A Hard Day's Night (1964) - A "typical" day in the life of The Beatles, including many of their famous songs.

It was a lot of fun seeing the Fab Four cavort around 1960's London. The new Criterion restoration looks stunning. 4/5

toni erdmann - 4.5/5 i won't forget the birthday party scene any time soon. there were moments in this movie that prompted the biggest collective laughs i've heard in a theatre in a long time. it's just about perfect, & there is no need for an english language remake. someone should stop that from happening.

the man who fell to earth 2/5 - i believe this is the 3rd time i've tried to watch this film, & this is definitely the first time i made it through to the end, but that was really just an act of willpower, like not having another chip or having a kale salad instead of fries. it's a bit of a mystery. i like cult films and distant, aloof 70s sci-fi and most nic roeg movies that i've seen (i'm a bit indifferent to david bowie, but he's all too believable as an alien, & his performance was definitely not my issue), but i find this deadeningly dull.

The roommate and I have been going through the Oscar best nom pics this year. We've only Lion and Manchester By The Sea to watch. I've also tossed in Jurassic World and Passengers to change things up a bit. I enjoyed Passengers, but I felt like it could have gone darker with its themes. However, the idea of loving your alleged murderer seems to be the big unintentional theme.

Jurassic World was good, although I was never a fan of the originals. I just never clicked with the first one.

As far as the Oscar best noms:

Arrival 5/5

Fences 3/5

Hacksaw Ridge 4/5

Hell or High Water 4/5

Hidden Figures 5/5

La La Land 3.5/5

Moonlight 3/5

Passengers 4/5

Jurassic World 3.5/5

.

Finally saw this one. Not bad! Didn't quite buy Cruise in the role. 3/5

damosuzuki said:

toni erdmann - 4.5/5 i won't forget the birthday party scene any time soon. there were moments in this movie that prompted the biggest collective laughs i've heard in a theatre in a long time. it's just about perfect, & there is no need for an english language remake. someone should stop that from happening.

I knew you'd like it!

damosuzuki said:

the man who fell to earth 2/5 - i believe this is the 3rd time i've tried to watch this film, & this is definitely the first time i made it through to the end, but that was really just an act of willpower, like not having another chip or having a kale salad instead of fries. it's a bit of a mystery. i like cult films and distant, aloof 70s sci-fi and most nic roeg movies that i've seen (i'm a bit indifferent to david bowie, but he's all too believable as an alien, & his performance was definitely not my issue), but i find this deadeningly dull.

Oh dear. I've had this movie on my shelf for awhile and never found the time to watch it. Maybe this could be one of those Loneliest Planet-type cases.

TrivialPursuit said:

The roommate and I have been going through the Oscar best nom pics this year. We've only Lion and Manchester By The Sea to watch. I've also tossed in Jurassic World and Passengers to change things up a bit. I enjoyed Passengers, but I felt like it could have gone darker with its themes. However, the idea of loving your alleged murderer seems to be the big unintentional theme.

Jurassic World was good, although I was never a fan of the originals. I just never clicked with the first one.

As far as the Oscar best noms:

Arrival 5/5

Fences 3/5

Hacksaw Ridge 4/5

Hell or High Water 4/5

Hidden Figures 5/5

La La Land 3.5/5

Moonlight 3/5

Passengers 4/5

Jurassic World 3.5/5

I'd rate the best picture nominees like this:

Arrival - 4/5

Fences - 4/5

Hacksaw Ridge - 3.5/5

Hell or High Water 4.5/5

Hidden Figures - 3.5/5

La La Land - 4.5/5

Lion - 4/5

Manchester by the Sea - 5/5

Moonlight - 5/5

I liked Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight the most. They were near perfect.

Least liked were Hacksaw Ridge (uneven) and Hidden Figures (too conventional), but both were still good.

The Knack... and How to Get It (1965) - Cool and sophisticated Tolen has a monopoly on womanizing - with a long line of conquests to prove it - while the naive and awkward Colin desperately wants a piece of it...

