Movies you're watching

[Zloth]

Not a movie, but I've been watching Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency on DVD (looks like it's on Hulu). That first season is awesome! It's barely related to the books, but it stands tall on its own and certainly has Douglas Adams' sense of universal insanity.

 

[Frindis]

I recently watched xXx from (2002) starring: Vin Diesel/Asia Argento /Marton Csokas /Samuel L. Jackson and some other guys and gals.

Plot: Young criminal Vin Diesel gets to choose between prison or becoming a special undercover agent with tons of James Bond perks in his arsenal. Guess what he chose... Yeah, so your basic undercover "I'm so badass" agent with a really bad 90's looking jacket falling in love with a girl and of course, having to kill an evil villain. Is the movie any good? Well, It's not bad. It is an OK hangover movie, but don't really expect much more. You'll laugh a little, find some of the stunts cool and it is also fun to see a young Vin Diesel trying to act tough before he actually started looking tough. Next on the list is rewatching Riddick, now THAT movie has a Vin Diesel you do not joke around with.

 

[Brian Boru]

taking blind stabs at finding a movie without Morgan Freeman—0-6 so far…

This is not going well

London Has Fallen 2016
Gerard Butler
Aaron Eckhart
Morgan Freeman
Angela Bassett
This is better than Olympus Has Fallen. There's an intro, but it's relevant and not too long. The action and special effects are better, and it plays more as a straight action movie.

Well directed, decent camera work, keeps up the pacing. If you like action, this is worth a watch.

7/10.

PS there's another, Angel Has Fallen 2019—I haven't seen it, similar IMDb rating to first two.

 

[DXCHASE]

Recently watched Spiderman No Way Home: I dont like the whole marvel universe that much, i watch the movies because why not, they can be mindless fun and look good CGI wise sometimes. This movie though...was fantastic. I loved the idea of this one, storyline was good and all. I do like Tom Holland as Spiderman so, easily in my "top 3" marvel movies if i had to make a list.

Up next, in yet another universe in which i have the same feelings about as Marvel (DC), ill be watching The Batman.

See, ill watch these movies regardless of how much i dont like the universes. But not Star Wars, i dont even give that franchise a chance Star Trek ALL DAY. Ok i take that back, if my wife didnt despise star wars, id probably be watching them

 

[JPalmer]

Personally, I will suggest to you some of my favorite movies which I had watched during a lockdown:
The first one is Extraction
Second is 6 Underground
Third is Bird Box

 

[Zloth]

I watched Spiderman: No Way Home, too. Pretty good, though I wouldn't say it's my favorite. Long time Spidy fans must have been freaking out in the theaters!

I've had ENOUGH Batman. The guy needs to take a rest for a decade or two.

 

[Brian Boru]

The Lost City 2022
Sandra Bullock
Channing Tatum
Daniel Radcliffe
Similar plot to Romancing the Stone 1984, but isn't a patch on that so-watchable adventure comedy movie. Romance novelist and her long-time cover model—obviously based on Fabio—looking for treasure on a remote island. She's kidnapped to translate ancient text, he comes to rescue her…

It's not Sandra, I'd watch her narrate an hour-long RPG boss fight, it's just a poor script and generally poor execution. Neither of the guys 'brought it', so if you're not a Sandra fan, this is 45/100.

6/10

PS Brad Pitt has a 5-minute cameo, he's not 'in' the movie.

 

[Brian Boru]

Operation Mincemeat 2021
Colin Firth
Matthew Macfadyen
Kelly Macdonald
Good account of maybe the finest deception of WW2. Cast are fine, but it's around 30 minutes too long. They should have cut the romance and stuck with the important subject matter—it surely didn't need any lipstick to be a silk purse. It's 8/10 if you don't mind the romantic detour.
7/10.

 

[Frindis]

I watched Prometheus (2012) and Alien Covenant (2017) again this week, both movies portraying subspecies of the xenomorph: Alien. Loosely connected to the original movie Alien (1979).

