Last movie you saw?

[ZirconBlue]

That goes against my point though [not saying I am right, just asking the question]... when is Will Ferrell not doing Will Ferrell?

Stranger Than Fiction is the only movie I can think of.

[Adami]

That goes against my point though [not saying I am right, just asking the question]... when is Will Ferrell not doing Will Ferrell?

Stranger Than Fiction is the only movie I can think of.

Also Everything Must Go.


I'd say even Anchorman (for the most part. Ron Burgundy is an insane character but he is very different from every other Ferrell character.

[jammindude]

Nearly every year (with rare exception) my son and I take a day on one of the extended weekends (usually Thanksgiving) and marathon the entire extended editions of LOTR. We’ve done this ever since it first came out on video.

But next Monday, my son moves to Florida to set up his new home base, and he is getting married in Jan.

Neither one of us has the resources to travel on a regular basis, so today was probably the last time we do this.

These movies are SO well crafted. It’s amazing how well they still hold up. Can you guys believe that this Xmas is the 20th Anniversary of the release of FOTR? It’s surreal to me that it’s been two decades and I can’t believe no one has said anything. Or that there’s not some huge 20th anniversary collection planned.

[Cool Chris]

Every Hallmark Christmas movie

Nearly every year (with rare exception) my son and I take a day on one of the extended weekends (usually Thanksgiving) and marathon the entire extended editions of LOTR. We’ve done this ever since it first came out on video.

But next Monday, my son moves to Florida to set up his new home base, and he is getting married in Jan.

Neither one of us has the resources to travel on a regular basis, so today was probably the last time we do this.

These movies are SO well crafted. It’s amazing how well they still hold up. Can you guys believe that this Xmas is the 20th Anniversary of the release of FOTR? It’s surreal to me that it’s been two decades and I can’t believe no one has said anything. Or that there’s not some huge 20th anniversary collection planned.

JD, I trust this move is for the best for all involved. This year especially makes me incredibly thankful my parents are only a 90 minute drive away.

Cool tradition. I am not a big LotR fan. I read the books once and enjoyed them, and saw each film in the theater and watched the extended editions on BD for the first time earlier this year. They are fun, but it's not something I am going to think about watching again for a long, long time.

[Stadler]

HAHAHA, that was spot on!   

[El Barto]

Death Proof and Vanishing Point

So the other night I watched Death Proof for the second time. I stand by my original take on it. It's too long and a little short on action for the movie it's trying to be. While I think we can all agree it's QT's worst film, that doesn't make it bad, though. I can listen to the guy's dialouge all day long, and this is certainly full of it. The action sequences were actually very well done. I really liked Kurt Russel in this, particularly when he cried like a little girl after being shot in the arm. Good character. It's not something I'd really recommend, certainly in favor of his other movies, but it's got its enjoyable traits.

Interestingly, he based it on slasher movies. Rather than a guy with a machete it was a guy with a car. Great idea. Unfortunately, he didn't really go all in with it. There's no suspense. Stuntman Mike necessarily has to kill multiple people at once, rather than picking them off one by one. It's not Friday the Thirteenth if Jason just explodes a cabin with 12 nubile girls inside. I think what he was after could be done, though. This is one I'd love for him to get a do-over on.

Naturally, this led me to Vanishing Point (same car) which I'd been wanting to watch for a while. I'm really not sure what to make out of it, and in this case that's an endearing quality. Confusing but boring movies suck. This was entertaining but mysterious. We never knew what Kowalski's motivation was. We never knew how Super Soul could communicate with him (magic negro aside). There was no explanation for why he ended the pursuit the way he did. Yet none of those things really hurt him or the movie. You still gained a lot of insight into who he was, both by flashbacks and the gradual police intel reports. You still liked him as he was an honorable guy (aside from his distinguished earlier careers, he stopped after every accident to see if the other driver was alright). You still enjoyed it as a driving movie with a killer soundtrack and great scenery.

