Last movie you saw?

[soupytwist]

I think I remember something about a whole shared universe with The Mummy and Dracula, but I didn't realize that this was part of it, or at least was supposed to be part of it before "it" fell apart.

Kong: Skull Island (2017) is another one I'd heard of but never saw, and didn't realize was in the same universe, either.  So Kong from Skull Island and Godzilla aka King of the Monsters are who meet in Godzilla vs. Kong (2021).  Cool.

I checked and our HBO/Max on the Roku doesn't have Godzilla (2014).  I gotta check for Kong: Skull Island.

Even though I'm team 'Zilla I actually preferred Skull Island over both the Godzilla movies.

[Dream Team]

Skull Island is great. 3 MCU stars in it doesn't hurt.

[jingle.boy]

Skull Island is great. 3 MCU stars in it doesn't hurt.

Brie Larsen in a tank-top for the whole movie definitely adds at least 1 1/2 stars to the rating of this film.  I dug the movie overall.

[hefdaddy42]

Yep, Skull Island was a lot of fun.

Universal attempted something called "Dark Universe" which would have been an MCU-style connected universe for their horror properties (Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, etc), but primarily as an adventure series instead of actual horror.  It was a terrible idea, and thank God it tanked and failed.

[Orbert]

I don't know if the idea was that bad.  Obviously a lot would depend on the execution.  I think that once you start making movies where the basic premise is "not reality" (not set in our world, or a period piece, but instead a world with superheroes and/or extraterrestrials and/or magic) you have a very important additional factor to consider: given that it can't possibly be real, how "real" do you try to make it?  MCU did it right by making the heroes very human, while clearly possessing skills and abilities well beyond our own.  This gives the audience something to identify with.  Then you provide plausible explanations for all the "impossible" stuff.  We know it's not real, but within the established reality, it works.

I don't see why you couldn't do monster movies the same way.  I thought the Brendon Fraser Mummy movies were a lot of fun.  At some point, at some level, you believed what was going on on screen despite knowing that it was all "just a movie" with magic and supernatural stuff.  I think the old black-and-white monster movies (Dracula, Frankenstein, etc.) could have been updated, made more "realistic" and all that, and had a shared universe.  You can make movies outright campy, funny, serious, whatever, and make it work.  It all depends on the execution.  Set the tone and stick with it, work with it.

[hefdaddy42]

I don't know if the idea was that bad.  Obviously a lot would depend on the execution.  I think that once you start making movies where the basic premise is "not reality" (not set in our world, or a period piece, but instead a world with superheroes and/or extraterrestrials and/or magic) you have a very important additional factor to consider: given that it can't possibly be real, how "real" do you try to make it?  MCU did it right by making the heroes very human, while clearly possessing skills and abilities well beyond our own.  This gives the audience something to identify with.  Then you provide plausible explanations for all the "impossible" stuff.  We know it's not real, but within the established reality, it works.

I don't see why you couldn't do monster movies the same way.  I thought the Brendon Fraser Mummy movies were a lot of fun.  At some point, at some level, you believed what was going on on screen despite knowing that it was all "just a movie" with magic and supernatural stuff.  I think the old black-and-white monster movies (Dracula, Frankenstein, etc.) could have been updated, made more "realistic" and all that, and had a shared universe.  You can make movies outright campy, funny, serious, whatever, and make it work.  It all depends on the execution.  Set the tone and stick with it, work with it.

Yeah, but then they made the newest Mummy film with Tom Cruise, which sucked ass.

Game over (at least for now).

It was going to be interconnected, and have Avengers-style crossovers.  I guess they could have made something of it, but it appears not to be, at least not anytime soon.

[Orbert]

I'm pretty sure we saw the Mummy movie with Tom Cruise, and Sofia Boutella as The Mummy.  I honestly don't remember anything about it except that while watching it, I kept thinking that it was pretty bad.  So as I said, the key is in the execution.  The concept may have been fine (but I don't remember).  I just don't think it's fair to say that the concept was bad because the movie sucked.  The concept can be solid and movie end up sucking hard due to any number of other factors.

[Cool Chris]

I highly enjoyed the Brenden Fraser Mummy film. The sequel was alright. Never saw the one with Cruise.

[CrimsonSunrise]

Watched "I Care A Lot" on Netflix last night.  Good movie but man..... I cringe at the thought of there really being cut throat people out there who would really do that to the elderly.  I can't remember a movie that got me so heated and wanting to jump through the screen and throttle someone.

