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

HSJ

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I just finished the Netflix documentary, Abducted in Plain Sight. It would be funny if it wasn't so incredibly sad about how shitty of parents this little girl had.
 

Big Papa Paegan

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I literally walked out on Lego Movie 2 today, barely 30 minutes in. It immediately lacked all of the charm that the original had, the jokes were either direct retreads or just not landing, and I was growing more and more annoyed by how "cute" it was trying to be. The first was the rare kids movie I've seen since my wee years that I didn't hate on some level. Using the Lego universe created as a way of showing children that thinking beyond what is told can yield magnificent results was superb, and its dual usage as a metaphor for a child's relationship with their parents, was brilliant, and this...it honestly felt like the antithesis of the first, just wearing the original's skin as a mask.

I read the spoilers for it after, to see what I was missing by skimping out after an excruciating musical number (but hey, a character mocks it, so it's meta, and kids love meta, riiiight?) and I'm glad I did. There's a thousand kids movies with that message and I'm sure most don't have that atrocious song in it.
 

RedJed

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Yeah something was certainly missing with Lego Movie 2. Like I said, it felt rushed and there was alot of disconnectedness to it all. The characters weren't as fresh and quirky, as just one example. It certainly had zero emotional connect to me and it seemed more geared towards the kids this time and not evenly split with adults and children in the content.

Because of the numbers game not as strong with this one either, I do wonder if the days of mainstream Lego films in theaters are starting to fade. The last two Lego films have been financial and mostly critical misses.
 

HarleyQuinn

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In my continued quest to watch older films with outstanding casts

The Bounty (1984)
image30.png

Director: Roger Donaldson
All-Star Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Mel Gibson, Laurence Olivier, Daniel Day-Lewis, Liam Neeson, Phil Davis, Bernard Hill, and Philip Martin Brown
Plot: In 1787, British ship Bounty leaves Portsmouth to bring a cargo of bread-fruit from Tahiti but the savage on-board conditions imposed by Captain Bligh trigger a mutiny led by officer Fletcher Christian.

It's a 'modern' re-telling of the classic Mutiny on the Bounty from 1973. Good set design, costume design, and some great performances as expected with such a cast. Hopkins is a standout while Gibson tends to be varying with some solid scenes. Neeson manages to also stand out, impressive given his young age (32) and the fact it was one of his earliest film roles.
 

909

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Harley Quinn said:
In my continued quest to watch older films with outstanding casts

The Bounty (1984)
image30.png

Director: Roger Donaldson
All-Star Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Mel Gibson, Laurence Olivier, Daniel Day-Lewis, Liam Neeson, Phil Davis, Bernard Hill, and Philip Martin Brown
Plot: In 1787, British ship Bounty leaves Portsmouth to bring a cargo of bread-fruit from Tahiti but the savage on-board conditions imposed by Captain Bligh trigger a mutiny led by officer Fletcher Christian.

It's a 'modern' re-telling of the classic Mutiny on the Bounty from 1973. Good set design, costume design, and some great performances as expected with such a cast. Hopkins is a standout while Gibson tends to be varying with some solid scenes. Neeson manages to also stand out, impressive given his young age (32) and the fact it was one of his earliest film roles.

Fun fact: that movie has all those titties in it and is rated PG.
 

Fall of Epic

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I watched the Death Wish remake over the weekend. Bruce Willis was actually good and there's some really intense moments but a lot of the pro-gun propaganda (Sorry Eli Roth, but it's pretty blatant) made it hard to sit through. Certainly not a bad film but one that could have been better with a few tweaks.
 

Youth N Asia

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Tag - by no means great, but better than I was expecting. Had no intention to watch it but just kinda found myself doing so. Mostly fun. Renner, Hannibal, and Hamm were all really solid.

Won’t you be my neighbor - very charming doc. I never watched Mr Rodgers as a kid, but as I got older I grew an appreciation for him. Seemed like he was 100% the person he portrayed on television and other than Fox News and west baptist there’s no one with a bad thing to say about the man. Nearly teared up a time or two.

Deadpool 2 - rewatch. Like Tag didn’t intend to watch it. But the wife and I were channel surfing and caught it like 3 minutes in. After 20 I figured “well. Guess we’re watching it.” Totally fine for a rewatch. Feel like I may have caught a joke or two I missed the first time. Probably because they throw so much at you rapid fire. Cable was especially fun playing everything totally straight against Wade. His disgusted “Jesus...” got me every time. Domino was better than I remember. Can’t imagine watching it a third time. But had fun with it again.
 

Big Papa Paegan

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^I saw DP2 three times. In theater. Never regretted a moment and laughed each viewing.

