowhere near a great movie.

 

[909]

I’m watching Beau is Afraid. The dude who made this movie is a sick fuck lirl

 

[909]

Wow his load killed Parker Posey lmfao

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Pearl (2022) reinforces what I said about Ti West when I talked about X: he needs to make a serious drama. The weakest parts of this movie were the horror elements, which are so bland compared to how well everything else was built. The opening credits and introductions to Pearl and her family had a big smile on my face, as it all created such a lovely tone before the meat of the story unfolded. Mia Goth is something special, which isn't a shock to anyone that's seen her work since breaking out.

This was weaker than X, but I greatly appreciate its existence. 6.5/10

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Caught the final ep (8th) of Murder Drones from GLITCH and it was awesome. Already almost 6 Million views in under 24 hours.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Altered Carbon is a mixed bag and I can see why it was canceled.

Season 1 takes a little while to get going, but it's never boring, per se, but filled with a lot of setup and exposition. Once it starts firing, though, it becomes one of the best examples of cyberpunk on film. The cast nails it, the tone is perfect, and it's made me turn around on Joel Kinnaman in the same way that the Invitation made me look forward to Logan Marshall Green. Chris Conner is an absolute delight as Poe, and I may have fallen in love with Martha Higareda.

Season 2, though, is such an obvious downgrade that whatever fun plot or character developments occur just fall by the wayside. Anthony Mackie is horribly miscast here, as he doesn't have the same sense of stoicism or subdued rage that the character calls for, and the other new additions are generic Syfy levels of quality in performance. The budget was clearly slashed, letting the beautiful cyberpunk dystopia of S1 become little more than a handful of OG Star Trek set pieces. Even the returning Chris Conner feels off from where he was in S1, but at least his is a character choice after plot development.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

Saw this version was available and decided to rewatch. Looked absolutely fantastic and I still think this is the best animated comic book movie.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

"Boy Kills World" is on netflix and I enjoyed it. Some fun fight scenes especially the climax. Nothing groundbreaking or anything but there were several actors whose work I enjoy in it. H Jon Benjamin doing the voice over was a great choice.

 

[Youth N Asia]

From my phone notes. Movies I’ve watched this year, and where I ranked them for personal enjoyability. I’m way behind last year’s pace. Just hard finding time. (Rewatches are not ranked)

First time Movies in 2024

1. Aliens (1986)
2. Oppenheimer (2023)
3. The Iron Claw (2023)
4. Late Night With The Devil (2023)
5. Love Lies Bleeding (2024)
6. Talk to Me (2023)
7. Dune: Part 2 (2024)
8. Thanksgiving (2023)
9. Creep 2 (2017)
10. Deadpool and Wolverine (2024)
11. A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
12. Abigale (2024)
13. The Bikeriders (2024)
14. Saint Maud (2019)
15. Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
16. Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar (2023)

2024 rewatches

-Fox and the Hound (1981)
-Dr. Giggles (1993)
-Total Recall (1990)
-Tombstone (1994)
-Bloody Hell (2020)

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Hidden in Silence (1996 TV Movie originally airing on Lifetime Network) 6.5/10

Based on a true story, Kellie Martin stars as Fusia, a 17 year old Catholic maid who aids a Jewish family by taking their belongings and eventually hides 13 people while the threat draws nearer. Also has Tom Radcliffe and Joss Acklund.

Solid film with some haunting moments and Martin really shines/carries this throughout and is easily likable as a protagonist so it's very easy to root for her and believe her re: the situation and plight of her life.

 

[Brocklock]

Rebel Ridge might be my favorite movie of the year so far. Jeremy Saulnier movies just have a gritty vibe that's so enjoyable to watch. Aaron Pierre is going to be a big star. They should already be trying to get him to replace Mahershala Ali for Blade. He's got natural coolness and charisma. And it was so fun to watch him dismantle these sorry cops. It did run too long and the middle dragged a bit. But, it had a great hook and a fantastic ending sequence.

Also, the one loose cannon cop looked kind of like Jon Moxley with a better hairline

8/10

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

If you aren't watching Kaos on Netflix then you're wrong.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

I really enjoyed KAOS. Greek mythology was probably the first thing I really got into as a young reader. A lot of really fun performances in this, the actors who played the Gods were the highlights but I didn't really think there were any weak links.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

I thought Misia Butler and Nabhaan Mizwan were the best parts, but seeing Cliff Curtis share scenes with Jeff Goldblum put it over the top for me.

