Fighting with My Family

a hidden gem, or almost. Beneath that unattractive title and cover photo lays a very decent biographical movie on a WCW star.
It feels like a B-movie with cameo's of The Rock and Vince Vaughn, but it's much more than that. Vince actually has a big role.

'dragged across concrete' - 4/5. pretty good. not as good as 'bone tomahawk', better than 'brawl...'. true to zahler's slow, languid style but without as good a payoff. mel gibson is perfect. vince vaughn is good, except for one over acted scene that i thought put a big hitch in his character. tory kittles is a nice discovery. and jennifer carpenter steals the show with her brief scene. i read a lot of talk about racism and misogyny, but i think it is clearly satire in service of illustrating generational seperation. the extras on the bluray are a nice accompaniment to the movie, including interviews with zahler, vaugh, gibson, the editor, cinematographer and a producer.

'the old man and the gun' - 4/5. not as charming as it was trying to be, but really good. casey affleck shines. i wish they had fleshed out his character a bit more, but according to the deleted scenes that flesh is lying on the editing room floor. it was nice to see some shots of cincinnati in there. the jewelry store scene was the interior of carew tower. i saw richie's fish and chicken in a montage, and all the diner scenes were shot at the blue jay in northside (and let me tell you, the bathroom there is a far cry shit holier than the one depicted in the movie).

'paths of glory' - 7/5. classic kubrick rewatch about dumb war and why (ultimately) we fight it.

'trouble every day' - watched this on kanopy after damo mentioned it. wow. love the ambiguity. love the VERY creepy creepy scenes...i didn't buy vincent gallo as ANY kind of lovable, though. maybe his marriage could have been written out. anyhow, always nice to discover a new filmmaker. 4.5/5.

and just to mention a complaint that seems to be coming to mind with increasing frequency when watching modern film productions...for fuck's sake, could somebody please rein in some of these foley artists? i have found myself completely removed from my viewing experience ('oldman and the gun' [especially] and 'dragged...' included) by some seemingly heavy handed post production sound work. it's really quite annoying. and, for real, have you ever handled a gun? it's a precision instrument. highly engineered and painstakingly manufactured. it does not rattle around like a box of toy cars...

TheFman said:

EmmaMcG said:

TheFman said:

Fighting with My Family

a hidden gem, or almost. Beneath that unattractive title and cover photo lays a very decent biographical movie on a WCW star.
It feels like a B-movie with cameo's of The Rock and Vince Vaughn, but it's much more than that. Vince actually has a big role.

Isn't she a WWE star? WCW hasn't been a thing for years.

yeah, probably

TheFman said:

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Entertaining film with charismatic heroes and a multidimensional (pun intended) villain. It eventually produces every kid's toybox fantasy come to life, with a battle sequence unlike any other in comic book film history. But as with many of Marvel's later films, it's dragged down by plot holes, loose ends, and flat sequences.

It was a superhero weekend with the family.




Friday: Shazam! (2019) - By shouting out one word - SHAZAM. - streetwise fourteen-year-old foster kid, Billy Batson can turn into the grown-up superhero Shazam.

This was not bad at all. The non-Shazam scenes with the foster family were actually great. I liked this more than all of the recent DC universe films except for Wonder Woman. 3/5




Saturday: Avengers: Infinity War (2018) - The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.

For me this is the pinnacle of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Seeing all the disparate characters together and interacting recalled the magic of the first Avengers movie, but on a grander scale. 4.5/5




Sunday: Avengers: Endgame (2019) - After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the universe is in ruins. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers assemble once more in order to undo Thanos' actions and restore order to the universe.

I found the pacing uneven and one plot point in particular left too many unanswered questions. However, there were so many feel-good moments that I was willing to let those flaws slide and still enjoyed the movie a great deal. 4.25/5

"Purple Rain" doaen't count... so maybe "Roge One" (when ever it came out I went then someone took me)

white heat (1949) 4/5 when i pressed play on this james cagney film last night, i honestly didn't know that this was 'that' movie with the famous ending & that famous line. & i'm very glad i didn't - made it so much more of a pleasant surprise & genuine shock when it came. it's all mostly great stuff, though i did find the middle section in prison just a littlle bit plodding.

under the silver lake (2019) 4/5

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

i was really enjoying this until the 1hr32m or so mark, when the 'songwriter' slipped in the riff to innagaddadavida, at which point i completely fell in love.

critic matt singer, in his review of inherent vice, said that to help viewers understand that movie every ticket should come with either a joint or a ticket to another viewing. i think the exact same thing could be said about this film.

this may seem to some a bit like director trying very hard to make the next mulholland drive, the new film that will become cultishly obsessed over & picked apart on message boards. and maybe it is, but i loved every minute of it, and the second it ended i wanted to watch it all over again.

[Edited 5/4/19 12:57pm]

damosuzuki said:

under the silver lake (2019) 4/5

Probably my favorite movie of last year!