Russian Doll: What more Netflix originals should aspire to be. Thoughtful, well written, meta, well acted, heartfelt, and WELL MADE. I hate the pseudo-mumblecore approach so many Netflix originals and I dependent studio shows take, so to see one where there's very little wasted motion and a constant tempo was a breath of fresh air by itself, but it's so much more than that. It's dense but easily digested, fantastic but grounded...and yeah, sure, my teenage crush being the star and a driving creative force doesn't hurt. Great cast, great premise, great execution. 9/10

Letterkenny: One of the funniest shows I've ever seen and with every episode overloaded with memorable lines. Each season has it's own little flair and the character development is handled extremely well. Often compared to Trailer Park Boys, but only because of Jonathan Torrens's involvement and it being Canadian, this quickly became an all-time favorite. Haven't seen it yet? Well then, pitter patter, boys. 8/10
 

Youth N Asia

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I liked Russian Doll once I accepted that I just couldn’t stand many of the characters. It was a fun watch.
 

Valeyard

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I fucking loved Russian Doll, but I have a very heavy bias for Natasha Lyonne and alternate timelines.

That Madeline McCann doc on Netflix is fucking trash.
 

SFH

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Russian Doll isn't getting enough love outside of this board. Only one other person I know watched it on my suggestion. She loved it too.
 

Youth N Asia

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American Gods is that show that I keep watching despite not really liking. Those used to be Shameless and Californiacation. Just week after week of seemingly nothing happening. Orlando Jones was fine in small doses. But as he gets more to do he’s just awful.
 

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I just finished Big Little Lies and am probably going to start Westworld tonight.

I enjoyed Big Little Lies, except for one thing....that part during the ending where the director decided to have crashing waves, you'll know the part if you've seen it. Come on man.
 

AA484

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Firmino of the 909 said:
I just finished Big Little Lies and am probably going to start Westworld tonight.

I enjoyed Big Little Lies, except for one thing....that part during the ending where the director decided to have crashing waves, you'll know the part if you've seen it. Come on man.

Lol, I don't remember that part. I watched it about a year ago and enjoyed it. You'll probably like Westworld.
 

HarleyQuinn

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I've heard of this for a while but never got around to checking it out until now.

The Burning Bed (1984)
Farrah Fawcett does a fantastic job playing Francine Hughes, a wife who ends up beaten and battered for years by her husband Mickey (Paul Le Mat). After being raped, she finally snaps and burns his bed with him in it. It's a TV Movie aired in October of 1984 based off a non-fiction book written by Faith McNulty in 1980. It's a credit to Le Mat that as a viewer one can see why Francine keeps going back to Mickey. There's a very creepy undertone to it all, partly knowing it's based off a true story and follows a lot of real life aspects of domestic abuse, but Le Mat does a good job giving his character just enough of an edge that the viewer never quite likes him while getting a sense of fear when he appears especially in scenes with Fawcett.

This movie is a great proto-Lifetime movie well paced, well shot, and some great performances especially from Fawcett. Definitely worth seeking out if you're into Lifetime-esque movies or 80s TV Movies of the era that have gone under the radar.
 

Master Thrasher

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I watched the end of X-Men Apocalypse yesterday and the special effects of it make it look like it was made in the '90's. I saw it once before and it didn't think it looked that bad.
 

Youth N Asia

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I strongly recommend the latest episode of HBO’s Barry to everyone. Even if you’re not watching the series. Watch the episode as a one off. All you need to know beforehand is that a cop wants Barry to kill his ex-wife’s boyfriend. That’s it. It’s amazing.

Barry season 2, episode 5 “Ronny/Lily”
 

KingPK

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I finally just watched Dunkirk. I don't think I've seen a war movie where the sound of just a single Stuka dive bomber could cause so much dread. It's also not a movie carried by great characters or a great story, just a whole lot of tension (it helps to know the history of Dunkirk and how absolutely hopeless the situation was).

It's also fucking beautifully shot, especially the dogfights.
 

muzzington

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Really enjoyed both Bosch and The Tick on Amazon Prime. Not much to say, just give them a go if you can.
 

Valeyard

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Watched The Dark Crystal with family. That's one of the most amazing technical achievements I've ever seen, Henson at the peak of his powers. It's a total shame the creepy Gelflings were so uncanny valley I was much more freaked out than I should've been.
 

KingPK

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I finally picked up all the Mission Impossible movies since I've only seen like one of them. I watched the first one and am near the end of MI:2. They couldn't have made these two any more different if they tried. The first one's plot is too convoluted for its own good, but at least they bothered trying a spy story. II is a big, dumb, John Woo film that's fine for what it is, but this could have been called The Chimera Virus Starring Tom Cruise and would have done fine.

