namepeace said:

Amazing Grace (2019)

A truly sanctified experience. Aretha Franklin was truly touched by God.

Going tonight.

damosuzuki said:

under the silver lake (2019) 4/5

david yow from the jesus lizard plays the homeless king in this movie!

david yow popped up in the movie i watched this morning as well.

it's always a little exciting to me every time i see him randomly butt into my life in some way.

entertainment (2015) 3.5

neil hamburger is my spirit animal, and this film makes proper use of his persona, taking his weirdly uncomfortable & unsettling yet hilarious comedy & putting it into a plausible drama.

namepeace said:

Toni Erdmann (2016)

A promising start but increasingly pointless and non-sensical as it moves forward, slowiy and at length. I didn't even finish it. This type of story was told better in 1986's Nothing In Common.

[Edited 5/16/19 9:36am]

How far into the movie did you watch? Because the general consensus is the ending, beginning with the birthday party is the best part of the film.

I love this movie, but concede it's very European and won't appeal to American audiences. An American remake is being planned though and if it ever does get made, you know its style will be completely different: https://thefilmstage.com/news/jack-nicholson-drops-out-of-toni-erdmann-remake-as-it-finds-a-director/

[Edited 5/19/19 13:24pm]

sexton said:

namepeace said:

Toni Erdmann (2016)

A promising start but increasingly pointless and non-sensical as it moves forward, slowiy and at length. I didn't even finish it. This type of story was told better in 1986's Nothing In Common.

[Edited 5/16/19 9:36am]

How far into the movie did you watch? Because the general consensus is the ending, beginning with the birthday party is the best part of the film.

I love this movie, but concede it's very European and won't appeal to American audiences. An American remake is being planned though and if it ever does get made, you know its style will be completely different: https://thefilmstage.com/news/jack-nicholson-drops-out-of-toni-erdmann-remake-as-it-finds-a-director/

[Edited 5/19/19 13:24pm]

I'm a huge fan of European movies and foreign films in general, and I think the comedic timing doesn't lend itself well to subtitles. I just think the movie isn't very coherent.

I got to the birthday party and stopped.

namepeace said:

Amazing Grace (2019)

A truly sanctified experience. Aretha Franklin was truly touched by God.

Great movie. Just telling someone about it and I thought it was a snap shot in time.

Always loved the album but it was great to see it on film.

John Wick 3 - From begining to end it didn't stop. No slow motion action just choreographed fighting perfection. 167 deaths according to the inter-web, felt like more. A little more graphic than the other two but I enjoyed it for the entertainment value. Not going to spoil anything when I say Halle Barry played a kick ass character.

4 out of 5 stars

The Professor

I developped a kind of dislike to Johnny Depp over the years, not just because of some roles.. But this is one of his stronger efforts, surely between the ones that didn't demand tons of make-up.

The thing however is.... he's doing a perfect Robert Downey Jr.
The whole movie I had the impression wtaching RDJ and not JD at all.

Good movie nevertheless!

High Life 2 / 10

sexton said:

namepeace said:

Toni Erdmann (2016)

A promising start but increasingly pointless and non-sensical as it moves forward, slowiy and at length. I didn't even finish it. This type of story was told better in 1986's Nothing In Common.

[Edited 5/16/19 9:36am]

How far into the movie did you watch? Because the general consensus is the ending, beginning with the birthday party is the best part of the film.

I love this movie, but concede it's very European and won't appeal to American audiences. An American remake is being planned though and if it ever does get made, you know its style will be completely different: https://thefilmstage.com/news/jack-nicholson-drops-out-of-toni-erdmann-remake-as-it-finds-a-director/

[Edited 5/19/19 13:24pm]

toni erdmann is one of my favourite movie-going experiences of recent years, & ever really. there were waves of laughter at times unlike anything i think i've ever heard from any audience. i loved it.

the master (2012) 4/5 of all the pta films, this is the one that confounds me the most, i suppose. i'm always left feeling like i don't quite get inside any of the people, that there's a lock on the film i can't quite pick, but perhaps that's all by design, since there's simply nothing to lancaster dodd other than riddles & chicanery.

regardless, i always love spending time in its world. like all pta, it's great to look at, filled with many great moments & images & terrific dialogue. it might be his best, might be his worst. all takes on this one feel valid to me.

damsels in distress (2011) 3.5

i love whit stillman, really. he's something like idealized version of me that would exist if i was everything i wish i could be, & all of his films are things i wish i could do myself.

except this one. it is still fun & has greta gerwig (winning as always) and several other fetching, winsome women, and it has real pleasure in some individual moments, but it doesn't quite form into something complete and satisfying.

i enjoyed spending time with it. it's a bit like getting time with the most witty, clever person you know when he's slightly off his a-game.