Prometheus with some stunning landscapes planted all over the movie and a pretty decent soundtrack. A bit more slow-paced than Covenant, but also more well put together and with some really cool alien architecture in some scenes. Score: 7/10

Alien Covenant with a more action-filled plot and more focus on grotesque and bloody scenes of Neomorphs (Subspecies) transformation/breeding and killing of humans. Score 6/10

 

[Frindis]

Just finished watching White Man Can't Jump [1992] starring Woody Harrelson, Wesley Snipes, and Rosie Perez to mention the most important roles. The movie is all about basketball, relationship problems, and making bad choices. It floats perfectly, not an oscar by any means, but who cares. It's cool, hip & hip to the hop, slam dunks when it comes to making a chill and fun movie. You get exactly what you want out of this movie. Score 8/10

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHRvNAENaxk

 

[Frindis]

Hustle (2022)
Adam Sandler
Queen Latifah
Robert Duvall (love that guy!)
Juancho Hernangomez
Ben Foster

Pretty good movie with Adam Sandler and Juancho Hernangomez doing good roles. Robert Duvall is himself basically, which is never wrong. Ben Foster is meh in this movie, though it is not his fault, his part of the script is poorly written. Sandler is really good in his more serious roles, he got a lot of talent. The plot is nothing fancy, but Sandler manages to bump it up a notch or two. Hernangomez is really good at basketball, no idea if he is a pro in real life though, perhaps close to it. He does all right acting-wise. Queen Latifah is Sandler's wife and she basically tries to support him as his wife, nothing more, nothing less. Recommended watching with a loved one, a glass of wine, and some Pringles (You'll get the Pringles reference in the movie)

Score: 7/10.

 

[Brian Boru]

Hernangomez is really good at basketball, no idea if he is a pro

Spanish international, plays with Utah Jazz—Wiki.

Robert Duvall (love that guy!)

Me too

Robert Duvall is himself basically, which is never wrong

Yeah, there are some you just want to play themselves RD, James Woods, Tommy Lee Jones, Sandra Bullock, Samuel Jackson, John Cleese, Charles Bronson…

 

[Frindis]

@Brian Boru Love the list, the only one I disapprove of is Bullock. Loved her in Speed and Demolition Man and I guess Gravity is OK also, but I find her latest movies to be pretty lackluster.

 

[Brian Boru]

Bullock … her latest movies to be pretty lackluster

I haven't seen (m)any of those, I haven't watched many movies this century—imo TV has taken over as the better medium for good stuff.

Just the actors themselves, irrespective of what they're in, they just have that 'something' which I always enjoy.

 

[SleepingDog]

I haven't seen (m)any of those, I haven't watched many movies this century—imo TV has taken over as the better medium for good stuff.

Just the actors themselves, irrespective of what they're in, they just have that 'something' which I always enjoy.

Agree with you. The production values in TV series have come along leaps and bounds over the last 20 years. For example look at the Battlestar Galactica versions. Also I think that the equipment we have at home means that the picture and sound are usually excellent. For me the kicker has always been the ability to tell a story over several hours rather than the 90 to 150 minutes you get watching a film.

@Brian Boru Love the list, the only one I disapprove of is Bullock. Loved her in Speed and Demolition Man and I guess Gravity is OK also, but I find her latest movies to be pretty lackluster.

I think we disagree. I saw Gravity in 3D in the cinema and it knocked my socks off. Seeing SB moving through the space (wreck) station was awesome. Her character acting was, imo, very good. My preference is for her early romantic comedy (While You Were Sleeping, Two Weeks Notice etc). Also liked The Heat which is a later buddy comedy. It must be difficult to move from "the girl next door" in rom-coms to being something more serious and I think with Gravity she shows she can do it but I don't think she has pulled it off as well as Hugh Grant but that's another story (who thought that HG could act!).

 

[Frindis]

Wait, Huge Grant? Don't you mean George Clooney in Gravity? I did not see it in 3D, I watched it at home on a small screen, so I guess that has to be taken into consideration also. There are some movies you just have to see in the cinema to really get the best experience, like the Star Wars series as an example.