Hudson said:

Amazing Grace (2019)

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

TheFman said:

Fighting with My Family

a hidden gem, or almost. Beneath that unattractive title and cover photo lays a very decent biographical movie on a WCW star.
It feels like a B-movie with cameo's of The Rock and Vince Vaughn, but it's much more than that. Vince actually has a big role.

I didn't know I was so literal about things. I had assumed from the thread title that it was to talk about movies people had seen more than once.

inherent vice (2014) 4/5 i have never been so entertained while having absolutely no idea what was going on.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains. 4/5.

Recommended not so long ago by Damosuzuki. It was enjoyable, dated, but the music was still cool. Thanks for the recommendation.

I watched It Happened One Night for approximately the millionth time last night.

Hubby and I have watched a few movies more times that we can count:

The Party - Peter Sellers

Glen Gary Glenn Ross

Purple Rain

The Usual Suspects

Casablanca

A Christmas Story

Home Alone

Scarface

Empress said:

EmmaMcG said:

Empress said:

Hubby and I have watched a few movies more times that we can count:

The Party - Peter Sellers

Glen Gary Glenn Ross

Purple Rain

The Usual Suspects

Casablanca

A Christmas Story

Home Alone

Scarface

Nice, diverse list of movies. All apart from The Party and Purple Rain rank among my favourite movies.

Thanks Emma! Glen Garry Glenn Ross is such a well written film and the acting is some of the best I've ever seen. All of the actors are at their best in this one. Also, I agree with your comment on another thread about Kevin Spacey. He's a fine actor and The Usual Suspects is a favourite of ours.

Shazam!

this was nothing as advertised imo, it was pretty great actually. One of the better DC movies. Funny, charming, and action in a coat of comedy.
Hope part 2 wont blow it, it looks like it'll be more of just the same.

maplenpg said:

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains. 4/5.

Recommended not so long ago by Damosuzuki. It was enjoyable, dated, but the music was still cool. Thanks for the recommendation.

truly glad you enjoyed it. i really liked it a lot as well. i agree it's dated, it's almost impossible for it not to be i suppose, but i love the look & the era it captures.

tag (2015) 4/5

gave tag a re-watch since it's getting yanked from netflix fairly shortly.

despite the fact i'd watched it just a little over a year ago, i'd completely forgotten the reveal at the end. that probably speaks more to the fallibility of my middle aged memory than the memorability of the actual ending.

i think this movie is a complete blast. i don't rank it as highly as sion sono's love exposure or why don't you play in hell, my favourites of his films i've seen so far, but it's still a fun, imaginative time. plus the great japanese post-rock band mono is all over the soundtrack, so that warrants a big yay from me as well.

girlfriends (1978) 3.5 new york photographer has to adapt to living alone after her roommate gets married. somewhat famous for being the first american independent film to be funded by grants. reminds me a bit of jim jarmusch's paterson, in the way it tells small little stories that may not say much individually, but take on a cumulative power that lingers long after the last shot fades away. if you have any kind of tolerance for shaggy, shambolic indie film, it's absolutely worth a watch.

climax (2019) 4.5/5 a stomping, raw, thrilling return to form for gaspar noe after what i thought was a rather dull, boring affair in 2015's love.
noe's films are all ridiculous & preposterous, but, love aside, i can't get enough of them. i did think there were a few moments in the back half that just didn't work, but there were plenty that did, & i thought the long dance scenes that made up a good bit of the first half were as hypnotic & energetic & exciting as anything i've seen in a movie in years.

I'm just getting around to seeing three of Oscar nominated pics, back to back.

Bohemian Rhapsody * stars

Basically if you don't want to tell the truth, don't bother making a movie. I just had a chance to see the Tempations Broadway show. To Otis William credit, Mr. Williams demaned the good, the bad, and the very ugly be told about the Temps, everybody.

Black Klansman ** stars

OK, movie but no Oscar material. My biggest gripe is the fiction of why Chief of Police ceased

to investgate KKK, he was aware the men on the police foruce were members of the KKK. Why Spike

dicked around with not telling the truth is beyond me. It would have diffential had tied the mindset of this nation with the conclusion of his flim.

A Star is Born. **

I never believed the "love" story between Bradley Copper and Lady Gaga: L.G. seemed too smart to get mixed up with a self-destructive fool. Where I thought the film succeed, the relationship between Bradley and Sam Elliot as brothers. I hope they stop making this movie because every time its remade, it gets a little bit worse.

I don't like Hollywood movies based on true stories because in most instances the are evolve into fiction ands lies. Another thing, this years list of "best pictures" were the worst. In any other decade, known of this movies would have been nominated, NONE.

Shazam! 4.5 / 10

Pet Semetary (2019) 2.5 / 10

Wine Country

I watched it 3 times in 3 days.
The 2 last times were to find a memorable scene that i saw the first time but couldnt find again.
My conclusion is that this movie is the portal to another dimension and time.
Besides that, it was often very funny, though the Prince-conversation in the bathtub was a bit over-the-top. That was just one of countless Prince-related connections in this movie though. Great music it has. The I would die 4U cover was tasteful!
Still it's all evil and i wonder where that legendary scene has gone.

[Edited 5/15/19 16:11pm]

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]