[Phoenix87x]

Watched Dropzone from 1994

Wesley snipe's brother was killed on a plane that terrorists highjacked, and he needs to learn how to skydive in order to take them down. Gary busey is the bad guy. I love this whack ass movie 

[jingle.boy]

Outside the Wire.  God that was terrible.

[Cool Chris]

The Odd Couple. Didn't watch it all the way through as I've seen it before, at least once, years ago. Walter Matthau is so good. The segment with the double date goes on too long.

[KevShmev]

The Odd Couple. Didn't watch it all the way through as I've seen it before, at least once, years ago. Walter Matthau is so good. The segment with the double date goes on too long.

Totally agree.  The double date part is integral to how the movie plays out, but it's too long of a stretch without much humor.  To me, the first 10-15 minutes is the funniest part of the film, when the guys are all just sitting around, playing poker, and cracking wise.

[Cool Chris]

I almost typed that very thing. The croneys are awesome.

[hefdaddy42]

6 Underground on Netflix.

It's a Michael Bay film starring Ryan Reynolds, and it holds up to every glorious thing that sentence portends.  From the very beginning, it's a rollercoaster ride.

It's the Michael Bay-est Michael Bay film I've ever seen.  Unbelievably impressive action sequences, all the explosions in the world, excitement in every scene, very little exposition, and questionable character development.  Ryan Reynolds has enough charisma to carry the film along.

I loved every second of it, although I'm not sure that I would describe it as "good".  But it's a perfect Saturday afternoon/evening, forget the cares of the week, turn off your brain movie.

[El Barto]

I finally got around to watching Taken last night. Not bad at all. They kept it short, and it moved along briskly. The two car chases ran on too long, but you can skim through them easily enough. I appreciated that they were kind enough to spare us a boat chase at the end. The fight scenes were actually done well enough that you could tell who was beating who, which is unusual nowadays. Really, my only issue was that it relied to much on brute force (killing people, torturing people, maiming people) and not enough on intelligence work. It honestly wasn't too far out of whack, but it could have been a bit more balanced in the whole brains vs brawn aspect. Most of all, it's hard not to like Liam Neeson. His character really wasn't my kind of guy, but you still have to like the guy.

[pg1067]

I finally got around to watching Taken last night. Not bad at all. They kept it short, and it moved along briskly. The two car chases ran on too long, but you can skim through them easily enough. I appreciated that they were kind enough to spare us a boat chase at the end. The fight scenes were actually done well enough that you could tell who was beating who, which is unusual nowadays. Really, my only issue was that it relied to much on brute force (killing people, torturing people, maiming people) and not enough on intelligence work. It honestly wasn't too far out of whack, but it could have been a bit more balanced in the whole brains vs brawn aspect. Most of all, it's hard not to like Liam Neeson. His character really wasn't my kind of guy, but you still have to like the guy.

I think the first two Taken movies are quite good.  Unfortunately, the third one veers off into ridiculousness (but it's still worth a watch).

[WilliamMunny]

Last Sunday my wife and I watched 3 Sofia Coppola films (Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, On The Rocks) and did out taxes...talk about going to bed depressed!

[Chino]

I started watching Free State of Jones last night. I think it's the first movie I've watched since Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga came out. Anyways, I fell asleep with about a half hour left, but I really liked what I saw up to this point. There was some pretty brutal stuff. I'm talking landing scene in Saving Private Ryan caliber nausea. 

[gmillerdrake]

I finally got around to watching Taken last night. Not bad at all. They kept it short, and it moved along briskly. The two car chases ran on too long, but you can skim through them easily enough. I appreciated that they were kind enough to spare us a boat chase at the end. The fight scenes were actually done well enough that you could tell who was beating who, which is unusual nowadays. Really, my only issue was that it relied to much on brute force (killing people, torturing people, maiming people) and not enough on intelligence work. It honestly wasn't too far out of whack, but it could have been a bit more balanced in the whole brains vs brawn aspect. Most of all, it's hard not to like Liam Neeson. His character really wasn't my kind of guy, but you still have to like the guy.

I've still yet to watch it. I've heard good things....just have yet to pull the trigger.

[LudwigVan]

6 Underground on Netflix.

It's a Michael Bay film starring Ryan Reynolds, and it holds up to every glorious thing that sentence portends.  From the very beginning, it's a rollercoaster ride.