And what really makes it work is that even though you don't really know what it was all about, the door is open to plenty of interpretations, mostly resting on the philosophical. It's been posited that it was strictly a paean to existentialism. Kowalski simply was. He did his thing until he couldn't anymore. Another interpretation, and one that I find more intriguing, is problematic because of a scene that was cut for the US release (or maybe was added for the UK release). The hitchhiker he picks up is presumably death incarnate. I made sure to switch over to Youtube to watch this scene where it belonged, and I'm glad I did. That leads to the interpretation that he's been flirting with, and then running from death his entire life until it (she) finally caught up with him. I like that.

The plan was to watch Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry next, but in typing this up it occurs to me that The Hitcher is the obvious choice. It kind of bridges the two movies with an interesting psychopath and a lot of high speed desert driving.

[Orbert]

Which "Vanishing Point" are you talking about?  I saw a movie called Vanishing Point way back in the 70's, when I was still in school.  Barry Newman played Kowalski.  IMDb lists five different movies called "Vanishing Point", made in 1971, 1984, 1997, 2012, and 2015.  The '71 and '97 movies both have a main character named Kowalski, so the '97 version is probably a remake of the '71.

I saw the one made in '71.  To me, the movie was a waste of two hours.  As you said, you never knew what his motivation was.  There didn't appear to be anything that made sense, actually, other than there was a guy going really fast in a car for no apparent reason.

[faizoff]

I haven't seen Death Proof in ages but remember liking it even though by QT standards it's subpar. I seem to recall he wanted to make it like a B grade movie and wasn't it paired with Planet Terror as some kinda buddy movie grindhouse combo? Either way I always think of it as a side project of sorts from QT.

[El Barto]

Which "Vanishing Point" are you talking about?  I saw a movie called Vanishing Point way back in the 70's, when I was still in school.  Barry Newman played Kowalski.  IMDb lists five different movies called "Vanishing Point", made in 1971, 1984, 1997, 2012, and 2015.  The '71 and '97 movies both have a main character named Kowalski, so the '97 version is probably a remake of the '71.

I saw the one made in '71.  To me, the movie was a waste of two hours.  As you said, you never knew what his motivation was.  There didn't appear to be anything that made sense, actually, other than there was a guy going really fast in a car for no apparent reason.

The original. If you saw it in the 70s you probably remember it mostly for the naked blond chick riding the motorcycle. She was a piece of work.   The 97 version was a Vin Diesel remake that by all accounts sucked. And contemporary reviews from that time are all about what you said. I think the additional scene with the hitchhiker, which you wouldn't have seen, helped somewhat, though it didn't answer any questions. However, like I said, I found it provacative (and not just the blond girl). I think the meaning is in there. It's just not in your face.

[Orbert]

Yeah, I suppose there were existential themes and other philosophical considerations, if you wanted to really read into what's going on.  I wasn't ready for that, and the promos did nobody any favors.  I was in junior high at the time and saw it on TV, so anything good involving the chick on the motorcycle was edited.  I guess there's a scene with a hitchhiker as well, but that didn't even make the theatrical cut, let alone TV.  So it was just a guy driving fast, cops, and Cleavon Little with color commentary.

[pg1067]

I am not a big LotR fan. I read the books once and enjoyed them, and saw each film in the theater and watched the extended editions on BD for the first time earlier this year. They are fun, but it's not something I am going to think about watching again for a long, long time.

Extended editions?  Holy fuck!  How much longer can they make them?

Fellowship was released during what my wife and I call The Time of Much Barfing.  She was pregnant with our son and, between Thanksgiving and the end of the year in 2001, was on disability because of bad morning sickness.  Towers came out the following December 2002 (when my son was seven months old), and Return came out in December 2003, about three weeks before my daughter was born.  I seriously doubt we saw any of the three in the theater, but I have very distinct recollections of trying to watch them on DVD while the kids were napping.  We were constantly raising and lowering the volume because the dialog was so quiet, while the music and battle scenes were SO FUCKING LOUD!  Since then, I'm not sure I've ever sat down with any of them (much less all of them, and much less extended editions) and watched all the way through without interruption.



