Movie Talk

Was looking for a movie to watch last night while folding laundry. I ended up watching ZOMBIELAND (2019) with Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Abigail Breslin, Amber Heard and a great cameo by Bill Murray. Hysterically funny with endless violence and zombie killing. Harrelson is a great, physical comic actor and he shines here. 

Watched a terrific documentary on Netflix last night: Is That Black Enough For You?!? Written, directed and narrated by Elvis Mitchell, former film critic for NPR. A detailed and fascinating survey of Black cinema and Blacks in cinema. I'd suggest watching with a pencil and paper to jot down the names of some of the films he mentions. They go by quickly and there were so many that I'd love to see. 

Found it here: 

The 30 Best Documentaries on Netflix

rcarter31 said:

rcarter31 said:

Quirky small film on Max. Reality.  The script is the transcript of her interrogation...

‘Reality’: True story of NSA leaker is stranger than fictionSydney Sweeney plays Reality Winner, leaker of Russian election interference document, in this haunting film based on verbatim transcriptsReview by Ann Hornaday(4 stars)The genius of “Reality,” Tina Satter’s flawlessly calibrated thriller based on her 2019 play “Is This a Room,” lies in its utter banality: Set mostly in a featureless one-story home in Augusta, Ga., on a stifling hot day in June 2017, this tense, mesmerizingly paced drama unfolds with a steady drip of mundane moments that gather walloping force as the minutes tick by.The Reality of the title is Reality Winner, a National Security Agency contractor who leaked a document regarding Russian hackers seeking to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and was subsequently sentenced to five years in federal prison, the longest sentence ever imposed for that crime. Few Americans probably remember Winner’s case, which in this case is an advantage, better allowing Satter and her star — a revelatory Sydney Sweeney — to work their tautly coiled craftsmanship.Winner is just getting home from running errands when she’s approached by two FBI agents (Josh Hamilton and Marchánt Davis), who meet her in the driveway and almost immediately begin asking whether there are any animals in the house. Reality’s dog and cat become absurdly comic supporting players in a Kafkaesque chamber piece whose dialogue is taken entirely from transcripts of the ensuing interrogation. Winner — small, blond, a specialist in Dari and Pashto who teaches yoga and owns a pink AR-15, among other firearms — is a bundle of fascinating contradictions: She’s comfortable talking nat-sec shop with the guys and is nothing if not cooperative as more agents gather to search her home, with Hamilton’s special agent Garrick sequestering her in a storeroom to carry out most of his questioning.Satter’s original title was taken from a brief — and surreal — interruption in Winner’s interrogation; “Reality” is more literal — with its close-ups and wider visual range, the movie becomes an even more compelling portrait of an already compelling subject — and also more layered, as Winner’s story and demeanor morph from wide-eyed naiveté to something more ambiguous. Sweeney, best known for playing cynical Gen-Zers in series like “The White Lotus” and “Euphoria,” delivers a powerhouse performance, stripping every trace of Hollywood glamour to play a 25-year-old Air Force veteran who’s both incredibly strong and breathtakingly vulnerable.Satter, who makes her filmmaking debut here, brilliantly deploys cinematic technique to deepen and animate what might easily have been a static tableau of talking heads, intercutting real-life tape and introducing moments of static to stand in for redactions in the official record. One of those elisions is the name of the online outlet to which Winner sent the incriminating article. When she says the name out loud, it plays like a whopper of a reveal. As in the recent films “I Carry You With Me” and “You Resemble Me,” Satter melds fact and fiction with meticulous and ultimately stunning results. As a spellbinding example of a new form of docudrama, “Reality” is the kind of movie that demonstrates what cinema can do in the hands of true artists: maybe not change the world, but widen and deepen our understanding of it. “Reality” isn’t just stranger than fiction: It’s subtler, sadder and exponentially more haunting.TV-MA. Available on Max. Contains some mature thematic elements. 83 minutes.

I found this movie extremely annoying.  More specifically, the FBI agents were incredibly annoying. Sweeney is great, but it's painful to watch.

Tried to watch ELVIS last night on Max but ran into 3 issues:

1. My large screen TV couldn't seem to show the entire picture so much of the top and bottom of the picture was lost. Looked for a way to change the aspect ratio (???) but had no luck. 

2. I couldn't get the subtitles to work on Max. I tend to use them on every movie, and I just couldn't make them work on Max. Frustrating. 

3. I found the lighting, sound and composition of many of the scenes dark and off-putting, And I thought the Hanks character, Colonel Potter, was too cartoonish, too broadly drawn and badly acted. 

