Last movie you saw?

[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.

Is that Dennis kid still bugging you Mr. Wilson?

Don't laugh! That's where it started!   

[Cool Chris]

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.   

I normally do too, but this was so silly and over the top it never reached the annoying level (once the older brothers/sisters and cousins left the house, that is).

I was right, I had never seen this all the way through. Pretty underwhelming, and quite the bore as well. I had expected the majority of the movie being Kevin fending off the robbers. Surprised that comprised only the last 20 minutes or so. Thought the part with Mr. Marley was very touching.

[pg1067]

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.

That theme was hugely popular in the 1980s.  Parents were bumbling idiots, as were other authority figures -- e.g., the principal in Ferris Bueller and the LAPD in Die Hard (and a bunch of other movies).

[hefdaddy42]

From what I can see, most adults ARE boobs.

Except I like boobs, so I would have probably used a different word.

[Stadler]

HAHA. 

[MirrorMask]

Pottersville. Small town vibe movie, the townsfolk get all caught up in a Bigfoot frenzy because the protagonist, Michael Shannon, wore a costume during a drunk rampage. Not bad at all, also it has Ian McShane and you should never miss a chance of Ian literally just speaking, the guy's so good in everything he does and he has one of those memorable voices that it's always a pleasure to hear.

[Sacul]

Andrei Rublev. Good russian stuff but a bit too long. 3.5/5

[MirrorMask]

I took a risk and watched one of those crappy Xmas movies on Netflix, I picked Holidate with Emma Roberts... and I was lucky I guess 'cause it's self aware, anticonformistic and black-humorish enough to be enjoyable. Near the end there's a couple of major cringe moments that almost ruined the movie and if it was all like that, I would have turned it off after 30 minutes, but it was worth the try and I got some good, legit laughs out of it.

[jingle.boy]

I took a risk and watched one of those crappy Xmas movies on Netflix, I picked Holidate with Emma Roberts... and I was lucky I guess 'cause it's self aware, anticonformistic and black-humorish enough to be enjoyable. Near the end there's a couple of major cringe moments that almost ruined the movie and if it was all like that, I would have turned it off after 30 minutes, but it was worth the try and I got some good, legit laughs out of it.

Cool... mrs.jingle and I have that one in our Netflix list to check out.

[MirrorMask]

And now, a big classic: Love Actually. I've seen it ages ago, and meanwhile I have been to London, so I said "well, why not, let's try and see it again now that I'm well versed into the parts of London they'll be showing".

Well, it was not a total cringe-crap-fest, but meh, it's so corny and unrealistic that I don't think I will ever watch it again. Anyway, I found out this "review" which is infinitely better than the movie so enjoy it, it's long but well worth a read 


https://jezebel.com/i-rewatched-love-actually-and-am-here-to-ruin-it-for-al-1485136388

[pg1067]

And now, a big classic: Love Actually. I've seen it ages ago, and meanwhile I have been to London, so I said "well, why not, let's try and see it again now that I'm well versed into the parts of London they'll be showing".

Well, it was not a total cringe-crap-fest, but meh, it's so corny and unrealistic that I don't think I will ever watch it again. Anyway, I found out this "review" which is infinitely better than the movie so enjoy it, it's long but well worth a read 


https://jezebel.com/i-rewatched-love-actually-and-am-here-to-ruin-it-for-al-1485136388

That article turned me off before I got to the end of the first paragraph.  Yeesh....

And, for the record, I saw Love Actually once -- probably shortly after it came out on home video -- and I recall not liking it much.

[Adami]

Yea, I also couldn't get past the amount of smug anger in that review.

Personally, I love Love Actually. Is it perfect? Hell no. But god damn do I just really enjoy every minute of it. I know it's apparently a minority view to like that movie, but I like it a ton.

Speaking of which, the last movie I saw was About Time, which I believe is by the same writer/director as Love Actually. I'd imagine if you hated Love Actually, you'd also hate About Time, and maybe that's why I really liked it as well. Some big plot holes and such, as with any time travel movie, but they wanted to focus on certain emotional and philosophical beats and I think they nailed it.

[hefdaddy42]

We watched Happiest Season, a new holiday film on Hulu about a lesbian enduring Christmas with her partner's family, to whom she has not yet come out.

It was fun and awkward, and has a pretty good cast (Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Dan Levy, Mary Holland, the great Victor Garber, Mary Steenburgen).  Of course, it goes without saying that I will see anything with Aubrey Plaza, Dan Levy, or the great Victor Garber.  Good times.