Unrelated:  A couple weeks ago, my 16yo daughter watched Bill & Ted with me.  We had played the first movie for both kids previously, but it didn't seem to do anything for them at the time.  This time, she fell in love with it for the same reasons I love it.  We then watched Bogus Journey, which she thought was ok, but not on the level of Excellent Adventure.  And, finally, over Thanksgiving, the whole family watched Face the Music (which only I had seen previously).  We all came away feeling like the best thing about it was the actress who played Ted's daughter.  She absolutely nailed Keanu Reeves's expressions and mannerisms -- perfect for Ted's daughter (Bill's daughter not so much).

[Kotowboy]

I haven't seen Death Proof in ages but remember liking it even though by QT standards it's subpar. I seem to recall he wanted to make it like a B grade movie and wasn't it paired with Planet Terror as some kinda buddy movie grindhouse combo? Either way I always think of it as a side project of sorts from QT.

I haven't seen Once Upon A Time... or Hateful Eight but I thought Death Proof was total cack. Really enjoyed Django.

[Stadler]

I am not a big LotR fan. I read the books once and enjoyed them, and saw each film in the theater and watched the extended editions on BD for the first time earlier this year. They are fun, but it's not something I am going to think about watching again for a long, long time.

Extended editions?  Holy fuck!  How much longer can they make them?

Fellowship was released during what my wife and I call The Time of Much Barfing.  She was pregnant with our son and, between Thanksgiving and the end of the year in 2001, was on disability because of bad morning sickness.  Towers came out the following December 2002 (when my son was seven months old), and Return came out in December 2003, about three weeks before my daughter was born.  I seriously doubt we saw any of the three in the theater, but I have very distinct recollections of trying to watch them on DVD while the kids were napping.  We were constantly raising and lowering the volume because the dialog was so quiet, while the music and battle scenes were SO FUCKING LOUD! Since then, I'm not sure I've ever sat down with any of them (much less all of them, and much less extended editions) and watched all the way through without interruption.



Unrelated:  A couple weeks ago, my 16yo daughter watched Bill & Ted with me.  We had played the first movie for both kids previously, but it didn't seem to do anything for them at the time.  This time, she fell in love with it for the same reasons I love it.  We then watched Bogus Journey, which she thought was ok, but not on the level of Excellent Adventure.  And, finally, over Thanksgiving, the whole family watched Face the Music (which only I had seen previously).  We all came away feeling like the best thing about it was the actress who played Ted's daughter.  She absolutely nailed Keanu Reeves's expressions and mannerisms -- perfect for Ted's daughter (Bill's daughter not so much).

Holy shit, yes!   My daughter and I watched the Fellowship a couple weeks ago and it was SO annoying; I finally "put the words on" (captions) which basically gives my family license to make fun of me. 

[pg1067]

. . .

I seriously doubt we saw any of the three in the theater, but I have very distinct recollections of trying to watch them on DVD while the kids were napping.  We were constantly raising and lowering the volume because the dialog was so quiet, while the music and battle scenes were SO FUCKING LOUD! Since then, I'm not sure I've ever sat down with any of them (much less all of them, and much less extended editions) and watched all the way through without interruption.

. . .

Holy shit, yes!   My daughter and I watched the Fellowship a couple weeks ago and it was SO annoying; I finally "put the words on" (captions) which basically gives my family license to make fun of me.

With a sleeping baby in another part of the house, we were literally diving for the remote so as not to wake him up.  I usually only have to resort to close-captioning with folks with British accents, but it works for this sort of thing too.

[Sacul]

The Lighthouse. Pretty good slow-burn psychological thriller with Robert Pattison and Willem Dafoe. Highly recommended watching with subtitles tho, as they speak in mid 19th century English with thick accents.

[Cool Chris]

The Time of Much Barfing. 

 

[ZirconBlue]

Holy shit, yes!   My daughter and I watched the Fellowship a couple weeks ago and it was SO annoying; I finally "put the words on" (captions) which basically gives my family license to make fun of me.