I lasted about 30 mins. I've heard great things about this film but there was no way I was going to put up with that crap for 2 hours and 39 mins.

So instead, I started watching Ingrid Goes West, another film loved by the NYT. Again, I lasted about 35 mins. Bad movie. Bad writing. Bad acting. 

So, I watched the Mets scrape out a win in the 8th. 

Is there a website or app that’s a matchmaker for filmgoers and critics?  You could go on, rate a bunch of movies you’ve seen and it would match you with film reviewers who enjoy the kind of films you like, then sets up a link to those critics for movies that they’ve reviewed. 

Stephen Whitty was the in-house film critic for the Star Ledger for years. A lot of the time he disliked movies I loved, and loved movies I didn’t enjoy. 

Review aggregators can be helpful, but it would be nice to have something more tailored. Maybe imbd and Tinder could team up to develop something that helps match you with reviewers, but also helps match you with romantic partners who match those same reviewers. 

mrincredible said:

Is there a website or app that’s a matchmaker for filmgoers and critics?  You could go on, rate a bunch of movies you’ve seen and it would match you with film reviewers who enjoy the kind of films you like, then sets up a link to those critics for movies that they’ve reviewed. 

Stephen Whitty was the in-house film critic for the Star Ledger for years. A lot of the time he disliked movies I loved, and loved movies I didn’t enjoy. 

Review aggregators can be helpful, but it would be nice to have something more tailored. Maybe imbd and Tinder could team up to develop something that helps match you with reviewers, but also helps match you with romantic partners who match those same reviewers. 

If you've known me for any length of time, you know I'm a huge fan of the New York Times. (Of course, that has changed a bit as they no longer offer local sport coverage for free or in the paper.) 

I get movie newsletters from the NYT and they often publish lists of movies to see. I use these as a guide for my streaming watching. (They recommended Ingrid Goes West with Aubrey Plaza and I thought it sucked so there's that.) 

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

Tried to watch ELVIS last night on Max but ran into 3 issues:

1. My large screen TV couldn't seem to show the entire picture so much of the top and bottom of the picture was lost. Looked for a way to change the aspect ratio (???) but had no luck. 

2. I couldn't get the subtitles to work on Max. I tend to use them on every movie, and I just couldn't make them work on Max. Frustrating. 

3. I found the lighting, sound and composition of many of the scenes dark and off-putting, And I thought the Hanks character, Colonel Potter, was too cartoonish, too broadly drawn and badly acted. 

I lasted about 30 mins. I've heard great things about this film but there was no way I was going to put up with that crap for 2 hours and 39 mins.

So instead, I started watching Ingrid Goes West, another film loved by the NYT. Again, I lasted about 35 mins. Bad movie. Bad writing. Bad acting. 

So, I watched the Mets scrape out a win in the 8th. 

Elvis was very disappointing. I couldn't watch Tom Hanks any longer, gave up about 45 minutes into the movie.  The scenes where Elvis performed were good, but Hanks was horrible.

Watched Twentieth Century for the first time tonight. Then, on a hunch, I googled Only Murders in the Building, Martin Short, John Barrymore and Oscar Jaffe.

No luck. Looks like I may be the only one who suspects that Short, in his tour de force playing a Broadway director, has been nodding at Barrymore the whole time.

Re-watched a favorite David Cronenberg film over the weekend: THE DEAD ZONE (1983). From a Stephen King book. Creepy as hell but really fun. Christopher Walken Tom Skerrit, Martin Sheen (as the bad guy), Brooke Adams, Herbert Lom, Anthony Zerbe. The Walken character awakes from a 5-year coma after a car crash and, well, he's a different guy now. It's on Prime. 

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

Re-watched a favorite David Cronenberg film over the weekend: THE DEAD ZONE (1983). From a Stephen King book. Creepy as hell but really fun. Christopher Walken Tom Skerrit, Martin Sheen (as the bad guy), Brooke Adams, Herbert Lom, Anthony Zerbe. The Walken character awakes from a 5-year coma after a car crash and, well, he's a different guy now. It's on Prime. 

An underappreciated old favorite, especially with Walken playing against type as a very sympathetic character.

bub said:

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

Re-watched a favorite David Cronenberg film over the weekend: THE DEAD ZONE (1983). From a Stephen King book. Creepy as hell but really fun. Christopher Walken Tom Skerrit, Martin Sheen (as the bad guy), Brooke Adams, Herbert Lom, Anthony Zerbe. The Walken character awakes from a 5-year coma after a car crash and, well, he's a different guy now. It's on Prime. 

An underappreciated old favorite, especially with Walken playing against type as a very sympathetic character.

Yeah - one of the best King adaptations.