And this obviously was an R edited down to PG-13 as evidenced by the villain snapping the doctor's neck with no accompanying sound effect. I actually rewound that scene because I thought my speakers were fucked up.
 

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I watched the entire series for the first time last year. One thing I love about the first three is that for better or worse it completely is engulfed in the style of the director. Woo was the only one where it just didn't fit, but MI2 had some great fight scenes. The doves and overused slow motion is hilarious though. The first movie bled Brian De Palma and had all his stylish touches and tension. Every movie kind of feels like it's own thing up until 4. I liked that about the series tbh.
 

HarleyQuinn

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Rim of the World (2019)
3/10

A Netflix movie directed by McG (he of Chuck and Supernatural fame) is a completely muddled, confusing mess that doesn't know what it wants to do or where to go with any of its bland, cliched pre-teen protagonists. The script by Zack Stentz is awful trying to be an 80s style teen movie in the vein of stuff like The Goonies or E.T. but too pretentious and wink wink-nudge nudge for its own good. The protagonists, a group of 4 kids attending 'Rim of the World Adventure Camp' find themselves thrust into a chaotic, alien battlefield descending upon Earth.

The CGI effects of the creatures weren't bad, kind of calling to mind Silent Hill but the script was so awful and the plot so convoluted and messy. The characters relied way too much on cursing as a means of being 'edgy' and the script was littered with random pop culture references that again made the characters seem to be trying way too hard to capture the spirit of the 80s while being incredibly basic and bland as surface level iterations.

It's not a good enough script to cater to teens or adults and the characters are written too old for children or parents of kids say 7-10 to enjoy the movie at all. The amount of cussing started to be jarring in a negative way as a means of dialogue as well and would turn off any parents within the first 10 minutes of trying this out. A total mess when you can watch better, similar movies such as Super 8 instead that cover similar terrain.
 

HarleyQuinn

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I Am Mother (2019) - Netflix Movie
Really good little Sci-Fi movie starring Rose Byrne, Hilary Swank, and Clara Rugaard. Rugaard plays Daughter, a female embryo grown by Mother (voiced by Byrne) in a post-apocalyptic world where machines have essentially wiped out humanity. One day, Swank, injured outside, arrives and sets in motion a struggle between Mother and Swank's character in who Daughter believes and/or follows.

This was a solid blend of something like Moon meets 10 Cloverfield Lane, not quite as good as either IMO but it's a fun little Sci-Fi movie and worth watching for the performances especially of Rugaard as Daughter.
 

Gary

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Revisiting "Who Killed Captain Alex?" and owning it and "Bad Black" on Blu Ray makes my life feel more complete.
 

RedJed

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Men in Black International: I can't recall a sequel or attempt to revive a franchise with such little thought paid to what worked and what made the franchise a critical and financial success in the first place. This almost felt like they had a different script initially that got fused with minor MIB mythology and a bunch of producers chiming in on what they wanted to add to this generic fare. Just strongly disliked the output for sure, and the 3D was a shit conversion as well. I question alot of the casting decisions here as well, as I get they thought Tessa and Hemsworth had great chemistry in Thor Ragnarok but my god, it just didnt resonate here.

This year has been full of really pointless studio grabs in remakes/sequels for sure. It amazes me that some of these get greenlit when they aren't even remotely entertaining, nor successfully homaging the original material in the first place.
 

Big Papa Paegan

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Jonah Hill's directorial debut (that he also wrote), Mid 90s, is a must-see for everybody here in their 30s, or anybody craving a 90s nostalgia flick that actually feels like something from the 90s. It's part coming of age tale and part slice of life, basking in its aimless glory while letting the characters and conversations tell the story. The cast, a relative bunch of unknowns (save for Katherine Waterston), add legitimacy and urgency to their situations, reacting in age and period appropriate manners to the consequences of their destructive decisions, made all the more palpable by the gritty aesthetic Hill delivers so wonderfully. This is what Thirteen was trying to be so hard but failed so miserably at.

On a personal note, I knew way too many kids like these ones. One character, in particular, reminded me so much of my late friend Adam that I was waiting for him to put Sublime's "Badfish" on the stereo, a staple at all of Adam's parties.

What stuck the most with me is the lack of true resolution and only a brief hint at what the future holds. This doesn't end on a happy note nor a sorrowful one, it just sort of trails off. While deflating on initial viewing? I can't think of a more 90s way to end an independent coming of age film focusing on juvenile delinquency and the importance of friendship, no matter the troubles surrounding it. 8/10
 
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