You might check your tv's sound settings.  LG tv's have a "clear voice" option which emphasizes dialogue over other sounds. 

[Stadler]

Holy shit, yes!   My daughter and I watched the Fellowship a couple weeks ago and it was SO annoying; I finally "put the words on" (captions) which basically gives my family license to make fun of me.

You might check your tv's sound settings.  LG tv's have a "clear voice" option which emphasizes dialogue over other sounds.

I just got a new TV and it took me two weeks to get rid of that motion capture whatever the hell it is that makes everything look like Days Of Our Lives! 

[Kotowboy]

I know what you mean !

Modern HDTVs come with that setting that makes Hollywood blockbusters look like Home And Away. Why would anyone think that looks good ?

[King Postwhore]

Holy shit, yes!   My daughter and I watched the Fellowship a couple weeks ago and it was SO annoying; I finally "put the words on" (captions) which basically gives my family license to make fun of me.

Well, it's all over for you technology wise.



You might check your tv's sound settings.  LG tv's have a "clear voice" option which emphasizes dialogue over other sounds.

I just got a new TV and it took me two weeks to get rid of that motion capture whatever the hell it is that makes everything look like Days Of Our Lives! 

[pg1067]

I just stumbled on this mock trailer for Jaws 19 that was made for the 30th Anniversary of Back to the Future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl092whRLlI

 

[Adami]

Saw The Founder the other day. Actually really liked it! Michael Keaton is just so fantastic, and I'm glad they made his character really 3 dimensional, as opposed to just being a mustache twirling bad guy, which would have been very easy given how horrible he was at times.

Also saw a new Christmas movie called....Holiday Season...I think? It was cute. It was way more "real" than I expected, but the super obvious happy ending felt completely unearned given the rest of the movie.

[Stadler]

Saw The Founder the other day. Actually really liked it! Michael Keaton is just so fantastic, and I'm glad they made his character really 3 dimensional, as opposed to just being a mustache twirling bad guy, which would have been very easy given how horrible he was at times.

Also saw a new Christmas movie called....Holiday Season...I think? It was cute. It was way more "real" than I expected, but the super obvious happy ending felt completely unearned given the rest of the movie.

Was it a Hallmark film? 

[Adami]

Saw The Founder the other day. Actually really liked it! Michael Keaton is just so fantastic, and I'm glad they made his character really 3 dimensional, as opposed to just being a mustache twirling bad guy, which would have been very easy given how horrible he was at times.

Also saw a new Christmas movie called....Holiday Season...I think? It was cute. It was way more "real" than I expected, but the super obvious happy ending felt completely unearned given the rest of the movie.

Was it a Hallmark film?

Hulu actually. Maybe a Hulu original? Good cast. Mary Steenburgen, Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Alison Brie, Victor Garber, Dan Levy, etc.

Apparently it’s called Happiest Season.

[hefdaddy42]

Saw The Founder the other day. Actually really liked it! Michael Keaton is just so fantastic, and I'm glad they made his character really 3 dimensional, as opposed to just being a mustache twirling bad guy, which would have been very easy given how horrible he was at times.

Yes, I saw The Founder a year or two ago.  I thought it was great.

[faizoff]

Founder was a decent movie, I think it was made great by Michael Keaton.

Have to make time to watch two movies that dropped today, Mank on Netflix and Sound of Metal on Prime. Both have been on my to-see list for a while.

[lordxizor]

Watched the 2020 live action Mulan now that it's free on Disney+. I was never a huge fan of the original animated version, though this was not a remake of that movie but a reinterpretation of the original story. It was alright I guess. Nothing that blew me away.

[Cool Chris]

So... not the "last movie I saw," but the family decided tonight would be Christmas movie night, and we cannot for the life of us decide on what to watch! It's not like there are a lack of options, but when I was browsing for what we could go with, I didn't recognize 98% of the titles. I knew there were a ton of Christmas movies, but I did not think there were that many.