We finally got out to see movies in the theatre. I like the new SOPAC theatre setup. 

New Indiana Jones: not bad. Not great. A modestly entertaining flick that should have been 20-25 minutes shorter. The end was completely out of left field. Are they setting up Phoebe Waller-Bridge to be the new face of the franchise?  Lots of Nazis get punched and shot so that’s always a plus. 

Barbie: very entertaining, very thought-provoking. I can see why conservatives hate it because it brings up some very uncomfortable truths about gender dynamics in the US. My favorite Barbie (other than the main character) was Kate McKinnon. The movie missed an opportunity: there was an official Harley Quinn Barbie doll released in 2006 (or thereabouts). Barbieland is populated by historic Barbie dolls so she could have made an appearance. But who could have played her?

The Meg 2: I’ve been awaiting this sequel for years. I love a good over-the-top giant monster action flick and this fit the bill pretty well. The second half was definitely where things took off, and I think Jason Statham is so good at tongue in cheek action. Let the left hemisphere of your brain wander off, eat some popcorn and watch giant sharks try to eat people. 

mrincredible said:

We finally got out to see movies in the theatre. I like the new SOPAC theatre setup. 

Barbie: very entertaining, very thought-provoking. I can see why conservatives hate it because it brings up some very uncomfortable truths about gender dynamics in the US. My favorite Barbie (other than the main character) was Kate McKinnon. The movie missed an opportunity: there was an official Harley Quinn Barbie doll released in 2006 (or thereabouts). Barbieland is populated by historic Barbie dolls so she could have made an appearance. But who could have played her?

Saw Barbie today at SOPAC. First time in a movie theater since long before COVID, but I wanted to see it. I do think there were a few missed opportunities in the film but all in all, very entertaining... 

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

Re-watched a favorite David Cronenberg film over the weekend: THE DEAD ZONE (1983). From a Stephen King book. Creepy as hell but really fun. Christopher Walken Tom Skerrit, Martin Sheen (as the bad guy), Brooke Adams, Herbert Lom, Anthony Zerbe. The Walken character awakes from a 5-year coma after a car crash and, well, he's a different guy now. It's on Prime. 

I've loved Walken since he was Nick in Deerhunter. The cool thing about Walken is that he always appears as if he just came out of a coma. 

I just finished taking a class with a bunch of folks, most of whom are quite a bit younger than me. I told them if they want to get a glimpse of what NYC used to be, it's hard to go wrong with three Scorcese films -- Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, and After Hours. 

After Hours is the overlooked Scorcese film. But it's a perfect little 90 minute Kafka-esque gem. I love films that blend funny with creepiness and dread. 

ml1 said:

I just finished taking a class with a bunch of folks, most of whom are quite a bit younger than me. I told them if they want to get a glimpse of what NYC used to be, it's hard to go wrong with three Scorcese films -- Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, and After Hours. 

After Hours is the overlooked Scorcese film. But it's a perfect little 90 minute Kafka-esque gem. I love films that blend funny with creepiness and dread. 

Growing up in the city, I'd pick After Hours as the best depiction of life there with an emphasis on downtown, my neighborhood.

Morganna said:

ml1 said:

I just finished taking a class with a bunch of folks, most of whom are quite a bit younger than me. I told them if they want to get a glimpse of what NYC used to be, it's hard to go wrong with three Scorcese films -- Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, and After Hours. 

After Hours is the overlooked Scorcese film. But it's a perfect little 90 minute Kafka-esque gem. I love films that blend funny with creepiness and dread. 

Growing up in the city, I'd pick After Hours as the best depiction of life there with an emphasis on downtown, my neighborhood.

the people who worked on the film all have said that about the only thing the crew needed to do to prepare to film was wet down the streets. Otherwise, those deserted streets were what Soho looked like at 3am.

I saw Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon on Sunday and I liked it. At 3.5 hours it was 45-60 mins too long and it starred two white guys in a movie about the genocide against of Native Americans. But the acting all around was stellar and the set design was fantastic, making the action seem real in real looking locations, costumes, etc. It was a very sad but unsurprising story about the white man's hubris, greed, violence and racism. (I didn't get the dancing in the flames bit, though. That scene could have been cut, as far as I'm concerned.)

This weekend I saw the Taylor Swift concert movie, The Eras Tour. It's not a documentary, it's a filmed stadium show in LA with lots of stage effects, lighting, risers, balconies, lots of costume changes, dance routines, and a bit of music-video-type editing.  But, bottom line, I loved it. I was not very familiar with her music but she's a great, charismatic and attractive performer, with a great band, dancers, and backup singers. A very big production. At 3+ hours it's very long, but she puts on 3+ hour shows. It's the best of today's Top-40 pop music.  Try to see it on a big screen with good sound. You'll be glad you did. 