It's the Michael Bay-est Michael Bay film I've ever seen.  Unbelievably impressive action sequences, all the explosions in the world, excitement in every scene, very little exposition, and questionable character development.  Ryan Reynolds has enough charisma to carry the film along.

I loved every second of it, although I'm not sure that I would describe it as "good".  But it's a perfect Saturday afternoon/evening, forget the cares of the week, turn off your brain movie.

This movie is a lot of fun, but yeah, it's like eating junk food. You know it's not really "good", but just so delicious when you're scarfing it down.

I enjoyed 6 Underground better than The Old Guard, which is of the same ilk.

[gmillerdrake]

I enjoyed 6 Underground better than The Old Guard, which is of the same ilk.

I liked them both the same. Fun to watch.....but there was potential for both to be really good. Both dropped the ball on it though.

[jingle.boy]

I enjoyed 6 Underground better than The Old Guard, which is of the same ilk.

I liked them both the same. Fun to watch.....but there was potential for both to be really good. Both dropped the ball on it though.

Add Extraction to this list.

Exctraction > The Old Guard > 6 Underground.

All eye candy movies. Enjoyable from time to time. I had hoped for the same from Outside the Wire, but that was like a bowl full of Maltesers.

[gmillerdrake]

I enjoyed 6 Underground better than The Old Guard, which is of the same ilk.

I liked them both the same. Fun to watch.....but there was potential for both to be really good. Both dropped the ball on it though.

Add Extraction to this list.

Exctraction > The Old Guard > 6 Underground.

All eye candy movies. Enjoyable from time to time. I had hoped for the same from Outside the Wire, but that was like a bowl full of Maltesers.

Yep. Spot on  Extraction was the same as those two.

[MirrorMask]

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs by the Cohen brothers.

Didn't even realize that it was an anthology movie with six different stories, so when the first one with the protagonist was resolved I was "whaaaat? and now what's gonna happen for the rest of the movie?", before I realized it was an anthology movie  it's a western one, six stories of the post civil war Old Wild West with outlaws, settlers and weird and fun characters. Anyone who loved the previous Cohen bros movies will probably enjoy this one.

I must say that when it comes to directors, I don't really have the same fandom in music - I mean, you like a band, you follow them, you wait for a new album and so on. I don't really have this kind of anticipation and attention with directors, but as a matter of fact there are some directors whose movies more or less I always enjoy and the Cohen brothers definitively fall in this category.

[SoundscapeMN]

Coming 2 America

despite the cast/extensive cameos and constant referencing to the original, it suffers greatly from sequelitis. It should have been made 20 or more years ago.

I wish i had watched the Dolemite movie now instead. I will have to soon along with a Melanie Lynskey movie "Hello, I Must Be Going" which i stumbled upon a couple of weeks back.

[Cool Chris]

Forgot that was a thing. And damn if I don't hate titles like that.

[Dream Team]

Two last night (both on Netflix):

Stranger Than Fiction
I’m not really a Will Ferrell guy but he was good here in a mostly serious role. Dustin Hoffman and especially Emma Thompson were great. Story is about a writer who realizes the fictional character she’s writing is a real human and he doesn’t want her to kill him off (which she’s always done to her characters).

Kodachrome
Was really looking forward to this because I’m trying to catch up on Elizabeth Olsen’s work. Familiar plot of an estranged son having to go on a road trip with his dying father, but very well done. Jason Sudeikis is the son and Ed Harris the father, and Olsen is Harris’ nurse/assistant. She was great as I expected (and very attractive of course) and Sudeikis was efficient but this is definitely an Ed Harris vehicle. Excellent performance by him.

[pg1067]

I just rewatched Predestination. It was already one of my favourite movies after the first viewing, but it was even better the second time. Every line works differently once you've seen it and know the outcome.

Yeah. That’s a good movie. Watched it on a whim one night and was pleasantly surprised. Will have to watch again sometime.

I was cleaning off my desk at home on Saturday, and I found a sticky note that I had made with the names of a few movies and one TV show that I wanted to check out.  I have a tendency to make notes like this and then forget about them.  I don't know how old this particular note was, but it included The Good Place, which I started watching in spring 2019, so it's at least that old.  It also included Predestination.  I have no recollection what led me to put that movie on my list, but it might have been the posts above.  Anyway, I watched the movie on Saturday.  Very slow starter, and I almost gave up on it after about 20 minutes, but I stuck with it.  What a bizarre concept.  I'm not sure how I ultimately felt about it, and I may want to re-watch it since I ended up being interrupted several times while watching.  If you're interested in time travel movies -- especially one that is devoid of spaceships and fantasy elements -- this is definitely worth looking into.