[MirrorMask]

So... not the "last movie I saw," but the family decided tonight would be Christmas movie night, and we cannot for the life of us decide on what to watch! It's not like there are a lack of options, but when I was browsing for what we could go with, I didn't recognize 98% of the titles. I knew there were a ton of Christmas movies, but I did not think there were that many.

If you have Netflix, watch Klaus. It's fantastic!!!

[SoundscapeMN]

Untamed Heart
filmed in my hometown in the early 90's, I'd never seen this before. The story is a little contrived, but overall with Marisa Tomei and Christian Slater both being quite good, it works pretty well overall. I do wish they would have given more background on Adam's heart condition, but the director probably wanted to leave some mystery.

[Cool Chris]

So... not the "last movie I saw," but the family decided tonight would be Christmas movie night, and we cannot for the life of us decide on what to watch! It's not like there are a lack of options, but when I was browsing for what we could go with, I didn't recognize 98% of the titles. I knew there were a ton of Christmas movies, but I did not think there were that many.

If you have Netflix, watch Klaus. It's fantastic!!!

Added to our watch list, but my wife says she needs a break from animated movies.

Cool Elder Daughter and I decided on Home Alone, which, oddly, I cannot swear I've ever seen all the way through. But mom, being a teacher of young kids, says she hates it as she doesn't like watching shows/films about kids in vulnerable situations.

[jingle.boy]

So... not the "last movie I saw," but the family decided tonight would be Christmas movie night, and we cannot for the life of us decide on what to watch! It's not like there are a lack of options, but when I was browsing for what we could go with, I didn't recognize 98% of the titles. I knew there were a ton of Christmas movies, but I did not think there were that many.

If you have Netflix, watch Klaus. It's fantastic!!!

Also on Netflix ...The Christmas Chronicles was very good. Mrs.jingle and I will be checking out the sequel that just got released. Noelle on Disney+ was a lot of fun... of course Anna Kendrick is on my ‘list’

Rise Of The Guardians isn’t exactly a Christmas Movie, but Santa is the main protagonist, and it’s a cool movie.

[Stadler]

So... not the "last movie I saw," but the family decided tonight would be Christmas movie night, and we cannot for the life of us decide on what to watch! It's not like there are a lack of options, but when I was browsing for what we could go with, I didn't recognize 98% of the titles. I knew there were a ton of Christmas movies, but I did not think there were that many.

If you have Netflix, watch Klaus. It's fantastic!!!

Added to our watch list, but my wife says she needs a break from animated movies.

Cool Elder Daughter and I decided on Home Alone, which, oddly, I cannot swear I've ever seen all the way through. But mom, being a teacher of young kids, says she hates it as she doesn't like watching shows/films about kids in vulnerable situations.

That's funny, because I HATE that movie for the exact opposite reason:  I don't like movies where the kids are ultra smart and snarky and hip and make the adults look like boobs.   

[KevShmev]

I finally saw Driving Miss Daisy.  Good film, but I came away thinking, "how did that do so well at the Oscars?"  Like I said, good film, but it didn't strike me as one that should have been winning tons of awards.  Maybe I needed to see it back when it came out.

[Adami]

So... not the "last movie I saw," but the family decided tonight would be Christmas movie night, and we cannot for the life of us decide on what to watch! It's not like there are a lack of options, but when I was browsing for what we could go with, I didn't recognize 98% of the titles. I knew there were a ton of Christmas movies, but I did not think there were that many.

If you have Netflix, watch Klaus. It's fantastic!!!

Added to our watch list, but my wife says she needs a break from animated movies.

Cool Elder Daughter and I decided on Home Alone, which, oddly, I cannot swear I've ever seen all the way through. But mom, being a teacher of young kids, says she hates it as she doesn't like watching shows/films about kids in vulnerable situations.

That's funny, because I HATE that movie for the exact opposite reason:  I don't like movies where the kids are ultra smart and snarky and hip and make the adults look like boobs.

Is that Dennis kid still bugging you Mr. Wilson?