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

This weekend I saw the Taylor Swift concert movie, The Eras Tour. It's not a documentary, it's a filmed stadium show in LA with lots of stage effects, lighting, risers, balconies, lots of costume changes, dance routines, and a bit of music-video-type editing.  But, bottom line, I loved it. I was not very familiar with her music but she's a great, charismatic and attractive performer, with a great band, dancers, and backup singers. A very big production. At 3+ hours it's very long, but she puts on 3+ hour shows. It's the best of today's Top-40 pop music.  Try to see it on a big screen with good sound. You'll be glad you did. 

Many people singing along?  Perhaps that crowd has died down a bit after its initial release.

And speaking of live concert movies - Stop Making Sense is coming to the Woodland in a few weeks (December 8):

https://maplewood.worldwebs.com/calendar/detail/adult-night-out-dinner-a-movie-stop-making-sense

jamie said:

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

This weekend I saw the Taylor Swift concert movie, The Eras Tour. It's not a documentary, it's a filmed stadium show in LA with lots of stage effects, lighting, risers, balconies, lots of costume changes, dance routines, and a bit of music-video-type editing.  But, bottom line, I loved it. I was not very familiar with her music but she's a great, charismatic and attractive performer, with a great band, dancers, and backup singers. A very big production. At 3+ hours it's very long, but she puts on 3+ hour shows. It's the best of today's Top-40 pop music.  Try to see it on a big screen with good sound. You'll be glad you did. 

Many people singing along?  Perhaps that crowd has died down a bit after its initial release.

And speaking of live concert movies - Stop Making Sense is coming to the Woodland in a few weeks (December 8):

https://maplewood.worldwebs.com/calendar/detail/adult-night-out-dinner-a-movie-stop-making-sense

Hi, Jamie, 

It was an afternoon showing and not very crowded at Wayne AMC 14. But a few young people were singing along and clapping and cheering. A fascinating cultural phenomenon, this Eras Tour. 

I loved Stop Making Sense, have seen it a few times and will try to see it in theaters. I think it's among the very best concert films (Woodstock Directors Cut, Last Waltz, Let It Be, etc.).

I enjoyed watching the Swift Americana documentary about her, and Reputation, a film of her last tour, on Netflix recently.  I always turn on the captioned lyrics for music documentaries, and it helps a lot.  While not at all a Swiftie, I think that a number of her songs have quite creative and thoughtful lyrics about relationships, and sometimes interesting tunes, and she rises far above most pop singers in that regard.  I look forward to watching ERAS stream at home when the bidding wars are over.

Jasmo said:

I enjoyed watching the Swift Americana documentary about her, and Reputation, a film of her last tour, on Netflix recently.  I always turn on the captioned lyrics for music documentaries, and it helps a lot.  While not at all a Swiftie, I think that a number of her songs have quite creative and thoughtful lyrics about relationships, and sometimes interesting tunes, and she rises far above most pop singers in that regard.  I look forward to watching ERAS stream at home when the bidding wars are over.

This film is fun for a variety of reasons (not the least of which is she's a very attractive, charismatic woman).  Some songs are really good and some less so, but the spectacle is the thing. 

Let me suggest you see the spectacle in a theater with a big screen and good sound. You won't be sorry. I think the screaming, singing, dancing crowds of young girls have all seen it. 

For fans of Robocop. (from a recent Netflix(?) documentary about he film)

I found Nyad about as interesting as I would actually swimming from Cuba to Key West myself. Jodi Foster and Annette Bening were great but what a boring plot.  Endless.  Repetitive. Nothing happens.  They should have written in her getting swallowed by a whale or something.  Anything. Some stories just don't need to be made into movies.  A one hour docu-drama maybe. 

I'm likely in the minority in my opinion. 

hmm, boring plot?    Maybe they did milk it a bit, but I enjoyed the ride.

We saw Killers of the Flower Moon - enjoyed it - reviews were all over the place.  It could have been a little shorter - but interesting story.

jamie said:

We saw Killers of the Flower Moon - enjoyed it - reviews were all over the place. It could have been a little shorter - but interesting story.

All David Grann does is write interesting stories, if you’re inclined to call up any of his New Yorker articles (though I don’t know what will appear, if anything, outside a paywall).

"Taking Care of Maya" on Netflix.

yahooyahoo said:

"Taking Care of Maya" on Netflix.

That was very well done - crazy story.

I don't know if any of you have heard of this movie, Barbie, but it was great!