 

[SleepingDog]

Wait, Huge Grant? Don't you mean George Clooney in Gravity?

No but I could of. HG was also a rom-com comedy actor who has since taken up some serious credits. In "A Very English Scandal" his performance convinced all that he was Jeremy Thorpe. "The Undoing" was another excellent performance in a murder mystery - I was convinced he was innocent even though that was clearly untrue. Never saw the "Gentlemen" but he got good reviews for his parts. Of course there was "Paddington 2" were he played an actor passed his prime.

 

[Frindis]

My bad, I misunderstood. I blame it on my hangover

 

[technomadic_rony]

Watched Cha Cha Real Smooth on Apple TV+ last night with my gf. It was a decent movie. The main character was lovely, stand-up guy in the movie and the actor(who's also the director and the writer of the movie) played the role pretty well. It was a relatively short movie and it didn't feel like a drag. I'll give it a 7/10.

 

[Zloth]

I'm watching Xenosaga 1's cutscenes back to back - they make for a pretty good anime'ish story when put together. It's a little odd because somebody will say something like "we'll need to make our way to the center of this place," the scene will end, and the next scene will start with them at the center of the place. Or a big, nasty boss will show up, the scene will end, and the next one will start with the boss dying. It's just the cutscenes, no game play. But it still works nicely!

 

[ItsRonnieYall]

Welcome to the forum, and thanks for your lovely opening contribution


Anyone interested in more of that, there's a nice long-run TV show called Time Team which did 3-day digs around UK mostly. Non-fiction with engaging real archeologists and real discoveries.

Ohhh!! hadn't heard about that one, I for sure will check it out.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[MountainSlayer]

I'm a big fan of all Nolan's movies!

 

[DXCHASE]

I just watched Beavis and Butthead Do the Universe and its funny! Really well done in the vein that its in, a good successor to Beavis and Butthead Do America and it has a stellar voice cast (favorite being Tig Notaro). It has a 96% on rotten tomatoes which is surprising to me but, its a good surprise. Im not sure this is the right crowd that would enjoy that movie, but i did, i grew up in the 90s.

 

[Brian Boru]

The Harry Potter series

Watched all 8 of those recently! Wonderful world building and charm in the first few, then it gets darker and more serious in the last few. I'm not a big fantasy fan, but I enjoyed it—I rate series 75, with 80 for the first ones and 70 for the later ones.

The kids are great, the casts are generally top notch—my fav was Alan Rickman as Professor Snape the potions teacher… what a presence and voice!

The General's Daughter 1999
John Travolta
Madeleine Stowe
James Cromwell
James Woods
These guys are 3 of my fav actors, so this 2 hours of engrossing dark military crime thriller scores 8/10 for me. Travolta hams a bit early on but then gets into his stride.

Miss Congenitally 1 & 2 2000 & 2005
Sandra Bullock
Michael Caine
William Shatner
Candice Bergen
If you're a Sandra Bullock fan, watch these—she pretty much carries both movies. I'm a big fan, so score these 8/10 and 6/10—drop a point if Sandra isn't your thing.

The 1st movie is much better than the 2nd, largely due to the interaction between Sandra and Michael—of whom I'm also a big fan.

Plot is an attack on the Miss USA pageant, so FBI agent plain-Jane Sandra has to go undercover as a contestant—and it's Michael's job to prettify her to a credible level.

2nd movie is about a kidnap of Miss USA—watchable for Sandra fans.

 

[Brian Boru]

The Hunt for Red October 1990
Sean Connery
Alec Baldwin
Scott Glenn
Stellan Skarsgård
Tim Curry
Peter Firth
James Earl Jones
Sam Neill
What a cast! One of the great political-military thrillers, over 2 hours flies by—this is one of my 10/10s. Perhaps best-ever performances from Sean and Alec, and the rest are rock solid.

At least my 3rd time seeing this, and still as tense and compelling as ever.