[Edited 5/20/19 6:27am]

It's been awhile! But I've been busy doing adult stuff.

Yesterday, however, I convinced 2/4 of my family to go see "John Wick 3 - Parabellum". Son and daughter were in; wife and Favorite Mother-In-Law were out.

It being Sunday afternoon, we neither boozed nor chowed. We just sat there and watched John Wick kill about 10,000 dudes.

Before I get into the weeds on this movie - hey. speaking of weeds, you HAVE to hear this!

My kids went to Ole Miss and so did all my money, so I'm a giant Ole Miss fan. But Ole Miss sports are generally jinxed. The jinking is so prevalent, and the ways we get jinxed are so hard to believe, that Ole Miss fans have adopted the slogan "We Are Ole Miss" or WAOM whenever something happens.

For instance, three years ago Ole Miss was on the cusp of winning the SEC West, wresting the title away from Alabama, who we'd already beat that season. All we had to do was hold on against a decent Arkansas team.

The game went to overtime. We kicked a field goal, and then forced Arkansas into a 4th-and-25 situation. Arkansas was too far away to kick a tying field goal to force another overtime. Their only hope was a Hail Mary, which we covered. Their tight end caught a short pass and before he could lateral it, we had him wrapped up. Game over, right?

WAOM.

The tight end literally just threw the ball in the air as he was falling down. He threw it backwards, where it hit the ground, bounced right into the hands of an Arkansas running back, who was able to run 30 yards and gain a first down. Arkansas scored a game-winning touchdown on the next play, and we didn't win the SEC West.

WAOM.

So this weekend, the Ole Miss men's golf team was competing in the NCAA golf championship. The top five teams advanced to the next round and Ole Miss was sitting in fifth place, with a four-shot lead over sixth-place LSU. With only two holes left to play. Looking good, right?

WAOM.

One of our guys teed off on his 16th hole - a par five. His tee shot hooked a little, actually landed on the fairway, but rolled into the first cut of rough. Which, I guess, was four-foot high fescue grass or some other jungle growth, because no one could find his ball. That's weird enough but it gets weirder.

He has to drop a ball to replace the lost ball, but with the penalty stroke he's hitting his third shot. Still - a bogey is the likely outcome and that only erodes one of the four strokes we have as a cushion. Should be no problem, right?

WAOM.

Dude's shot gets airborne, whereupon it hits a flying bird and careens out of bounds. Dude got an actual birdie! And another penalty stroke, plus loss of distance! He goes on to finish the hole, making a four-over-par nine. His partner bogeys a hole, and there go five strokes and our chance to advance in the NCAA tournament.

WAOM.

So how does this tie into "John Wick 3"? Well, mainly because one of the previews was for "Angel Has Fallen" which features Morgan Freeman as president. In real life Morgan Freeman is a giant Ole Miss fan - he even provides the narration for our TV commercials, And in this movie, he gets attacked by drones while fishing and wearing an Ole Miss hat.

WAOM!

Which should have been an omen to us as it regards "John Wick 3". Don't get me wrong - the movie isn't the worst thing in the world. Like I said, John Wick kills 10,000 men. But no women. And there are some women in this movie that should have been in the body count! Specifically, these women:





I do not know why, but I absolutely despised those operators - especially the one on the far right. Every time they'd show them, or her, I'd point my finger at the screen and go "BANG! BANG!" And keep in mind - I did this with no booze. Imagine if I'd been in my usual fighting trim!

WAOM.

Hopefully John Wick will take care of them in "John Wick 4 - RodeoSchro's Directorial Debut". And oh yes, there will be a John Wick 4. Probably a 5 and a 6, too.

I guess I should summarize the plot for you now.

"John Wick 3" picks up right where "John Wick 2" left off - Wick has been declared ex-comminucado by the Head Table and there is an open contract on him. However, Continental Hotel operator Winston has given Wick one hour's head start.

So this movie opens with Wick running through New York City. Although "John Wick 2" ended with Wick running away during a sunny afternoon, apparently 15 minutes later it's now night time and raining. That's not as bad as a Starbucks cup in a "Game of Thrones" scene but still, it's a continuity error that even a drunk RodeoSchro would have picked up on.