[Orbert]

And now, a big classic: Love Actually. I've seen it ages ago, and meanwhile I have been to London, so I said "well, why not, let's try and see it again now that I'm well versed into the parts of London they'll be showing".

Well, it was not a total cringe-crap-fest, but meh, it's so corny and unrealistic that I don't think I will ever watch it again. Anyway, I found out this "review" which is infinitely better than the movie so enjoy it, it's long but well worth a read 

https://jezebel.com/i-rewatched-love-actually-and-am-here-to-ruin-it-for-al-1485136388

That article turned me off before I got to the end of the first paragraph.  Yeesh....

And, for the record, I saw Love Actually once -- probably shortly after it came out on home video -- and I recall not liking it much.

That site is shit.  I've "accidentally" read stuff there -- or started to read stuff anyway -- and realized that basically it's an Angry Chick Site.  Jezebel.com.  Makes sense.  Women writing articles about things and finding every possible reason to hate on them, and if they can't find enough reasons, they make them up.  The tone is always angry, so all the Angry Chicks in the world can unite in their anger over things that other people like.

I didn't get past the first paragraph, either.  What's wrong with starting a movie in an airport?  She already seemed upset about that, and proceeded to look for more things to get upset about.  Fuck that.  I guess some people find that entertaining, but hey, I'm married.  Why would I seek out more Angry Chicks to annoy me?

[Adami]

We watched Happiest Season, a new holiday film on Hulu about a lesbian enduring Christmas with her partner's family, to whom she has not yet come out.

It was fun and awkward, and has a pretty good cast (Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Dan Levy, Mary Holland, the great Victor Garber, Mary Steenburgen).  Of course, it goes without saying that I will see anything with Aubrey Plaza, Dan Levy, or the great Victor Garber.  Good times.

I was surprised by how good it was, though I really do think the ending was completely unearned. You know? I get they had to do a happy ending, but it felt very out of place.

[pg1067]

Yea, I also couldn't get past the amount of smug anger in that review.

Personally, I love Love Actually. Is it perfect? Hell no. But god damn do I just really enjoy every minute of it. I know it's apparently a minority view to like that movie, but I like it a ton.

TBH, I don't recall it at all except that there's some guy who was a famous singer who was being asked to re-do one of his hits as a Christmas song and wasn't really thrilled about it.  Assuming I have that right, that's neither a positive nor a negative, so all I'm left with is a vague recollection that I didn't really like it.  BUT I also know a couple people who feel as you do about it, so....  Maybe I'll revisit at some point.


On another subject, Mr. Holland's Opus is just SUCH A FUCKING GOOD MOVIE!!  I've never taught, but I can really relate to the lead character, and Richard Dreyfuss plays him so well.  I've never seen it get a lot of accolades, but if anyone has never seen it, it's well worth a couple hours (and, I believe it's on Netflix).

[Stadler]

It's an almost impossible feeling to convey.  I've watched Love Actually a couple times now, and it's just got this vibe, this air, of smugness that I can't get past.  With some of those movies I feel preached to, and/or feel that I'm inadequate because my life isn't as quippy and cute and perfect and witty as theirs.   

[MirrorMask]

Yea, I also couldn't get past the amount of smug anger in that review.

Personally, I love Love Actually. Is it perfect? Hell no. But god damn do I just really enjoy every minute of it. I know it's apparently a minority view to like that movie, but I like it a ton.

TBH, I don't recall it at all except that there's some guy who was a famous singer who was being asked to re-do one of his hits as a Christmas song and wasn't really thrilled about it.  Assuming I have that right, that's neither a positive nor a negative, so all I'm left with is a vague recollection that I didn't really like it.  BUT I also know a couple people who feel as you do about it, so....  Maybe I'll revisit at some point.

That was Bill Nighy and he was the best part of the movie.

To this day, I still don't know if the song he re-did in Christmas fashion, "Love is all around", is a real song from the past, or a song written for the movie. I believe the former but I'm not sure. I truly don't know!

[soupytwist]

Love, Actually is hilarious......for all the wrong reasons,  it's depictions of Life, Love and London are so bafferlingly awful and miscalculated that you can't help but laugh.

[Stadler]

Yea, I also couldn't get past the amount of smug anger in that review.

Personally, I love Love Actually. Is it perfect? Hell no. But god damn do I just really enjoy every minute of it. I know it's apparently a minority view to like that movie, but I like it a ton.

TBH, I don't recall it at all except that there's some guy who was a famous singer who was being asked to re-do one of his hits as a Christmas song and wasn't really thrilled about it.  Assuming I have that right, that's neither a positive nor a negative, so all I'm left with is a vague recollection that I didn't really like it.  BUT I also know a couple people who feel as you do about it, so....  Maybe I'll revisit at some point.