Another madcap romp through mid-60s London by Richard Lester (A Hard Day's Night) which gets especially zany near the end. 4/5

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)

Just finished this movie for the second time. It's always been one of my favorite Luis Bunuel films of all time, but I decided I'd watch it again to keep a close eye on the dialogue, the way the narrative unfolds, and most of all the way Luis wrote those dream-like scenes. I think this type of 'calm' surrealism influenced the 'intriguing, violent' one of David Lynch.

5/5. A classic.

A Most Wanted Man (2014)

Phillip Seymour Hoffman gives his last top-notch performance. While sometimes predictable, the film's ending stuck with me.

.5

Undercover Brother (2003)

One of my favorite campy movies. Not great but always funny.

.5

sexton said:

damosuzuki said:

the man who fell to earth 2/5 - i believe this is the 3rd time i've tried to watch this film, & this is definitely the first time i made it through to the end, but that was really just an act of willpower, like not having another chip or having a kale salad instead of fries. it's a bit of a mystery. i like cult films and distant, aloof 70s sci-fi and most nic roeg movies that i've seen (i'm a bit indifferent to david bowie, but he's all too believable as an alien, & his performance was definitely not my issue), but i find this deadeningly dull.

Oh dear. I've had this movie on my shelf for awhile and never found the time to watch it. Maybe this could be one of those Loneliest Planet-type cases.

i am genuinely curious to hear what you'll have to say about it if/when you do get around to it. i'm really still open to liking it at some point, funnily enough. i can't see myself ever watching it at home again, but if it ever showed up on a big screen as part of a restrospective or something like that, i would absolutely give it another try. i do think movies that might land with a thud at one time or another will 'click' if your neurons are firing in just the right way, and i really could see this being one of those. i can't completely dismiss it because so many of the elements that tend to get my motor running are in place.

.

but i'm staunch on this point: you couldn't pay me to watch the loneliest planet again.

[Edited 3/13/17 15:28pm]

hunt for the wilderpeople - 3.5/5 very enjoyably shaggy new zealand film that ambles around a bit, but is so pleasant and good-natured that you'll forgive all its sidesteps. a bit like if on golden pond & first blood had a very quirky baby.

i watched Thor again, just to see chris hemsworth without his shirt. still lookin good. looking reeeal good.

damosuzuki said:

hunt for the wilderpeople - 3.5/5 very enjoyably shaggy new zealand film that ambles around a bit, but is so pleasant and good-natured that you'll forgive all its sidesteps. a bit like if on golden pond & first blood had a very quirky baby.

That was a fun flick.

TrivialPursuit said:

damosuzuki said:

hunt for the wilderpeople - 3.5/5 very enjoyably shaggy new zealand film that ambles around a bit, but is so pleasant and good-natured that you'll forgive all its sidesteps. a bit like if on golden pond & first blood had a very quirky baby.

That was a fun flick.

it really was.

.

and here's something i forgot to mention in my first post: the subtitles on the netflix stream gave the titles of the songs that played on the soundtrack. i really liked that. there was a really pleasant, bouncy pop song that played in the first part of the film, and rather than having to look up the song on imdb or in the credits or whatever, it was displayed right in the movie's subtitle. i wish all movies that use any kind of music (pop, classical, whatever) would do this. maybe this is really common and i've just never noticed it, but i believe this is the first time i've seen this.

.

would have been all the better if they'd provided the performer's name, but the title is a good start.

[Edited 3/13/17 17:50pm]

damosuzuki said:

TrivialPursuit said:

That was a fun flick.

it really was.

.

and here's something i forgot to mention in my first post: the subtitles on the netflix stream gave the titles of the songs that played on the soundtrack. i really liked that. there was a really pleasant, bouncy pop song that played in the first part of the film, and rather than having to look up the song on imdb or in the credits or whatever, it was displayed right in the movie's subtitle. i wish all movies that use any kind of music (pop, classical, whatever) would do this. maybe this is really common and i've just never noticed it, but i believe this is the first time i've seen this.

.

would have been all the better if they'd provided the performer's name, but the title is a good start.

[Edited 3/13/17 17:50pm]

It's common on tv show a lot of the time, the song title and artist(s) will be in the subtitles as well as snippets of the lyrics inbetween the shows dialogue.

damosuzuki said:

it really was.