WAOM.

Wick gets to the library, where he retrieves his Special Book. which has been hollowed out and has a picture of his wife and some coins/medallions. He leaves the picture but takes the hardware. Curiously, Wick didn't think to hide a gun or small knife in his Special Book. Also, Wick himself chose this book to be his Special Book and, I presume, made the alterations to it himself. It stands to reason that he also replaced the Special Book on the library shelf when finished, but in this movie he has to ask a librarian (NOTE: probably the only woman in this movie that didn't deserve killing) where it is. Wouldn't he have known where he hid the only picture he has of his dead wife, plus the other life-saving accoutrements?

Also, they never say this but I think the Head Table must have placed a tracking device in John Wick without his knowledge. How else can you explain a 7-foot-tall hitman waiting for Wick in the library shelves?

Wick points out that he still has 15 minutes of grace time and therefore should be immune from killing, but the hitman says, "Who's gonna know?" It turns out no one will, because of course Wick kills the hitman. Wick kills everyone except those who really needed killing. Like those operators, for instance.

WAOM.

Let's see...Wick leaves his dog with the concierage at the Continental Hotel. That guy's name is Charon and he's the most polite guy in the world - until he starts killing people. But I assume he killed them politely.

Wick kills a whole lot of people before making his way to some theater when Angelica Huston is watching a ballerina fail miserably at her turns and jumps. Wick convinces Huston to give him passage to Morocco to see the Big Cheese, in return for getting something branded on his back. What the brand is, we don't know. They never tell us, or show the brand again. So Wick can now go to Morroco but before getting to the Big Cheese, Wick has to visit some lady over there.

When he gets to Morocco, he sees this lady, who has two attack dogs (German Shepards, unlike Wick's dog which is a Pit Bull. Since my daughter has an almost identical Pit Bull, you can guess who her favorite character is in this movie).

After the movie was over I asked my kids, "What ever happened to that lady who kind of looks like Halle Berry?" They said, "That WAS Halle Berry".

WAOM.

Wick and Halle Berry kill a lot of people, which results in Wick being told how to get to see the Big Cheese. You have to - and this is straight from the movie - go out to the desert, walk until you are almost dead, and then the Big Cheese may or may not see you.

This is what Wick does and luckily for him, the Big Cheese rescues him and grants him an audience.

Now, while all this is happening, another lady who should have been killed shows up. She is an Adjudicator and has a special medallion with an "A" on it. First she goes to see Winston, the general manager of the Continental Hotel. She tells Winston that giving John Wick an hour's head start was wrong, and therefore he will be fired and (I assume) killed. He is given seven days to get his affairs in order.

Then she goes to see Crazy Lawrence Fishburne and says it was wrong of him to give Wick a gun with seven bullets in it to use to kill that dude from the High Table in "John Wick 2". He's given seven cuts which, it turns out, don't kill him but do misfigure him. He's also given seven days to get his affairs in order, which I didn't understand since they'd already sliced him up.

Back to John Wick. He asks the Big Cheese for amnesty and forgiveness. The Big Cheese says, "OK but you have to do two things. Number one is, you have to kill your old buddy Winston. And number two is, you have to chop off half of your ring finger". Wick says OK, chops off half of his ring finger, takes the wedding ring off the severed finger, and goes on about his way.

WAOM.

But when Wick gets back to the Continental - after killing lots more people, including the henchmen of an Asian guy who is the Chief Nemesis - Wick decides to partner with Winston and Charon, and basically kill everyone.

However, only Charon and Wick kill people. Winston sits in some vault, drinking whiskey.

They kill so many people that the Adjudicator asks for a Parley. "A Parley - that's a good idea!" says Winston.

The Parley is this - if Winston will kill John Wick, then he can stay on as general manager of the Continental. So, he shoots John Wick on the rooftop of the Continental, causing John Wick to fall many, many, many stories - all the while hitting things on his way down like this guy did:




WAOM.

But in an ending rippeds traight from "Halloween", when the Adjudicator goes down to make sure John Wick is dead, well...John Wick is not there any longer.

Where in the world is John Wick?

He's hanging out with Lawrence Fishburne and his pigeons. Both are mad at the High Table, which is clearly going to be the plot of "John Wick 4: Let's Hope They Kill All Those Operators And Also The Adjudicator".

I give John Wick 3 only 2 1/2 Kill Shots To The Head out of the possible 5 Kill Shots To The Head, because believe it or not, John Wick missed 2 1/2 shots due to his bullets ricocheting off some birds.