That was Bill Nighy and he was the best part of the movie.

To this day, I still don't know if the song he re-did in Christmas fashion, "Love is all around", is a real song from the past, or a song written for the movie. I believe the former but I'm not sure. I truly don't know!

It's The Troggs.   https://youtu.be/m_HnBac5jWs

REM did a couple different versions of that.  Someone else did as well, but I'm blanking on who right now (I thought it was Joan Jett, but that's the Mary Tyler Moore theme with the same name).

[Kotowboy]

Wet Wet Wet did a version for a film** and it spend 15 weeks at #1 in the UK. Not quite equalling Bryan Adams' record ( which still stands 30 years later ).






** - Pretty sure it was 4 Weddings And A Funeral...

[hefdaddy42]

We watched Happiest Season, a new holiday film on Hulu about a lesbian enduring Christmas with her partner's family, to whom she has not yet come out.

It was fun and awkward, and has a pretty good cast (Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Dan Levy, Mary Holland, the great Victor Garber, Mary Steenburgen).  Of course, it goes without saying that I will see anything with Aubrey Plaza, Dan Levy, or the great Victor Garber.  Good times.

I was surprised by how good it was, though I really do think the ending was completely unearned. You know? I get they had to do a happy ending, but it felt very out of place.

I get that.

But hey, Victor Garber!

[Cool Chris]

I had to look up Love Actually. I am sure I have heard of it, but it is a big nothing in my mental databank.

Christmas in the Heartland. Two kids are headed to their respective grandparents' houses for the holidays, whom they have never met in person, so they decide to "Parent Trap" them (I guess it was renamed to The Christmas Trap). Hijinks ensue. Thought it would be more Christmas-y (it just took place during Christmas, but otherwise was just set decoration - it could have happened anytime - it didn't feel like a Christmas film, if you get me), but it was still a reasonable watch with the family.

A Christmas Carol - 1984 with George C Scott, which is an annual thing for me. It is still my definitive A Christmas Carol version, and (sorry It's a Wonderful Life) my definitive Christmas film. Scott is tremendous, with both his usual explosive venom, as well as vulnerable, understated moments. David Warner's presence makes any film better, and the rest of the cast is solid. The telling is faithful to the original material, yet imbues it with the right amount of "tenderness and depth of feeling." The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come freaked me out as a kid. That screeching sound was terrifying. 

[jjrock88]

Watched Black Christmas. Some consider it the first slasher movie and for a movie filmed in 1974, it’s definitely held up on the scary end. That Billy is an insane prick.

[Orbert]

A Christmas Carol - 1984 with George C Scott, which is an annual thing for me. It is still my definitive A Christmas Carol version, and (sorry It's a Wonderful Life) my definitive Christmas film. Scott is tremendous, with both his usual explosive venom, as well as vulnerable, understated moments. David Warner's presence makes any film better, and the rest of the cast is solid. The telling is faithful to the original material, yet imbues it with the right amount of "tenderness and depth of feeling." The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come freaked me out as a kid. That screeching sound was terrifying. 

This is my favorite version of the classic as well.  Yeah, Alastair Sim is great in the old B&W version, but George C. Scott is George C. Scott.  A bit more understated where I think it works better, and a bit more over-the-top in a few places where I think it works better.  Different acting styles or whatever, but George C. is The Man.

[ZirconBlue]

The Muppet Christmas Carol is the best.

[KevShmev]

I saw Last Christmas again recently and enjoyed the heck out of it.  The music of George Michael + the adorableness of Emilia Clarke = WIN. 

[El Barto]

A Christmas Carol - 1984 with George C Scott, which is an annual thing for me. It is still my definitive A Christmas Carol version, and (sorry It's a Wonderful Life) my definitive Christmas film. Scott is tremendous, with both his usual explosive venom, as well as vulnerable, understated moments. David Warner's presence makes any film better, and the rest of the cast is solid. The telling is faithful to the original material, yet imbues it with the right amount of "tenderness and depth of feeling." The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come freaked me out as a kid. That screeching sound was terrifying. 

This is my favorite version of the classic as well.  Yeah, Alastair Sim is great in the old B&W version, but George C. Scott is George C. Scott.  A bit more understated where I think it works better, and a bit more over-the-top in a few places where I think it works better.  Different acting styles or whatever, but George C. is The Man.