.

and here's something i forgot to mention in my first post: the subtitles on the netflix stream gave the titles of the songs that played on the soundtrack. i really liked that. there was a really pleasant, bouncy pop song that played in the first part of the film, and rather than having to look up the song on imdb or in the credits or whatever, it was displayed right in the movie's subtitle. i wish all movies that use any kind of music (pop, classical, whatever) would do this. maybe this is really common and i've just never noticed it, but i believe this is the first time i've seen this.

.

would have been all the better if they'd provided the performer's name, but the title is a good start.

Amazon Prime has a similar feature. I have a FireTV Stick, and if I arrow up, or hit the menu button, it shows the actors in that scene, plus any music. Oddly, the Prime app on our Sony TV doesn't have that feature (or Amazon Music accessibility). It was nice while watching Mozart In The Jungle with all the classical pieces.

GET OUT 10/10 ALL ACROSS THE BOARD

Just watched "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" and comparing it to what I feel is a bit of overhype for movies like "Kong: Skull Island" and even "Get Out" (which I really liked, but I don't think it is a diamond perfect horror movie, I have a feeling there's a lot of newbies to the idea that good horror always contains a message or thematic subtext to real world problems or anxieties. That's not special).

But I give "Hunt" 5 out of 5 stars. Can't find a flaw outside of the fact that it is comparable in quite a few ways to "moonrise kingdom". However I like it much more than "Moonrise Kingdom", because I have tired over Wes Anderson's cute obsessive compulsive picturebox style and repetitive plot points since... a long time ago.

Kong well... that's not a good King Kong movie. It's much more a godzilla movie, and I guess that's exactly what it's meant to be... (real King Kong fans will know that Godzilla and King Kong really have nothing to do with each other outside of a cheap marketing ploy from the Japanese a couple times in the 60's) and it's tough guy humor is no Con Air level of wit. But the effects are great. and the sound design is amazing.

.

the animation is cool... but I was frankly pretty bored with the fantasy story... too many songs, some really felt like filler (especially the one by the crab that sounded kinda like Bowie)...

.

2/5

John Wick 2

Do you like wall-to-wall killing? This is the film for you.

Ace said:

John Wick 2

Do you like wall-to-wall killing? This is the film for you.

I get the feeling this post may have just possibly been made for my benefit!

I've got to see some more movies. When the rodeo is over in two weeks, I hope to watch some exquisitely made, fabulously directed, elegantly written and sublimely casted killing fests/comedy masterpieces.

I watched Pompeii


I give it a point for putting historical accurate stuff in it, because I don't know what I was thinking but I thought Pompeii got destroyed way on the other side of the timeline not on this side, but I was wrong. Lots of ancient Rome stuff. Basically paint by numbers, with gladiators in it, typical wealthy princess falls in love with poor captive boy with revenge in his blood. The poster tells you how it ends so I have no spoiler alerts to give. 2.5/5

RodeoSchro said:

Ace said:

John Wick 2

Do you like wall-to-wall killing? This is the film for you.

I get the feeling this post may have just possibly been made for my benefit!

I've got to see some more movies. When the rodeo is over in two weeks, I hope to watch some exquisitely made, fabulously directed, elegantly written and sublimely casted killing fests/comedy masterpieces.

I went to see this for a friend. Not my thing. But if action's your thing, then this is your thing to the MAX!

notes on blindness - 5/5 really extraordinary documentary that uses lip-synching actors to re-enact the audiotapes theologian john hull recorded as he was going blind. a documentary called 'the arbor' used a similar technique a few years ago, and i thought that was great, but this is better & truly a special film. incredibly personal, but also universally meaningful.

Finisterre (2003) - Presented and scored by Saint Etienne, the film takes us on a journey from the suburbs of London into the heart of the city over an imaginary 24 hours. Through the interviews and imagery we see the city from an insider's perspective. The result is a hymn to London, and an extraordinary record of the city today.

Very pleasant and personal documentary about London. 3.5/5

The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble

4/5 Needed more music.

The World of Suzie Wong (1960) ..absolute gem

Your Sister's Sister (2011)

Witty, enjoyable film. Mark Duplass, Rosemarie DeWitt and Emily Blunt turn in really good performances.

.25

[Edited 3/15/17 20:51pm]