Plus, ya know, Debi Mazar stirring up all those mid-to-late 90s indie cult comedy feels...

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

I thought Cliff Curtis was a real scene stealer for sure.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

I'm really hoping there's a second season, even if it's not something they continue afterward.

On the flipside, what in the everloving FUUUUUUCK is up with That Dirty Black Bag? I get that it's a spaghetti western series, but holy shit is it just all over the place in tone...and they kill off one of the only decent characters within a day of meeting him. It's not even laughably bad, just infuriating, because it's been positively compared to Godless (a GOAT limited series)...by people who must not have watched a halfway decent western.

 

[Fall of Epic]

I'm currently watching Lost for the very first time (just read that it was recently the 20th anniversary of the pilot). Never cared to watch it while it was airing even though all my friends were obsessed with it. I also meant to bump the thread we had dedicated to the show here but it's apparently locked.

Anyway, the first two seasons are amazing and even season 3 is good but season 4 is when it started to get really silly. I'm about halfway through the final season and it's gotten into total LOL territory with the temple stuff. Definatley feels like a show that didn't have a vision past the few few seasons and was written as it went on.

John Locke is the strongest character on the show and it's nice seeing the evolution of the character followed by Sayid then Sawyer. Don't care much for Jack and Hurley is good comic relief sometimes.

It's fun watching Michael Emerson and Ken Leung interact on the show as they were key characters in the original Saw.

 

[Youth N Asia]

I think season 3 is when the flashbacks got significantly shorter. Felt like it helped the show’s pacing quite a bit. I’ve considered doing a rewatch recently.

Sadly Sayid ends up being a character they kinda don’t know what to do with after a while. Jin became a favorite of mine as the show went on.

 

[Brocklock]

I finished and loved The Leftovers recently, and have been hankering for more Lindelof writing. So, I might finally watch Lost soon. The only thing holding me back is most of the seasons being 20 or more episodes.

 

[909]

If you aren't watching Kaos on Netflix then you're wrong.

'KAOS' Canceled at Netflix After One Season; Won't Return for Season 2

One cast member has confirmed it's one and done for the ambitious Netflix Original series.

www.whats-on-netflix.com

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Of course. It was too fucking good and original to get a second season.

 

[RedJed]

Went to a few new notable releases back to back on Saturday...

The Apprentice: This is the unauthorized bio of the origin story of Trump, and wow does it sure deliver in my eyes. Trump of course did a rant on it this morning talking about how its a hit piece on him right before the election, but honestly it felt pretty fair and balanced towards him in parts, pretty fucking accurate and really could have been so much worse in terms of parts that they really could have dug deeper on to give Trump a worse look overall. Sebastian Stan really home runned the performance, and the guy who played the psycho Roy Cohn (the dude who basically Trump got all of his bad personality traits from it appears) really killed it. This film gives the general public a pretty interesting look in how and why he became what he is now, a total and utter piece of shit that uses lying and manipulation as a strategy to supposed success. There is a scene that reallys hits home on three things Cohn tells Trump to always consider in every aspect of his professional life (attack attack attack, admit nothing and deny everything and claim victory no matter what, never admit defeat). And it is all fully relevant in current times. Really worth a look.

Saturday Night: I am in the middle on this one. While it was fun, it was very much a frentic film to watch. Mainly, the pace of it was a mile a minute since this was all supposed to be in "real time" 90 minutes before the first SNL aired. A bit hard to believe all of these wild events occured legitimately right beforehand, but it made for a good narrative I suppose. Performances were a broad range from fantastic in some to outright amateurish in others. There was some neat callbacks though if you know your SNL history, and watching the first episode back to back after watching this film was kind of a treat.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

Watched the first two episodes of Yakuza Like a Dragon and man what a let down of an adaptation. None of the sense of humour (or really any at all) of the games and almost no fighting either. I have no idea who this is for.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Gangs of London is maybe the most intense series I've ever seen. Make it through S1E2 and the rest just keeps sprinting.

 

[Broward83]

Just saw Wicked. Never saw the musical, never really learned of the storyline of the production.

Fuck Guh-Linda, bitch is a fucking cunt.