Not much point in me bringing it up, because nobody will be able to find it, by my favorite is a stage reading with James Earl Jones and Martin Sheen. They read for a small audience from Dickens's original manuscript, with Jones as Scrooge and Sheen as everybody else. Dickens had a narrative version he used to read for people on street corners, and that's the version they read. Jones started off fairly nervous and it really showed, but after ten or so minutes he was really bringing it home. By the time of his epiphany you're just grinning from ear to ear. Sheen is, of course, The Man.

What made it so cool was its simplicity. It's just the two of them in tuxedos standing at a pair of podiums. The only props or staging was Sheen's glasses, which he'd occasionally whip off for dramatic effect, and a single blue light that shone down on him when he was voicing one of the spirits. You had to rely completely on their narrative, and of course these two guys totally reel you in. You're just captivated by them. 

Unfortunately, it was a PBS production and was only made available for educational purposes. I have a friend who worked for KERA, and for Christmas one year she had the guy in their vault rip me off a copy from their original betamax after I mentioned having been blown completely away by it.

[Orbert]

That sounds pretty awesome.

(There's always YouTube)

[Podaar]

I found an Amazon listing for it on VHS. Of course, you probably wouldn't want to pay that much, nor have to find a VHS player.

[El Barto]

I found an Amazon listing for it on VHS. Of course, you probably wouldn't want to pay that much, nor have to find a VHS player.

It's always been available. It's just always been expensive because it was released for educational institutions. Not sure why, really.  I doubt I could upload it to YT, as I probably don't even have an account, and I doubt I could upload an hour long program. I might be able to upload it to a torrenting site, though. I'll see if it's doable.

[Cool Chris]

This is my favorite version of the classic as well.  Yeah, Alastair Sim is great in the old B&W version, but George C. Scott is George C. Scott.  A bit more understated where I think it works better, and a bit more over-the-top in a few places where I think it works better.  Different acting styles or whatever, but George C. is The Man.

Just watched a 1950s TV performance with Fredric March. It was very bare bones with horrid music throughout*. At this point I have little desire to see any more versions, but am always curious to see how Scrooge is portrayed. It seems like actors/directors have the propensity to play Scrooge as an angry old man. Scott played him as a cantankerous fellow who seemed content in his solitude and his position in life. He is often bemused by his own wit, and is able to chuckle when the guests at Fred's party poke fun at him. But when he sees Bob say at the end "I am a truly happy man" it hits him that being content is far from being happy.

*There is one bit i have never seen before and thought was brilliant. When he sees his tombstone at the graveyard (I get why someone would be shocked and dismayed at seeing their own gravestone, but why is it always such a dramatic reveal? Why is it such an impetus for him to change? anyway....), he stumbles to the ground, and sees the tombstone of Tiny Tim. Scrooge learns from Ghost of Christmas Present that Tiny Tim will not live long without better care and treatment, but this was a unique and inspired way to really drive it home.

[gmillerdrake]

Last couple nights me and the kiddos watched a couple Netflix movies. First one was '6 Underground'....that Ryan Renolds 'action' flick by Michael Bay. Holy crap what a horrible movie. Neat premise but it must have been written by a first year film student. Even if you just like action and blow em' up stuff it was weak. Horrible choice by us.

Then we watched 'Old Guard'...the Charlize Theron movie. That wasn't bad. I really like the idea behind it but the story arc they took just was 'meh' to me. I feel like they missed an opportunity to make a really good movie. It was a little bland for the foundation they laid.

[El Barto]

Rollercoaster (1977)

Typical 70's thriller. Not bad, but nothing particularly great about it, either. It had excellent cast, and a few cool moments, though. I'm a big Widmark fan, and this was one of his latter roles. Moreover, George Segal was excellent in the role of normal guy roped into a situation well over his head. It also helps that I'm fond of coasters and amusement parks, so there's a familiarity for me there. I've been to one of those parks and ridden the Revolution, which was integral to the movie. What really clinched it, though, was Timothy Bottoms as the bad guy. Bottoms's latter career has been helped along by his resemblance to George W. Bush. In 1977 he bore an uncanny resemblance to W from that era. Once you see this it's impossible to unsee. You therefore watch this movie seeing W. in the impossible role of a psychopath murdering innocent people to make himself filthy stinking rich. Adds a whole new dimension to an otherwise unremarkable 70s movie and I got a real kick out of it.

[Kotowboy]

Holy crap what a horrible movie. Neat premise but it must have been written by a first year film student.

Sounds like "Wanted" - the awful Angelina Jolie film.

It's awful. It's as if The Matrix was written by twelve year old boys.