WAOM!

damosuzuki said:

sexton said:

How far into the movie did you watch? Because the general consensus is the ending, beginning with the birthday party is the best part of the film.

I love this movie, but concede it's very European and won't appeal to American audiences. An American remake is being planned though and if it ever does get made, you know its style will be completely different: https://thefilmstage.com/news/jack-nicholson-drops-out-of-toni-erdmann-remake-as-it-finds-a-director/

[Edited 5/19/19 13:24pm]

toni erdmann is one of my favourite movie-going experiences of recent years, & ever really. there were waves of laughter at times unlike anything i think i've ever heard from any audience. i loved it.

I highly respect you both, and our film tastes intersect, but I didn't click with this film at all.

namepeace said:

damosuzuki said:

toni erdmann is one of my favourite movie-going experiences of recent years, & ever really. there were waves of laughter at times unlike anything i think i've ever heard from any audience. i loved it.

I highly respect you both, and our film tastes intersect, but I didn't click with this film at all.

thanks, & that respect goes both ways.

i'm not out to change your mind. just wanted to put in a good word for a film i genuinely liked (& one that really doesn't need a remake - we should stop that from happening).

i will say that i do think there are certain films, comedies especially, that i think really rely on a theatre viewing to make their impact. i think it's very likely that if i had watched toni erdmann, a 160 subtitled german comedy (none of that makes sense, does it?) at home, it almost certainly wouldn't have landed with me the way it did by seeing it with a group where we were all completely on its wavelength.

Last night I watched the last half of what I think is the best science fiction/monster movie ever made:

TREMORS.

Man, what a PERFECT movie. In every way. It's what a monster movie should be.

"What kind of fuse is that?"

"Cannon fuse."

"What's it for?"

"My cannon."



I could watch "Tremors" every day of the week. It's just that great.

"Tremors" gets Ten Yards Of Cannon Fuse out of a possible Ten Yards Of Cannon Fuse. Make a plan to watch it!

Doubles vies / Non-Fiction (2018) - Set in the Parisian publishing world, an editor and an author find themselves in over their heads, as they cope with a middle-age crisis, the changing industry and their wives.

Yet another pairing between director Olivier Assayas and the always stunning Juliette Binoche, this film is 100% dialogue, not unlike a Woody Allen feature and I loved pretty much all of it--from the way the characters' interpersonal relationships were slowly revealed to the meta Easter egg near the finale. It will make my top ten of the year, I'm sure. 4.5/5

RodeoSchro said:

Last night I watched the last half of what I think is the best science fiction/monster movie ever made:

TREMORS.

Man, what a PERFECT movie. In every way. It's what a monster movie should be.

"What kind of fuse is that?"

"Cannon fuse."

"What's it for?"

"My cannon."



I could watch "Tremors" every day of the week. It's just that great.

"Tremors" gets Ten Yards Of Cannon Fuse out of a possible Ten Yards Of Cannon Fuse. Make a plan to watch it!

My goodness, I love me TREMORES.

Michael Gross and Reba McEntiire, pure-de- crazy-fools.

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

Is this thread only about movies you’ve revisited? Anyway, don’t know if this is the correct thread but here is my review of a new movie I saw. Rocketman 6/10 This is an artistically told biopic of Elton John. It feels like someone had a draft of a stage musical of Elton and turned it into a movie. I don’t know the backstory for the production but it certainly feels like the medium is transposed. I give it props for being daring but the execution is lacking. It’s certainly not a feel-good movie like Bohemian Rhapsody was nor did I want or expect it to be but boy was this movie a bummer. This is not a general audience type of movie and I give props to the producers who were ballsy enough to put up the money to film this because I highly doubt it’s going to make a huge profit.

This movie was made by the guy who finished Bohemian Rhapsody after Bryan Singer fled. Bohemian Rhapsody was such a bad movie so I'm having some reservations to watching Rocketman.

damosuzuki said:

sexton said:

How far into the movie did you watch? Because the general consensus is the ending, beginning with the birthday party is the best part of the film.

I love this movie, but concede it's very European and won't appeal to American audiences. An American remake is being planned though and if it ever does get made, you know its style will be completely different: https://thefilmstage.com/news/jack-nicholson-drops-out-of-toni-erdmann-remake-as-it-finds-a-director/

[Edited 5/19/19 13:24pm]

toni erdmann is one of my favourite movie-going experiences of recent years, & ever really. there were waves of laughter at times unlike anything i think i've ever heard from any audience. i loved it.

