What Movies Have You Seen Lately?

Quote: Nareed

Penn did a bit with a nail-gun when I saw their show in Vegas (he probably still does it). He explained there are "blanks" among the nail strip, meaning parts without any nail. So he can nail pieces of wood, then pretend to nil his hand, or shoot a nail on his temple, and come out unscathed. the claim is he knows which are blanks and which are real.

I cringed through the whole bit.

Often, when a magician tells you how he's doing it... he's not doing it that way at all... Derren Brown uses that misdirection a lot. It works for the smarks, those who know enough of the techniques used to try and figure it out, but can be gulled into a false sense of understanding. I love that sort of show, which works on a second level.

I watched Movie 43. If you have the opportunity, instead go to your bathroom, take a dump and watch that in the bowl for an hour and half. It's about the same.

Terrible ensemble movie, that has a series of one-note jokes supposedly the brain child of a crazed Dnnis Quaid. They have all been written and directed by a variety of folks, who I am sure thought they were funny... and they would have been for a 2-minute sketch show. Apart from the homeschooling skit, none of them actually survive the 5-10 minutes they are given. Or 5-10 seconds they deserve. Scatological, embarrassing and uncomfortable. Everyone should be ashamed of being in this.

I saw Jurassic World a few days ago. It is a worthy addition to the series. The original is still the best and I think the sequels are all about equal to each other.

I saw Gravity last night. It was so bad, so
awful, I can't find words. The best thing
is to go to IMDB and read the 40 PAGES
of Hated It reviews.

I loved Inside Out! It is a glorious return for Pixar.

Quote: TheCesspit

I watched Movie 43. If you have the opportunity, instead go to your bathroom, take a dump and watch that in the bowl for an hour and half. It's about the same.

Terrible ensemble movie, that has a series of one-note jokes supposedly the brain child of a crazed Dnnis Quaid. They have all been written and directed by a variety of folks, who I am sure thought they were funny... and they would have been for a 2-minute sketch show. Apart from the homeschooling skit, none of them actually survive the 5-10 minutes they are given. Or 5-10 seconds they deserve. Scatological, embarrassing and uncomfortable. Everyone should be ashamed of being in this.

Maybe you're too old to appreciate it now. It reminded me of a modern Kentucky Fried Movie or Groove Tube, which I saw in high school. Maybe the Internet and cable TV has diminished the impact of ribald comedy today; its novelty has worn out. But I laughed in parts. But I still laugh at fart jokes too.

We've seen a few that I haven't mentioned yet. All of them were at least okay.

Woman in Gold. Good movie for old people (meant earnestly). Helen Mirren takes on the Austrian government over artwork looted by Nazis. We liked it. Pretty straightforward stuff, without nuances, like an average Spielberg movie would be. Worth seeing on TV, wouldn't suffer from the change in medium much.

Love and Mercy. Biopic of Brian Wilson. Much has been made of using Paul Dano/John Cusack for young Brian/old Brian, but Elizabeth Banks steals the movie as Melinda Ledbetter, the Cadillac saleswoman who rescues Wilson from his preying psychoanalyst. She should get an Oscar nomination. Maybe not a win, but the performance is that strong. The film is kind of depressing, but the scenes of young Brian putting down the tracks that became Pet Sounds and "Good Vibrations" are riveting. Recommended.

Along those lines, DirecTV on demand has The Wrecking Crew, a documentary about the LA session musicians who played on about half the AM radio hits of the 60s and 70s. I loved it, especially Carol Kaye talking about how the musicians often came up with the riffs that made a song famous, like the bass line on "The Beat Goes On". Produced and directed by Denny Tedesco, son of Wrecking Crew guitarist Tommy Tedesco, most of the filming was completed 20 years ago but the movie was held up over lack of money and wrangling over music rights. It was finally completed in 2014 through angel donors and a Kickstart campaign.

The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio. Little known 10 year old film on Netflix, that someone told me about. Heartwarming. I'll watch Julianne Moore in anything. Not a particularly skillful directing and editing job, but the story wins over the technical glitches. I'd recommend this for anyone who prefers stories about people over car chases. Basic plot outline: in the '50s and '60s a woman enters jingle contests to keep her family afloat during hard times. Based on Terry Ryan's memoir of her childhood and her mother. Very loving.

Quote: Mosca

...Along those lines, DirecTV on demand has The Wrecking Crew, a documentary about the LA session musicians who played on about half the AM radio hits of the 60s and 70s. I loved it, especially Carol Kaye talking about how the musicians often came up with the riffs that made a song famous, like the bass line on "The Beat Goes On". Produced and directed by Denny Tedesco, son of Wrecking Crew guitarist Tommy Tedesco, most of the filming was completed 20 years ago but the movie was held up over lack of money and wrangling over music rights. It was finally completed in 2014 through angel donors and a Kickstart campaign....

I'm curious how the Kickstart money works in a situation like this. Do folks who give get a portion of the money if the project makes a profit?

Quote: FrGamble

I loved Inside Out! It is a glorious return for Pixar.

I'm mixed on "Inside Out". I enjoyed parts of it, but much of the story and dialogue was way over the heads of the children in the audience. Hard to justify the cost of the tickets in this situation, maybe better to wait for the DVD.

Quote: Ayecarumba

I'm mixed on "Inside Out". I enjoyed parts of it, but much of the story and dialogue was way over the heads of the children in the audience. Hard to justify the cost of the tickets in this situation, maybe better to wait for the DVD.

At the end of the film I wasn't sure if the volcano thing was part of the film. Now I know it wasn't. But they did bring up how Hawaii ruined pizza, so I kept waiting for a connection to the earlier film.

Actually, at first, I thought we had gone to the wrong movie. I think I may have fallen asleep once or twice (which reflects more on me, than the movie I'm usually trying to watch)

I really was sitting there near the end for awhile thinking how are they going to work the volcanoes into this? Heh.