[Stadler]

Forgot that was a thing. And damn if I don't hate titles like that.

Some are better than others, but I'm not sure there are any titties I HATE.

EDIT: I misread that.

[WilliamMunny]

I just rewatched Predestination. It was already one of my favourite movies after the first viewing, but it was even better the second time. Every line works differently once you've seen it and know the outcome.

Yeah. That’s a good movie. Watched it on a whim one night and was pleasantly surprised. Will have to watch again sometime.

I was cleaning off my desk at home on Saturday, and I found a sticky note that I had made with the names of a few movies and one TV show that I wanted to check out.  I have a tendency to make notes like this and then forget about them.  I don't know how old this particular note was, but it included The Good Place, which I started watching in spring 2019, so it's at least that old.  It also included Predestination.  I have no recollection what led me to put that movie on my list, but it might have been the posts above.  Anyway, I watched the movie on Saturday.  Very slow starter, and I almost gave up on it after about 20 minutes, but I stuck with it.  What a bizarre concept.  I'm not sure how I ultimately felt about it, and I may want to re-watch it since I ended up being interrupted several times while watching.  If you're interested in time travel movies -- especially one that is devoid of spaceships and fantasy elements -- this is definitely worth looking into.

That movie blew my mind...I'm a huge Ethan Hawke fan, but Sarah Snook really stole the show on that one.

I highly recommend Predestination—I suspect that, regardless of their takeaway, most people will have seen nothing like it.

[hefdaddy42]

Forgot that was a thing. And damn if I don't hate titles like that.

Some are better than others, but I'm not sure there are any titties I HATE.

EDIT: I misread that.

[The Walrus]

Singles and Once

Singles was interesting. Never heard of it before. Actual performances from grunge artists in there (Alice in Chains, Chris Cornell etc.). Quirky little film with some really concise scene structure and interesting characters. I really liked it.

Once was an emotional gutpunch in a way I wasn't quite expecting. I had no idea Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova were in it, so as soon as I saw them I kind of freaked out (thanks Sacul). Both were awesome in it. Glen Hansard is one of the most emotionally powerful musicians I've heard. Guy could sing the phone book and make me want to cry. Marketa's scene playing the piano and singing almost had me in tears. Damn good movie and I loved how it ended. Felt so real.

[Stadler]

There are a lot of cool nuggets/easter eggs in Singles.  The members of Pearl Jam were Matt Dillon's band "Citizen Dick".   Jeff Ament wrote a bunch of songtitles for a fake CD for the band, and Chris Cornell went and wrote actual songs to match the titles; "Seasons" made the soundtrack (and four other songs are on the expanded version).  It's a fun, if slight, film.

[gmillerdrake]

I just rewatched Predestination. It was already one of my favourite movies after the first viewing, but it was even better the second time. Every line works differently once you've seen it and know the outcome.

Yeah. That’s a good movie. Watched it on a whim one night and was pleasantly surprised. Will have to watch again sometime.

I was cleaning off my desk at home on Saturday, and I found a sticky note that I had made with the names of a few movies and one TV show that I wanted to check out.  I have a tendency to make notes like this and then forget about them.  I don't know how old this particular note was, but it included The Good Place, which I started watching in spring 2019, so it's at least that old.  It also included Predestination.  I have no recollection what led me to put that movie on my list, but it might have been the posts above.  Anyway, I watched the movie on Saturday.  Very slow starter, and I almost gave up on it after about 20 minutes, but I stuck with it.  What a bizarre concept.  I'm not sure how I ultimately felt about it, and I may want to re-watch it since I ended up being interrupted several times while watching.  If you're interested in time travel movies -- especially one that is devoid of spaceships and fantasy elements -- this is definitely worth looking into.

That movie blew my mind...I'm a huge Ethan Hawke fan, but Sarah Snook really stole the show on that one.

I highly recommend Predestination—I suspect that, regardless of their takeaway, most people will have seen nothing like it.

Blast from the Past! I had to think long and hard about this movie....then I recalled it. I may have to take my advice from that 2018 post and re-watch it sometime soon