Good to hear that such a movie finds an audience oversees, even a small one. I remember watching it with a friend of mine and yes, something was in the air in the movie theater.

john wick 3 - 3.5/5

it opens with two really great, fun action scenes. the first 30 minutes & the presence of a certain actor made me think this might be an all-time great action movie, one that could compete with the raid for title of my personal favourite.

but after that, i found it oddly boring for long stretches, scenes filled with wick mythology, lots of talking about tables & medallions & other things that i found really dull.

there were still some great, exciting action moments through the rest of the film. many, many bullets to many heads - so so many. it's absolutely worth seeing if you like things like that, but it feels a bit like a missed opportunity to me. the opening section promised greatness, but it settled into being a mixed bag of great action & long spells that provoked lethargy from me.

JorisE73 said:

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

JorisE73 said:

This movie was made by the guy who finished Bohemian Rhapsody after Bryan Singer fled. Bohemian Rhapsody was such a bad movie so I'm having some reservations to watching Rocketman.

Yes, and I give it props for doing something completely different. And by the same token will possibly be a turn-off for general audiences. This movie should be right up my alley. I love music based films and I love artist ballsy efforts, but for me, it was a swing for the bleachers but only a base hit instead. It is by no means a bad film. The acting is amazing. I did not even realize it was Bryce Dallas Howard as Elton’s mom. She was great. Everyone was great. What I did not like was they seemed to think they needed to goose his life into a fantasy. I don’t think that was necessary and puts a partition between him and the audience.

I'll check it out thanks!

Star Trek 3 - The Search For Spock

.

As a superfan of the sitcom Taxi, I was pleasantly entranced by Christopher Lloyd's Klingon bad guy. This film was super fun to watch especially with no CGI, great performances from the entire cast. It was on broadcast TV and I watched about ten minutes before looking it up to view immediately in glorious HD on Amazon Prime Video.

.

TD3 said:

RodeoSchro said:

Last night I watched the last half of what I think is the best science fiction/monster movie ever made:

TREMORS.

Man, what a PERFECT movie. In every way. It's what a monster movie should be.

"What kind of fuse is that?"

"Cannon fuse."

"What's it for?"

"My cannon."



I could watch "Tremors" every day of the week. It's just that great.

"Tremors" gets Ten Yards Of Cannon Fuse out of a possible Ten Yards Of Cannon Fuse. Make a plan to watch it!

My goodness, I love me TREMORES.

Michael Gross and Reba McEntiire, pure-de- crazy-fools.

I think it's the most under-rated movie, maybe of all time. I know I tend to forget to put it on my all-time favorite movies lists sometimes. And then I watch it and snap back to the reality of how great I think this movie is.

Honestly, a "Predator/Tremors" double feature would be about 4 hours of pure perfection for me.

damosuzuki said:

namepeace said:

I highly respect you both, and our film tastes intersect, but I didn't click with this film at all.

thanks, & that respect goes both ways.

i'm not out to change your mind. just wanted to put in a good word for a film i genuinely liked (& one that really doesn't need a remake - we should stop that from happening).

true, and at the same time, I wouldn't try to convince you otherwise.

i will say that i do think there are certain films, comedies especially, that i think really rely on a theatre viewing to make their impact. i think it's very likely that if i had watched toni erdmann, a 160 subtitled german comedy (none of that makes sense, does it?) at home, it almost certainly wouldn't have landed with me the way it did by seeing it with a group where we were all completely on its wavelength.

Also true; I missed this at the theatre. That's certainly possible.

high life (2019) 4/5 i was made very uncomfortable by the many scenes of fluids of various sorts on and near people, but otherwise i really loved this chilly, weird sci-fi.
if you've appreciated solaris & stalker, but found yourself wishing they weren't 8 billion hours long, then this may be the movie for you.

The Souvenir (2019) - A young film student in the early 80s becomes romantically involved with a complicated and untrustworthy man.

It's small in scope, but well-done all around I think. Great technique in revealing the warning signs in the relationship to the audience to the same degree as they are revealed to the unsuspecting film student. Also notable is seeing real-life mother and daughter, Tilda Swinton and Honor Swinton Byrne play the same roles here. 4/5

Her Smell (2018) - A self-destructive punk rocker struggles with sobriety while trying to recapture the creative inspiration that led her band to success.

Elisabeth Moss deserves award recognition for the range she displays here which is pretty incredible. 4/5